NPR Columns: Sunday Puzzle http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4473090&ft=1&f=4473090 NPR Puzzlemaster Will Shortz presents a weekly puzzle challenge. Copyright 2009 NPR - For Personal Use Only NPR API RSS Generator 0.93 Sun, 22 Nov 2009 00:25:00 -0500 http://media.npr.org/images/npr_news_123x20.gif Sunday Puzzle http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4473090&ft=1&f=4473090 A Tale Of Turkey, Full Of 'Blobs' This is a game called Blobs that Will Shortz found in an old book of party games. Will talks about his recent trip to Turkey, and the account has a number of intentional errors. Every time there's an error of fact, logic or word usage, the player says "blob." Sun, 22 Nov 2009 00:25:00 -0500 http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=120652503&ft=1&f=4473090 http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=120652503&ft=1&f=4473090 This is a game called Blobs that Will Shortz found in an old book of party games. Will talks about his recent trip to Turkey, and the account has a number of intentional errors. Every time there's an error of fact, logic or word usage, the player says "blob."

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]]> Familiar Phrases Starting With 'T' Every answer in today's puzzle is a familiar phrase in the form BLANK of BLANK, where the first word starts with the letter "T." Given the last word of the phrase, the player must give the first word. Sat, 14 Nov 2009 19:05:00 -0500 http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=120424022&ft=1&f=4473090 http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=120424022&ft=1&f=4473090 Every answer in today's puzzle is a familiar phrase in the form BLANK of BLANK, where the first word starts with the letter "T." Given the last word of the phrase, the player must give the first word.

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]]> Categories Fit For 'Radio' To mark Liane Hansen's 20th anniversary hosting <em>Weekend Edition Sunday</em>, this puzzle is a game of categories using the word "radio." Will Shortz names the categories, and the guest names something in the categories beginning with each of the letters in "radio." Sun, 08 Nov 2009 00:33:00 -0500 http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=120183101&ft=1&f=4473090 http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=120183101&ft=1&f=4473090 To mark Liane Hansen's 20th anniversary hosting Weekend Edition Sunday, this puzzle is a game of categories using the word "radio." Will Shortz names the categories, and the guest names something in the categories beginning with each of the letters in "radio."

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]]> Fill In The Blanks Each clue is a sentence with two blanks. Fill in the blanks with two words that complete the phrase. But here's the twist: The words that complete the sentence are homophones of the words in the answer phrase. Sun, 01 Nov 2009 00:44:00 -0400 http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=114359136&ft=1&f=4473090 http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=114359136&ft=1&f=4473090 Each clue is a sentence with two blanks. Fill in the blanks with two words that complete the phrase. But here's the twist: The words that complete the sentence are homophones of the words in the answer phrase.

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]]> 'Mix And Match' These Word Ensembles This puzzle is called "Mix and Match." Every answer is a familiar two-word phrase in which the first word starts with M-I and the second word starts with M-A, as in "Mix and Match." For example, for the clue "a day before St. Patrick's Day," you would say "mid-March." Sat, 24 Oct 2009 20:19:00 -0400 http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=114135031&ft=1&f=4473090 http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=114135031&ft=1&f=4473090 This puzzle is called "Mix and Match." Every answer is a familiar two-word phrase in which the first word starts with M-I and the second word starts with M-A, as in "Mix and Match." For example, for the clue "a day before St. Patrick's Day," you would say "mid-March."

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]]> Get A Clue And A Four-Letter Word I'm going to give you some clues. The answer to each clue is a four-letter word which can be found in consecutive letters inside the clue. For example, if I said "a sail boat's part", you would say "spar", because a sail boat's part is a spar, and it's concealed in consecutive letters inside "sail boat's" parts. Sun, 18 Oct 2009 00:19:00 -0400 http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=113903073&ft=1&f=4473090 http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=113903073&ft=1&f=4473090 I'm going to give you some clues. The answer to each clue is a four-letter word which can be found in consecutive letters inside the clue. For example, if I said "a sail boat's part", you would say "spar", because a sail boat's part is a spar, and it's concealed in consecutive letters inside "sail boat's" parts.

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]]> P.S., Think U Have It Solved? This week's puzzle involves the letters P-S-U as in Portland State University, where Will spoke on Saturday. Each answer is a familiar two-word phrase in which the first word starts with "P" and the second word starts with "SU." So if the clue is "What a lawyer conducts to see if an invention has been made before," the answer would be "patent survey." Sun, 11 Oct 2009 00:29:00 -0400 http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=113671402&ft=1&f=4473090 http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=113671402&ft=1&f=4473090 This week's puzzle involves the letters P-S-U as in Portland State University, where Will spoke on Saturday. Each answer is a familiar two-word phrase in which the first word starts with "P" and the second word starts with "SU." So if the clue is "What a lawyer conducts to see if an invention has been made before," the answer would be "patent survey."

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]]> These C's Come In Threes Each clue consists of two words starting with the letter "C." The answer is a third word starting with "C" that can follow the first word and precede the second one to complete a compound word or familiar two-word phrase. Sun, 04 Oct 2009 00:40:00 -0400 http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=113456761&ft=1&f=4473090 http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=113456761&ft=1&f=4473090 Each clue consists of two words starting with the letter "C." The answer is a third word starting with "C" that can follow the first word and precede the second one to complete a compound word or familiar two-word phrase.

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]]> Initially, Michigan's Upper Peninsula This week's puzzle is in honor of Michigan's Upper Peninsula. Because U.P. is short for Upper Peninsula, each answer has "U" and "P" in it. The first clue is: "U" and "P" are the initials of a common two-word phrase naming something holding a street lamp. What is it? Sat, 26 Sep 2009 20:00:00 -0400 http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=113240257&ft=1&f=4473090 http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=113240257&ft=1&f=4473090 This week's puzzle is in honor of Michigan's Upper Peninsula. Because U.P. is short for Upper Peninsula, each answer has "U" and "P" in it. The first clue is: "U" and "P" are the initials of a common two-word phrase naming something holding a street lamp. What is it?

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]]> Give A Ring, Get A Grin For each clue, the answer is a four-letter word. The word is an anagram of one of the words in the clue. For example, if the clue is "main line through Egypt," the answer would be "Nile," because Nile is a rearrangement of the letters in "line." Sun, 20 Sep 2009 08:46:00 -0400 http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=113005280&ft=1&f=4473090 http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=113005280&ft=1&f=4473090 For each clue, the answer is a four-letter word. The word is an anagram of one of the words in the clue. For example, if the clue is "main line through Egypt," the answer would be "Nile," because Nile is a rearrangement of the letters in "line."

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]]> Maybe Not So Easy As Pie This puzzle is called "Dividing the Pie." Every answer is a familiar two-word phrase in which the first word starts "pi" and the second word ends with "e." So, the "pi-e" is divided. For example, if the clue is "power source for most automobiles," the answer would be "piston engine." Sun, 13 Sep 2009 00:22:00 -0400 http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=112759216&ft=1&f=4473090 http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=112759216&ft=1&f=4473090 This puzzle is called "Dividing the Pie." Every answer is a familiar two-word phrase in which the first word starts "pi" and the second word ends with "e." So, the "pi-e" is divided. For example, if the clue is "power source for most automobiles," the answer would be "piston engine."

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]]> 'A' Test Of Islands For each word given, add the letter "a" and rearrange all the letters to name a well-known island. For example, if the clue is "trees," add an "a" to get the answer: Easter. Sat, 05 Sep 2009 16:05:00 -0400 http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=112590497&ft=1&f=4473090 http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=112590497&ft=1&f=4473090 For each word given, add the letter "a" and rearrange all the letters to name a well-known island. For example, if the clue is "trees," add an "a" to get the answer: Easter.

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]]> Reading Backward Is The Trick Each answer starts with a clue for a six-letter word. If you drop the first letter and read the remaining letters backward, you'll get a five-letter word that answers a second clue. Sat, 29 Aug 2009 00:31:00 -0400 http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=112371500&ft=1&f=4473090 http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=112371500&ft=1&f=4473090 Each answer starts with a clue for a six-letter word. If you drop the first letter and read the remaining letters backward, you'll get a five-letter word that answers a second clue.

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]]> Scramble The Word To Get One Like The Other From two given four-letter words, rearrange the letters of one of them to get a synonym of the other. For example, given "each" and "pain," the answer is "ache," because "ache" is an anagram of "each," and it means "pain." Sun, 23 Aug 2009 23:55:00 -0400 http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=112139959&ft=1&f=4473090 http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=112139959&ft=1&f=4473090 From two given four-letter words, rearrange the letters of one of them to get a synonym of the other. For example, given "each" and "pain," the answer is "ache," because "ache" is an anagram of "each," and it means "pain."

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