"It’s a Commutationist plot!" Synonymatography; “Comedeity!” “No inaugruel for you!” Ammocamorama

P! SLICES: OVER (pe)³ – (e⁴ + p³) SERVED

Welcome to our January 20^th edition Joseph Young’s Puzzleria! It is not our inaugural Puzzleria! of 2017… That was two weeks ago.

But we are hoping that all of 2017 augurs well rather than ill for all Puzzlerians! everywhere… and for the Green Bay Packers and their fans! Everywhere.

Here is some historical Green and Gold perspective:

If the Packers can beat the Falcons in Atlanta on Sunday in the NFC championship game they will compete in Super Bowl LI on February 5^th in Houston. It would be the Packers’ sixth Super Bowl appearance. Their Super Bowl record is 4-1. Atlanta’s SB record is 0-1.

Of the AFC teams still alive, the Pittsburgh Steelers’ Super Bowl record is 6-2, and the New England Patriots are 4-4.

A Packer/Patriot Super Bowl would be a rematch of Super Bowl XXXI, won by Green Bay. A Packer/Steeler Super Bowl would be a rematch of Super Bowl XLV, also won by Green Bay.

I had been hoping that the Kansas City Chiefs would have beaten the Steelers this past weekend so that a rematch of the very first Super Bowl, won by the Packers over the Chiefs, would have been possible.  

We offer nine puzzles on our menus this week, including five that Rip Off Shortz. Please have a ball... or two, three, four or more.

Hors d’Oeuvre Menu

Sestet Hors d’Oeuvre:

“It’s a Commutationist plot!”

There were charges galore, even “aiding the enemy,”

For an act they claimed compromised U.S. hegemony.

The defense: “I tried thwarting the spread of tyrannicals.”

The accused, though, found guilty, was fitted with manacles.

After years, commutation is met with fists clenching…

We’re a nation divided – sides ever entrenching.

The sestet above contains three rhyming couplets. Take one of the two rhyming words from each of the three couplets. 

Rearrange the letters in these three words to form three new words that have very recently appeared together in news reports.

What are these three words?

Morsel Menu

Smile, You’re On Candidate Camera Morsel:

“No inaugruel for you!”

ONE: Name a vice-presidential candidate, first and last names, who did not have an opportunity to be a main celebrant at an inauguration or inaugural balls.

Delete the last three letters of the first name. Replace the second letter of the last name with the last letter of the last name, and replace the fourth letter of the last name with a different consonant. Delete all letters after the fourth.

The result is a presidential candidate (and president!) who did not have an opportunity to be a main celebrant at an inauguration or inaugural balls.

Hint: The two candidates are from roughly the same era, but are from different parties.

TWO: Now name a presidential candidate who did not have an opportunity to be a main celebrant at an inauguration or inaugural balls, first and last name. The fourth, seventh and eighth letters of the name can be rearranged to form the world “old.” Replace those three letters with the rearranged letters in the misspelled word “erk,” and move the space between names to a different place. The result is a U.S. senator who has not had an opportunity to be a main celebrant at a national inauguration or inaugural balls.

Who are the two candidates from roughly the same era? Who are this “old” presidential candidate and “erksome” senator?

Hint #1: The presidential candidate and senator are from different eras as well as from different parties.

Hint #2: Were the presidential candidate still alive, he would be “old” compared to the senator. The senator tends to “erk” some conservative Republicans. 

Appetizer Menu

British Swashbuckler Appetizer:

Synonymatography

 

Think of a two-word title of a movie released around the time of the most recent turn of the century, give or take a couple of years or so. Remove the title’s last letter.

Place a duplicate of the first letter of the first at the beginning of the second word. Move the former first letter of the second word so that it replaces the middle letter of the first word.

Both words in this altered movie title are now synonyms of each other.

 

What is the title? What are the synonyms?

Hint: The first eight letters of the movie’s title are the first eight letters in the name of a location associated with a legendary British swashbuckler and archer.

MENU 

Ripping Off Shortz And Collins Slices:

“Comedeity!”

Will Shortz’s January 15^th NPR Weekend Edition Sunday puzzle, composed by Peter Collins, reads:

Take the first and last names of a famous comedian. The first three letters of the first name and the first letter of the last name, in order, spell the name of a god in mythology. The fourth letter of the first name and the second-through-fourth letters of the last name, in order, spell the name of another god.

Who is the comedian, and what gods are these?

 

Puzzleria’s Riffing Off Shortz And Collins Slices read:

ONE: Take the first and last names of a somewhat famous comedian. The first four letters of the first name and the first letter of the last name, in order, spell the name of a god. The fifth letter of the first name, the second-through-fourth letters of the last name, plus one “r”, all mixed up, spell the creature a Celtic war goddess might take the form of, in five letters.

Who is the comedian, what god is this, and what creature is this?

TWO: Take the first and last names of a famous comedian. The third, fourth, sixth and seventh letters of the first name, in order, spell the name of a god in mythology. The third-through-sixth letters of the last name, in order, spell the name of another god.

Who is the comedian, and what gods are these?

THREE: Take the first and last names of an obscure major league ball player whose team might well have won the World Series had he not been on the bench during the ninth inning of Game 6.

The first two letters of the first name, the ninth and sixth letters of the last name, in order, spell a name that means “God is my judge.”

The fourth-through-eighth letters of the second name, in order but substituting a different vowel for the sixth letter, spell the name of a Roman god.

The last two letters of the first name and the first three letters of the last name, in order, spell the name of a Roman goddess.

Who is the ballplayer, and what Roman deities are these?

FOUR: Take the first and last names of a famous comedian. The first five letters of the first name and the first letter of the last name, in order, spell the name of a god.

The five letters of the last name, in order, spell the first name of a king in the Roman foundation myth which is also the title of a book written by “a servant of God.”

The sixth-through-eleventh letters of the first name, in order, spell the first name of an actor who got his start on a sitcom. The actor’s last name is what the “servant of God” wishes for his book’s title character, in the name of the god formed by the first five letters of the first name and the first letter of the last name of the comedian.

Who is this comedian? What are the king’s first name and book title, and the actor’s full name?

FIVE: Take the first and last names of a comedian who has appeared on the Late Show with David Letterman. The first two letters of the first name and the first two letters of the last name, in order, spell the name of a goddess in Hawaiian mythology. The last two letters of the first name and the first two letters of the last name followed by the first letter in Sirens, in order, spell the name of a Siren in Greek mythology.

Who is the comedian, and what goddess and Siren are these?

Dessert Menu

Ice-Augeral Dessert:

Ammocamorama

A live bait, tackle and gun shop is situated along a Minnesota highway between the Twin Cities and Brainerd. It sells leeches, minnows, rifles, ammo, decoys, bobbers, camo jackets, flavored corn and carp baits, and ice augers. 

But a sign hanging outside the store suggests that the shop may be open to buying certain things from its customers, or perhaps at least bartering for them.

The sign (which should include some punctuation, but does not) consists, in order, of a six-letter verb, a four-letter noun used as a modifier, and a five-letter plural noun.

Out in the great outdoorsy nature, however, the sign’s words might well be interpreted as a reason why a customer of the shop may not be successful in bagging his desired prey. Under this interpretation, the same three-word phrase would consist of a six-letter adjective, a four-letter noun and a five-letter verb, and would require no punctuation whatsoever.

What are these three words on the sign?

Every Friday at Joseph Young’s Puzzleria! 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 Wednesdays to post your answers and explain your hints about the puzzles. We serve up at least one fresh puzzle every Friday.

We invite you to make it a habit to “Meet at Joe’s!” If you enjoy our weekly puzzle party, please tell your friends about Joseph Young’s Puzzleria! Thank you.