Twin Name Games Come First, Then Anna Graham’s Verse! Lessons in optimizing an idiom; Tacky trashy greedy nasty! Palindromic Q-Inclusion; Name, alphabetical rank, cereal number... Erosion of Earth gives birth to description

PUZZLERIA! SLICES: OVER 5πe² SERVED

Schpuzzle of the Week:

Lessons in optimizing an idiom

Name a nine-word idiomatic proverb.

~ Delete a letter from Word #2.

~ Insert a letter in Word #3.

~ Place two letters at the front of Word #7.

~ Move Word #8 to the end.

~ Place two homophones of Word #9 where Word #8 was.

The result is a more optimistic idiom.

What are this idiom and its revision?

Note: One of the nine words in the idiom is a contraction.

Appetizer Menu

Prime-time Name-time Rhyme-time Appetizer:

Twin Name Games Come First, Then Anna Graham’s Verse!

1. NAME GAMES, PART ONE

Name the food item suggested by combining the last names of the first four performers with the first name of the fifth.

(1) Austrian-German actress, phonetically;

(2) American actor, inspired a game;

(3) American actress in film about WWII veterans;

(4) 1920s American actress married to famous playwright; 

(5) American actor who won three Academy Awards.

2. NAME GAMES, PART TWO

Name the actor or actress whose first and last names phonetically match the descriptive phrases.

(1) Institutional color shade funding

(2) Once-a-week joint

(3) Sketched a Bee Gee again

(4) Searcher for wreath material

(5) Steal black bird

(6) Dental restorations for sweetheart

(7) Underworld and rice wine

(8) Narrow valley wardrobe

(9) Fairy gotten rid of

(10) Account of British open land

(11) Steal defective car

(12) Put on clarinet part

(13) Enclosed carriage for songbird

(14) British truck for Scottish musician

(15) Pricey car reign

3. POETRY CORNER, WITH ANNA GRAHAM

Fill in the blanks with three anagrams to complete the verse.

His critics _____,

So _____ _____.

MENU

Alpha-Beta Battling Hors d’Oeuvre:

Name, alphabetical rank, cereal number...

Take the sum of the alphabetical ranks of two consecutive letters in a 19th-Century battle site. 

Replace those letters with the letter whose alphabetical rank corresponds to that sum. 

The result spells something plentiful at the site. 

What is the battle site and what was plentiful there?

(Note: The Alphabetical ranks are A=1, B=2, C=3, D = 4, E = 5, F = 6, etc.)

Geological Slice:

Erosion of Earth gives birth to description 

Replace the first three letters of a geological formation with the letter “i”. 

The result is an adjective that describes that formation when it is compared to the majority of other such geological formations. 

What are this geological formation and this adjective?

Riffing Off Shortz Entrees:

Palindromic Q-Inclusion

Will Shortz’s challenge somewhat-frightful-yet-delightful fortnightful creative challenge has now come to its conclusion. 

The deadline to submit entries was at 3 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time on July 31st.

The object of the challenge was to write a palindrome that contains the letter Q. 

Entries were to be judged on sense, naturalness of syntax, and overall elegance.

The person who submitted what Will considers to be the best palindrome containing the letter Q will play puzzle on the air with him this Sunday, August 3.

Puzzleria!s Riffing Off Shortz Entrees read:

Entree #1

A palindrome regarding rescinding the purchase and shipment of cotton swabs contains:

4 x d

4 x e

4 x r

2 x i

2 x n

2 x o

2 x p

2 x t

1 x q

and two hyphens.

What is it?

(Hint: The three letters at the end of the palindrome are an acronymic instruction that  would rescind the purchase.)

Note: Entries #2 through #12 below (eleven riffs!) were were composed by our friend Nodd, who is also the author of this week’s featured “Nodd ready for prime time” Appetizer, above.

Entree #2

Fill in the blanks with a three-word palindromic phrase to complete what a member of the British royal family might have uttered in the
early 1950s after another member’s vigorous session of mud pie-making: “Oh dear, ____ __ ______!”

Entree #3

Name a place that was prominent in an ancient mythology and place a copy of the second letter at the beginning. 

Insert a space and spell the result backwards to name a deity in a different religious tradition and a substance associated with a deity in a different ancient mythology. 

What place is it? 

Entree #4

Fill in the blanks with a pair of words, one of which is the other spelled backwards, to complete the sentence: 

“When Anna decided to ______ with the pattern, she found she had to ______ the entire garment.”

Entree #5

Think of a two-word phrase for a ground condition that might cause a problem for a skier. 

Spell it backwards to get a two-word phrase describing what a Nordic skier accomplished at three Winter Olympics in the 1960s. 

What are the two phrases?

Entree #6

The last name of an American who rose to prominence in the late 1800s, spelled backwards and with a space inserted, is a two-word phrase for what you’d get if you ordered an a la carte entree. 

Who is it?

Entree #7

The palindromic first name of a European statesman of the late 19th Century is also a homophone (some might say near-homophone) of a manufactured product. 

A brand name for an example of this product is another palindrome. 

Who is the statesman, and what is the brand name?

Entree #8

Think of a word for something that travels in bodies of water. 

Spell it backwards to get a word describing bodies of water it would not travel in.  What are these two words?

Entree #9

Spell the name of a bird backwards and insert a space. 

The result will name an insect and a mammal.

What are these three creatures?

Entree #10

A palindromic phrase describes what a graphic artist might be commissioned to do in preparing an advertisement for a certain showbiz event. What is this palindromic phrase?

Entree #11

What palindromic phrase describes what a student hand-copying a photo of a past U.S. president might need t o do if she made a mistake?

Entree #12

 Think of a word for a kind of circus performer.

Spell it backwards.

Insert a space someplace to describe what an oceanographer studying sea mammals might do.  

Entree #13

Find a 57-letter palindrome about a mentally unsound Nazi official housed in a famous Berlin prison who wants to inform Adam and Eve’s progeny about something, and ending with the end of a prayer, and a wizard, half-baked. 

The palindrome contains:

12 x a

6 x e

6 x l

6 x n

2 x b

2 x c

2 x d

2 x i

2 x m

2 x o

2 x p

2 x r

2 x s

2 x t

2 x u

2 x w

2 x z

1 x q

What is this palindrome?

Entree #14

This 59-letter “palindromic lamentation prayer” (an addendum to Entree #13) suggests that instances of the injustice and torture perpetuated by the Nazi penal facility in Berlin and by the Serbian detention camps in the 1990s continue into the present.

The palindrome contains:

14 x o

10 x n

8 x s

6 x a

4 x d

4 x i

4 x p

2 x b

2 x g

2 x r

2 x u

1 x q

What is this palindrome?

Entree #15

This 50-letter palindrome asks how a Greek maiden – by rejecting a bouquet sent to her by an albeit “more mature” yet in-shape (and “into shapes”) mathematician – precipitated his decision to rescind his subsequent candlelit dinner invitation!

The palindrome contains:

8 x d

6 x a

6 x e

6 x l

6 x t

4 x f

4 x i

4 x o

2 x c

2 x r

2 x u 

(Note: This palindrome does indeed contain a “Q” (a “Q,” that is, that is spelled “c-u-e”.)

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cue]

What is this palindrome?

Entree #16

A Cockney tramp surnamed “Ardley” (née Alvarez) breaks and enters into a vacated manor house, bathes, applies deodorant, grabs an ear-dewaxer.

No person of great wealth or prominence  is he. 

Indeed, he is under protection of a court-appointed guardian.

The palindrome contains:

8 x a

6 x b

6 x o

4 x i

4 x n

4 x r

4 x t

2 x d

2 x h

2 x m

2 x p

2 x s

2 x u

2 x w

1 x q

What is this palindrome?

Dessert Menu

Scrabbly Dessert:

Tacky trashy greedy nasty!

Delete the second letter of a two-syllable synonym of tacky and trashy. 

Move the last letter into the third position to spell a greedy, vengefully nasty person. 

What are these two words? 

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!

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 Thursday.

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.

A dozen double-barreled-shooting-blanks homonym challenges by Jeff Zarkin; Conundrum requires “crittercal thinking!” Will’s on the “Whiz Short List!” Massacre history & Missouri his story; All Tolled, All Donne: “Discont’ent on the Isle of NoMan” Historic landmark & research university

PUZZLERIA! SLICES: OVER 5πe² SERVED

Schpuzzle of the Week:

All Tolled, All Donne: “Discont’ent on the Isle of NoMan”

(The following poem is in the public domain.)

For Whom the Bell Tolls

by John Donne

No man is an island,

Entire of itself.

Each is a piece of the continent,

A part of the main.

If a clod be washed away by the sea,

Europe is the less.

As well as if a promontory were.

As well as if a manor of thine own

Or of thine friend’s were.

Each man’s death diminishes me,

For I am involved in mankind.

Therefore, send not to know

For whom the bell tolls,

It tolls for thee.

(The following free & worthless verse is in our private doggerelhouse!)

“All Tolled, All Donne”

My Dear Mister Donne,

Regarding your note of the Seventeenth Cent.,

I’ll agree we’re all pieces of continent.

(For some time now you’ve been so quite littorally (sic).)

But I, ere I too lie landlocked in my grave, 

Am but a __________ of Mankind

Indicating nothing save the vacuum engulfing me.

And therefore, ere I cease to __,
The bell that tolled for ____

Shall toll for __

Merely ______________.

That no man is an island, again I’ll agree.

Yet, while standing downright upright, 

ere his endless inland rest ______, you’ll _-

____ with me that no man is not a _________!

Fill in the nine blanks, in order, with ten, two, four, two, fourteen, six, one, four and nine letters. 

Appetizer Menu

Blankety-Blank-Blank-Blank Appetizer:

A dozen double-barreled-shooting-blanks
homonym challenges

Find the homonyms that belong in the blanks. For example, a sample:

⚓“After passengers aboard ______ ships
wait patiently for _____ to _____ anchor, they are happily on their ___!”

Answer: cruise, crews, weigh, way

1.🗱 Martha was shocked when she _____ the _____ there was a _____ of _____ running wild through the town. 

2.✈ Due to _____ times, and unwilling to put a _____ on his condo, Jacques decided against the Concorde and took a _____  _____.

3.🩷 Mark’s heart _____ when he found the fresh _____ lumber, perfect to fix the _____ in his _____.

4.🐈 Marie _____ when she saw that _____ had infested her _____ and chewed it _____.

5.🪺 After Charlie _____ _____ of the_____ eggs, he thought he had _____ and gone to heaven.

6.🚢 The author said that he gave _____ to, _____ the hero of several his novels, in his _____ on a cruise ship, as he was being _____ to European vacation.

7.🛥If your yacht has taken on a _____ it may be a _____ that _____ _____ shouldn’t be at the helm.

8.🐰🐇After shearing his rabbits, Sam had a _____ _____ of _____ _____.

9.🥫🥘After a food fight at the Animal Housecast party, the _____ was _____ to include _____-coated _____.

10.👪 As she was getting ready to _____ her future in-laws, Esther was shocked to discover that the _____ of the _____ in her _____ wasn’t kosher. 

11.🩴Sue went to the little shop in the mall, which, in her _____ she knew was the _____ place where cork-_____ sandals were _____.

12.🌣 The _____ rough pavement, and the glare of the sun’s _____ made the _____ _____ more difficult

MENU

Natural Nutritious Hors d’Oeuvre:

Conundrum requires “crittercal thinking!”

Name a natural and nutritious variety of food, in one word. 

Its last half, in reverse, spells a critter. 

Its first half, in order, spells a prominent part of that critter. 

What are these three words?

Absurd And Nonsensical Slice:

Historic landmark & research university

Take a new name of a place adjacent to a state that boasts a five-letter historic landmark and four-letter research university. Some critics if this name label it with a four-letter noun that means “something absurd and nonsensical.”

Rearrange those thirteen combined letters to spell the new name of the place.

What are these three words? 

What is the new name?  

Riffing Off Shortz Entrees:

Will’s on the “Whiz Short List”

Will Shortz’s July 20th Weekend Edition Sunday puzzle is a two-week creative challenge, and it’s a tough one: 

Most people are familiar with palindromes, which read backward and forward the same.
For example:

• Madam, I’m Adam.

• Do geese see God?

• Sit on a potato pan, Otis.

The object is to write a palindrome that contains the letter Q. Entries will be judged on sense, naturalness of syntax, and overall elegance. The person who submits what I consider to be the best palindrome containing the letter Q will play the puzzle on the air with me in two weeks.

Puzzleria!s Riffing Off Shortz Entrees read:

ENTREE #1

The name Will Shortz contains ten letters. Compose a phrase that pertains to Will Shortz using all nine different letters of his name, using each of the nine different letters at least once. But use only those nine letters. 

Here is an example of such a phrase: 

the WHIZ SHORT LIST (a list that Will Shortz is definitely on!)

(Note: Entrees #2 through #7 are the brainchildren of our friend and riffmaster Nodd.)

ENTREE #2

Think of an actress who goes by three names. Her first name is a church part spelled backwards. 

Her middle name, with one letter replaced by a space, is the marketing name of a car sold in
the U.S. from 1976 to 1983, spelled backwards. Additionally, her first name spelled backwards, plus the last letter of her middle name, is a body part she frequently displayed in a 2005 film. 

Who is the actress, and what are the church part, the car name, and the body part?

ENTREE #3

Think of the title of a 1977 song by a musician whose last name is also a first name. 

Fill in the blanks in the following sentence with two words that are palindromes of each other to get a corollary to the song title: “And the ____ ____ on.” 

What are the song title and its corollary?

ENTREE #4

Think of a famous model and actress with a palindromic first name. Insert a space between the third and fourth letters of her last name and
delete the fifth letter of her last name. 

The remaining letters of her last name, in order, suggest she may be one who prefers a certain brand of electronic device. 

Who is she, and what does her last name, as modified, suggest she may be?

ENTREE #5

Think of the palindromic first name of the title character in a famous 19th Century novel. 

Rearrange the letters to get a palindromic bread. 

What are the novel and the bread?

ENTREE #6

Think of a place in Pennsylvania where a tragic event occurred in the late 19th Century, resulting in the killing of at least 19 people and criminal charges against law enforcement officers. 

Spell the name of the place backwards to get a word with several meanings, including the act of forgiving a crime. 

What are the place and the word?

ENTREE #7

Remove one letter from a 10-letter noun and divide the remaining letters into three words to get a phrase describing someone you might contact if you were planning to visit Europe. 

What are the noun and the three-word phrase?

ENTREE #8

Write a somewhat confessional first-person text message or email in an epistolary style that is somewhat synonymous with the following text:

“This is being written in real time: The Islamic commander with the ‘athletic’ code name met me in a subway on one of the Persian Gulf peninsulas. ... In retrospect, will God judge me guilty of sin?”

The text message/email is a palindrome... that is, the letters read the same both forward and backward. 

The message contains 41 letters:

6 x A

6 x I (that’s an “i” not a lowercase “L”) 

4 x E

4 x R

4 x S

4 x T 

2 x L

2 x M

2 x O 

2 x P

2 x V

2 x W

1 x Q

What is this palindromic message?

ENTREE #9

Consider the 43-letter palindromic string of letters below:

“_ _   _ _ _ _ _ _ _!   _ _   _ _ _ _ ’_   

_ _ _ _ _ _  _ _ _  _ _ _ _ _ _   _ _ _ ’_  

_ _ _ _?  _ _  _ _!”

The 22nd letter (which is also the middle letter in the palindrome) is an uppercase Q, which is preceded by five other uppercase letters.

There are a total of 13 uppercase letters in the palindrome, including 2 A’s, 5 D’s, 3 O’s, 1 N, 1 S, and that aforementioned uppercase Q.

The 30 lowercase letters are:

s 5

e 4

o 3

d 3

n 3

a 2

b 2

h 2

r 2

t 2

w 2

What is this palindromic string of 43 letters?

Dessert Menu

Major vs Minor Dessert:

Massacre history & Missouri his story

A major in the infantry wrote a first-hand historical account of its massacre of Indian
tribes in Colorado during the 1860s. Replace the third letter in his surname with how that letter is spelled (For example, “b” is spelled “bee.”) 

The result is the surname of a character in a novel set in 1840s Missouri. 

Who are this infantry major and novel character?

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!

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 Thursday.

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.