Push the framboises, can the krieks Chowing down from fine china; Knotty webs, Fiery hotbeds, Lewder misogynists! Zebra leg fell, Ascend bad bee, Sum joy!

P! SLICES: OVER (76 + 543) SERVED

Welcome to our June 16^th edition of Joseph Young’s Puzzleria!

We are serving up half a dozen puzzles this week, three of which are Rip/Riff-offs of Will Shortz’s NPR puzzle about “Benjamin, the Greenpeace ombudsman...”

Also on our menus are:

4. An uplifting Hors d’Oeuvre that we hope brings you “sum joy,”

5. A downcasting Appetizer that connotes negativity, and

6. A down-chowing Dessert.

So, lift up your spirits by chowing down on our challenges. Cast down all negativity, connoted or otherwise.

In other words, please enjoy our puzzles. 

Hors d’Oeuvre Menu

Seven (Plus One) Deadly Synonyms Hors d’Oeuvre:

Zebra leg fell, Ascend bad bee, Sum joy!

Solve each of the eight clues below. Rearrange the letters of each solution to form eight terms that are more-or-less synonymous. One term contains two words; the others all contain one word.

The number in parentheses after each clue indicates the number of words in the solution you must rearrange to form the synonymous terms.

1. Leg (2)

2. A way to find a sum (1)

3. Ascend (1)

4. Norman Fell (2)

5. What a “zebra” may throw down on the field when a second infraction occurs during one play from scrimmage (2)

6. “No one likes being a ______ __ bad tidings” (2)

7. Word preceding “Joy” (1)

8. “The ________ kindled a ___­­_ in his bee smoker.” (2)

Appetizer Menu

Negative Con Notations Appetizer:

Knotty webs, Fiery hotbeds, Lewd misogynists!

“Fire, knots, hotbed, lewder, misogynist, webs.”

Each of the six words (listed alphabetically in bold print above) can have negative connotations.

Group them into three 2-word pairs.

Rearrange the letters in each pair to form the ending words of the title of: 
One movie and two television shows.

The three titles all begin with the same word, a word normally understood to have positive connotations.

What is this word? What are the three titles?

MENU 

Ripping Off Shortz Slices:

Push the framboises, can the krieks

Will Shortz’s June 11^th NPR Weekend Edition Sunday puzzle reads:

Consider this sentence: “Benjamin, the Greenpeace ombudsman in the panorama, was charmed by the chinchilla fragrance.” 
The sentence contains seven words of seven or more letters. They have something very unusual in common. What is it, and can you think of an eighth word with the same property?

Puzzleria’s Riffing/Ripping Off Shortz Slices read:

ONE:

Consider this sentence: “Benjamin, the Greenpeace ombudsman in the panorama, was charmed by the fragrant chinchilla.” The sentence contains seven words of seven or more letters. They have something somewhat unusual in common. 
What is it, and can you think of an eighth word of seven or more letters with the same property?

TWO:

Consider this sentence: “The new hotshot brewer upped the output of framboises and nixed all sales of kriek beer; indeed no holdovers from that foregone era remained.” The sentence contains four words of eight or more letters. They have something very unusual in common. 
What is it, and can you think of a fifth word with the same property?

THREE:

Consider this sentence: “Freelance yeomen chaired a probe into how a gabion, built by Latinos to divert the Rio flood, broke.” The sentence contains five words of six or more letters. They have something reasonably unusual in common. 
What is it, and can you think of a sixth word with the same property?

Dessert Menu

Petunia Pigs Out Dessert:

Chowing down from fine china

“Mabel misplaced her pet Petunia’s food dish, so had to pour Petunia’s food into a piece of fine china from her sideboard!”

That piece of china and Petunia’s pet food brand name each contain two words. Their first words are the same. Their second words are different but share something in common.

What are the pet food name and piece of china?

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.