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Will Shortz Will Shortz has been the puzzle master for NPR's Weekend Edition Sunday since the program's start in 1987.
Will Shortz
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Will Shortz

Sunday Puzzle

Take A Risk To Be Risque

Start with two sentences. Each sentence has two blanks. Put a word in the first blank. Add a long 'A' sound to the end of it to get a new word, phonetically, that will go in the second blank to complete the sentence.

Take A Risk To Be Risque

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Sunday Puzzle

The Most Common Consonants, In Any Order

Three of the most common consonants of the English language are R, S and T. Every answer today is a word, name or phrase that contains each of the letters R, S and T exactly once, along with any number of vowels. For example, if the clue is "short-winded," the answer would be, "terse." Note: The R, S and T can appear in any order.

The Most Common Consonants, In Any Order

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Sunday Puzzle

Special Edition: This Game's A Beach

The challenge is a game of categories. The word is "beach." Each clue is a category, and for each category, the goal is to name something in it starting with each of the letters in "beach."

Special Edition: This Game's A Beach

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Sunday Puzzle

Have A Cow

The theme today is "cow." Every answer is a familiar two-word phrase or name in which the first word starts with "co" and the second word starts with "w." For example, if the clue is "person who can fix a hard drive in 10 minutes," the answer would be, "computer whiz."

Have A Cow

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Sunday Puzzle

First And Last Rhymes

Every answer is a familiar three-word phrase. The clues are two-word phrases. The first word of each phrase rhymes with the first word of the answer. The last word of the phrase rhymes with the last word of the answer. For example, if the clue is, "Split this," the answer would be, "Hit or miss."

First And Last Rhymes

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Sunday Puzzle

Building On Four-Letter Words

There are three four-letter words. Think of three letters that can precede each of them to complete familiar seven-letter words. For example, for "each," "rove" and "lode," the answer is "IMP": impeach, improve and implode.

Building On Four-Letter Words

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Sunday Puzzle

Testy Wordplay

Today's puzzle is called "test." Every answer is a familiar two-word phrase, in which the first word starts with "te" and the second word starts with "st." For example, if the clue is "cut of beef that is often grilled or barbecued," the answer would be "tenderloin steak."

Testy Wordplay

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Sunday Puzzle

Three Of A Kind

Each clue is a list of three things. The answer is what they all have in common. For example, if the clues are: "a college graduate, a thermometer and longitude," the answer would be "degrees." Hint: Every answer, like "degrees," is a seven-letter plural.

Three Of A Kind

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Sunday Puzzle

A Tough Act To Follow

Each clue is a pair of words. For each pair, find a word that can follow the first word and precede the second one so that, in each case, it will complete a familiar two-word phrase. For example, given "hand" and "talk," the answer would be "jive," as in "hand jive" and "jive talk."

A Tough Act To Follow

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Sunday Puzzle

Look Inside A Famous Person

Each clue is a pair of four-letter words. Each can be found inside the first and last names, respectively, of a famous person. For example, given "rend" and "rase," the answer would be "Brendan Fraser," the actor.

Look Inside A Famous Person

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Sunday Puzzle

Flush The Birds

Change one letter in each of two words of a sentence to name birds. For example: "Is actor Dennis Quaid afraid of the dark?" The answer: Quail and Lark (Change the "d" in "quaid" to make "quail" and change the "d" in "dark" to make "lark."). It's always the same letter of the alphabet that changes — twice for each sentence, and the letter it changes to is also the same.

Flush The Birds

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Sunday Puzzle

A Mother Lode Of Brainteasers

This week's puzzle is an assortment of brainteasers that all have to do with the word "mother." The first challenge: Rearrange the letters of "mothers" to name something you might drink from. The answer: "thermos."

A Mother Lode Of Brainteasers

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Sunday Puzzle

Make A Name For Yourself

Every answer is the name of a famous person whose first and last names start with the same letter and end in the same letter. For example, given "the poet who wrote poems about imaginary gardens with real toads in them" and the letters M and E, the answer would be "Marianne Moore."

Make A Name For Yourself

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Sunday Puzzle

Put The Meaning In Reverse

For each sentence given, change just one letter in one word to reverse the sentence's meaning. For example, given "The guard will not let you through the gate," you would change the T in "not" to a W for, "The guard will now let you through the gate."

Put The Meaning In Reverse

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