EYDER PERALTA, HOST:
And it's time to play The Puzzle.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
PERALTA: Joining us, as always, is Will Shortz. He's the puzzle editor of The New York Times and WEEKEND EDITION'S puzzlemaster. Hey there, Will.
WILL SHORTZ, BYLINE: Good morning, Eyder.
PERALTA: So, Will, could you please remind us of last week's challenge?
SHORTZ: Yes, it came from listener Elaine Elinson of San Francisco. I said name a tree. In the very middle of the word, insert a homophone of another tree, and the result will be a new word describing what everyone wants to be. What is it? Well, the tree is a poplar. Insert the yew, Y-E-W, tree in the middle, and you get popular. Everyone wants to be popular.
PERALTA: So now, this puzzle was pretty popular (laughter) with over 1,100 correct submissions. Am I the only one who laughed at that? Come on. Our Puzzle winner this week is Kris Garcia of Springfield, Mo. Congratulations, and welcome to the show.
KRIS GARCIA: Thank you.
PERALTA: So Kris, how long have you been playing The Puzzle?
GARCIA: Well, a long time. I haven't been submitting for that long, but I've been listening for years.
PERALTA: Nice. So are you ready to play the puzzle?
GARCIA: I hope so.
PERALTA: All right. Take it away, Will.
SHORTZ: All right, Kris, I'm going to read you some sentences. Each sentence contains the name of a fruit hidden in consecutive letters. For example, if I said wash with soap, please, you would say apple, because the letters A-P-P-L-E are hidden consecutively inside soap, please. Here we go. Number one, I hope a check arrives tomorrow.
GARCIA: Peach.
SHORTZ: Excellent. And to let you know, every fruit has five or more letters. Number two is, get it on sale Monday.
GARCIA: A melon - lemon.
SHORTZ: Lemon is right. Mars is a Roman god.
PERALTA: They're in season right now in Mexico City.
SHORTZ: And it's hidden inside Roman god.
GARCIA: Mango.
SHORTZ: Mango is it. Halos are headwear for angels.
GARCIA: Let's see.
SHORTZ: And look in those last two words, for angels.
GARCIA: I was going to say - oranges.
SHORTZ: Orange is correct. The producer is making rap easy.
GARCIA: Rap? R-A-P?
SHORTZ: Oh, R-A-P, yeah, like the music producer.
GARCIA: OK.
SHORTZ: The key to solving puzzles like this is to look at the most awkward part of the sentence. And here, you would look at making rap easy.
GARCIA: Making rap, OK. Grape.
SHORTZ: Grape is it. If it's organic, her rye bread is fine.
GARCIA: This whole sentence is kind of awkward. (Laughter). Cherry.
SHORTZ: Cherry. You got it. With helpers, I'm monitoring the situation. And here's your hint - the fruit's name starts somewhere inside the word helpers. With helpers, I'm monitoring the situation.
GARCIA: Persimmon.
SHORTZ: Persimmon, you got it. You can heap ricotta in lasagna.
GARCIA: Let's see.
SHORTZ: And look inside heap ricotta.
GARCIA: Apricot.
SHORTZ: Apricot. You got it. That was so dumb an analogy.
GARCIA: I thought you were talking about the last clue.
(LAUGHTER)
SHORTZ: No, that's not a comment. That's a sentence fruit.
GARCIA: A tangelo. Nope.
SHORTZ: No. That was so dumb an analogy.
GARCIA: Banana.
SHORTZ: Banana is it. A Nicaragua vacation would be nice now.
GARCIA: Guava.
SHORTZ: Guava is it. I went to Liverpool to see the Beatles.
GARCIA: Oh, man. Olive.
SHORTZ: Olive is it, and here's your last one. The writer put anger in every line.
GARCIA: Tangerine.
SHORTZ: Tangerine. Nice job.
PERALTA: That was amazing, Kris. That was a hard one. How do you feel?
GARCIA: That was hard. It's always harder when you do it in person than when you're home drinking a cup of coffee on your sofa.
SHORTZ: You're not the first person to say that.
GARCIA: (Laughter)./ I hear that every week.
PERALTA: For playing our puzzle today, you'll get a WEEKEND EDITION lapel pin, as well as puzzle books and games. You can read all about it at npr.org/puzzle. And, Kris, what member station do you listen to?
GARCIA: I'm a sustaining member at KSMU here in Springfield.
PERALTA: That's Kris Garcia of Springfield, Mo. Thank you for playing The Puzzle.
GARCIA: Thank you so much. It was fun.
PERALTA: All right, Will, what is next week's challenge?
SHORTZ: Yes, it comes from listener Jim Francis of Kirkland, Wash. Take this equation - 14 + 116 + 68 = 47. Clearly, this doesn't work mathematically, but it does work in a nonmathematical way, so please explain. Here's the equation again - 14 + 116 + 68 = 47. Explain how this equation works in a nonmathematical way.
PERALTA: When you have the answer, go to our website, npr.org/puzzle, and click on the Submit Your Answer link. Remember, just one entry, please. Our deadline for entries this week is Thursday, March 2 at 3 p.m. Eastern. Don't forget to include a phone number where we can reach you. If you're the winner, we'll give you a call. And if you pick up the phone, you'll get to play on the air with the puzzle editor of The New York Times and puzzlemaster of WEEKEND EDITION, Will Shortz. Will, thank you.
SHORTZ: Thanks a lot.
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