“Riffs and Summits” BowldlERISing Shakespeare; Curtain comes down on a corp; Grassland, Gridiron Head-Butters; Some Numbers So Summable; “‘Twas a Byzantine Buzz!”

  PUZZLERIA! SLICES: OVER 5πe² SERVED

Schpuzzle of the Week:

BowldlERISing Shakespeare

A character in a Shakespearean play advises a relative, using just seven words, not to play either of two opposite roles – either of which may disturb, agitate or otherwise create discord in the harmony among family members or friends. 

Move the first letter in the first role to the beginning of the second role to spell something that agitates liquids.

Remove the next two letters of the first role (the one that you just “beheaded”) leaving someone who, using an implement, also agitates liquids.

What is this seven-word Shakespearean text?

What are the two agitators of liquids?

Appetizer Menu

Triple-Threat Appetizer:

“Riffs & Summits” 

The following three Appetizers were composed and contributed by a Puzzleria!n Par Excellence. 

Remote, Remoter, Remotest

[The following is a riff of the August 10, 2025, NPR Challenge.]

1. Take a word meaning remove and another word meaning remove by force. Remove from that string of letters one instance of a vowel that appears twice. 

Rearrange the resulting seven letters to make
a word turned acronym that is remotely related to something many hospitals have. 

What are the two words and the word/acronym? 

Who You Gonna Call?

[The following is a riff of the August 17, 2025, NPR Challenge.]

2. Take the generic name of a well known entity, in two words, 15 letters total, that is often thought of as a misnomer and with which almost everyone comes into contact, perhaps more often than anyone would like. 

Change one letter in the second word to the letter 3 spaces later in the alphabet by adding one straight line. Rearrange the resulting 15 letters to make four words – one which might prompt an encounter with the entity and three associated with reactions which might result from an encounter with the entity. 

What are the entity and the four words? 

Who’s Minding the Store?

3. Assemble the surnames of two heads of state currently in office and in the news side-
by-side with no space. 

Within that string of letters is the surname of another head of state currently in the news. The three are from different countries but all recently assembled in an office in a fourth country. Who are they? 

MENU

Hellenistic Hors d’Oeuvre:

“‘Twas a Byzantine Buzz!”

Take and spell out two letters of the Greek alphabet. Anagram each. (For example, you might write: “delta beta” which might become “dealt beat.”) If you have the right Greek letters and anagram them properly, you will spell something you may do repeatedly vis-à-vis a flute of French vin, and a sound you may make repeatedly in its wake.

What are these two Greek letters and their anagrams?

“Here’s Where The Story Ends” Slice:

Curtain comes down on a corp

Name a U.S.-based corporation. 

Replace two consecutive letters with a six-letter synonym of those letters. 

Insert two periods, two spaces and capitalize a lowercase letter. The result is how a popular movie ended. 

What are this corporation, synonym and movie ending?

Riffing Off Shortz And Young Entrees:

Grassland & Gridiron Head-Butters

Will Shortz’s September 7th NPR Weekend Edition Sunday puzzle, created by Joseph Young of St. Cloud, Minnesota, reads:

Think of a popular commercial name that ends with the names of two male animals one after the other. If you have the right commercial name, its first six letters can be rearranged to spell the name of an N.F.L. team. What is it?

Puzzleria!s Riffing Off Shortz And Young Entrees read:

ENTREE #1

When he encountered a quizzical “Baptist” at the Pearly Gates that led to the hellbound-or-heaven-headed-elevator, Saint Peter the Keykeeper intoned, “_ _ _,   _ _   _ _,  _ _ _ _!”

Rearrange those eleven letters to spell the name of a puzzle-maker.

What did the Keykeeper intone?

Hint: The final six missing letters, sans space, spell a pharmaceutical company founded in 1886.

(Note: Entree #2 was created by our Terrific Riffsmith Plantsmith.)

ENTREE #2

Think of a commercial brand name that starts and ends with a male animal. 

Remove the animal names and mix remaining letters to get a kind of flower. 

The flower name contains a female animal name. 

What is the brand name?

What is the flower?

(Note: Entrees #3 through #8 were created by our masterful riffmeister Nodd.)

ENTREE #3

Think of a sports equipment brand name that ends with the name of a famous singer. 

The first six letters of the brand name can be
rearranged to spell the name of an N.F.L. team. 

Name the brand, the singer, and the team.

ENTREE #4

Write down the brand names of two drinks, the first of which consists of one word and the second of which consists of two. (The second drink was recently discontinued.) 

The first six letters of the resulting three-word string can be rearranged to spell the name of an N.F.L. team. 

The remaining letters can be rearranged to spell the name of another N.F.L. team and the second word in the two-word brand name of another recently discontinued drink. 

Name the three drinks and the two teams.

ENTREE #5

Name a three-part brand name of food products you might buy at the grocery store. 

Switch the sixth and seventh letters to get the name of an N.F.L. team and a word for something needed to play in the N.F.L., especially if you are a quarterback being rushed by 300+ pound defensive linemen. 

Name the food brand, the team, and what an N.F.L. player needs.

ENTREE #6

Name a sportswear brand and an athletic shoe brand. 

Delete the last letter of the shoe brand. The remaining letters can be rearranged to spell the name of an N.F.L. team and a European clothing brand. 

What are the brand names and the team?

ENTREE #7

Think of a two-part cleaning products brand. 

Its letters can be rearranged to spell the name
of an N.F.L. team and the first part of a familiar brand name in the cyber world. 

What are the cleaning brand, the team, and the cyber brand? 

ENTREE #8

Name a European toy and game brand. 

The first half of the name, in order, is an N.F.L. team name. 

The second half, in order, is the first word in a familiar restaurant chain brand name. The second word in the restaurant name is the singular form of the name of two professional sports teams not in the N.F.L. 

What are the two brand names and the three teams?

(Note: Entrees #9 through #10 are terrific riffs composed and contributed by Ecoarchitect, author of  “Econfusions” on Puzzleria!

ENTREE #9

Think of a name for a male animal. 

Change one letter, and the result, in order, is the name of another male animal followed by the name of a third animal that applies both to males and females. 

What are the three words?

ENTREE #10

Think of a name for a male animal. 

Change one letter and the result is the name of a vegetable. 

What are the two words?

ENTREE #11

Replace the fourth letter of a competitor of Instagram with a “d”. 

The result is a superlative adjective that describes the Moody Blues vis-à-vis other rock bands.

What is this Instagram competitor? 

What is the superlative adjective?

ENTREE #12

Remove three consecutive letters in the alphabet from an Instagram competitor.

The result is the first word in the four-word name of a nearly 40-year-old rock band.

What are this Instagram competitor and rock band?

Dessert Menu

Nearly Midnight Or Noon Dessert:

Some Numbers So Summable

Name a word for some marine creatures. 

Its first two syllables suggest a number, as does is third syllable. The sum of those numbers is greater than 11 but less than 12. 

What are these creatures?

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.

Dreamy “Brylcreemy” Thespian?; Sole-Role Thespian; “Associated” but not “The Association”; Rhymin’ ‘n’ Chimin’; Fowl-Fish-Fowl (Shot); Pyramid Frock? “Go down, Oops!”; “Paulgrim’s” Intrastate Progress... (“writ” by a Bedfordshire Bunyan) “Walkin' past a plate of pasta?” “Six sides” versus “nix sides!” Chills two centuries apart; “Rasher-a-Roni, the San FranCrisco Treat!”

PUZZLERIA! SLICES: OVER 5πe² SERVED

Schpuzzle of the Week:

“Paulgrim’s” Intrastate Progress... (writ by the Bedfordshire Bunyan)

According to folklore and legend, Paul Bunyan was able to “create geological features” in Minnesota by donning certain distinctive duds. 

Replace “create” and “geological features” with synonyms  – a different verb and a different single-word.

The two identical vowel sounds in that verb and noun become different identical vowel sounds in the word for the distinctive duds.

For example, “Phone home” (instructions to E.T.) might become “Fun Hum” (an amusing buzz). Or “Fine wine” (a great vintage) might become “Fun one!” (an entertaining puzzle).

What are these duds, synonym of “create,” and synonym of “geological features?”

Appetizer Menu

Tortie’s Slow-Cooked But Surely Challenging Appetizer:

Sole-Role Thespian; Dreamy “Brylcreemy” Thespian?; Fowl-Fish-Fowl; “Associated” but not “The Association”; Rhymin’ ‘n’ Chimin’; Pyramid Frock?; “Go down... Oops!”

Sole-Role Thespian

1. 🎥Think of a movie actor of the past who was mostly known for one particular role. 

The first name has four letters and the last name has six. 

Write his first name backwards followed by his last name backwards. 

Take every other letter, starting from the first letter. You’ll have a well-known sequence that’s
familiar even to young children.

Who is the actor? 

What is the sequence?

Dreamy “Brylcreemy” Thespian?  

2. 💇Think of an actor who was largely known for playing a certain type of role. 

His name consists of five consecutive letters of the alphabet, four consecutive letters of the alphabet, and “Y.” Three of these letters appear twice in his name.

Who is the actor?

Hint: When he was young, this actor’s career got a “shot in the arm” after he grew some facial hair.

Fowl-Fish-Fowl (Shot)

3. 🕊🐟🐦Name a six-letter type of bird. 

Change one of the letters to produce a type of
fish. Change another letter to produce another bird.

What are these animals?

“Associated” but not “The Association”

4. 🎜🎝Take the last name of a famous musician. Change the first letter to the letter that immediately precedes it in the alphabet. 

Now add the letters that surround the sixth letter of the last name in the alphabet. (For example, if the sixth letter in the last name is “C”, you’d add “B” and “D.”) 

Rearrange the letters to produce the first and last names of another famous musician who is closely associated with the first musician.

Rhymin’ ‘n’ Chimin’

5. 🎸Name an eponymous album by two guitar greats. Both of them went by their nicknames, which don’t rhyme; however, their first names at birth rhyme.

Who are they? 

What is the album?

Pyramid Frock? 

6. 🎥⭐Name a singer and musician who was famous in the pre-rock era. 

Now think of something the musician used, and place that word between the first and last names. 

Remove a space. You’ll have the name of an even earlier movie star.

“Go down... Oops!”

7. 💃⏺🎶Name a very early classic doo-wop song in two words, five letters in each word. 

Rearrange the letters to produce two things that you might need to calculate mathematically.

What is the song? 

What might you need to calculate?

MENU

Truly Cubical Yet Nearly Spherical Hors d’Oeuvre:

“Six sides” versus “nix sides!”

Name a substance often seen in a cubical form. 

Slightly alter the consonant sound of the substance to get what sounds like partially
unseen things in a nearly spherical form.

What is this cubical substance?

What are the partially unseen things in a nearly spherical form

Cinema Versus History Slice:

Chills two centuries apart

Change one letter in a 2020’s horror movie to spell a historical horror that happened nearly two centuries earlier. 

What are this movie and historical horror?

Riffing Off Shortz And Reiss Entrees:

“Rasher-a-Roni, the San FranCrisco Treat!” 

Will Shortz’s September 31st  NPR Weekend Edition Sunday puzzle, created by Mike Reiss, who's a showrunner, writer, and producer for “The Simpsons,” reads: 

Name a famous English author. Change the first letter of the last name to an S. Then move the first, second, and final letters of that last name in front of the first name. 

The resulting string of letters reading from left to right will name a major American city. What city is it?

Puzzleria!s Riffing Off Shortz And Reiss Entrees read:

Entree #1

Think of two surnames – the singular 5-letter surname of a real person and the plural 8-letter surname of a family of fictional characters that is the brainchild of the real person... who often puts words into the mouths of these fictional family members. 

Rearrange the combined 13 letters of these two surnames to write a three-word caption for the image pictured here.

What are these two surnames? What is the caption?

(Note: Appetizers #2 through #7 are creations penned by our friend and “Riffmaster General,” Nodd.)

ENTREE #2

Write down the first name of a famous English author, followed without a space by the last name of an American Newberry Medal-winning author. 

The American author’s last name is also the first name of a famous former U.K. politician.

Replace the first two letters of the American author’s last name with an S. 

The resulting string of letters reading from left to right will name a famous American city that was the home of two U.S. presidents. 

Who are the two authors and what is the city? 

ENTREE #3

Name a famous English author. 

The first name is the first word in the two-word name of a ghost town in the Western U.S. 

The last name, minus the second letter, is the first word in the two-word name of another ghost town in the Western U.S., in a different state. A famous American author sometimes claimed to be a resident of the second ghost town. 

Who are the authors and what are the ghost towns?

ENTREE #4

Take the first name of a famous English author. Insert a Y between the second and third letters and delete the last letter. 

Follow this with a space and then the first name of the pen name of another famous English author, minus the second letter. The resulting string of letters reading from left to right will name a major tourist destination in the Western U.S. 

Who are the two authors and what is the tourist attraction?

ENTREE #5

Take the first and last names of a famous English author and painter who was also an avid outdoorsman and mystic. 

Rearrange these 15 letters to spell a major English city, a town in France near Paris, and a U.S. state abbreviation. 

Who is the author and what are the city, town, and abbreviation? 

ENTREE #6

Name a famous English author. 

The first name can be rearranged to spell a bodily disorder that is a homophone of a region in Asia. 

The last name is a town in Massachusetts. 

Who is the author, and what are the disorder, region, and town?

ENTREE #7

Name a famous English poet, short story writer and novelist, first and last names. 

Change an A to a Y. Rearrange these 14 letters to spell a U.S. state and the name of a tree. 

The tree name, followed by a space and a homophone of another tree name, is a city in South Carolina. 

Who is the author and what are the state and the city?

ENTREE #8

Take two performers – one whose stage name includes a “Richard” and another whose real name includes a “Richards.” 

The first performer’s stage name includes an adjective seen in a U.S. state capital. 

The second performer is in a band that includes four consecutive letters that spell a word associated with dice. 

The noun modified by the adjective in the state-capital and dice-related word are “bookend words” in the genre of music both performers proffer (and prefer).

Who are these performers?

What is the state capital and word associated with dice?

What genre of music do they proffer?

ENTREE #9

Name a two-word ten-letter U.S. city.

Letters 9 10 followed by 3 2 1 spell the first name of a past American novelist whose surname, if you insert a space, sounds like a
reason to legalize marijuana.

Letters 6 7 8 is the shortened form a first name of a children’s book author whose surname begins with a synonym of “marijuana.”

Letters 3 10 8 6 is an Arab sheik Ray Stevens sang about.

Letters 5 4 8 6 7 is how a president may have introduced himself. 

What is this city?

Who are the novelist, author and sheik? How did the president introduce himself?

ENTREE #10

Is there a Mobile Mobil gas station in Alabama? How about a Texarkana Texaco in Texas? Or a Chevy Chase Chevron in Maryland?

Think of two states that share a border. 

The initial letter of one state, if inverted, becomes the initial letter of the other state. Two burgs beginning with the same vowel were incorporated (one in each state) in the mid 1800s, in the southeastern region of each state. 

That much is true. Take what follows, however, with a grain of salty skepticism:

Early in the 20th century, a gasoline corporation planted gas stations, one each, in these burgs. Both now had their own “Texarkana Texaco” (each with their name followed by the brand-name gasoline that they shared... but it was a brand these burgs did not share with Mobile, Chevy Chase or Texarkana!).

This gas brand’s even letters are identical vowels, each preceded by a single consonant.

Both gas stations can be represented using a “C” for Consonant, and a “V” for Vowel. (The Consonants vary, but all “V’s”  represent the same vowel.):

The smaller burg: VCVCVCV CVCVCV.

The larger burg: VCVCVCVCVC  CVCVCV.

Name these two gas stations, using the name of each burg followed by the identical brand of gasoline.

Dessert Menu

Dietary Dessert:

“Walkin’ past a plate of pasta?”

Take the surname and profession of a past performer. 

Rearrange those fifteen letters to spell a type of diet a doctor may have prescribed for this performer, in ten letters, and what any dieter's likely response might be to such a prescription, in five letters.

Who is this performer? 

What are the type of diet and a performer’s likely response to it?

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.