“...Clothed in celestial vestments”; “Franklin Vetoes? Teddy Svelto?”; “If at first name you fail, try, try a second, ‘Sir’!”; “Could this just be the Perfect Word?”; Ursine arson? “Shiny Happy People Laughing...” “Leafing through the Lexicon of Loud!” “The Gift of the ‘Ma-jerk?’” “Three, two, one, Exhale!”; Gerald versus Geraldine!

PUZZLERIA! SLICES: OVER 5πe² SERVED

Schpuzzle of the Week:

“Shiny Happy People Laughing...”

Name a parlor game. Remove its first letter. 

Write down the first four letters of this newly “beheaded” game. 

Leave a space, followed by the final five letters of the game. Invert two adjacent letters of these final five. 

As a result of these meddlesome lexical
manipulations, the game has now been rendered edible... like a Christmas goose or Thanksgiving turkey! (Has this parlor game perhaps indeed become an entirely different kind of game!?) 

What are this game and this grub?

Appetizer Menu

Five “Enlight’ning” Appetizers:

“...Clothed in celestial vestments”; “Franklin Vetoes? Teddy Svelto?”; “Could this just be the Perfect Word?”; “If at first name you fail, try, try a second, ‘Sir’!”; Ursine arson?

“...Clothed in celestial vestments”

(Note: The following puzzle is an attempt to address the eternal question: “Do a celestial bodies need clothing?”)

1. 🪐Name a familiar celestial body. 

Add on a common name for its location from which you have deleted an “s.” Rearrange to identify a  brand of clothing that was well-known in the past. 

Name the celestial body, its location and the brand (9 letters).

“Franklin Vetoes? Teddy Svelto?”

2. 🚗Think of a renowned  president’s last name. Then think of a former make of car. Delete each letter in the  car’s name from the president’s name. 

Rearrange the resulting presidential name to see what occasionally happens to cars. 

“Could this just be the Perfect Word?”

3. 📖Many cities, large and small, have one. It has 8 letters. Letters 2 through 5 – in order – spell what it is. 

The remaining letters – in left to right order – spell its abbreviation. 

What is it that many cities have?

“If at first name you fail, try, try a second, ‘Sir’!”

4. 🃏🂡Name a famous fictitious character. 

The first name plus an added word suggests
failure. 

The last name plus the same added word suggests success. Who’s the character? What are the two phrases?

Ursine arson?

5. 🧸🔥A famous fictional character’s first and last names total 10 letters. 

Rearrange the name to make a short sentence which expresses a view different than the character’s original outlook. 

Who’s the character? 

What’s the sentence?

MENU

Soda Fountain Hors d’Oeuvre?:

“The Gift of the ‘Ma-jerk’”

Replace an article in the title of a work of art with a pronoun to get what sounds like something a jerk might give you. 

What are this work-of-art title, what a the jerk gives you, and the pronoun?

“Respiratorial” Slice:

“Three, two, one, Exhale!” 

Take a deep breath. 

Make a exhaustive exhalation, releasing every last molecule of carbon monoxide from your lungs.

That exhalation is a two-word anagram of the
combined letters that appear in three consecutive integers. (...–3, –2, –1, 0, 1, 2, 3...).

What are this anagram and the integers?

Riffing Off Shortz And Ellison Slices:

Gerald versus Geraldine!

Will Shortz’s April 19th NPR Weekend Edition Sunday puzzle, created by James Ellison of Jefferson City, Missouri, reads:

Think of a popular movie of the past decade. Change the last letter in its title. The result will suggest a lawsuit between two politicians of
the late 20th century — one Republican and one Democrat. What’s the movie and who are the people?

Puzzleria!s Riffing Off Shortz And Ellison Slices read:

ENTREE #1

In the following rhyming couplet with anapestic meter, the missing words contain seven and five letters.

Jars that _______ and jams find their place in

Are embossed oft with “Ball” or with “_____”.

Rearrange these combined dozen letters to spell the name of a puzzle-maker.

What are the missing words and the name of the puzzle’s author?

(Note: Entrees #2 through #7 are creations from our friend Nodd, purveyor of “Nodd ready for prime time.”) 

ENTREE #2

Think of a popular movie of the 2010s. 

The title of this movie contains the last names of two U.S. politicians, one a former state governor and the other a former mayor of the same state’s largest city. 

What is the movie and who are the pair of politicians?

ENTREE #3 

Think of a popular movie of the 1970s. 

The title of this movie contains the first names of two well-known U.S. politicians who once ran against one other. 

What is the movie and who are the politicians?

ENTREE #4 

Think of a famous 1930s movie. 

The title of this movie contains the last names of two U.S. politicians, one who served as president and the other who served in the House and Senate. What is the movie and who are the politicians?

ENTREE #5 

Think of a popular 1950s fantasy-adventure movie. 

The title of this movie is the first name of a former U.S. president. 

The last name of the star of this movie is also the last name of a famous but unsuccessful U.S. presidential candidate who ran eight years before the election of the former president. 

What is the movie and who are the politicians?

ENTREE #6 

The titles of two horror movies from 1999 and 2009 contain the first and last names of a politician who rose to international prominence in 1997. What are the movies and who is the politician?

ENTREE #7 

The title of a 2010s comedy movie is the last name of a former U.S. president. 

Replace the last letter of the first name of the star of this movie with a word for something found in movie theaters to get the first name of the president. What is the movie and who are the star and the president?

(Note: Entree #8 is a gift from our friend Plantsmith, producer & purveyor of Garden of Puzzley Delights on Puzzleria!”)

ENTREE #8

Name a famous movie from around four decades back. 

Make the first word plural and change the last letter in the title.  The result will sound like a famous brand of confectionary.

What are this movie title and candy brand?

Hint #1: Some contents of the confectionary package are inedible... and yet desirable. 

HInt #2: Consumers of this confectionary, we hope, are not like the “kids these days” in a song that Tom Rush wrote and performed.

Dessert Menu

Turn Up the Volume Dessert:

“Leafing through the ‘Lexicon of LOUD’!”

Delete one letter from loud things and rearrange the result to get two other loud
things. 

What are these three loud things?

Hint: The answer consists of four words that contain a total of 25 letters.

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 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.