IHOP(uzzles); Alphabetics Antonymous; Silver and Small

Open the windows. Take a peek out. Breathe the breeze in. We are passing Maypril by. Joseph Young’s Puzzle -ria! Express is chuffing and steaming into summer like a rollicking  “Logomotive.” Hop aboard. It’s Friday!

 

We were gratified this past week to hear the puzzle offered by puzzle master Dr. Will Shortz on National Public Radio’s Weekend Edition Sunday.

(Click on the link above and look for “Next Week’s Challenge.” You will find an excellent puzzle created by Ed Pegg Jr.)

Why are we gratified? Well, because we suspect the incisive answer to the NPR puzzle (See Blaine’s blog) is Will’s way of giving a subtle shout-out to the ruminative, “chewy” and ultimately, we hope, toothsome nature of our business here at Joseph Young’s Puzzle -ria!

And so in that spirit, we present these three piping fresh Joseph Young’s Puzzleria! posers to tickle your ivories:

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Cosmopolitan Slice
“IHOP = International House Of Puzzles”
Place the surname of an author after a certain mythological figure (with no space between them), resulting in a variety of a food. Each of these three words is associated with a different nation. What are these words and their nations of origin?

Specialty of the House Slice
“Alphabetics Antonymous”
A word and its antonym end with the same two letters in the same order. The remaining letters of the two words, if you replace a vowel with a different vowel, can be rearranged to form a string of consecutive letters in the alphabet. What are these antonyms?



Celebrity Slice
“Screens Silver and Small”
Think of an award-winning film with a two-word title. The first word sounds like the last name of a cast member of a popular past TV series. The second word is the last name of another cast member on the same series. These cast members share two other things in common regarding their names: one thing on the TV series and the other thing in real life. Who are these cast members, and what is the film?

Every Friday at Joseph Young’s Puzzle -ria! we publish a new menu of fresh word puzzles, number puzzles, logic puzzles, puzzles of all varieties and flavors. We cater to cravers of scrumptious puzzles!

 

Our master chef, Grecian gourmet puzzle-creator Lego Lambda, blends and bakes up mysterious (and sometimes questionable) toppings and spices (such as alphabet soup, Mobius bacon strips, diced snake eyes, cubed radishes, “hominym” grits, anagraham crackers, rhyme thyme and sage sprinklings.)

Please post your comments below. Feel free also to post clever and subtle hints that do not give the puzzle answers away. Please wait until after 3 p.m. Eastern Time on Tuesdays to post your answers and explain your hints about the puzzles. We plan to serve up at least one fresh puzzle every Friday.

We invite you to make it a habit to “Meet at Joe’s!” If you like our “mystic puzzleria” please tell your friends about us. Thank you.

Memento Mori, "Tonight, tonight!" Swashbuckling Frogs

Welcome to Week 3 of Joseph Young’s Puzzle -ria!
Remember, T.G.I.F. (Think Good, It’s Friday!)

 We remember also, on this most solemn of holiday weekends, to thank all those, living and deceased, who have served and sacrificed to make our world a more free, secure and better place. This includes, of course, those in the armed services. But here at Joseph Young’s Puzzle -ria! we also pause to remember and thank all those civilians (like our parents, teachers, friends, etc.) who have served and sacrificed to make our lives better.

We hope that this week’s trio of fresh Joseph Young’s Puzzle -ria! offerings proves to be memorable and will set your hearts aflame with puzzle passion… but will not give you heartburn.

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Memorial Day Weekend Slice
“Memento Mori”
Explain what somewhat unusual property the following words share: Marine, hide, pal, flaky, wind, scar and the Latin word “mori.” Name another word with this property. Bonus points if you can name a seven-letter word with this property. Hint: “Memorial,” as in Memorial Day, just misses qualifying.

 

Sporty Slice (That’s Slice, not Spice!):
“Tonight, Tonight, at the Palindrome!”
Professional sports has had scores of commissioners and other executives over the years. The last name of one of those professional pooh-bahs is the same as the last name of another spelled backward. Who are these execs?

Easy-As-Pizza-Pie Slice:
“Frogs with Swords!”
“Gunfire and napalm overwhelm and bamboozle spineless and croaking swashbucklers.” What property do the non-conjunctive words in this sentence share?

Every Friday at Joseph Young’s Puzzle -ria! we publish a new menu of fresh word puzzles, number puzzles, logic puzzles, puzzles of all varieties and flavors. We cater to cravers of scrumptious puzzles!

Our master chef, Grecian gourmet puzzle-creator Lego Lambda, blends and bakes up mysterious (and sometimes questionable) toppings and spices (such as alphabet soup, Mobius bacon strips, diced snake eyes, cubed radishes, “hominym” grits, anagraham crackers, rhyme thyme and sage sprinklings.)

Please post your comments below. We feed you puzzles. You give us feedback! Feel free also to post clever and subtle hints that do not give the puzzle answers away. We may even post a few hints of our own as the week progresses.

Please wait until after 3 p.m. Eastern Time on Tuesdays to post your answers and explain your hints about the puzzles. We plan to serve up at least one fresh puzzle every Friday.

We invite you to make it a habit to “Meet at Joe’s!” If you like our “mystic puzzleria” tell your friends about us. Thank you.

Trivial Scribble, Ninth Number, Anna Graham

Welcome to Joseph Young’s Puzzle -ria! This is our second week in business. Puzzleria! was buzzin’ last week. Remember, T.G.I.F. (Think Good, It’s Friday!)

Every Friday at Joseph Young’s Puzzle -ria we publish a new menu of fresh word puzzles, number puzzles, logic puzzles, puzzles of all varieties and flavors. We cater to cravers of scrumptious puzzles!

My partner is a gourmet puzzle maker from Greece named Lego Lambda. He blends and bakes up mysterious (and sometimes questionable) toppings and spices (such as alphabet soup, Mobius bacon strips, diced snake eyes, cubed radishes, “hominym” grits, anagraham crackers, rhyme thyme and sage sprinklings.)

 

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Specialty of the House Slice:
“Trivial Scribble”
What three-word phrase is a bad thing if you’re playing Trivial Pursuit, not a bad thing if you’re playing Scrabble, and a thing that might seem to be a logical impossibility if you’re playing Pictionary?

Integral Slice:
Seven-come-what-May
Name the ninth number in the following sequence:
2, 5, 5, 4, 5, 6, 3, 7, __
Explain your answer.

Alfalfa-Butter Slice:
Graham cracked her conundrum… can you?
“_____ _____ its ugly head.” Several different pairs of words can fill those two blanks. Anna Graham chooses two she likes. Then she rearranges the letters in them to form a single word. What are Anna’s two words, and what is the single word she forms from them?

Celebrity Slice:
“Silen Screen”
Two actresses who are not United States natives (but are well known to U.S. cinephiles) have surnames that are approximate rhymes. The surname of one ends in a silent letter. Add that letter to the end of the other’s surname, and move the previous two letters of that surname to the beginning. The result is the surname of a well-known actor. Who are these thespians?

Please post your comments below. We feed you puzzles. You give us feedback! Feel free also to post clever and subtle hints that do not give the puzzle answers away. We may even post a few hints of our own as the week progresses.

Please wait until after 3 p.m. Eastern Time on Tuesdays to post your answers and explain your hints about the puzzles. We at Joseph Young’s Puzzle -ria plan to serve up at least one fresh puzzle every Friday.

We invite you to make it a habit to “Meet at Joe’s!” If you like our “mystic puzzleria” tell your friends about us. Thank you. 

Joseph Young’s Puzzle -ria! Grand Opening

Welcome to Joseph Young’s Puzzle -ria! This is our Grand Opening, May 9, 2014.

Every Friday at Joseph Young’s Puzzle -ria! we publish a new menu of fresh word puzzles, number puzzles, logic puzzles, puzzles of all varieties and flavors. We cater to cravers of appetizing puzzles!

My partner is a gourmet puzzle maker from Greece named Lego Lambda. He creates and serves up priceless slices of savory "puzzla pie," blending and baking up mysterious (and sometimes questionable) toppings and spices (such as alphabet soup, Mobius bacon strips, diced snake eyes, cubed radishes, “hominym” grits, anagraham crackers, rhyme thyme and sage sprinklings.)

Here's this week’s inaugural menu:

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Specialty of the House Slice:

"Mop-up Needed in Produce!"
Attach one letter to the beginning of an item you might buy in a grocery’s produce department. Divide the result to form two words that are somewhat synonymous with excitement, confusion or commotion. What are these two words and the grocery item?

Sporty Slice: (Not to be confused with Sporty Spice, Melanie Chisholm)

Major League Litmus Test
Battery mates Harry Byrd and Frank House and, later, John Hiller and Tom Haller were teammates of a Hall of Fame Major Leaguer whose first and last names, when written without upper case or a space, spell out an adjective that can describe a battery, and which means having a pH of more than 7. In the 20th season of his career, this Hall-of-Famer had a PH of more than 7, statistically. (He had 10 Pinch Hits.) Who is he?

Please post your comments. We feed you puzzles. You give us feedback! Feel free to post clever and subtle hints that do not give the answers away. We may even post a few hints of our own as the week progresses.

Please wait until after 3 p.m. Eastern Time on Tuesdays to post your answers and explain your hints about the puzzles. We at Joseph Young’s Puzzle -ria! plan to serve up at least one fresh puzzle every Friday.

We invite you to make it a habit to “Meet at Joe’s!” If you like our "mystic puzzleria" tell your friends about us. Thank you.