Capital alchemy subtraction history element relative residence; Deep-six the unsuitable fifth! Elmira hosts a merry event; Female self-descriptive creature; From the grocery to the gridiron? Billy + Lucille = Crystal Ball!

PUZZLERIA! SLICES: OVER 5πe² SERVED

Schpuzzle of the Week:

Deep-six the unsuitable fifth!

Which of the following three-word phrases does not belong with the other four? Explain why not.

1. YUMMY SAMOA COOKIES

2. MECCA MOSQUE MOSAIC

3. SQUAMOUS GEICO GECKO

4. BEAUTIFUL BUTTONHOLED PEONY

5. SQUEAKY MICKEY MOUSE

Note: If the answer is #1. Yummy Samoa Cookies, the reason is not because the three initial letters are different. And, if the answer is #2. Mecca Mosque Mosaic, the reason is not because the three initial letters are the same.

Appetizer Menu

SuPrattemporal Septetudinal Appetizer:

Capital alchemy subtraction history element relative residence

Capital alchemy

1.★★ Drop the final letter from one national capital to obtain what sounds like a second national capital. 

What are the two national capitals? 

Capital history

2.🕮 Exchange the two syllables of a national
capital and add a space between them to obtain a two-word summary of this capital’s history in the 1940s. 

What is this capital and its two-word history?

State and capital subtraction #1

3.📰 Take the name of a U.S. state and its capital. 

Subtract the letters of a second state (without its capital) from this set. 

Rearrange the result to give a description of many contemporary news media.

State and capital subtraction #2

4.★ Take the name of a U.S. state capital. 

Subtract the letters of its state to describe the state capital.

An element of a house

5.🏡 Remove the last letter from a part of a house to obtain what sounds like a chemical
element. 

What are the element and part of a house?

“Err, no”

6.👪 Think of a name for a future relative. 

Add an N to explain why this future relationship may not be realized.

Insert A, space.

7.🤺 Think of an outside part of a residence in
one word. 

Add an A and a space inside this word to yield what can happen when this part is “used.”

MENU

Cocktail & Alcohol Hors d’Oeuvre:

Elmira hosts a merry event

Rearrange the combined thirteen letters in an alcoholic beverage and a cocktail to spell a merry two-word event that took place about a century-and-a-half ago in Elmira, New York. 

What are these alcoholic drinks and this event?

Hint: Alcoholic beverages and a cocktails are often served at such events as this one. 

And, given a fondness for Scotch Whiskey cultivated by one of the two main participants in this event, such beverages were likely served also at this event.

Sixteen Candles Slice:

From the grocery to the gridiron? 

Name something you might purchase at a grocery store before a birthday. 

Spoonerize its two words. 

The result sounds like what some football players and sideline cheerleaders do. 

 What might you purchase? 

What do some sideline cheerleaders and  football players do?

Riffing Off Shortz And Weisz Slices:

Billy + Lucille = Crystal Ball?

Will Shortz’s July 14th NPR Weekend Edition Sunday puzzle, created by Sandy Weisz of Chicago, Illinois, reads:

Think of a famous actor and a famous actress who co-starred in a classic movie of the past.
The actress’s first name, when reversed, and the actor’s last name, spelled forward, are similar romantic gifts. 

Who are these film stars?

Puzzleria!s Riffing Off Shortz And Weisz Slices read:

ENTREE #1

Think of a talented puzzle maker and a bona fide puzzle master. 

The puzzle maker’s first name followed by the puzzle master’s last name (but with its penultimate letter deleted) sounds like the name of a park and vacation destination in the Oceanside, California Area.

Who are this puzzle maker and puzzle master?

What is the name of the Oceanside-area park?

Hint: A fictional city (associated with the “Grand Theft Auto” franchise) is situated in a fictional county whose name is the first name of a talented puzzle blogger.

Note: Entree #2 is brought to you by Plantsmith, whose “Garden of Puzzley Delights” is featured regularly on Puzzleria!

ENTREE #2

Take the surnames of a past celebrity movie couple, male and female.

The consonants in each surname appear in alphabetical order. Remove the second consonant in the surname of the actress.

The actor’s surname and the actress’s altered surname spell a pair of nice anniversary gift ideas – the latter perhaps a bit more practical, the former perhaps a bit more romantic.

Who is this movie couple?

What are the gift ideas?

Note: Entrees #3 through #8 are brought to you by Nodd, whose “Nodd ready for prime time” is regularly featured on Puzzleria! 

ENTREE #3

Think of a famous actor and a famous actress who co-starred in a well-known film of the 1990s. 

Move the first letter of the actress’s first name to the end and read the result backwards. You will get a small-value item. 

Remove the last three letters of the actor’s last name to get an even smaller-value item,
phonetically. Who are these film stars, and what film did they costar in?  What are the small-value and smaller-value items?

ENTREE #4

Think of a famous actor and a famous actress who starred together in several well-known movies of the 1990s. 

From the actress’s first name, take the first, third, fourth, and sixth letters. 

Add an “A” and rearrange to form the first word in a two-word phrase naming a romantic gift married couples often give each other to celebrate their union. 

The second word in the two-word phrase is the actor’s last name. Who are the actor and actress? 

What do married couples often give each other?

ENTREE #5

Think of a famous actor and a famous actress who starred together in several well-known romantic comedies of the 1950s and 1960s. Move the last letter of the actress’s last name to the end of the actor’s first name. Then

rearrange the remaining letters of the actress’s last name, plus two letters of her first name, to spell a word for a path or route. Place this word after the now-modified first name of the actor. The result will be a two-word phrase that is a metaphor for many film romances and many more in real life. Who are the actor and actress? What is the two-word phrase?

ENTREE #6

Think of a famous actor and a famous actress who starred together in a well-known film during the 1990s. The first two letters of the abbreviated form of the actor’s first name, plus the first two letters of the actress’s first name, can be rearranged to form a word for something that dramatically affected the outcome of the film. Who are the actor and actress, what is the film, and what affected the film’s outcome? 

ENTREE #7

Think of a famous actor and a famous actress who starred together in a classic romantic film of the late 1960s. 

The actress’s last name, minus one letter, spells a derogatory term for a woman. Remove the last two letters of the actor’s first name and rearrange the remaining
letters to spell a word that might describe such a woman’s probable marital state. Who are the actor and actress? What are the derogatory term for a woman and the word that might describe her probable marital state?

ENTREE #8

Think of a famous actor and a famous actress who starred together in a romantic comedy film of the late 1960s. 

Remove the first letter of the actor’s first name and remove a state postal code from the actress’s last name.  Use the
remaining letters of the actor’s first name and the actress’s last name to spell the first word in the title of the film they starred in. Who are the actor and actress, and what is the film?

ENTREE #9

Pronounce aloud the stage-name surname of a famous actor and the first sixty percent of his birth-name surname. What you hear will sound like Civil War history.

What are this actor’s stage-name and birth-name surnames. Why do they sound like Civil War history?

ENTREE #10

“Aniridia” is a term for “___ of an ___.” 

Rearrange the combined letters in the two blanks to spell the first names of two characters in a classic “white house” movie filmed in the 1940s. What are the words in the blanks, the characters’ first names, and the classic “white house” movie? 

ENTREE #11

Think of a famous actor and a famous actress who co-starred in a “summer romance” movie from the 1970s. 

The surname of the actress contains a word for “the unit of force in the meter-kilogram-second system equal to the force required to impart an acceleration of one meter per second per second to a mass of one kilogram” The surname of the actor contains “a unit of electrical potential difference and electromotive force.”

The first names of the characters portrayed by the actress and actor – after you change a vowel in the actor’s character’s name from an “a” to an “e” – spell the first and last names of a British folk-rock singer who is ranked #164 on Rolling Stone's list of the 200 Greatest Singers of All Time.

Who are this actress and actor and the characters they portrayed in the 1979 “summer romance” movie?

Who is the British folk-rock singer?

ENTREE #12

Two famous actors co-starred in a classic 1960s film. 

The consonants in the first name of the character portrayed by one of the actors, fittingly, are in alphabetical order, as are the vowels. 

The consonants in the first name of the character portrayed by the other actor, also
fittingly, are not in alphabetical order, nor are the vowels.

Who are these actors, first names of their characters, and the film title? 

Dessert Menu

Varmint and Variant Dessert:

Female self-descriptive creature

Name a female creature, in two words. 

Change the eighth letter, a vowel, to a different vowel.

Then remove the space to form a word that describes this creature. 

What are this creature and descriptive word?

Note: the first word of the two-word creature is, according to Merriam-Webster, a less-common spelling variant of a shorter word. 

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.