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.