Fill In The Blanks

On-Air Challenge

Every answer is a familiar phrase in the form of ____ and ____. 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.

For example: When the vegetable store received a fresh supply of ____, excited customers lined up in ____. The answer would be "peas" and "queues," as in "a fresh supply of peas; the customers lined up in queues," with "P's and Q's" being a familiar phrase.

Last Week's Challenge

Take the name "Boris Karloff." It contains the letters of "Oslo" in left-to-right order (although not consecutively). Now write down these three names: Leonardo da Vinci, Frank Sinatra, Stephen Douglas. Each conceals the name of another world capital in left-to-right order, although not in consecutive letters. What capitals are these?

ANSWER: Leonardo da Vinci = London. Frank Sinatra = Ankara. Stephen Douglas = Seoul

WINNER: Lee Schipper of Berkeley, Calif.

Next Week's Challenge

From listener Ed Pegg Jr., who runs MathPuzzle.com:

Take the name "Noah Adams," as in the former host of All Things Considered. Add the phrase "false teeth." You can rearrange all 19 letters to name a famous work of literature. What is it?

Submit Your Answer

If you know the answer to next week's challenge, submit it here. Listeners who submit correct answers win a chance to play the on-air puzzle. Important: Include a phone number where we can reach you Thursday at 3 p.m. Eastern.