PUZZLERIA! SLICES: OVER 5πe2 SERVED
Schpuzzle of the Week:
Poetry Portends Pending Sports
Two words in one line of early-19th-Century poetry correctly predicted the participants in the inaugural playing of a major annual sporting event, nearly 150 years before it was played!
Name this poem, poet, two prophetic words, and how and why they are prophetic.
Appetizer Menu
“Pour yourself a Merry Little EggNodd” Appetizer:
Poetry Corner, With Anna Gingerbread Graham Cracker
Bah! Humbug!
1. 🕷Think of a word associated with the time period in which Christmas and New Year’s Day fall.
sometimes heard of the work of a filmmaker who made a film commonly associated with Christmas.
What are the word and the description?
2. 🍲Remove one letter from a food traditionally served at Christmastime in a European country.
The result will spell what would have happened to Christmas if a fictional character had had his way.
What is the food and what would have happened to Christmas?
Puzzling Christmas Film
Change the fourth letter to a different vowel, the fifth letter from a consonant to a vowel, and the sixth letter to a different consonant. The result is the name of a popular Christmas film.
What are the puzzle word and the Christmas film?
Better Late Than Never
4. ♭♯𝅘𝅥𝅯𝅘𝅥𝅱𝅘𝅥𝅲Think of the last name of a composer to whom the melody of a popular Christmas song is attributed.
Say it aloud, followed by a word for a kind of
uniform. The result will sound like something you might want to arrange for if you are late mailing out your Christmas presents.
Who is the composer, what is the uniform, and what might you arrange for?
All About (New Year’s) Eve
Her first name, with the third letter doubled, can be rearranged to spell a word for someone you might hear shortly before New Year’s Eve. Her last name, with the second letter doubled, can be rearranged to spell the last name of someone historically associated with New Year’s Eve.
Who are the actress and the other two persons, and what is the film?
6. 📖Fill in the blanks with four words that are
anagrams of one another.
May this _____ _____ to soothe your ear,
And _____ all from cares and fear.
If from this task it _____ at times,
It’s only to complete the rhymes.
MENU
What’s for Christmas Dinner Hors d’Oeuvre:
Singular! Plural! Synonymous!
The singular and plural forms of this entree do not rhyme with each other. But each does rhyme with one member of a pair of synonymous nouns (like, for example, how the singular and plural nouns “die” and “dice” rhyme respectively with the synonyms “tie” and “splice”).
Name these entrees and synonymous rhyming nouns.
Dice-Like-Ice-Twist-Lemon-Slice:
Gold-&-many-colored-mini-boulders
Rearrange their combined letters to spell two
valuable things – one of them gold, the other that comes in a variety of colors.
What are these ingredients and valuable things?
Riffing Off Shortz Entrees:
Volumes of bound pages bounded by “plages”
Will Shortz’s December 21st Weekend Edition Sunday puzzle reads:
Puzzleria!s Riffing Off Shortz Entrees read:
ENTREE #1
I was at a library. On the shelf was a volume whose spine said “OUT TO SEA.”
The name on the left was a punter; the name on the right was a hunter.
What are these first names? What is the surname of the punter? What is the name of the hunter’s brother?
Creating all varieties of puzzles is just a “______ in the park” for ____ ______, a “masterful composer-of-posers and enigma-making ____.”
Rearrange the ten letters in the first and fourth
blanks to spell the two words in the second and third blanks. What are these four words?
Note: Entrees #3 through #8 are riffs composed by our friend Nodd, whose “Nodd ready for prime time” is this week’s featured Appetizer.
ENTREE #3
who played from 1967 to 1980.
I thought I had found one, but when I opened it, I found it had nothing to do with basketball. What was the book and who wrote it?
I was looking for a book about large eco-friendly houses owned by wealthy people.
I thought I had found one, but when I opened
it, I found it had nothing to do with houses. What was the book and who wrote it?
I was looking for a book about playing roulette, checkers, and card games. I thought I had found one, but when I opened it, I found it had nothing to do with gaming.
What was the book and who wrote it?
I was looking for a book about a spaceship featured in a 1979 movie.
I thought I had found one, but when I opened it, I found it had nothing to do with space travel. What was the book and who wrote it?
I was looking for a book about Columbidae forelimbs.
I thought I had found one, but when I opened it, I found it had nothing to do with ornithology.
What was the book and who wrote it?
I was looking for a book about the character played by James Stewart in the John Ford Western “The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance.”
I thought I had found one, but when I opened
it, I found it had nothing to do with the movie or the Old West.
What was the book and who wrote it?
ENTREE #9
a book about an Irish saint associated with snakes and shamrocks.
I thought I had found one, but when I opened it, I found it had nothing at all to do with Shakespeare, Caesar or Irish saints!
What was the book and who wrote it?
I was at a library looking for a biographical book about a powerful, long-serving U.S. Senator from Washington State known as a “Cold War liberal” who championed strong national defense, anti-communism, civil rights, and environmental protection, while also pioneering energy and natural resource legislation during his 43-year career in Congress.
I thought I had found such a book, but when I opened it, I found it had nothing to do with this Washington senator. What’s worse, the book was a fictional account of members of the media who dragged the good names of the likes of this senator through the mud!
What was the book and who wrote it?
Who is the senator?
ENTREE #11
I thought I had found such a book, but when I opened it, I found it had nothing to do with this strategic game! Indeed, I found instead the account of a military commander who is manipulated by an underling into suspecting his wife of infidelity.
What is this board game?
What was the book and who wrote it?
I was at the library looking for an instructional booklet on how to cook up, in my own home kitchen, a reasonable facsimile of my favorite candy bar... that one that is famous for its fluffy whipped nougat dipped in creamy milk chocolate.
I thought I had found such a book, but when I brought it home and opened it, I found it had nothing at all to do with this heavenly confection!
What is the title of this library book?
ENTREE #13
I thought I had found one such book, but when I opened it, I found it had nothing to do with this singer-songwriter-guitarist.
What was the book title and who wrote it?
Who is this entertainer?
Note: There are two possible correct answers to this Entree #13 Riff – both are three-word titles. One title, with words beginning with T, C and P, is a book penned by a female author. The other title, with words beginning with T, L and P, is a book penned by a male author.
Dessert Menu
Triple-Dog-Dare Dessert:
“...Coming Down In Three-Part Harmony”
Remove something, in two words, that a female quintet claimed to have.
The result is the name of a guitarist who influenced the musical group.
What is the group and one of its members?
Who is the influencer?
What did the quintet claim to have?
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 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.
Note:=
ReplyDeleteTo place a comment under this QUESTIONS? subheading (immediately below), or under any of the three subheadings below it (HINTS! PUZZLE RIFFS! and MY PROGRESS SO FAR...), simply left-click on the orange "Reply" to open a dialogue box where you can make a comment. Thank you.
Lego...
QUESTIONS?
ReplyDeleteHINTS!
ReplyDeletePUZZLE RIFFS!
ReplyDeleteAdd a state postal abbreviation to any one of the blank-fillers in Appetizer #6, and rearrange to get a forerunner of the game in Entree #11.
DeleteExcellent observation (and riff!), Paul. The name of the state with that postal abbreviation seems to have been coined by "drunken state-namers!".
DeleteLegoWhoNotes:LikeTheDrunkenStateNamersWhoNamedSouthDakota(ANorthernState)AndWestVirginia(AnEasternState)!
Change one of the vowels in any of the blank-fillers in App #6 to the vowel that precedes it in the alphabet. Add in a preposition and scramble. You'll have the last name and group name of a band of brothers that was partially based in the state Paul alludes to above.
DeleteMY PROGRESS SO FAR...
ReplyDeleteI have answers for everything, except the Schpuzzle, Entree #8, and the last name of the punter in Entree #1 (confused about what I'm looking for, there). For the Schpuzzle, I found a likely poem and sporting event, and can even kind of get the two competitors out of it, but they're nowhere close to the same line.
DeleteIt is likely that some of my answers are alts. For example, I have no idea how the title of Entree #6 fits into Lego's picture. And I"ve never heard of the book or the author in #4. My Hors d'Oeuvre answer is kind of slangy/probably not an exact match.
I had trouble finding the movie for App #5 since different sources gave me different answers, and some of them were no help whatsoever. So for probably the first time since I've been solving the puzzles, I resorted to playing my guess on Tubi, and indeed, it did have a New Year's Eve scene. (The movie I found costars the star of the movie alluded to App #1 - if indeed, I have that one correct!).
Very impressed that you were able to come up with so many Christmas/New Year's related puzzles, Nodd!
Sounds as if you are making fine progress, Tortitude.
DeleteThe first name of the punter in Entree #1, as you know, is a palindrome. His surname is a kind of cracker.
The two key words in the "Schpuzzle poem" occur quite early-on in the poem. Both words are similar articles of clothing.
In Entree #6, the word that rhymes with an antonym of "starboard," like "starboard," also begins with an "s".
My Hors d'Oeuvre answer is not slangy. It is a kind of an alternative single-syllable main course to "turkey," especially in the British Isles... I think.
LegoWhoIsHoweverAProponentOfUsingSlanguageWhenItIsAppropriate
Yes it does sound like tour de force as Nodd and Lego have written many puzzles and Tort has solved them. Bravo. Also a happy Nee Years.
DeleteLego, thanks for the additional hints!
DeleteI had virtually everything right in the Schpuzzle, but I was missing the second word and how to find the final competitor. Then it hit me what I had to do. I had three possibilities for the punter, but the hint helped me to narrow it down. It's also the last name of a famous professor. :)
Happy New Year to you as well, PS! (and everyone else on this blog)
Thanks for the compliment in your previous post, Tortie. It wasn't too difficult to come up with this week's Apps, due to the prevalence of the end-of-year holidays in popular culture.
DeleteMy difficulty with the Schpuzzle (from back on Thurs when I first tried it) is that the two words in the poem (which are articles of clothing, as Lego indicated above), have a few problems: the first word is PART of a larger word, but worse the second words is made up not only of the first part of that larger word just mentioned, PLUS a first syllable that appears later BACKWARDS. Am I completely on the wrong track, Lego? And both words are in singular form, rather than plural as I would assume they need to be.
DeleteLego, could you please explain to me what your 'hint' above, about the opposite of Starboard, has to do with Entree #6? (Other than that a spaceship has a starboard, etc)....there is NO mention of any antonym in Entree 6, so the hint makes ZERO sense to me. Did you really mean to refer to a different entree, perhaps?
DeleteVT, you are on the right track. You need to take both words and mix them up a bit. Like you said, one of the words is in plain sight, but you have to mix to get the second. And yes, they are in singular form.
DeleteThe Entree #6 discussion was in reference to the picture with the cows. I had solved the puzzle, but couldn't make it match the hints in the picture. Finally figured that out.
IF YOU HAVE COMMENTS THAT DO NOT PERTAIN TO ANY OF THE FOUR CATEGORIES ABOVE, YOU MAY WRITE THEM BELOW THIS POST. THANK YOU.
ReplyDeleteWhat were the answers to the Apps last week? I struggled with those a bit.
ReplyDeleteMy apologies, Tortitude. Here are the answers to last week's appetizers. (I will also post them on last week's thread of Comments, along with the other answers!)
DeletePART A
ENTREE #1
Name a capital city in Africa an and a capital city in Europe.
* In the African country capital, replace the first vowel with the first letter of contraction that appears in a national anthem; then replace the second vowel with the rest of that contraction. The result is the puzzle-maker's first name.
* In the European country capital, replace a consonant that appears twice with an “F” and rearrange the result to spell the puzzle-maker's surname.
Who is this puzzle-maker?
What are the capital cities?
Answer:
Robert Flood; Rabat (Morocco); London (England); o'er
Rabat => Robat => Robert
London => LodoF => Flood
Note: Entrees #2 through #7 are the brainchildren of Nodd, author of “Nodd ready for prime time.”
ENTREE #2
Name a famous female singer (5, 5). Remove the last letter of her first name and the first letter of her last name. Rearrange the remaining letters to name the capital of a country and a staple food of the country. Who is the singer and what are the capital and the food?
Answer:
CARLY SIMON, LIMA, CORN
ENTREE #3
Name a famous female singer of the past (6, 8). Remove the last letter of her first name and double the fifth and eighth letters of her last name. Rearrange these 15 letters to name the capital of a country, an informal name for a food originating in Europe but commonly eaten in the U.S., and the form in which the food is served. Who is the singer and what are the capital, the food, and the form in which it is served?
Answer:
ARETHA FRANKLIN; TEHRAN, FRANK, LINK
ENTREE #4
Name a famous female singer of the past (5, 6). Rearrange these 11 letters to name the capital of a country and a flowering plant native to the country of the singer’s ancestry. Who is the singer and what are the capital and the plant?
Answer:
MARIA CALLAS; ASMARA (Eritrea), LILAC (native to Greece)
ENTREE #5
Name a famous female singer (5, 7). Remove the first letter of her last name. Rearrange the remaining 11 letters to name the capital of a country and a word for shrewd. Who is the singer and what are the capital and the word?
Answer:
NANCY SINATRA; TIRANA (Albania), CANNY
LegoLately!
PART B
DeleteENTREE #6
Name a famous female singer (5, 6) and add one A. Rearrange these 12 letters to name the capital of a country and a word for expensive. Who is the singer and what are the capital and the word?
Answer:
CYNDI LAUPER; LUANDA (Angola), PRICEY
ENTREE #7
Name a famous female singer (5, 5). Change the third letter of her last name to a K. Rearrange these 10 letters to name the capital of a country and a different country in the same hemisphere. Who is the singer and what are the capital and the country?
Answer:
PAULA ABDUL; KABUL (Afghanistan), PALAU
Note: Entree #8 is the brainchild of Plantsmith, author of “Garden of Puzzley Delights.”
ENTREE #8
Think of a famous jazz singer, first and last names.
Remove the last two letters from their whole name and mix to get a malady which (according to their autobiography) they may have suffered from.
Who is this singer? What is the malady?
Answer:
Nina Simone; (Nina Simone – ne = insomnia
From Ms Simone's bio: "I took white pills to help me sleep and yellow pills to help me get on stage."
“” “” “” “ “ “ “” “ “ “ ” ””” ‘’’ ‘ ‘ ’ ‘ ‘’’ n’t ’s – – — —
ENTREE #9
Think of a living new wave, blues, and country singer-songwriter, first and last names. His name contains nine letters. Letters 3, 7, 8 & 5 followed by letters 1, 2, 6, 4 & 9 spell – in an “archaically biblical manner of speaking” – that this singer may have occasionally enjoyed smoking a marijuana cigarette.
Who is this singer?
What archaic phrase suggests that he may have smoked marijuana?
Answer:
John Hiatt; "Hath Joint"
ENTREE #10
Think of an alternative/indie American singer-songwriter in five and four letters. Her first and last names, respectively, end with a double-vowel and double-consonant. Rearrange these nine letters to spell a pair of homophones:
* a U.S. state, and
* long and heavy hair growing about the neck and head of some mammals (such as one pictured on the cover of a 1978 punk-rock album).
Who is this singer-songwriter?
What are the pair of homophones?
Answer:
Aimee Mann; Maine, mane
LegoEvenMoreLately!
Those are the Entrees, not the Appetizers, Lego!
DeletepjbIsEvenMoreLatelyThanLegoBecauseHeDidn'tPostAnythingLastNight!
My apologies to all, including especially Jeff Zarkin!
Delete(And thanks, Patrick, for bringing this to my "inattention!")
Here are the belated answers:
Appetizer Menu
“To ThysElf Be True” Appetizer:
A Fortnightly Dose Of “MisJeffous” Homophonics
(Jeff Zarkin's Puzzle Riffs)
18. After the 25 mile hike the weary ______ complained their ____were weary. (souls/soles)
19. At the home goods store, _____ said, “Those are too shiny, I want a _____ _______.” (Matt/matte/mat)
20. Not having seen the speed camera, Jeff was surprised to _____ he’d been _____. (find/fined) [A SAD BUT TRUE STORY!]]
21. Looking out the window of her alpine retreat, Sarah felt _____ that she couldn’t get a ______ at the _______. (Pique/peek/peak)
22. You must use a large _____ rifle when hunting ______. (Bore/boar)
23. To properly play a ______ instrument, first learn to _____ music. (Reed/read)
24. Carl was the ____ miner in the _____ mine. (Lead/lead)
25. ______ and _____ worked together in the ______ lab. (Gene/Jean/gene)
26. One of the joys of living near the shore was being able to _____ at the ships tied to the _____. (Peer/Pier)
27. Paul was ______ after shouting when his ____ won the Derby. (Hoarse/horse).
28. While it may seem unholy, Sin is the ___ for ___. (Sign/Sine)
29. Without some time off you may feel ___ at the end of the _____. (Weak/week)
30. Many felt that _____ on coronation day was an inauspicious start to William’s ______. (Rain/reign)
31. With his crew cut,______ was truly _____. (Sean/shorn)
LegoNotThinkingStraight!
I hope everyone here had a great Christmas yesterday! Just a couple of hours ago Mom gave me a new mattress for my bed. Bryan helped replace it for us, and Mia Kate also came over to help with the house cleaning. Probably not going to eat out tonight, BTW. I also got a pack of graph paper to help me make cryptic crosswords to submit to this website. It also comes with a set of pens(some of them are used in calligraphy!). Didn't get much else, but I sure had fun at Renae's brother Michael's house on Xmas Eve! Ate some spatchcocked turkey, and played Bingo to get some other gifts. Then Mom and I got up Xmas morning to go join Bryan and Renae and the kids for breakfast. We had sausage biscuits with or without gravy, and I also got some new pajamas and the aforementioned paper/pens while we were there. Then they were going to see a movie in the afternoon, so we left. Maddy got a lot of jigsaw puzzles, which I didn't even know she was into those lately, and she even got a corset to wear to help with her posture. One of the puzzles is a 3D one. Mia Kate got a vinyl album of some singer she and Austin went to see in concert a little while back. When we got home I just felt like taking a nap, so I did. Never even felt like checking Puzzleria! again last night! Looks like a bunch of toughies this week, will need hints for just about everything later on. Felt exhausted just reading it all!
ReplyDeleteGood luck in solving to all, and please stay safe, and may we all have a Happy New Year next week! Cranberry out!
pjbWoreHisPajamasAllDayAndNightThisChristmas!
Congratulations to Lego on yet another Sunday Challenge!
ReplyDeleteYes, congrats to Lego!
Delete