Schpuzzle of the Week:
“Tell the secret? Rat?”
Take a three-word term that describes a fictional character whose first name is an anagram of a biblical book.
Replace the middle letter of that synonym with a Latin pronoun. The result is a female personification considered as the source and guiding force of creation.
What are this three-word term, its synonym and the female personification?
Appetizer Menu
Cutting-edge car, or cutting-room floor? Summer-Campy Lyrics; Alphanumeric Botany; Natural, look down... Man-made, look up
Cutting-edge car, or cutting-room floor?
But rearrange its name and find that – disappointingly – it was no leader after all.
Name the car.
Alphanumeric Botany
2. 🎜🎶🎝Note: Here’s something a little different – a puzzle that rearranges letters and numbers together, in the same group of characters, to form a song title.
Start with a common four-letter word that names part of a plant. Then append four numeric digits that add up to 17.
Finally, rearrange all eight characters to name a Top 10 hit song from the 1970s. What is it?
Summer-Campy Lyrics
an actual letter home from summer camp.
The melody was inspired by a 19th century operatic composition.
What’s the hit? Who sang it?
Natural look down, Man-made look up
4. 🌈👫Think of two common words – each begins with “c” and uses the same eight letters.
What words are these?
MENU
Vowel times 2, then anagram too!
Double a vowel that appears once in a world capital city.
Rearrange the result to spell a popular children’s game.
What are this city and game?
Not-So-Hungry Slice:
The all-you-can’t-eat menu
Remove the first and final letters, then hyphenate the first word.
The result would likely be ordered only by dieters or the not-so-hungry.
What is this menu Item before and after it is altered?
Riffing Off Shortz And Tuite Entrees:
The Rain & Reign in Spain stays Mainly on the Plane & island Chain
There are four countries whose names have one-syllable anagrams that rhyme with “Spain.” What are they?
Puzzleria!s Riffing Off Shortz and Tuite Entrees read:
ENTREE #1
Solve:
1. a declared cease-fire (1 word, 5 letters),
2. why a freshly composed letter might smudge after it is folded (2 words, 3 & 3 letters),
3. a single, double, triple or homer by former Detroit Tiger infielder Don (2 words, 4 & 3 letters), and
4. a pot-smoking private instructor you hire to
teach your grade-schooler arithmetic (2 words, 4 & 5 letters).
1. A glass bottle used to hold a condiment
(such as oil or vinegar) for use at the dinner table (1 word, 5 letters),
2. What you might say if you solve this answer: “I ____ __!” (2 words, 4 & 2 letters),
3. What the former Detroit Tiger infielder Don did after fielding a ground ball (2 words, 5 & 2 letters),
4. The missing words in the following film title: “A River Runs _______ __” (2 words, 7 & 2 letters).
The surname of a puzzle-maker named Andrew is a fifth rhyme of those four rhymes.
Who is this puzzle-maker?
What are the first four answers?
What are the four rhyming answers?
Note: Entrees #2-through-#7 were created by our friend Nodd.
The names of two countries contain the names of two other countries, in order but not consecutive.
What are these four countries?
The names of four countries contain, in order and consecutively, the names of things to drink.
What are these four countries?
Take the names of three countries. Each name contains consecutive letters that can be rearranged to spell the name of the same fourth country. What are these four countries?
ENTREE #5
Both of them end with the name of an animal
whose native habitat is far distant from either of them.
What are these two countries?
If you remove the last letter from the name of a
country and move the new last letter to the front, you will spell the national language of a different country.
What are these two countries?
ENTREE #7
What are these five countries?
Note: Entree #8 was created by our friend Plantsmith.
Take two breakfast food components in four and six letters.
Move the initial letter of second word to the front of first word. Place a consonant in the space left by the removal of that initial letter.
The result is two modes of transport.
What are these breakfast food components and modes of transport?
Dessert Menu
“Be Patient Then Pounce” Dessert:
“Be patient, then pronounce!”
word, is usually pronounced as if it were the letter a few places later in the alphabet?
Every Thursday 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!
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.
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QUESTIONS?
ReplyDeleteI've had time (long past time to go to bed) to look only at the Schpuzzle, which I solved by going backwards (my favorite method!). However, I would suggest that the pronoun that replaces the middle letter of the synonym ought to be FRENCH, not Latin. At least, *I* could not pin down the necessary Latin pronoun, given that I knew what it had to be.
DeleteThink, Caesar... but not the salad.
DeleteThink ballet... but not the slippers.
Lego(NotDecker)&(NotJam)
Oh, I had completely forgotten about the Caesar quote! Google simply did NOT seem to have the proper pronoun anywhere (it always had an extra letter on it.). But I still had the correct pronoun anyway (given it obviously being French also.)
DeleteHINTS!
ReplyDeleteI knew the answer to App #3 immediately, and am still chuckling, because our elementary school art teacher was, for some reason, HUNG UP on that song, and forced us all to draw/compose comic strips about it. UGH! I don't know if that's a hint or not, but I didn't know which category to place this comment.
DeleteIn case it is not clear from the instructions, in Entree 4 each of the first three countries contains the letters to spell the fourth country. It is not necessary to combine letters from the first three to spell the fourth.
DeleteThe song in Appetizer #2, a favorite of mine by the way, was recorded by a group whose name actually has a connection to the new Pope.
DeletepjbWasAlsoBornInTheSameYearTheSongWasReleased(!)
Nodd, although I haven't really read any Entrees past #1 as yet, I went to look at your #4, and didn't understand why it says "to spell the name of the SAME fourth country." Could you please explain?
DeleteVT,
DeleteI admit that I went in and tweaked the wording a tad after Nodd posted his May 9, 2025 at 4:10 PM Comment, above. The answer to Nodd's Entree #4 consists of four countries. The fourth one can be formed by choosing and rearranging consecutive "strings" of letters from any one of the first three countries.
LegoWhoCommendsNoddOnAnExcellentRiff&OnHisFiveOtherFineRiffs&WhoCommendsPlantsmithOnHisExcellentRiff&AlsoChuckOnHisAlwaysSolidConundrumbstruck!
BUt, Lego, I still don't understand what the word "same" in that sentence for Entree 4 has to do with anything.
DeleteThanks, VT.
DeleteThe wording in my new sentence:
Each name contains consecutive letters that can be rearranged to spell the name of the SAME fourth country...
was intended to indicate that only ONE fourth country is a part of the answer.
But:
Each name contains consecutive letters that can be rearranged to spell the name of the SAME fourth country...
Had I written:
Each name contains consecutive letters that can be rearranged to spell the name of ONE fourth country...
solvers might infer that each of the three countries' strings of consecutive letters could be rearranged to spell the name of one of three different countries... a fourth country, fifth country and sixth county!
LegoWhoSinceHeWroteThisRiffIsNowCountingNotSheepAsHeSleepsButIsInsteadCountingCountriesAsHeSleeps!
If this is TMI, I apologize; but I'm getting a lot of practice at that lately. App 2 appears to be a variation of App2 in Puzzleria! edition 2/20/25.
DeleteSUNDAY HINTS FOR ENTREES 2-7:
Delete2. The four initial letters can spell what sometimes follows yo.
3. Liqueur; soda shoppe item; cocktail; sweet vino.
4. The three countries’ first letters can spell a form of mass transit or undersea transit.
5. Both countries have land.
6. I hate tea!
7. The initial letters of the five countries are inane.
Oh, Lego, I get it now (finally!). When I went to read Entree 4 again, with the word "same" NOT in capital letters, somehow it made sense all of a sudden. Your explanation helped to. NOT that I solved it, altho I see Nodd's hint.
DeleteOkie doke, I finally have Entree #4. However, in looking at Nodd's hint for his #2, I am begining to wonder if I have the wrong answer (I actually came up with THREE possibilities), because the first two solutions have all the SAME initial letter (i.e. can't be a word following "Yo', whatever that word might be.). Perhaps I misunderstood the directions, when it said the letters were 'in order, but not consecutive'. Some of my letters ARE consecutive, but in each first country, they are not ALL consecutive. Nodd?
DeleteLate Sunday Early Monday Hints
DeleteSchpuzzle of the Week:
The donkey brayed a pain-filled "Hee-Haw!" after stepping on a thorn in the pasture.
Lightning Round Appetizer:
I will allow Chuck to provide hints as he sees fit... I may weigh-in later if need be.
Child’s Play Hors d’Oeuvre
The popular children’s game is in the form of a three-word question: noun, verb pronoun.
Not-So-Hungry Slice:
Dieters and the not-so-hungry tend to order menu items with smaller portions or with fewer fries, McNuggets, onion rings, etc.
Riffing Off Shortz And Tuite Entrees:
The Rain & Reign in Spain stays Mainly on the Plane & island Chain
Will Shortz’s May 4th Weekend Edition Sunday puzzle challenge, created by Andrew Tuite, of Chicago, reads:
There are four countries whose names have one-syllable anagrams that rhyme with “Spain.” What are they?
Puzzleria!s Riffing Off Shortz Tuite Entrees read:
ENTREE #1
The "glass bottle," the blanks in “I ____ __!” what Tiger infielder Don did, and the blanks in “A River Runs _______ __” all rhyme with "Do it!" (you know, like the iconic "Just Do It" Nike tagline... Swoosh indeed!).
NOTE: See Nodd's hints for his Entrees #2-through-#7 are posted just above in his May 11, 2025 at 8:31 PM post.
ENTREE #8
NOTE: Here is a hint to Nodd's Entree #8:
The two breakfast food components are on the "healthful end of the spectrum.
The first mode of transport is plural and not a brand name; The second mode of transport is singular and is a brand name.
“Be Patient Then Pounce” Dessert:
Wooden percussion, "Copy that, good buddy!"
LegoLateHintingAsUsual
Re the Hors D'O: I finally came up with a possibility for the children's game BUT I HAVE NEVER HEARD IT CALLED that (i.e. the NOUN portion)....but it's the only variation that works, backwards, to obtain a capital city. Is there some REGIONAL difference to this children's game, that I just never heard of, between Minnesota and the East Coast?
DeleteYeesh, based on the hints, many of my existing answers were alts. If I am up to it, I'll try to find the intended answers. I already did that with Entree 2 and the Dessert.
DeleteI figured out the Hors d'Oeuvre based on VT's comment. I also have never heard of this variant of the game.
Still haven't made any progress on the Slice. Are we supposed to delete the first letter of the first word and the last letter of the last word? Or the first and last letters of both? I thought that the altered answer was going to be something like the hint stated, but it doesn't help me any.
VT, some of the letters in the answers to Entree 2 are consecutive, just not all of them. Two of the four countries are in Africa and one's in Europe.
DeleteUpdate on progress: I think I now have the intended answer for Entree #7 (whew!). For Entree #3, only two of my answers fit the hints. I may found the cocktail, but it is an abbreviation and not the complete name. Totally stuck on the liquer (is it a brand name?).
DeleteI have a new answer for Entree #8, but I'm not all that happy with it. The second food component isn't what I consider healthy, and the transport brand is really obscure. Upon further research, my original answer wasn't all that silly! - but it just doesn't fit the hints. (Just thought of a healthier component that works. But the only transport company I found is another really obscure one, so probably still isn't the answer!)
Tortie, yes, the liqueur in Entree 3 is a brand name, and also the name of an island nation. The cocktail is not an abbreviation; it is just the first seven letters of the country.
DeleteWe might have the same answer for Entree 8. I think the second mode of transport may not be a transport company, but a maker of bug sprays. (The hint just said it was a brand name, not one in the transport industry.)
Nodd, thanks! Think I have Entree 3 right - finally!
DeleteI don't think we have the same answer for Entree 8. I have three possibilities so far for the second food product. None of them seem to lead to the name of a maker of bug sprays, either ones you spray on yourself or on the bugs.
At this point, my poor brain is so confused, I can't keep one entree straight from another, with all the countries involved. I am pretty sure that perhaps ONE of my answers for #2 is right (i.e. in Europe), but as for the other two pairs, only ONE country is in Africa...its "pair" country is not. And my third answer for #3 are both in. Asia somewhere.
DeleteAs for #3, I can only guess that ONE of my answers is right; a second answer MIGHT be right, but can't actually see how it fits into the hint. I don't know if my third answer for #3 is correct or not...and I simply can't deal with the alcohol drinks, because I know nothing about them, and looking up lists hasn't worked either. If there's a brand name involved, it will be truly hopeless.
And I have NO answer at all for Entree #8 (and haven't seen a hint forthcoming from PLantie.)
Has anybody solved the Slice yet? I've thrown my hands up relative to IT, as well, having tried everything I can think of.
VT: Entree 2 – the longer African country has 6 letters; the shorter has 4 and is an anagram of a South American capital.
DeleteEntree 3, alcoholic beverages – the brand name liqueur/island country starts with C and has a ç. The cocktail starts with an M and 007 likes his shaken, not stirred. The wine is the same word as where a ship docks.
Finally figured out Entree 8! I forgot that the second word has six letters.
DeleteDoes your answer have the bug spray name?
DeleteIf the children's game is "Mother May I", there is no duplicated vowel. The M is in there twice, though. Can't find another game name with that combination of words.
DeletepjbAdmitsTheClosestHe'sComeIsBratislava/FloorIsLava
BTW Can't find the liqueur or the cocktail, but there are FIVE capitals that have the wine. How am I supposed to find the intended one?
DeletepjbMayActuallyNeedADrinkByTheTimeIt'sAllOver
PJB, I had the same dilemma re the children's game (I believe I commented about that las tnight, somewhere above.). By luck, I happened to stumble upon a Google entry that had TWO OTHER FIRST WORDS for that same game...and one of those is the noun you seek. Good luck.
DeleteNodd: re your Entree 2: I finally figured out your intended answer relating to AFrica, thanks to your most recent hint. I will leave on my two alternate answers, however, the ones from Asia, and the one half in Africa and half in the Caribbean!
DeleteRe your entree #3, Nodd...I knew the sec I read your hint what the word is. But I have yet to figure out how it meshes with the actual puzzle answers...in any case, as things sit, I still suspect I have only ONE correct answer, but I still like my two alternate ones.
DeletePJB: For the liqueur and the cocktail, see my hints to VT @ 4:33 pm. The wine is not spelled out in a capital, it's spelled out in the name of a country and there's only one that qualifies.
DeleteNOdd, re your comment about Entree 8 and bug spray. The Dessert text itself says that BOTH resultant words are modes of transport. So your comment about 11 hours ago (I nver know HOW to pin down TIMES given that we all live in different times zones..I don't know if the blog automaticallY ADJUSTS the times or not?) Anyway, your comment can't be right, i.e., that the 'hint' didn't pin down its being a transport brand. The DESSERT pinned down that it IS transport.
DeleteIntrestingly, the brand that you, NOdd, must have pinned down as a bug spray is ALSO a transport brand! But it comes from a breakfast food that is definitely NOT healthy, so I'm not sure that we aren't ALL WRONG still! [How's that for about a triple negative?]
DeleteRegional differences do indeed come into play in the "Child’s Play Hors d’Oeuvre." Both names contain three words. The second and third words are identical. But not the first words!
Delete* The first word in this version of the game is a 7-letter word that precedes "Hook" or "Bligh."
* The first word in the other version of the game is a 6-letter anagram of the first two syllables of an instrument that tells you if you're running a fever.
LegoHey98.6
My 2nd word for #8 is both a mode of transport and a bug spray. The food may arguably be "healthy" compared to its synthetic alternative, in moderation.
DeleteE8. The two components are in one of those four categories.in the pict. Fruit, vegetable, grains and protein. As far as protein goes? One is more commonly imbibed than the other.
DeleteIf Kate Winslet and Dennis Hopper starred in a movie together what might you name it?
I think I figured out the Slice last night as well.
DeleteNodd, I don't think the second mode of transport in Entree 8 is a bug spray. If so, I haven't heard of it.
I came up with a ridiculously complicated clue for Entree 8 yesterday. I'll put it here (since I took so much effort composing it in my head 😹) but a kinder, saner one later that you can look up if necessary.
Think of a popular TV character from the 1970s. The last name of that character, minus the "T" in the middle, is the transportation brand. The first four letters of the character's last name are the last four letters of the actor's last name.
Now change the first letter of the second transport to an "M." You'll have the last name of a famous singer. The famous singer, actor, and character all have the same first name.
TortieWhoHasProbablyAnEvenMoreRidiculousHintForTheSliceButAlsoHasToComeUpWithAReasonableOne
PS, thanks for the App 8 hint! Not sure what Kate Winslet has to do with the answer i have, but the rest makes sense.
DeleteHint for the Slice, at least for my answer:
Take the hyphenated word and delete the hyphen. You'll be left with two words. Those are the first two words of a hit song title. That record was released in the same year as the song in App 2. The middle word in the song title is the name of the record label it was released on, as well as the middle word in an earlier #1 hit title by the group. The fourth word in the title is the same as the fourth word in App 2 (and also sounds like the highest Hot 100 chart position of this song). The last word is something you might do to a question.
The last three letters of the last name of the lead singer on the record, as well as the aforementioned #1 song by the group, is a sound made by a particular animal. The second part of the menu item are parts of that animal.
The producer of the record's first name may be formed by taking the first four letters of the original menu item and adding an "S" to the end.
TortieWhoNotesThatTodayIsTheStartOf"FledgeWatch"ForTheBigBearValleyEagletsWhoWillSoonBe"Up,Up,AndAway"!
OK, I have the answer for #8 from Tortie's sitcom and Plantsmith's Dennis Hopper hint, though the second transport mode is actually only half of a brand name.
DeleteNodd, you're right. It's only half of a brand name.
DeleteMore hints for my answer for the Slice: "I didn't know that musician name was a member of a group before group name!" This is a likely apocryphal statement that supposedly some people uttered in the 1970s.
The group name is the second word in the original menu item. The musician's last name starts with the same three-letters as the last name of the previous hint's singer.
TortieWhoNotesTheSecondHalfOfTheBrandNameIsTheLastNameOfPeopleNamedJohnAndPeteAndThatTheNameOfTheAforementionedGroupIsTheSameNameAsATVShowAndTheFirstOscarWinnerForBestPicture
Looking forward to some nice - alts. also.
DeleteE8. E8. It's a roadie movie for Dennis and Kate but not -"planes, trains and automobiles."
DeletePS, got it now. I was concentrating on the breakfast component instead of the transportation.
DeleteI could not even BEGIN to follow the above stream of hints....my brain utterly shut down at the attempt! I' m to the point that whatever I have now, be it wrong or not, is what I'm going with...no more trying.
DeleteThanks, Tortie, for the extensive Slice hints, which helped me solve App 2 as well. Still need Apps 1 and 4 and my Dessert answer may be wrong -- my first letter is not "usually" thought of as a consonant.
DeleteApp 1: This company and its CEO have been in the news a lot lately. I actually have two anagrams that can fit the second part.
DeleteApp 4: It wasn't too hard to find the escaped prisoner, as he left quite a ___ _____.
Dessert: Both letters are thought of consonants, but are infrequently found at the start of words.
Thank you Tortie. I think I have App 2 and the Dessert now, though I can't honestly agree with the "no leader" statement in App 2, even though I'd never buy the car. One of the anagrams of the car is particularly applicable to the CEO.
DeleteI kinda disagree with the Dessert's claim that the first letter is "usually" pronounced like the second. It seems that's really only true when the second follows the first, and even that doesn't apply in the case of a certain deli food.
Nodd, now that I think about it, my original answer for App 1 is yet another alt! New hint: Back to the Future.
DeleteFor the Dessert, the two letters are later in the alphabet. Hint: atomic number 54.
Thanks, Tortie! You know, I tried an Anagram finder for App 1 and just came up with a flower. The car anagram wasn't listed.
DeleteNodd, for anagrams, it's best to use Inge's (I can't remember who originally mentioned that...was it Tortie? She advised us re another interesting help, boulter.com, which I have several times found very helpful. My former favorite anagram site, internet anagram server NEVER shows proper names...that is probably the issue you ran into re the car's not having shown up. (I put it into INge's and saw your flower.)
DeleteI actually did use Inge's, but it didn't show the car.
DeleteOOh, you're right, that is shocking! (I just typed in the flower to see if the car would show up, and it didn't. That is most unusual!)
DeleteVT, I don't use Inge's solver. I tend to use https://www.thewordfinder.com/anagram-solver/ . Like you mentioned, sometimes I use the boulter one. The one I use for proper names is https://anagram-solver.net
DeleteThanks, Tortie, for sharing those anagram sites.
DeleteAnd thanks for the hint on App 4. Nice pun!
DeletePUZZLE RIFFS!
ReplyDeleteSCHPUZZLE RIFF: Take the first and last names of a character from American literature. Change an E to an I and add an A. Rearrange to get two words: (1) what this character was condemned as (6 letters) and (2) what this character probably needed (7 letters).
DeleteMY PROGRESS SO FAR...
ReplyDeleteOops, I accidentally posted under Riffs, so I deleted my posts from there.
DeleteI have answers for everything but the Hors d'Oeuvre and Slice. For Entree #4, I found four countries that have consecutive letters that can be rearranged to produce the name of a fifth country.
Some of my answers could be alts. Not entirely confident about Entree #3, Entree #8, or the Dessert, for example. And even Entree #7 might not be the intended answer.
TortieWhoWasBornTheYearAfterApp3WasReleasedAndNoticedThatTheArtistHadAConnectionToApp2AndThePope!
Happy Friday evening y'all!
ReplyDeleteMom and I are fine, albeit the least bit disappointed about not going to FL for the rest of this week. We also didn't eat out this evening, but we will be taking Mom and Renae out for Mother's Day on Sunday afternoon. We didn't feel like cooking anything tonight, so Mom went to Taco Bell to get our supper. She had the Nachos Bell Grande, a taco, and a Sprite. I had the Cheesy Double Beef Burrito, Nacho Fries, a Diet Pepsi(they were out of Diet Dr. Pepper, Mom said), and we both had the Cinnabon Delights(12 in all). I had four of those for dessert, and Mom will have a few for breakfast tomorrow morning, preferably before she goes to the beauty shop. We've also been shopping at Dollar Tree and Aldi earlier this afternoon, and I got a Baconator burger and Baconator fries for lunch from Wendy's, with a Diet Dt. Pepper to drink. Mom had already had lunch earlier today, but she was interested in their caramel sundae(which came with chocolate ice cream), so she had that. Both lunch and supper were good.
After getting home, I put all the groceries away. We watched the game shows on GSN, and were never contacted about eating out tonight. Finally Mom called Bryan, and he said we'd be taking Mom and Renae out Sunday. Afterward, we decided on Taco Bell, and I solved the latest Prize Crossword on the Guardian website, which was set by Brendan. Then I checked in here, with a good hint for App #2 posted earlier. After doing some quick detective work on the latest puzzles, I was able to solve(the aforementioned)App #2 and App #3, as well as Entrees #1, #2, #5, and #6. Of course, hints will be required to solve the rest. I would also like to add that I think Nodd's hints have actually been improving lately. Great work all around to everybody involved!
Good luck in solving to all, and please stay safe, and I hope none of you are experiencing weather like they are right now in Ft. Walton. It's supposed to rain all day tomorrow over there! Cranberry out!
pjbSaysTacoBell'sCinnabonDelightsMightActuallyBeBetterThanWendy'sCinnabonPull-Apart(IsThatEvenPossible?!)
I recommend Sandy Weisz's puzzle game, Raddle. You need to get from one word to another by solving various word games. For example, yesterday's puzzle was "From PREVOST to LEO." You can also reverse the order of the word ladder when you're stuck.
ReplyDeleteFind it here: https://raddle.quest/
TortieWhoNoticedThatToday'sPuzzleIs"FromCHICAGOtoVATICAN CITY"
Thanks for that heads-up recommendation, Tortie. Sandy Weisz is also a frequent NPR Sunday Puzzle Challenge contributor.
DeleteLegoWhoNotesThatWhileVaticanCityMayHaveThe"WhiteSmokes"ChicagoStillHasThe"WhiteSox"(YesAndTheCubbies)
Tortie, I attempted to go to the link you suggested, but could not make hide nor hair sense out of the entire thing. And are we supposed to be able to type in letters? That woudln't work in any case.
DeleteVT, you need to click on the yellow area on the left and type in the answers.
DeleteOne of the clues on the right pertains to the current step on the ladder. The previous answer is put inside the variable, so usually only one or a few of the clues on the right make sense! If you get stuck on the ladder, you can ask for hints by clicking on the light bulb, or try clicking on the arrow to go from bottom to top.
You can also use the word lengths to make progress. For example, if one rung on the ladder has a length of 4 and the next has a length of 6, you know that a clue like "Add a letter to whatever to get an animal" wouldn't work.
(Thanks to Tortie and Lego for numerous hints.)
ReplyDeleteSCHPUZZLE – MOTHER OF PEARL; NACRE; MOTHER NATURE
APPETIZERS
1. DELOREAN
2. “25 OR 6 TO 4”
3. “HELLO MUDDAH, HELLO FADDUH”; ALLAN SHERMAN
4. CILANTRO; CONTRAIL
HORS D’OEUVRE – PANAMA CITY, CAPTAIN MAY I?
SLICE– BONELESS WINGS; ONE-LESS WING
ENTREES
1. ANDREW TUITE; TRUCE, WET INK, WERT HIT, HIGH TUTOR; CRUET, KNEW IT, THREW IT, THROUGH IT
2. AUSTRALIA, AUSTRIA; MALAWI, MALI
3. CURACAO; MALTA; MARTINIQUE; PORTUGAL
4. BAHRAIN, SURINAME, UKRAINE; IRAN
5. ICELAND, IRELAND
6. HAITI, THAILAND
7. ARGENTINA; ERITREA; IRAN; NIGER; NIGERIA
8. OATS, BARLEY; BOATS, HARLEY
DESSERT – X
NODD SCHPUZZLE RIFF – HESTER PRYNNE; SINNER, THERAPY
Yeesh, with all of the alts answers and mistakes this week, this looks like a crime scene!
ReplyDeleteSchpuzzle: MOTHER OF PEARL, NACRE, MOTHER NATURE (Hester in The Scarlet Letter -> anagram of Esther)
App:
1. DELOREAN (anagrams to NO LEADER) (Alt: TESLA (STALE or LEAST))
2. 25 OR 6 TO 4 (ROOT)
3. HELLO MUDDAH, HELLO FADDUH; ALLAN SHERMAN
4. CILANTRO, CONTRAIL
Hors d’Oeuvre: (Post hint: ) PANAMA CITY, CAPTAIN, MAY I (I only know this game as MOTHER, MAY I)
Slice: (Post hint: ) BONELESS WINGS, ONE-LESS WING
Entrees:
1. ANDREW TUITE; TRUCE, WET INK, WERT HIT, HIGH TUTOR; CRUET, KNEW IT, THREW IT, THROUGH IT
2. AUSTRALIA, AUSTRIA, (Post hint: ) MALAWI, MALI (alt: INDONESIA, INDIA)
3. (Mixture of pre and post hint: ) CURACAO, MARTINIQUE (MARTINI), PORTUGAL (PORT), MALTA (MALT), (other answers I had: MAURITANIA (RITA - short for MAGARITA), BANGlADESH (ADE), PALESTINE (ALE))
4. BAHRAIN, (alt based on BUS/SUB hint: SAN MARINO), SURINAME, UKRAINE, IRAN
5. ICELAND, IRELAND (ELAND)
6. HAITI, THAILAND
7. (Post hint: ) ARGENTINA (South America), IRAN (Asia), NIGER, NIGERIA, ERITREA (all in Africa) (Pre hint alt: UNITED ARAB EMIRATES (Asia), BENIN (Africa), AUSTRIA (Europe), UNITED STATES (North America), NAURU (Oceania), SURINAME (South America))
8. (Post hint: ) OATS, BARLEY , BOATS, HARLEY (Alt: OATS, GRAINS, GOATS, TRAINS; I knew that “goats” was a silly answer, but according to Wikipedia, “Goats also can perform light harness work in front of carts” so it’s not a totally ridiculous answer!)
Dessert: (Post hint: ) X, Z (originally had that C sounds like K)
Nodd riff: HESTER PRYNNE, SINNER, THERAPY
DId you know that Allan Sherman was not a one-hit wonder? His “Crazy Downtown”, based on “Downtown”, got up to #40. I’ve heard it on the 60s Satellite Survey on SiriusXM. Pretty funny! The song mentioned a drug named Miltown, which is named after Milltown, NJ, which is close to where I live.
DeleteMy hints:
E8: Bob Hartley, Bob Newhart, Bob Marley
Slice: “One Less Bell to Answer” by the Fifth Dimension, sung by Marilyn McCoo, produced by Bones Howe; Paul McCarney, Wings.
There's also "Here's To The Crabgrass" to the tune of "Country Gardens" (which I used to be able to play on the piano) and "The Twelve Gifts of Christmas" with the refrain "and a Japanese transistor radio," which shows you how times have changed.
DeleteTOrtie, I LOVE your "stale Tesla!"
Delete"Steal" would work for the CEO.
DeleteOh yeah, Nodd, that is good too! I love our sarcastic political commenting on this blog!
DeleteTort- I think they also use goats for transport throughout Nepal.
DeleteSCHPUZZLE: ESTHER => HESTER => MOTHER OF PEARL => MOTHER NACRE => MOTHER NATURE
ReplyDeleteAPPETIZERS:
1. DELOREAN => NO LEADER
2. ROOT 2456 => 25 OR 6 TO 4
3. HELLO MUDDAH, HELLO FADDUH [CAMP GRANADA]; ALLAN SHERMAN. [Dance of the Hours from the opera LA GIOCONDA]
4. From Tortie’s late hint: CONTRAIL / CILANTRO? [I had had other words chosen, but had failed to notice that the SAME eight letters had to be used for both the upper-seen thing and the lower-seen thing.]
HORS D’O: PANAMA CITY => CAPTAIN MAY I?
SLICE: HONEY WINGS => ONE-Y WING ???????? Nothing worked
ENTREES:
1. (1) TRUCE; (2) WET INK; (3) WERT HIT; (4) HIGH TUTOR => (1) CRUET; (2) KNEW IT; (3). THREW IT; (4) THROUGH ITL; TUITE
2. IRELAND => IRAN; Trinidad and TOBAGO => TOGO; also INDONESIA => INDIA. Intended 2nd answer: MALAWI => MALI
3. PORTUGAL => PORT; PALESTINE => ALE; BANGLADESH => ADE; MARTINIQUE [Technically, part of France] => MARTINI; CURACAO
4. BAHRAIN, SAN MARINO, UKRAINE => IRAN
5. ICELAND and IRELAND, ending in ELAND
6. UGANDA => DUGAN is apparently a language, related to Mandarin Chinese
7. ARGENTINA => NIGER, NIGERIA, ERITREA, IRAN
8. OATS & BUTTER? => BOATS & CUTTER?
DESSERT: X and Z (Thanks to Tortie’s hint. I had had another answer all week, but never liked it.)
On nuts, I had HAD BONY WINGS, originally, which I now see was at least CLOSE to "Boneless"...oh well.
DeleteI asked the panel and they decided to also accept cutter as a viable means of transport in E8.
DeleteHeh heh, Plantie, I am grateful to "the panel."
DeleteThat was my original answer, hence the "bug spray" discussion, but "butter" just didn't fit too well with Lego's hint about healthfulness. Then again, a lot more people probably eat butter for breakfast than barley.
DeleteYeah, Nodd, I knew butter wasn't a healthy choice either...but somebody (you?) mentioned that it was a "better choice than the alternative"...so I figured you must also have meant butter.
Delete5-14-25” 60 degrees and windy.
ReplyDeleteSchpuzzle – Mother of Pearl, Nacre, Mother Nature
APPETIZERS
1.
2.
3. “Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah”; Allan Sherman, ballad of Camp Grenada.
4. Cilantro, contrail
HORS D’OEUVRE –
ENTREES
1. Andrew Tuite
8. Oats, Barley; Boats, Harley. “”Movie: Big boat (Titanic) Kate Winslet and a harley” (Dennis Hopper).
DESSERT –
Nodd Riff – Hester Prynne, sinner, therapy
I tried to make reprise and heresy to work for Nodd's final riff.
DeleteSchpuzzle
ReplyDeleteMOTHER OF PEARL(Hester Prynne of "The Scarlet Letter"; HESTER is an anagram of ESTHER.), NACRE, MOTHER NATURE
Appetizer Menu
1. DELOREAN=NO LEADER
2. ROOT 2, 5, 6, 4= "25 OR 6 TO 4" by Chicago(hometown of Robert Prevost, our new Pope), 1970
3. "HELLO MUDDAH, HELLO FADDUH", by Allan Sherman(sung to the tune of the ballet "DANCE OF THE HOURS" from the opera "LA GIOCONDA" by Amilcare Ponchielli), with lyrics written by Sherman and Lou Busch, 1963
4. CILANTRO, CONTRAIL
Menu
Child's Play Hors d'Oeuvre
PANAMA CITY, CAPTAIN MAY I?(also known as "Mother May I?", but it didn't work that way)
Not-So-Hungry Slice
BONELESS WINGS, ONE-LESS WING
Entrees
1.
(1.)TRUCE=CRUET
(2.)WET INK=KNEW IT
(3.)WERT HIT=THREW IT
(4.)HIGH TUTOR=THROUGH IT
All answers rhyme with TUITE, as in ANDREW TUITE.
2. AUSTRALIA, AUSTRIA; INDONESIA, INDIA
3. PORTUGAL(PORT), MALTA(MALT), MARTINIQUE(MARTINI), PALESTINE(ALE)
4. BAHRAIN, SURINAME, UKRAINE, IRAN
5. ICELAND, IRELAND(ELAND)
6. HAITI, THAI
7. ARGENTINA, NIGER, ERITREA, IRAN
8. OATS, BARLEY, BOATS, HARLEY(Davidson)
"Be Patient Then Pounce" Dessert
X(It usually sounds like Z.)
BTW Hester Prynne could've been an Alabama fan. She did wear a red A, after all. I'll see myself out.-pjb
This week's Official Answers For the Record, Part 1:
ReplyDeleteSchpuzzle of the Week:
“Tell the secret? Rat?”
Take a three-word term that describes a fictional character whose first name is an anagram of a biblical book.
Replace the second and third words with a two-syllable synonym of the three-word term.
Replace the middle letter of that synonym with a Latin pronoun.
The result is a female personification considered as the source and guiding force of creation.
What are this three-word term, its synonym and the female personification?
Answer:
Mother of Pearl; Nacre; Mother Nature:
Hester (Prynne, in "the Scarlet Letter") is an anagram of the biblical book "Esther";
Hester is the "Mother of Pearl" (fathered by the Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale)
"Mother of Pearl" is also called "Nacre";
Nacre – c + tu = Nature;
Lego...
This week's Official Answers For the Record, Part 2:
ReplyDeleteAppetizer Menu
Lightning Round Appetizer:
Cutting-edge car, or cutting-room floor? Alphanumeric Botany; Summer-Campy Lyrics; Natural look down, Man-made look up
Cutting-edge car, or cutting-room floor?
1. Think of a famous car that was once thought to be ahead of its time, a forerunner of things to come. But rearrange its name and find that – disappointingly – it was no leader after all. Name the car.
Answer:
DeLorean (Note: The DeLorean – which sold from 1981 to 1983 – was a forerunner in both technology and looks. And it was also literally ahead of its time as the time-traveling car in the movie, “Back to the Future.” However, when you rearrange its name you get “no leader.”)
Alphanumeric Botany
2. Note: Here’s something a little different – a puzzle that rearranges letters and numbers together, in the same group of characters, to form a song title.
Start with a common four-letter word that names part of a plant. Then append four numeric digits that add up to 17. Finally, rearrange all eight characters to name a Top 10 hit song from the 1970s. What is it?
Answer:
root2456 --> “25 or 6 to 4”
Note: “25 or 6 to 4” was a top hit song by the band, Chicago. On 8/1/70 it reached #4 on Billboard’s Hot 100. If you’d like, you can hear it on Youtube at https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=25+or+6+to+4 Click on the Official Audio version.
Summer-Campy Lyrics
3. The lyrics of this famous ‘60s Top-Ten novelty hit are said to have been inspired by an actual letter home from summer camp. The melody was inspired by a 19th century operatic composition. What’s the hit? Who sang it?
“Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh (A Letter From Camp),” by Allan Sherman
Natural look-down, Man-made look-up
4. Think of two common words – each begins with “c” and uses the same eight letters. One names something created by nature that you’d usually look down to see. The other names something created by man that you’d usually look up to see. What words are these?
cilantro, contrail
Lego...
This week's Official Answers For the Record, Part 3:
ReplyDeleteMENU
Child’s Play Hors d’Oeuvre
Vowel times 2, then anagram too!
Double a vowel that appears once in a world capital city.
Rearrange the result to spell a popular children’s game.
What are this city and game?
Answer:
Panama City; “Captain, May I?”
Not-So-Hungry Slice:
The all-you-can’t-eat menu
Name, in two words, breaded pieces of poultry seen on an appetizer menu.
Remove the first and final letters, then hyphenate the first word.
The result would likely be ordered only by dieters or the not-so-hungry.
What is this menu Item before and after it is altered?
Answer:
Boneless Wings; One-less Wing
Answer:
Riffing Off Shortz And Tuite Entrees:
The Rain & Reign in Spain stays Mainly on the Plane & island Chain
Will Shortz’s May 4th Weekend Edition Sunday puzzle challenge reads:
There are four countries whose names have one-syllable anagrams that rhyme with “Spain.” What are they?
Puzzleria!s Riffing Off Shortz Tuite Entrees read:
ENTREE #1
Solve:
1. a declared cease-fire (1 word, 5 letters),
2. why a freshly composed letter might smudge after it is folded (2 words, 3 & 3 letters),
3. a single, double, triple or homer by former Detroit Tiger infielder Don (2 words, 4 & 3 letters), and
4. a pot-smoking private instructor you hire to teach your grade-schooler arithmetic (2 words, 4 & 5 letters).
Anagram each of those answers to get answers to the four answers below, all which rhyme with one another:
1. A glass bottle used to hold a condiment (such as oil or vinegar) for use at the dinner table (1 word, 5 letters),
2. What you might say if you solve this answer: “I ____ __!” (2 words, 4 & 2 letters),
3. What the former Detroit Tiger infielder Don did after fielding a ground ball (2 words, 5 & 2 letters),
4. The missing words in the following film title: “A River Runs _______ __” (2 words, 7 & 2 letters).
The surname of a puzzle-maker named Andrew is a fifth rhyme of those four rhymes.
Who is this puzzle-maker?
What are the first four answers?
What are the four rhyming answers?
Answer:
Andrew Tuite ("Tuite" is pronounces as "-tuit in the word "intuit.")
Truce, wet ink, (Don) Wert hit; high tutor
Cruet, Knew it, threw it, "...Through It"
Lego...
This week's Official Answers For the Record, Part 4:
ReplyDeleteNote: Entrees #2-through-#8 were created by our friend Nodd.
ENTREE #2
2. The names of two countries contain the names of two other countries, in order but not consecutive. What are these four countries?
Answer:
AUSTRALIA, AUSTRIA; MALAWI, MALI
ENTREE #3
3. The names of four countries contain, in order and consecutively, the names of things to drink. What are these four countries?
Answer:
CURACAO; MALTA; MARTINIQUE; PORTUGAL
ENTREE #4
4. Take the names of three countries. EACH name contains consecutive letters that can be rearranged to spell the name of a fourth country. What are these four countries?
Answer:
BAHRAIN, SURINAME, UKRAINE; IRAN
In case it is not clear from the instructions, in Entree 4 each of the first three countries contains the letters to spell the fourth country. It is not necessary to combine letters from the first three to spell the fourth.
ENTREE #5
5. The names of two countries differ by just one letter. Both of them end with the name of an animal whose native habitat is far distant from either of them. What are these two countries?
Answer:
ICELAND, IRELAND
ENTREE #6
6. If you remove the last letter from the name of a country and move the new last letter to the front, you will spell the national language of a different country. What are these two countries?
Answer:
HAITI; THAILAND
ENTREE #7
7. Using the letters of a country on one continent, and repeating letters as necessary, you can spell the names of four other countries, none of which is located in the same continent as the first country. What are these five countries?
Answer:
ARGENTINA; ERITREA; IRAN; NIGER; NIGERIA
Lego...
This week's Official Answers For the Record, Part 5:
ReplyDeleteNote: Entree #8 was created by our friend Plantsmith.
ENTREE #8
Take two breakfast food components in four and six letters.
Move the initial letter of second word to the front of first word. Place a consonant in the space left by the removal of that initial letter.
The result is two modes of transport.
What are these breakfast food components and modes of transport?
Answer:
oats and barley. Boats and Harley
Dessert Menu
“Be Patient Then Pounce” Dessert:
“Be patient, then pronounce!”
What consonant, when it is the first letter in a word, is usually pronounced as if it were the letter a few places later in the alphabet?
ANSWER:
X, which is usually pronounced like a Z (Xylophone, "Xerxes" Xerox" Xenophobia, Xanadu, etc.) when it is the first letter in a word
Lego!