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Sunday, August 05, 2012

Put Two Up Front For Two New Words

August 5, 2012 You are given two five-letter words. Put the same pair of letters in front of each of them to complete two familiar seven-letter words.

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Sunday, July 29, 2012

Name That (Former) Olympic Sport

July 29, 2012 Every answer is the name of a former Olympic sport. Given an anagram, you name the sport. For example, "flog" becomes "golf."

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Sunday, July 22, 2012

This Puzzle Is One For The PROs

July 22, 2012 Every answer is a familiar two-word phrase or name in which the first word starts with "P" and the second word starts with "RO." For example: For the clue, "A moving part of an automobile engine," the answer would be a "piston rod."

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Sunday, July 15, 2012

Following The Trail

July 15, 2012 For each category, name something in the category starting with each of the letters in the word "trail." For example, if the category were "books of the Bible," you might say Timothy, Ruth, Amos, Isaiah and Leviticus.

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Sunday, July 08, 2012

If You Want In The Mix, You've Got To Split The Six

July 8, 2012 For each six-letter word given, rearrange the letters to make two three-letter words that rhyme. Example: For the word "tweets," the pair of rhyming three-letter words would be "wet" and "set."

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Sunday, July 01, 2012

Mixing It Up On The Baseball Diamond

July 1, 2012 Every answer is the name of a Major League Baseball team. Given anagrams of their names, each with one letter added, name the teams. Example: "dress" would be "Reds."

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Sunday, June 24, 2012

Finding The Common Thread

June 24, 2012 Given three words starting with the letter "F," the answer is a word that can follow each of the words to complete a familiar two-word phrase. For example, if given "flag, father's and field," the answer would be "day."

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Sunday, June 17, 2012

Hit Me Baby One More Time

June 17, 2012 Every answer is a word, phrase or name starting with the letter "B," ending in "Y" and having "A" and "B" inside, in that order, although not necessarily consecutively. For example, the answer to "assistant to a baseball team" would be either "batboy" or "ballboy."

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Sunday, June 10, 2012

This Changes Everything!

June 10, 2012 Given a sentence, change one letter in one word to make a new word which completely reverses the meaning of the sentence.

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Sunday, June 03, 2012

That's Jakarta, With A Capital 'J'

June 3, 2012 Every answer is the name of a world capital. You'll be given clues to its phonetic parts, and you name the capital. For example, given the clues "person from Bangkok" and "salary," the answer would be Taipei ("Thai" plus "pay").

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Sunday, May 27, 2012

Just Give It A Shot In The Dark

May 27, 2012 Every answer is a phrase in the form "___ in the ___." You'll be given rhymes for the first and last words, and you give the phrases.

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Sunday, May 20, 2012

Initially Famous 2: Electric Boogaloo

May 20, 2012 This week's on-air challenge is a twist on "Characteristic Initials." We will gives clues for some famous people, past and present. The initial letters of the clues are also the initials of the answers.

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Sunday, May 13, 2012

You Two, Move To The Back Of The Line

May 13, 2012 The word "mother" has a surprising property. If you move the first two letters to the end, you get "thermo," the prefix for "heat." Every answer today is another six-letter word that, when you move the first two letters to the end, you get another word or phrase.

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Sunday, May 06, 2012

Brave Sir Robin Ran Away, But The Puzzle Is Still OK

May 6, 2012 You'll be given a series of categories. For each one, name something in the category beginning with each of the letters of the word "robin." For example, given the category "two-syllable boys' names," the answers could be "Roger," "Omar," "Barry," "Isaac" and "Neville."

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Sunday, April 29, 2012

To Cross This Puzzle Safely, Look Left And Right

April 29, 2012 Every answer today is a familiar three-word phrase in which the second word is "and" and the first word starts with the letter "L." You'll be given the last word of the phrase, and you must identify the first word, starting with "L." For example, given "master," the answer would be "lord," as in "lord and master."

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Sunday Puzzle 2 col

Each week, New York Times crossword puzzle editor and NPR's Puzzlemaster Will Shortz presents an on-air quiz to one contestant and gives a challenge for Weekend Edition listeners at home.

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