The pitter-patter of little fruit; Oscar Wiener Mayer links relinked; Whet o difference un “a” mikes…; Frank Carpa? Mel Brooktrout? Six-for-six… that’s acting a thousand; “Sure, you may be getting sleepy, but the winner is…” Spartans of peach

P! SLICES: OVER (65 + 432) SERVED

Welcome to our February 24^th edition Joseph Young’s Puzzleria! We would like to thank the Academy for awarding us with fodder for our half-a-dozen puzzles this week that pertain to the acting profession.

We would also like to thank Will Shortz for his production of an NPR Sunday puzzle that we adapted (to computer screen) for a trilogy of Ripping Off Shortz puzzles.

And thanks also to Steve Bannon for tossing us a nice fat “adverbial softball” that we hit out of Fenway with our “Spartans of Peach” Dessert.  

That makes ten puzzles. I would also like to thank... (Music from the orchestra pit begins “playingLegoLambda off” stage)

Please enjoy our award-winning puzzles.

Hors d’Oeuvre Menu

Executive Casting Hors d’Oeuvre

He gets to play the president?!

Name something an actor auditions for and hopes to land during a casting call, in two words. Rearrange the letters to form the last name of a U.S. president.

Who is this president? For what does an actor audition?

Morsel Menu

Who’s Right With This Picture Morsel:

Six-for-six… that’s acting a thousand

An actor appeared or costarred in only six full-length feature motion pictures. All six films were nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture, and three of the six won the Best Picture Oscar.

Who is this actor?

Appetizer Menu

Kitchen Inspector Gadget Appetizer:

The pitter-patter of little fruit

Move the last letter of the first name of a well-known movie director to the end of the director’s last name, resulting in a kitchen gadget that is also known as a “cherry pitter.” 

Who is this director?

MENU 

The Heavy-Eyelidded Envelope Please Slice:

“Sure, you may be getting sleepy, but the winner is…”

In his cameo role in the 2001 movie “Shallow Hal,” Tony Robbins hypnotizes Jack Black’s character. Alas, the Academy did not recognize Robbins’ performance.

As the title character in “Candyman” (1992), Tony Todd went to a hypnotist so he could be more relaxed for scenes in which he is suspended swinging in a heavyweight harness, runs through a bonfire and is covered with 30,000 bees... but won no award for his efforts.

In “Audry Rose” (1977), the girl that Tony Hopkins’ character believes is the reincarnation of his deceased daughter dies while being hypnotized. But sadly, no award.

There is a whole lot of hypnotism happening in “Trance” (2013), but it is conducted by Rosario Dawson as Elizabeth, not, alas, by Tony Jayawardena as Security Guard #2.

The cast of the 2012 Swedish movie “The Hypnotist” includes actors named Oscar Pettersson and Emma Mehonic. Alas, neither plays the title role.

Showtime’s Emmy Rossum was once nominated for a Golden Globe Award, but not for an Emmy or Oscar. (But perhaps, had she been cast as a hypnotist…)

In “Dead Again” (1991), Emma Thompson’s character “Grace” is a hypnotizee... but alas not a hypnotizer.

In “The Testament of Dr. Mabuse” (1933), the spirit of the deceased title character, a mad hypnotist, merges with the silhouette of Oscar Beregi Sr.’s character.

You would think the names Oscar, Tony and Emmy (or Emma) would seem to be fitting names for actors and actresses who covet statuettes representing recognition of their histrionics. But why are these names especially fitting if their role is that of a hypnotherapist, or if their character receives treatment from a hypnotherapist?

Ripping Off Shortz Slices:

Whet o difference un “a” mikes…

Will Shortz’s February 19^th NPR Weekend Edition Sunday puzzle reads:

Think of an article of apparel in five letters. Change one letter in it to name another article of apparel. Change one letter in that name to name a third article of apparel. Then change one letter in that name to name a fourth article of apparel. The positions of the letters you change are different each time. What articles are these?

Puzzleria’s Ripping Off Shortz Slices read:

ONE:

1. Think of articles of apparel – “biceps-bracelets,” you might call them – that you might see at a museum, in seven letters.

2. Change one letter in that word to form an adjective describing a famous sculpture.

3. Change one letter in that adjective to form an adjective describing a museum that has been cleaned out by thieves.

4. Then change one letter in that adjective to form an adjective describing an exhibition at a museum of an ancient Bible manuscript that excludes all writings of Luke.

5. Finally, change one letter in that adjective to name the profession of a grateful performer you shall see toting a trophy on television on the evening of February 26. 2017 (a trophy that may someday be displayed at a museum of the dramatic arts).

Here are further restatements of (or alternative clues for) the five 7-letter words you seek:

1. Jewelry for the biceps mentioned in Exodus Chapter 35 of the English Standard Version of the bible

2. Like Aphrodite of Milos

3. Like a painter’s studio after an overnight break-in and heist, or like a dodgy Jack Dawkins wannabe who is all thumbs?

4. Like the output of a do-nothing Congress?

5. Isabelle Huppert, Ruth Negga, Natalie Portman, Emma Stone or Meryl Streep.

TWO:

1. Think of the name of a more-than-century-old magazine, in five letters.

2. Change one letter in that name to form an adjective that might modify “recollections,” “symptoms” or “generalities.”

3. Change one letter in that adjective to name a noun that can be preceded by “absolute,” “face” or “retail.”

4. Change one letter in that noun to name one of four main movable parts of the heart.

5. Then change one letter in that part to name a synonym of “balm.”

6. Finally, change one letter in that synonym to name what lieutenants like Columbo try to do to crimes and what mathematicians like Cantor try to do for x.

Here are further restatements of (or alternative clues for) the six 5-letter words you seek:

1. Madonna song title

2. Fuzzy

3. Treasure

4. A gastropod usually has one

5. Assuage

6. What you’re attempting to do at present

THREE:

1. Think of the first name of a ballplayer, in four letters. 

2. Change one letter in it to name another ballplayer’s first name.

3. Change one letter in that name to name something an umpire makes...

Repeat this process a total of nineteen times – always changing one letter of the previous word to form the succeeding word – until you have found 20 words, all which have a connection to baseball. What words are these?

Here are clues for the 20 words, in order:

1. Averill

2. Hubbell

3. Fair, foul, out, safe, the game if it’s raining…

4. Horsehide

5. Green Monster, for example

6. Alston 

7. “Free pass” (sometimes abbreviated B.O.B.)

8. What results when the pitcher drops the ball while toeing the rubber

9. What managers often do just before they kick dirt on umpires’ shoes

10. Fenway

11. Fidrych

12. One of the “tools of ignorance”

13. About 145 grams, for a baseball

14. Where a baseball weighs only one-and-two-thirds ounces, not five (as on Earth)

15. “Marvelous” Met, ____ Throneberry

16. “Wheel of Fortune” creator who hired an emcee who is nuts about baseball

17. A Bob who beat out Ted Williams as an All Star Game starter

18. Bennett who has a ballpark named after him in Maryland

19. Kind of baseball toddlers play with

20. What “baseball purists” might call a sabermetrician… (which is also an actual sabermetrics term!)

Dessert Menu

Directorial Dessert:

Frank Carpa? Mel Brooktrout?

Name a well-known movie director, first and last names. Remove one letter from one name and spell the other name backward, forming the names of two bony fishes.

Who is this director?

Metro Goldwyn Mayer Dessert:

Oscar Wiener Mayer links relinked

Name a multinational chain in three syllables. Interchange the second and third syllables and add one syllable of the chain’s slogan to the end. The result when spoken aloud sounds like a well-known actor. 

Who is it?

Spun Dessert:

Spartans of peach

“The president was clearly describing the manner in which this was being done... the president was using that as an adjective; it’s happening with precision.” 

That is what Donald Trump’s press secretary and communicatons director  Sean Spicer said on February 23, spinning his boss’s use of the phrase “military operation” to describe how Trump plans to get “really bad dudes out of this country.”

Spicer likely meant to say that the president was using that as an metaphor, not as an adjective. But Spicer is paid to spin, so blurring the difference between metaphor and adjective is probably a part of his job. 

A more telling and apropos part of speech, however, was an adverb used by Trump’s chief strategist Steve Bannon. Bannon’s adverb, like the adjective “military,” also begins with an “m” and ends with a “y”. The adverb modifies how President Trump is focused on executing his campaign pledges, according to Bannon, in an address given February 23 at the Conservative Political Action Conference. 

The first six letters of Bannon’s adverb form a noun that, according to some, is a word that applies to the president. The remaining four letters of the adverb form a noun that applies to Bannon vis-a-vis Trump, and Trump vis-a-vis Bannon.

What is this adverb? 

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.

Republicans, hipsters and mysterious figures from film; Executive branch dendrology; Gobbler gluttony and tryptophan sloth; piNPRicking a world map; Kitchen switchin’

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

Welcome to our February 17^th edition Joseph Young’s Puzzleria!

Our featured main course this week is our Appetizer – another ingenious Cryptic Crossword puzzle constructed and composed by Patrick J. Berry (screen name, “cranberry”).

Constructors must possess scads of talent, creativity and determination to create such Cryptic Crosswords:

First, they must enter a lattice of interlocking words into their grid. 
Second, they must compose cleverly cryptic clues for each of those entries. Each clue is in itself an intricate self-contained cryptic “mini-puzzle.”

Thus, each of Patrick’s Cryptic Crosswords is truly a feat of enigmatic mastery and mystery. Thank you, Patrick.

Our menus this week also include three “less cryptic” challenges, plus eight puzzles that Riff Off and Rip Off Shortz. 
That makes an even dozen, doesn’t it?

So, don’t have conniptions. Enjoy our encryptions! 

Hors d’Oeuvre Menu

Multinational Mutimedia Hors d’Oeuvre:

piNPRicking a world map

Change one letter of a country and add a space to form the first and last names of a person who appears on network and cable TV and, occasionally, on National Public Radio.

Who is this person and what is the country?

Morsel Menu

President’s Day Morsel:

Executive branch dendrology

Take the surname of a reasonably well-known psychotherapist. Interchange two consecutive letters to form a kind of tree.

Take the surname of a well-known physicist/mathematician. A word that precedes that surname on some packages on grocery shelves is the name of another tree.

Rearrange the letters of these two trees to form the surname of a U.S. president.

Who is this president? What are the two trees?

Appetizer Menu:

Cryptic Crossword Appetizer:

Republicans, hipsters and mysterious figures from film

Cryptic Crossword Instructions:

The number in parentheses at the end of each clue tells how many letters are in the answer. Multiple numbers in

parentheses indicate how letters are distributed in

multiple-word answers.

For example, (9) indicates a nine-letter answer like

“ampersand,” (4,5) indicates a four-and-five-letter answer

Like “fish stick,” and (4-5) indicates a four-and-five-letter

Hyphenated answer like “four-wheel.”

(For insight about how to decipher the numbered cryptic clues, see Patrick’s tutorial, below the puzzle. This link may also be helpful.)

ACROSS

1. Aging horror, see --- deteriorating rock star (6,8)

9. Hearing music over in vacant lot, taken aback (5)

10. I come alive somehow, lacking energy for communication? (9)

11. Very rare, also put in oven (7)

12. Swimsuit for sexually confused family member, intimidated at first? (6)

14. God --- aching back! (4)

15. Special occasion, with them goin’ off around six? (5,5)

17. Mad with desire, has little to explain (10)

19. Run with one in competition (4)

21. Handle rejected animals (6)

23. Australian native has excellent day in country (7)

25. Actress with strange neuroses grabs lead role (4,5)

26. Oil mixture going into first-rate sauce (5)

27. Love mysterious figure from film? (4,4,6)

DOWN

1. Understands what a photographer does (4,3,7)

2. Bread one’s eaten by mistake --- thrown-up part, we hear (5,4)

3. Republicans maintaining everyone has to run? (6)

4. Hipsters start on crazy toy sensation (10)

5. Resistance to help with attack... (4)

6. ...heading off husky European (7)

7. In the book, a picture of a giraffe-like creature (5)

8. Extremely atypical --- about nothing, they film a strange sitcom (3,2,3,6)

13. Not much music in the city? (6,4)

16. Nobility has to lose everything, primarily? That’s the way in Europe! (5,4)

18. City of New Orleans? (7)

20. Refuse to accept hard rock (6)

22. Oceangoing vessel? (5)

24. East of Arkansas, I assumed? (4)

Cryptic Crossword Tutorial:

(by Patrick J. Berry)

A cryptic crossword is a rather skeletal-looking puzzle – usually 225 boxes set within a 15-by-15 grid. You solve it just like a regular crossword except that the clues are usually made up of two parts:

1. The straightforward clue, and

2. The wordplay that may be essential to get the answer.

The wordplay may include:

anagrams; homophones; “containers” (one word inside another, like or in “word,” or not in “another”); hidden words within the clue (for example, “hidden words within the clue” contains the word hint!); initials; charades (“this” plus-or-minus “that”); reversals of spelling; or, in many instances, a combination of any of these.

And be on the lookout for abbreviations – such as L = left, R = right, B = born, D = dead.

Watch also for clues involving self-referring words and phrases, like “bandleader” = B (the “leader,” or leading letter, of “band”); “sorehead” = S (the “head” of “sore”); “Fourth of July” = Y (the “fourth letter” of  “July”); and “grand opening” = G (the “opening letter” of “grand”).

MENU 

Ripping Off Shortz And Shteyman Slices:

Kitchen switchin’

Will Shortz’s February 12^th NPR Weekend Edition Sunday puzzle, composed by Michael Shteyman, reads:

Name some things commonly seen on a kitchen table. Switch the positions of the fifth and sixth letters of the word, and read the result backward. You’ll name two things commonly seen in the kitchen. What are they?

Puzzleria’s Riffing Off Shortz And Shteyman Slices read:

ONE:

Name some usually edible things commonly seen on a kitchen or dining room table, in one word. Change the sixth letter of the word, and read the result backward. You’ll name a mythological creature commonly pictured with twins.

What are these things and what is the creature?

TWO:

Name something crane-shaped sometimes seen on a big fat Greek wedding reception table. Change one letter of this word to a “y,” add a few spaces and an apostrophe, and read what you come up with backward. The result is what something else on the table might say if it could talk.

What are these two things on the table?

THREE:

Name something commonly seen on a pub table. Switch the positions of the fifth and sixth letters of the word, and read the result backward. You’ll name something you might see scribbled on a scrap of paper on a pub table.

What is seen on the pub table? What might be scribbled on the scrap of paper?

FOUR:

Name something often woven or made of wicker commonly seen on a Thanksgiving Day table, in two words. Rearrange the letters of the word. You’ll name a two-word part of the main course.

The thing commonly seen on a Thanksgiving Day table can also be seen on the table of a romantic restaurant. Rearrange the letters of the word in a different way to form two words: one indicating a couple dining at the restaurant and another indicating an entrée of skewered meat and veggies they may be sharing at their table. 

What is this thing seen on Thanksgiving Day and romantic restaurant tables? What is the part of the Thanksgiving main course? What two words indicate the couple and their shared entrée

FIVE:

Name the citrus jelly used as a glaze on braised lamb shanks served at a dinner theater, in one word. Rearrange the nine letters of this word to form two things to which patrons of the theater are also treated.

What are these two things? What is the jelly called?

SIX:

Name some things commonly seen on pupils’ tables, in one word. Rearrange its letters. You’ll name two things seen in a kitchen sink.

What are the things on the pupils’ tables and in a kitchen sink?

SEVEN:

Name some things commonly seen on a modern luau table (but not at a traditional luau table), in one word. Rearrange its letters. You’ll name two other things also commonly seen at the luau. What are these things?

EIGHT:

Name a word for some things often seen on restaurant tables that are protective and make life easier for table bussers. Rearrange its letters to form seafood spreads (a phrase of 4 and 5 letters) served with toast or crackers.

Rearrange the same letters in a different way to describe, in a 3-letter verb and 6-letter noun, what a Mexican restaurant bartender might do before pouring a drink for patrons so they can wash down the crackers and spreads.

What are these things seen on restaurant tables? What are the spreads and what might the bartender do to pour the drink?

Dessert Menu

Puppies At The “Kitties’ Table” Dessert:

Gobbler gluttony and tryptophan sloth

Name something a fellah might don if he plans to emulate a sloth, in two words. Remove a pronoun embedded in the first word, and replace a vowel in the second word with a different vowel, forming vessels you might see on your Thanksgiving Day table, in two words.

Change the second word of the vessels to a different word, a singular noun, forming a two-word brand name product your puppy might make tracks to chow down on down on the floor as you are chowing down on your Thanksgiving Day dinner up on the table.

What might a fellah don? What vessels might you see on your Thanksgiving Day table? What might your pooch be chowing down on during your Thanksgiving Day dinner?

Hint: Take the vessels you might see on your Thanksgiving Day table and replace the first two letters of the first word with a different, capital letter. The result is vessels you can see in the harbors of Norfolk, Jacksonville and San Diego, to name just three.

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.