Volleyballistics! The talking head that launched 1,000 ships; Stirring up the alphabet soup; Sesquipedalian... in years, not feet; Pick a name, any name;

PUZZLERIA! SLICES: OVER (876 + 54) SERVED 

Welcome to our September 29th edition of Joseph Young’s Puzzleria!

Fresh from our puzzle-forging ovens are seven worthy delights – that would be exactly one week’s-worth. 

We have baked up:

⇨ Three hand-picked Shortz Riff-off Slices,

⇨ One Slice sailing ‘cross your TV screen,

⇨ One moutherly Appetizer,

⇨ One alphanumerical Appetizer, and

⇨ One restful Dessert.

Fall in love with our not-so-easy puzzles as you ease into fall.

And, as always please, enjoy them all.

Appetizer Menu

Mouther Tongue Appetizer:

Volleyballistics!

A volley of back-and-forth epithets made the news recently. The first epithet was a 2-word phrase with letters that can be rearranged to form a 2-word description of the person who mouthed it. 

The second epithet, a response to the first, is a 2-syllable word that rhymes with a word in the title of a song from a Broadway and movie musical. (The musical has the word “music” in its title.) This title word is also rhymed multiple times within the song’s lyrics.

What are these two epithets? 

What is the description of the mouther of the first epithet? 

What are the musical and the song title?

Hint: The second word of the first epithet is a noun that rhymes with the first word (an adjective) of the 2-word description of the person who mouthed it. And, the first epithet is also the title of a piece of music.

Reorder Form Appetizer:

Stirring up the alphabet soup

The twelve words in the following list appear in alphabetical order. 

Put them into a more numerical kind of order:

aid

down 

frame

heaven

hour

inning

night

rail

sense

symphony

wind

wonder

Hint: One of the twelve words will remain where it already is.

MENU

The Medium Is The Mizzenmassage Slice:

The talking head that launched 1,000 ships

Change one letter in the first name of a current TV personality whose last name is also the name of a boat builder. 

Spell the TV personality’s altered first name backward to form the first name of a Pennsylvania boat builder whose last name is the first name of a TV personality.

Who are these two TV personalities and these two boat builders?

Riffing Off Shortz Slices:

Pick a name, any name  

Will Shortz’s September 24th NPR Weekend Edition Sunday puzzle reads: 

Think of a familiar 6-letter boy’s name starting with a vowel. Change the first letter to a consonant to get another familiar boy’s name. Then change the first letter to another consonant to get another familiar boy's name. What names are these?

Puzzleria’s! Riffing Off Shortz Slices read:

ONE: 

Think of a familiar 5-letter boy’s name starting with a vowel. 

Change the first letter to a B, a C, a D and an F to get four not-very-familiar first names of men who were, respectively:
⧫ an NBA draft lottery pick (B), 
⧫ another NBA draft lottery pick (C), 
⧫ a heavy metal singer with a guitar pick (D), 
⧫ and a Country Music Hall of Famer with a guitar pick (F). 

What five 5-letter names are these?

Hint: A quarterback with the 5-letter boy’s name starting with a vowel is the all-time NFL career passing leader in touchdown-passes-to-picks ratio, with about four passing TDs per interception. The next closest QB in the ranking is Tom Brady with only about three TDs per pick.

TWO: 

Translate the following into something coherent:

“Jim Bill. Joy Ivey! 

Di Kate Ricky Frank Oliver. Hugh! 

Vi Sam Avery Will. 

Bo Amy!”

THREE:

Think of a familiar 6-letter boy’s name starting with a consonant and vowel. Change the consonant and vowel to a different consonant and vowel to get another, much-less familiar, boy’s 6-letter name.  

A man with the familiar name was a global voyager. 

A fictitious man with the not-so-familiar name was a global voyager from about a century later.

What names are these?

Dessert Menu

Rest In place Dessert:

Sesquipedalian... in years, not feet

Think of a one-word synonym for “resting place,” one that sounds like the type of word a particular author from the past might have used… but could not have used because the word is only about 150 years old. 

Remove one Y from the word to form a nickname by which the author is often known.

What is the synonym? Who is the author, and what is the author’s nickname?

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.