The star-bestower is in the stars (2 on a scale of 5); Many noisy profs; A month of sun (phase) days; Tools, tools, tools in the attic;

PUZZLERIA! SLICES: OVER (876 + 54) SERVED

Welcome to our August 25th edition of Joseph Young’s Puzzleria! 

Our featured puzzle this week is a true gem by Patrick J. Berry (aka “cranberry,” his screen name). It is the first puzzle under our MENU, a “Film Criticism Slice” that involves two movie critics and two silver-screen thespians. The ingenious wordplay in this creation by Patrick is extremely impressive. Thank you, pjb, for sharing it with Puzzleria!

Patrick, of course, had his anagramatic “Candid Camera (=) American Dad” puzzle chosen by Will Shortz as the National Public Radio Weekend Edition Sunday weekly challenge on August 13 – quite an honor... 
But I believe the puzzle of his that we are serving up on Puzzleria! this week is even better!

Also on our menus this week are:

⇢ Half-a-dozen Will Shortz Rip-Off Slices of this week’s NPR challenge (plus one bonus puzzle);

⇢ One Antiques Roadshow Dessert; and

⇢ One  all-across-the-uniVerse Appetizer.

So, doff your woes and worries, and don your thinking caps and total-eclipse-of-the-sunglasses. 

And, as always, enjoy the totality of our puzzles.

Appetizer Menu

Total Eclipse Of The Sun Appetizer:

A month of sun (phase) days 

The noon sun is a cresent,

The noon moon is a disk.

Solar phases candescent...

A “moonth’s-worth” in a whisk!

Total solar eclipses,

Equinoxes autumnal,

Orbiters in ellipses

Form divinity’s thumbnail.

Gems in heaven aligning,

Crown jewels set to inspire.

The sun reappears, shining...

Odd magnificent fire!

Take one of the dozen lines from the verse above. Remove an “i” and rearrange the remaining letters to form a three-word phrase naming what the line alludes to.

What is the line from the verse? What is the three-word phrase?

MENU 

Film Criticism Slice:

The star-bestower is in the stars (2 on a scale of 5)

Think of the last name of a well-known actress. Now think of the last name of her costar in a well-known movie classic, and insert his name somewhere inside her name. Now drop the last letter of this result. If you have the right two actors, you’ll get the full name of a well-known film critic. 

Who are these three people? 

Hint: This critic is sometimes associated with another critic whose full name, if you remove the last three letters of the last name, becomes the name of a popular British rock group.  

Ripping Off Shortz And Baggish Slices:

Many noisy profs 

Will Shortz’s August 20th NPR Weekend Edition Sunday puzzle, created by Steve Baggish, reads: 

Think of two synonyms — one in 5 letters, the other in 4. The 5-letter word starts with S. The 4-letter word contains an S. Change one of these S’s to an A. You can rearrange the result to name a group of people, in 9 letters, that ideally have those two adjectives describe them. What group is it?

Puzzleria’s! Ripping Off Shortz And Baggish Slices read:

ONE:

Think of two synonyms — one in 8 letters that starts with A, the other in 4 letters that starts with a C. Remove the A. You can rearrange the result to name two different synonyms, one in 7 letters that starts with D, the other in 4 letters that starts with an R. 

What are these two pairs of synonyms?

Hint: The synonyms with 7 and 4 letters share no letters in common.

TWO:

Think of two synonymous nouns — one a 6-letter compound word with a spelled-out 3-letter Greek letter in its interior, the other a 7-letter word that contains 3 S’s. Remove one of these S’s. You can rearrange the 12-letter result to name two antonyms: what the desert sun might do to one’s throat, in 5 letters, and what oasis spring water does to such a throat, in 7 letters. What are these four words?

Hint: If the “oasis” is a drive-in or sit-down restaurant along a desert road, thirsty travelers may encounter either of the synonymous nouns: the one containing the Greek letter at the drive-in, and the one containing 3 S’s at the sit-down.  

THREE:

Think of two synonymous adjectives — a 7-letter word that starts with S, and a 5-letter word that starts with A. You can rearrange these 12 letters to name a 6-letter synonym for “spoke” (beginning with T) and a a 6-letter synonym for “spoke with a lack of sibilance (beginning with L).” What four words are these? 

FOUR:

Think of the name of a flying fictional character in two words — one in 6 letters, the other in 4. Change an I in the name to an A. You can rearrange the result to name a profession, in two words. The first word of the character and the second word of the profession both begin with T. 

What fictional character and profession are these?

FIVE:

Think of two synonyms — both 5 letters long. One 5-letter word starts with S, the other with A. You can rearrange the 10 letters in these words to name devices with which a regular contributor to both the Puzzleria! and Blainesville blogs is very familiar. Both synonyms could describe the contributor, or the contributor’s puzzle-solving skills. What synonyms are these? What device is this? What contributor is this? 

SIX:

Think of two synonyms — both 5 letters long — that begin with different vowels. You can rearrange these 10 letters to name a redundant phrase containing two words of 5 letters each. The two-word phrase may be stated in a more wordy way as: “Give it another shot, one more time.” 

What are these two synonyms? What is the redundant two-word phrase?
SEVEN: (a bonus puzzle)
What is the significance of “Many noisy profs,” the title of this Slice?

Dessert Menu

Antiques Roadshow Dessert:
Tools, tools, tools in the attic

An antique household tool you might pull out of an attic trunk is a compound word made up of two words of four letters each. Add an “e” to the end of three consecutive letters within the tool to form a new word. 

If you experience a mishap formed by the tool’s first word and the new word, you might pull out of your trunk a different tool formed by the new word and the tool’s second word.

What is this antique tool?

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.

Berry’s fare is on the air!; Something unwelcome this way came; A synthesis of antithesis; AC/DC elecTriCity

PUZZLERIA! SLICES: OVER (876 + 54) SERVED

Welcome to our August 18th edition of Joseph Young’s Puzzleria! 

Our featured puzzles this week are our Rip-Offs! – a half-dozen of ‘em! 

That is because we are ripping off not only puzzlemaster Will Shortz but also one of Puzzleria!’s own puzzlemasters, Patrick J. Berry, who has contributed scads of wonderful puzzles to this blog, including ingenious cryptic crosswords.

(We are in good company – a group mentioned in this week’s Triplet Cities Slice also ripped off Berry!)

So, Dr. Shortz choose a puzzle  submitted to him by our “Puzzleria!master.”  It was featured as the August 13th National Public Radio Weekend Edition Sunday puzzle. 

Congratulations, Patrick!

Also on this week’s menus are:

One unwelcome Appetizer,

One “Tale of Three Cities” Slice, and

One of those stressed-out Desserts.

As always, please enjoy.

Appetizer Menu

American History Mystery Appetizer:

Something unwelcome this way came 

A phrase containing four consecutive words of 5, 2, 4 and 5 letters made headlines this past week, and may well appear in future United States history books. Remove six of those 16 letters and rearrange them to form a word that means “an environment promoting the growth of something, especially something unwelcome.” The phrase containing the 16 letters is a controversial statement spoken about the deadly incident to which the phrase alluded.

The remaining ten letters of the four consecutive words in the phrase can also be arranged to form words pertaining this unwelcome incident. Words formed from those ten rearranged letters appear in each of the following four phrasal snippets that might have appeared in news accounts about the incident:

⇨ “...mobs decried undocumented aliens ...” 

⇨ “...no bail was granted to the alleged perpetrator of the deadly mess...”

⇨ “...racial bias clashed with the solemn tone from clergy ...”

⇨ “...calling names boils over violently...”

What are the four consecutive words in the phrase?  What is the six-letter word for the environment promoting unrest?  What are the words in the snippets that can be rearraged to complete the phrase?

MENU 

Triplet Cities Slice:

AC/DC elecTriCity

Take the first and final words from the title of a hit song by a band contemporary to the Beatles. Add a letter to the end of the first word to form the two-word name of a well known U.S. city. The band’s name consists of two other well known U.S. cities. What is this band and their hit song? 

Ripping Off Shortz And Berry Slices:

Berry’s fare is on the air!

Will Shortz’s August 13th NPR Weekend Edition Sunday puzzle, created by Puzzlerian! and Puzzleria! contributor Patrick Berry, reads: 

Name a long-running TV show in two words. Add a C and rearrange the result to name another long-running TV show also in two words. What shows are these? And here's a hint: Both shows are currently on the air, although the second one was most popular the past.

Puzzleria’s! Ripping Off Shortz And Berry Slices read:

ONE:

Name a long-running TV show currently on the air, in two words. Remove its final two letters and rearrange the result to name a nearly-century old clothing brand that, fittingly, is also the name of a nearly two-mile high peak in the Grand Teton Range. What show and brand/peak are these? 

TWO:

Name a TV game show that appeared on the Nickelodeon TV channel, in two words. Rearrange the letters in the first word to name a long-running network sitcom. 

Rearrange the letters in the second word to form two words of 3 and 4 letters. 

The 3-letter word is a homophone of a letter of the alphabet. Add this letter to the letters of the word “antler” and rearrange the mix to form a 7-letter word that is the first word of a 2-word hangout frequented by the sitcom’s characters.

The 4-letter word is the second word of the 2-word hangout. 

What are this Nickelodeon game show and sitcom? Name the hangout in the sitcom. 

THREE:

Name a long-running TV show in three words and 11 letters. Subtract an L and rearrange the result to name what Dorothy might have shouted to her little black dog, in two words, when he nipped at Scarecrow’s straw leg or yipped at Tinman’s creaky squeaky joints. long-running TV show also in two words. 

What show is this? What shout is this? 

FOUR:

Name a long-running TV show in two words and nine letters. It is currently on the air. Rearrange the result to name a two-word phrase describing “One of These Days” and, perhaps to a lesser degree, “Fearless.”  

What show is this? What  description is this? 

FIVE:

Name a long-running TV show in two words and ten letters. Rearrange its letters to name the type of competition, also in two words, that occurred in the season finale of the show’s first season. In the competition, the winner sang a song about a domestic task.

What show is this? What competition is this?

SIX:

Name a long-running and currently airing TV show in two words and ten letters. Rearrange the letters to name something you might see at Wimbledon, also in two words. Now rearrange the letters to name something you might hear at Little Caesars Arena, the BMO Harris Bradley Center or Target Center (but probably not at the United Center), also in two words.

What show is this? What might you see at Wimbledon? What would you probably not hear the the United Center?

Hint: The two words of the TV show echo last week’s “Bluish/Blush” Appetizer on Puzzleria!

Dessert Menu

Stressed Dessert:

A Synthesis of antithesis

Name a word for a feeling a person might experience as a result of being stressed. Name another word that is the antithesis of being stressed.

The words do have much in common, however:

1. They have the same number of letters. 

2. Each has just one vowel; it is the same vowel.

3. Each has a string of four consecutive consonants.

What are these two words?

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.

Erich Maria Remarkable; Misspelling test; Somewhere over a couple color bands of the rainbow... James and the huge impeachment; Stooges in stogie-smoke-filled rooms

PUZZLERIA! SLICES: OVER (876 + 54) SERVED  

Welcome to our August 11th edition of Joseph Young’s Puzzleria! 

On this week’s menus are half-a-dozen puzzles:

One Roy G. Biv Appetizer,

One remarkable Appetizer,

One honeybee of a Slice,

Two peachy-keen Slices ripped-off from a “Willow tree,” and

One stogie-smoke-filled Dessert.

So don’t be a stooge or a Scrooge. Lie back in your La-Z-Boy like it’s a luge and light up a stogie that’s HUGE. 

And puff on our puzzles.

As always, enjoy sifting through our smokescreens.

Appetizer Menu

Spectra Vision Appetizer:

Somewhere over a couple color bands of the rainbow 

Insert an “i” within a 5-letter word associated with a certain color to form a word associated with a different color. These colors are more-or-less on opposite ends of the visible spectrum.

Put the two colors in alphabetical order, side-by-side without a space. Remove the last letter of the first color and double the first letter of the second color. The result is an adjective that often modifies “vision.”

What are these two colors and the two words associated with them? What is the adjective that often modifies “vision”? 

All Noisy On The Eastern Front Appetizer:

Erich Maria Remarkable

Among the most memorable words in a well-reported remark that made headlines this past week were three nouns, along with a common conjunction. Rearrange the letters of the 16 combined letters of those four words to form three new two-syllable nouns:

1. The first noun (4 letters) applies to the person to whom the remark was directed (but not, reportedly, to the speaker of the remark).

2. The second noun (6 letters) applies to the speaker of the remark (but not, apparently, to the father of the person to whom the remark was directed – particularly when this father was engaged in “walking softly and carrying a big club”).

3. The third noun (also 6 letters) should apply to any Earthling who believes in “a higher power” and who has heard the remark). A one-syllable homograph of this two-syllable noun is a word for what these Earthlings frankly don’t have as long as the likes of this “remarker” and this “remarkee” remain in positions of power, influence and responsibulity.

What are the four words among those the remark? What are the three nouns formed by rearranging these four words?

Hint:

#1 noun begins with a w.

#2 noun begins with a d.

#3 noun begins with a p.

MENU 

Tori Spelling Bee-Movie Slice:

Misspelling test

A 6-letter word is often misspelled by replacing its fifth letter with a different but incorrect vowel. Misspell the word in this way using lowercase letters. Delete the first letter and spell the result backward to form a 5-letter word associated with three-year-olds. It is also a word associated with a television character portrayed by Gene Barry.

Return to the original 6-letter word that is often misspelled. Spell it correctly this time, again using lowercase letters. Rotate the second and fourth letters 180 degrees about their vertical axes and, again, delete the first letter. View the result in a mirror and capitalize what now appears to be the first letter. The result is the title of a book set during the era of a war, the movie version of which was set during the era of a later war.

What is the 6-letter word that is often misspelled? What is the 5-letter word associated with three-year-olds and Gene Barry’s character? What is the book/movie title?

Ripping Off Shortz Slices:

James and the huge impeachment

Will Shortz’s August 6th NPR Weekend Edition Sunday puzzle reads: 

The word INAUGURATION contains the letters of GNU, GOAT, IGUANA and AGOUTI, which are all animals. The name of what 9-letter animal can be spelled from the letters of inauguration?

Puzzleria’s! Ripping Off Shortz Slices read:

ONE:

The word IMPEACHMENT contains the letters of HAM, PEA, PATE (not the crown of the head, the one pronounced pah tay) and MINT, which are all foods. Then, of course, there are PEACH and PECAN, which are also kinds of PIE. 

→ The name of what 9-letter food can be spelled from the letters of IMPEACHMENT to name another kind of pie?

→ The name of what 8-letter food prepared and EATen by North American Indians can be spelled from the letters of IMPEACHMENT? (This food –which I learned about from reading a novel by Nikki Rajala (creator of last week’s Michelin/Michelob puzzle) – is sometimes spelled as a 7-letter word.)

→ The name of what 6-letter mint (that my kitten Smitten enjoys EATing) can be spelled from the letters of IMPEACHMENT?

TWO:

The word RESIGNATION contains the letters of ANTS, RATS, GNATS, GOATS, GATORS and TIGERS, which are all animals. The letters of RESIGNATION can be used to spell the names of what:

→ 7-letter member of the congressional body that can vote to convict a sitting president based on articles of impeachment?

→ 7-letter high crime, other than bribery, that a president might be convicted of?

→ 6-letter color of the sitting president’s hair?

→ 3-letter color of the sitting president’s skin?

→ 7-letter adjective meaning failure to exercise intelligence and sound judgment?

→ 8-letter adjective meaning lacking knowledge or comphehension?

→ 7-letter adjective meaning most silly?

→ 8-letter Spanish-language title for Miss Universe 2010?

→ 5-letter name of a stooge (named Howard, but not Moe) upon whose radio and TV broadcasts the sitting president often appeared, pre-POTUS?

Dessert Menu

De-Doubling Dessert:

Stooges in stogie-smoke-filled rooms

Remove all double adjacent letters from  the last name of a politician lately in the news. (For example, Oklahoma representative Steve Russell – who is not the answer – would become “Steve Rue.”) 

The politician’s last name, after removing the letters spells out the first name of a another stooge – or, to be more precise, the first name of another Stooge.

Who is this politician?   

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.