“The Regulars” and the “Ornate”; Why would Wanda want a Honda? A self-breeding bird puzzle; Who wrote the Book of Digitournalism? “We are not amused!”

PUZZLERIA! SLICES: OVER 6!π SERVED

Schpuzzle of the Week:

A self-breeding bird puzzle

🐟1. Name an animal breed whose first five letters spell a fish and last five letters spell a bird that might eat that fish.

What are this breed, fish and bird?

or...

🐦2. Name an animal breed whose last five letters spell a bird and first five letters spell where you might see this bird.

What are this breed, bird-location and bird?

Note: The answers to these two puzzles are identical.

Appetizer Menu

Gorgeous Global Appetizer:

“The Regulars” and the “Ornate”

A useful German word

🍻1. Americans have them, but have no word
for them. 

Germans have them, too, and do have a word for them – a 10-letter German word.

“Them” is “The Regulars,” a gathering that also involves a typically well identified place where you find “The Regulars” who “belong” there. (There is a tacit “understanding” about who belongs, and who doesn’t belong, in “The Regulars.”)

Take that 10-letter German word, remove the first and sixth letters, then rearrange the remaining eight letters to name an English word for something, generally, that doesn’t belong.  

What is this useful German word?  

What is the something that doesn’t belong?

A very verbally versatile word

🌍2. Take a nine-letter word for an ornamental frame. 

Snippets of consecutive letters in that word name:

* a three-letter mode of transport, 

* a four-letter mode of transport, 

* a four-letter interjection, 

* a six-letter interjection, 

* and the familiar name by which a revolutionary physician and author was known.

Take just the first five letters of the nine-letter word. Switch the third and fourth letters and replace a “t” with a vowel. 

The result is the name of a major world city where such ornamental frames can be seen adorning architecture. Jewelry shops in this city sell small personalized versions of the frames as souvenirs or gifts (using hieroglyphs for the recipient’s name) that can be worn as necklaces or bracelets. 

What are the nine-letter word for the ornate frame, the two modes of transport, the two interjections, the name of the physician/author, and the name of the city?

MENU  

I Wonder Wonder Who-oo Who... Slice:

Who wrote the Book of “Digitournalism?”

Take the two-word name of a journalist who expressed opinions digitally. 

Double the last letter and add an “s” at the end. 

The result, in order, spells two different words (each with an odd number of letters) that complete the phrase “Book of ______.” 

Who is this journalist?

Riffing Off Shortz And Allen Slices:

Why would Wanda want a Honda?

Will Shortz’s June 20th NPR Weekend Edition Sunday puzzle, created by Iva Allen in
Canada, reads:

Name a make of car. Write it in all capital letters. Rotate one of the letters 90 degrees and another letter 180 degrees to make a woman’s name. What is it?

Puzzleria!s Riffing Off Shortz And Allen Slices read:

ENTREE #1

Name a pair of four-letter things that flow – one uncapitalized and extremely hot, the other capitalized and not quite so hot. 

Rearrange these eight letters to make a puzzle-maker’s first and last names. 

Who is it?

ENTREE #2

Name a make of car in eight letters. Write it normally, capitalizing only the first letter. 

Rotate the second and last letters 180 degrees. 

Move the new second letter to make it the fourth letter. 

Change what is now the third letter to an “o” and insert a “d” between the fifth and sixth letters.

Finally, add two spaces to form an English translation of “Eureka!”

What are this make of car and translation?

ENTREE #3

Name a make of car in six letters. 

Write it in all capital letters. 

Rotate three consecutive letters 90 degrees clockwise and replace another letter with the only letter in the alphabet with which it rhymes. 

Divide the result into “two-letter chunks,” (like “al”, “ph”,  “ab” and “et,” for example). 

The result is a series of postal codes of “Southern States.” 

What car and states are these?

ENTREE #4

Name a make of car in six letters. Write it in all capital letters. 

Rotate one of the letters 180 degrees and remove what appears to be the letter “V” from the result, leaving a letter-fragment.

Replace the first letter with with a different letter that sometimes sounds like it when pronounced in words (like G sounds like a J in “Georgia,” for example).

Rotate that replacement letter 90 degrees counterclockwise.

The final result is a driving maneuver in which a driver of a car (like the car in this puzzle, for example) performs an180-degree rotation to reverse its direction of travel. 

What make of car is this?

What is the maneuver?

ENTREE #5

Name a make of car in five letters. Write it in all capital letters. 

Rotate one of the letters 90 degrees clockwise. 

The result is a world capital city. 

What is it?

What are the names of the car and city?

ENTREE #6

Name a make of car in eight letters. 

Write it somewhat normally, capitalizing the first letter, but also the second. 

Rotate the final letter 90 degrees counterclockwise.

Form two 4-letters words using letters in positions 1, 7, 5 and 6 and  2, 8, 3 and 4. 

Say those two words to someone. 

She or he will then dial (or more likely enter into their cell phone) the digits  1-800-822-2834.

What is this make of car?

What are you telling people to do when you instruct them to dial 1-800-822-2834?

ENTREE #7

Name a make of car. Write it in all lowercase letters. 

Rotate the last letter 180 degrees. 

Spell the result backward to form a word for your physics, history or French instructor, or any other faculty member. 

What is the make of car?

What is the word for any of these faculty members?

ENTREE #8

Name a make of car in seven letters. Write it in all lowercase letters. 

Rotate the third letter 90 degrees clockwise and the fifth letter 180 degrees.

Rearrange the result to form a facial body part and a slang term for a body part just above it.

What is the make of car?

What are the two body parts?

ENTREE #9

Name a make of car in seven letters. Write it in all lowercase letters. 

Rotate the first letter 180 degrees and the fifth letter 90 degrees counterclockwise. 

Rearrange the letters to form a two-word
description of a bricklayer. 

What is the make of car?

What is the two-word description of a bricklayer?

Dessert Menu

Tricky, Deceptive, Gimmicky Dessert:

“We are not amused!”

Remove the first letter from an amusing public event, in seven letters, to get a word that describes a not-so-amusing word puzzle. 

What words are these?

Hint: The reason a puzzle-solver might  deem
the puzzle “not-so-amusing” is that it may use a “trick,” “deception” or “gimmick” that may cause the solver to cry “Foul!”

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.

Disciples surface in Surf City! Lady Bird, French Lick & Lansing; My double-edged silver tongue; Inventive prose and presidents; Two jobs: risky, and risk-related

PUZZLERIA! SLICES: OVER 6!π SERVED

Schpuzzle of the Week:

Inventive prose and presidents

Take the one-word title of a novel published near the turn of a century. Spell it backward, and add a “c” someplace.

Divide the result in half to spell what a United States presidential candidate, about 90 years later, apparently had. 

What is this novel?

What did the presidential candidate apparently have?

Appetizer Menu

Unbeatable Conundrums Appetizer:

Two jobs: risky, and risk-related

🥁1. Think of an activity (in two words) and plyers of a risky profession (in one word).

The word for the plyers of the profession shares its last letters with the second word in the activity. 

Remove those last letters from the profession and change a vowel to describe a state that helps to do the activity.

What are this activity, profession and helpful state?

🥁2. Think of a nine-letter word for a place
away from risk. 

Remove two letters to name a profession concerned with risk.

What are this non-risky place and risk-related profession?

MENU

Proficient-With-(S)words Slice:

My double-edged silver tongue

A politician may have a polished and confident gift of gab, which might be a plus. 

Some voters, however, may interpret this gift as being shallow, slick or insincere, which might be a minus. 

Characterize this paradoxical gift using a two-word term of five and eight letters. 

This two-word term also describes an eight-letter noun that characterizes the gift more specifically. 

What are this two-word term and noun?

Riffing Off Shortz And Weisz Slices:

Lady Bird, French Lick & Lansing

Will Shortz’s June 13th National Public Radio Weekend Edition Sunday puzzle, created by Sandy Weisz of Chicago, Illinois, reads:

Name a famous woman in American history with a three-part name. Change one letter in her first name to a double letter. The resulting first and second parts of her name form the first and last names of a famous athlete. And the last part of the woman’s name is a major rival of that athlete. Who are these people?

Puzzleria!s Riffing Off Shortz And Weisz Slices read:

ENTREE #1

Name a puzzle-maker with a two-part name. Remove the last letter from his last name. 

The first name is the common first name of a father and son who logged a combined six stints with one particular major league team. 

The truncated last name is the last name of a major leaguer who played six consecutive
seasons with that same team, a team that is based in the puzzle-maker’s hometown.

Who are these four people?

Hint: The letters in the first name of the six-consecutive-season player are the beginning letters of the father-and-son’s surname.

ENTREE #2

Note: Our friend Ecoarchitect, as he has done in the past, has this week contributed an “Econfusing” puzzle – namely Entree #2 – that riffs off the current fine National Public Radio puzzle created by Sandy Weisz. 

We thank Eco profusely!

Ecoarchitect’s puzzles, as you may be aware, appear regularly on Puzzleria! in his recurring “Econfusions” feature. 

Enjoy his following “without-rival” puzzle about rivals:

Name a well-known actor (male or female).

This person’s first name is a famous rival of the person’s last name. 

Who is the actor, and who are the rivals?

ENTREE #3

Name a famous woman in American history with a three-part name. 

The second part of her name is the surname of a past singer, actor, and comedian who was a radio and television personality of Irish descent. 

The last part of the woman’s name is the surname of a past dancer, singer and actor who in 1952 “made ’em laugh.”

Both actors’ first names begin with the same
letter. 

That letter, spelled out, is the surname of an actress famous for playng a character with a name that smacks of the synonyms “widget” and “gadget.” That actress’s first name is the first part of the three-part name of the famous woman in American history.

The surname of the actress’s husband – a singer, songwriter and actor – also begins with the letter spelled by her surname. 

Who are this famous woman, two actors, actress and actress’s husband?

ENTREE #4

Name a famous woman in American history with a three-part name. 

In the second part, remove the last letter and change another letter to its mirror image. This result, placed in front of the first part, forms the first and last names of a famous athlete. 

Take the surname of an athlete, nicknamed “Hammerin’ Hank,” who “followed in the footsteps” of this famous athlete. 

Remove a number of consecutive letters from this surname – namely, the final x letters in the word for the number x. 

Sandwich” the second letter of this result between the two letters of a very common verb. Replace the third-last letter to a “u”. The final result is the third part of the famous woman’s name.

Who are this famous woman and two athletes?

ENTREE #5

Name a famous woman in American history with a two-part name. 

The first part is a nickname of a Hall-of-Fame baseball player who excelled as a designated hitter. 

The second part is a position played by a Hall of Fame baseball player surnamed Ruth, and by other major-leaguers (not enshrined in Cooperstown)
surnamed Viola, Shirley, Grace, Belinda, Gale, Riley, Blake, MacKenzie and Avery.

Who is the famous woman?

Who is the Hall-of-Fame baseball player who excelled as a designated hitter?

What position was played by baseball players surnamed Ruth, Viola, Shirley, Grace, Belinda, Gale, Riley, MacKenzie, Blake and Avery?

ENTREE #6

Name a past writer who had few rivals  – perhaps George Plimpton and Joyce Carol Oates – when it came to writing about the “sport” of pugilism. He did however often metaphorically “spar” (debate-style) with a past fellow writer who was his political and literary rival.

Rearrange the nine letters of the second writer’s name to spell a kind of crimp (in 6 letters) that a reader might put in page 54 or 56 to bookmark an incredibly lengthy foreword of a book, and what would appear at the bottom of either page 54 or 56 (in 3 letters).

In the first writer’s 12-letter name, change an “i”  to a “u”  and rearrange the result to spell, in two words, what you will see at the bottom of page 54 or 56 (or on any page for that matter) of the foreword.

Who are these literary rivals?

What are the 6-letter “page-crimp” and the three letters seem at the bottom of page 54 or 56

What will you see on any page in the foreword?

Dessert Menu

World Capital Dessert:

Disciples surface in Surf City!

Name a practitioner of a certain discipline and a surface upon which the discipline may be practiced. 

Rearrange the combined letters of these two
words to name a world capital city and its country. 

What are the country and world capital?

What is the practitioner of the discipline and the surface upon which the discipline may be practiced?

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.

Let’s celebrate Cryptic Crossword Puzzle Day! Underwater cob-webs; Vehicular “Comicide-Splitting” Orthography? Schmorthography! Is Caracas the capital of Comoros?

PUZZLERIA! SLICES: OVER 6!π SERVED

Schpuzzle of the Week:

Orthography? Schmorthography!

Misspell the first name of a historical U.S. person as it is commonly misspelled. 

An anagram of that misspelling is the first
name of a past actor. 

The two different last names of these people are words in the title of a 1990s movie-based-on-a-novel. 

What’s the title?

Who are the historical person and actor?

Appetizer Menu

Cryptic Cranberry Appetizer:

Let’s celebrate Cryptic Crossword Puzzle Day!

It’s June 11, National Cryptic Crossword Puzzle Day!

And there is no better way to celebrate “NCCPD” than to present to you  – on June 11! – the epitome of cryptic crossword puzzling, yea, a paragon of the cryptic crossword genre created and contributed to Puzzleria! by our friend Patrick J. Berry (whose screen name is cranberry).

(Sad truth be told, June 11 is not National Cryptic Crossword Puzzle Day... not yet,
anyway.) 

Here is a monthly sampling from a list of national days of the year:

Jan. 2: National Science Fiction Day

February 4: National Homemade Soup Day

March 14: which of course is National Pi Day, but also Learn About Butterflies Day and National Potato Chip Day

April 13: National Scrabble Day

May 12: Limerick Day

June 11: Corn on the Cob Day

July 24: National Tell an Old Joke Day

Aug. 10: National S’mores Day

September 19: Talk Like a Pirate Day

October 5: National Astronomy Day

November 29: National Square Dance Day

December 28: National Card Playing Day 

As this complete list presumes to proclaim, there is a national observance slotted for just about every day of the year, including the January 29 National Puzzle Day (which is not sufficiently specific) and even the December 21 National Crossword Puzzle Day (which is still not sufficiently specific!).

But, notice that June 11 is National Corn on the Cob Day! Who cares? How tin-eared and corny can they get!

And so, Puzzleria! now officially presumes to proclaim June 11 as National Cryptic Crossword Puzzle Day, with Patrick J. Berry as Honorary Chair, Grand Marshall and Master of Ceremonies!

But better yet, to celebrate this day, Patrick is sharing this, his twentieth, excellent Cryptic Crossword with us Puzzlerian!s

Patrick’s “fill” (the words that you enter into the grid) in this puzzle is, as usual, challenging, entertaining and downright fun. And, to my eyes, the look of this particular grid, with its subtly swirling mesmerizing pattern, is evocative of a work of optical art.

Here are the links to Patrick’s nineteen previous 19 cryptic crosswords on Puzzleria!

ONE TWO THREE FOUR FIVE SIX SEVEN 

EIGHT NINE TEN ELEVEN TWELVE 

THIRTEEN FOURTEEN FIFTEEN SIXTEEN 

SEVENTEEN EIGHTEEN NINETEEN

For those of you who may be new to cryptic crossword puzzles, Patrick has compiled a few basic cryptic crossword puzzle instructions regarding the Across and Down clues and their format:

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, (6) simply indicates a six-letter answer like “jalopy,” (5,3) indicates a five-and-three-letter answer like “cargo van,” and (5-5) indicates a five-and-five-letter hyphenated answer like “Rolls-Royce.”

For further insight about how to decipher these numbered cryptic clues, see Patrick’s “Cryptic Crossword Tutorial” in this link to his November 17, 2017 cryptic crossword. 

The Tutorial appears below the grid that contains the answers in that edition of Puzzleria!

Happy National Cryptic Crossword Puzzle Day!

Why not celebrate with “a solve?”

ACROSS

7. Scam, almost bait-and-switch(7)

8. Start at the digestive tract(7)

10. Zodiac sign describing a witch?(6)

11. It helps one to maintain a brave face, and spot trouble going in?(3,5) 

12. Joke about name for band(4)

13. Short brush with prostitute has chap looking for love(10)

14. Singer, terribly sensitive, using coke
regularly(6,5)

19. Ends with destruction of Main Street?(10)

22. Ultimate Christmas present?!(4)

23. Actors who would be playing Batman and
Robin headed for Hollywood?(8)

24. Very close to emcee, gets through convention(6)

25. Continue to misbehave(5,2)

26. Australian native has fun getting back into nature(7)

DOWN

1. Sound of serviceman entering bar?(7)

2. Pure cunning on the way up, in a sense(8)

3. Bright kid—not hard to get me? Just the opposite!(6)

4. Driver also changed tire, having time(8)

5. Once using gun in dispute(6)

6. To be sad, straddling horse, heading off? It’s music!(7)

9. Barber with rising desire for cutting in musical? Freak!(7,4)

15. Wine getting used up, having a curry
dish(8)

16. Sexy voice-over coming in, sudden-like(8)

17. Naivete awfully rare for

one!(7)

18. Cryptic clue: DOB? It’s possible!(5,2)

or, an alternative clue:

18. Hotels round Dover maybe making a small contribution(7)

20. Spouse about half your age?(6)

21. Beef with regular in series(6)

MENU

Not Ready For Prime Time Slice:

Vehicular “Comicide-Splitting”

Name a Saturday Night Live (SNL) cast member who once, in 1988, portrayed a certain president. A syllable in cast member’s name is a word for a kind of vehicle. That word is also a syllable in the name of the president he portrayed.  

The first name of an SNL “Not Ready For Prime Time” cast member who portrayed that president’s predecessor is an informal brand name of one such a vehicle. The last name of that presidential predecessor is a rival brand of the informal brand name.

The last name of an SNL cast member who portrayed a first lady on SNL sounds like two things such a vehicle needs in order to function correctly. 

Who are these three cast members?

Riffing Off Shortz And Leal Slices:

Is Caracas the capital of Comoros?

Will Shortz’s October 11th NPR Weekend Edition Sunday puzzle, created by Matthew Leal of San Francisco, California, reads:

Write down the name of a country plus its
capital, one after the other. Hidden in consecutive letters inside this is the name of a film that won an Academy Award for Best Picture. Name the country, capital, and film.

Puzzleria!s Riffing Off Shortz And Leal Slices read:

ENTREE #1

Write down the surname of a puzzle-maker plus the puzzle-maker’s first name, one after the other. 

Hidden in consecutive letters inside this is a non-English word associated with class reunions. 

Name the puzzlemaker and word associated with class reunions.

ENTREE #2

Write down the name of a country plus its capital, one after the other. 

Hidden in consecutive letters inside this is a poem form, an example of which appears below:

Through crystal windows,

Beauty of cherry blossoms

Filled my heart with joy.

Yet when my eyes looked beneath,

Fallen petals saddened me.

What is this poem form? 

What are the county and capital?

ENTREE #3

Write down the name of a country plus its capital, one after the other. 

Hidden in consecutive letters inside this is the name of a U.S. territory.

Name the country, capital, and territory.

ENTREE #4

Write down the name of a country plus its capital, one after the other. 

Hidden in six consecutive letters inside this is the name of a diplomat... but, to find the diplomat, you must first move the last of these six consecutive letters into the third position.

Who is this diplomat? 

What are the country and capital?

Hint: The diplomat once helped to avert a global catastrophe.

ENTREE #5

Write down the name of a country plus its capital, one after the other. 

Hidden in consecutive letters inside this is the ancient name of a much smaller country that is situated on the southeast extremity of a
continent of which the larger country is a part.  

Name the large country, its capital, and the ancient name of the much smaller country.

ENTREE #6

Write down the name of a country plus its capital, one after the other. 

Hidden in consecutive letters inside this is the sound made by a creature that is not a national symbol of this country. 

The creature that is a national symbol of this country produces a series of high-pitched whistling or piping tones. 

Name the country and capital.

Name the sound made by a creature that is not a national symbol of this country.

What creature (with its high-pitched whistles) is a symbol of the country. 

ENTREE #7

Write down the name of a country plus its capital, one after the other. 

Remove the first three letters of the country, leaving something singers try to sing on.
Remove the last two letters of the capital, leaving the surname of a living singer/songwriter named Paul.

Name this country, capital and singer/songwriter.

ENTREE #8

Write down the name of a country plus its capital, one after the other. 

Hidden in consecutive letters inside this is the name of something 75 years old that suggests that the denizens of this capital are pretty darn bright. 

Name the country, capital, and whatever it is that suggests brightness.

ENTREE #9

Write down the name of a U.S. state plus its capital, one after the other. 

Hidden in consecutive letters inside this is a noun that suggests that the denizens of this
capital may be a bit down on their luck and financially strapped.

Name the country, capital, and the noun that implies impoverishment.

ENTREE #10

Write down the name of a country plus its capital, one after the other. 

Hidden in consecutive letters inside this is the name of something that may help you to get to the capitol at the capital. 

Name the country, capital, and the aid in locating the capital.

ENTREE #11

Write down the name of a U.S. state plus its capital, one after the other. 

Hidden in consecutive letters inside this is a word that is ubiquitous on signs all across the
streets of the capital city.

Name the state, capital, and word on the signs.

ENTREE #12

Write down the name of a country plus its capital, one after the other. 

Hidden in consecutive letters inside this is the name of a film that won an Academy Award for Best Picture. Delete it.

The remaining letters spell, in six letters, what one presumably could call any of the following islands:

Abaco, Acklins, Andros, Berry Islands, Bimini, Cat Island, Crooked Island, Eleuthera, Exuma, Harbour Island, Inagua, Long Island, Mayaguana, New Providence, Ragged Island, Rum Cay, San Salvador and Spanish Wells.

What are the country and capital?

What is the film title?

ENTREE #13

Explain the significance of the map of Comoros and the title of these 13 riff-offs, “Is the capital of Comoros Caracas?”

Caracas, of course, is not the capital of Comoros. But why are we implying that it might be nice if it were?

                            Dessert Menu

Diving Bell Dessert:

Underwater cob-webs

The underwater habitats of diving bell spiders
are rife with webs they weave. 

Where else can one find underwater cob-webs?

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.