Rearranging the office assets?; “Here, have a new venue!”; “‘Anagranimal’ New Kingdom?” “Bonbon” alas is a “No-no”; An Anagrammatic Quartet; Featured Creatures! “Maybe Octopi “Occupi” the Ocean Floor; May-born Baby?” A Doc prescribes some peRXinate!” “A recording... that is a TYPE of recording” Minty-Fresh Verbal Numismatics

PUZZLERIA! SLICES: OVER 5πe² SERVED

Schpuzzle of the Week:

Minty-Fresh Verbal Numismatics

Let’s coin a freshly minted six-letter verb! 

It shall replace the clunky four-word term “execute an elbow stand...” 

A gymnast normally performs this feat, which requires both balance and poise, upon a mat. 

A circus acrobat may do so in a ring. 

The proper posture requires that the body be inverted, with one’s body weight balanced on the forearms, and with legs held above. 

What is this newly minted verb?

Hint #1: The verb is an anagram of a novelist’s surname. 

Hint #2: The verb (which you will not yet find in dictionaries!) is analogous to an existing five-letter verb involving a different body part... but one whose past tense also consists of five letters. 

(The past tense of our new verb, however, will likely contain eight letters!) 

Appetizer Menu

Jefferific Appetizer:

Rearranging the office assets?; “Here, have a new venue!”; “‘Anagranimal’ New Kingdom?” An Anagrammatic Quartet; “Bonbon” alas is a “No-no”; Featured Creatures! 

Rearranging the office assets?

1. 🏢The letters of a five-letter word can be rearranged into five other ordinary English words. Two of these six words (and perhaps even three, and nearly four!) can relate to office work. 

What are these six anagrammatic words? 

“Here, have a new venue!”

2. 🎮 A game, ordinarily played on a large field, can also be played in an alternate venue, at which time its name becomes a two-word game. The field game and the alternate venue are anagrams. 

What are the game and the venue?

“‘Anagranimal’ New Kingdom?                           3. 🎪🐘The name of a place, and an animal associated with that place, can be rearranged to get the name of a different place. What are this animal and pair of places? 

An Anagrammatic Quartet                   4. 📖The letters of a four-letter word can be rearranged to spell four additional ordinary English words. What are these five words?

“Bonbon” alas is a “No-no” 

5. There are two six-letter words which each consist of repeating groups of the same three letters (i.e. “abcabc”). What are they? Note: For example: The candy “bonbon” fulfills the “abcabc” requirement. And, it would be an acceptable solution... if only “bnobno,” “onbonb,” “obnobn,” “nobnob” or “nbonbo” were actual English words. But, alas, they are not! 

Featured Creatures!

6. What six-letter creatures are suggested by the accompanying image?

Hint: Think “geometrical figure” and “Greek-Alphabet.” (You may have to remove three letters that spell can be rearranged to spell “Old Gray Mare” from the word for the shape of the crosswalk sign.)

MENU:

Redundant Hors d’Oeuvre: 

“A recording... that is a TYPE of recording” 

Take a synonym of “adherent.” Transpose Letters 5 & 6. Move them to the end. Insert two spaces. 

The result is a recording, an abbreviation for “that is,” and the type of recording. 

What are this synonym, recording, abbreviation and type of recording?

“Disorienting Slice”

A Doc prescribes some “peRXinate!”

Daisy visited her doctor, complaining of unsteadiness and disorientation. The doctor’s terse and unhelpful three-word prescription contained all the letters of his diagnosis, two of them twice. What were his diagnosis and prescription?

Riffing Off Shortz And Ezersky Entrees:

Octopi “Occupi” the Ocean Floor

Will Shortz’s July 19th Weekend Edition Sunday puzzle, from Will’s New York Times colleague Sam Ezersky, reads:

Take the name of a popular 21st-century film with animals, in eight letters. 

 Remove the first and last letters, then change one of the remaining six letters to a C, to spell a plural word for certain animals. What words are these?

Puzzleria!s Riffing Off Shortz And Ezersky Entrees read:

ENTREE #1:

Name a puzzle-maker who is associated with a “Gray Lady.” 

The first five letters of his name are an anagram of something that is “grayish.” The last three letters, in order, spell where one might see this “something.” The remaining letters, in order, spell where one who is exposed to this “grayish something” may wind up!

Who is this puzzle-maker? 

What are this “grayish something,” where one might see it, and where one might wind up?

Who is the “Gray Lady?”

Entrees #2 through #7 are conundrums drummed-up/dreamt-up by our friend and riffmeister extraordinaire, Nodd.

ENTREE #2

Take the title of a 21st-century film about an animal, in seven letters. Remove the next-to-last letter and change one of the remaining letters to a U. Rearrange to spell a plural word for certain other animals. 

What are the film and the plural word?

ENTREE #3             Take the title of a 21st-century film about an animal, in six letters. Remove the next-to-last letter and rearrange to spell a plural word for certain otheranimals. 

What are the film and the plural word?

ENTREE #4

Take the title of a 21st-century film about animal agriculture, in 10 letters. Change one of the letters to an N to spell a plural word for certain animals. What are the film title and the plural word?  

ENTREE #5                             Take the title of an award-winning 21st-century animated short film about an animal, in five letters. Rotate one letter (in lowercase) 180 degrees clockwise and rearrange to spell a plural word for certain other animals. What are the film and the plural word?

ENTREE #6                                Take the title of a 21st-century film about a fictional humanoid creature, in two words of nine letters. Disregard the first word. Replace the last two letters of the second word with a D to spell a plural word for certain non-fictional animals. What are the film and the plural word?

ENTREE #7

Take the title of a 21st-century film featuring animal characters, in 16 letters. 

The first six letters spell a title applied to a famous person of the past. Replace those
letters with the first letter of a title applied to the person’s father. You’ll be left with two animals. 

What are the film title, the titles applied to the famous person and father, and the animals?

Entree #8 is the ingenious brainchild of our friend and prolific riff-crafter Plantsmith. 

ENTREE #8

Take the two-word title of a 21st century film that features some animals. Remove a possessive pronoun and mix remaining the letters to get a 7-letter adjective that describes an animal with a prominent role in the film (but that does not describe a great number of other animals).

Hint: Three consecutive letters in the “some featured animals” spell a word associated with a variety of animals.

Dessert Menu

April? May? June? Dessert:

“Maybe a May-born Baby?”

Take a one-syllable word you might assume would appear on a birth certificate and a specific four-letter name that sometimes actually does. 

Switch the initial letters and delete the space to name a legume. What are this word, name and legume?

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!

“Vive la différence”; “Sleeping-bag no-no”; “Now, Presenting on stage...”; A pump implies the past; “Impeding a pet and a punt”; “Transparency At Last!”; “I love slander!” said the Love Islander; “Way Down Upon The Swami River?”

PUZZLERIA! SLICES: OVER 5πe² SERVED

Schpuzzle of the Week:

“Transparency At Last!”

Take a two-word 20th-century novel title by an author whose seven-letter name is an anagram of two words: a “mild expletive” and an old-fashioned way of saying “no.” 

Anagram the title to spell two longer words:

~ a surname prominent in a second author’s 20th-Century fiction, and 

~ the relationship of Beatrice or Frances to Bessie and Les (in a second work of 20th-Century fiction).

What are this novel title, “mild expletive” and an old-fashioned way of saying “no”?

What is the fictional surname?

What is the relationship of Beatrice or Frances to Bessie and Les?

Appetizer Menu:

Skydiversionary Appetizer:

“Vive la différence”; “Sleeping-bag no-no”; “Now, Presenting on stage...”; A pump implies the past;

1. ♚What is the difference between a consortium of male European royalty who were into philosophy and the failed attempt to help a relative in a time of difficulty?

2. 🏔Think of a two-word phrase describing something an adventurer would never want to be. 

Now make a homophone of that phrase
(altering the spelling of the first word) to describe something a serious mountaineer would never do to his sleeping bag. What are they?

3.🎙Think of a famous singer of the past. Move the first letter of the last name to the beginning of the first name. 

Now replace the last letter of the last name
with an A and an E and rearrange to make a new word. These two words will now visually describe his stage presence. Who is the singer, and what are the two new words?

4. ⛽Why is it every time I look at my small 12-volt air pump I am reminded of the 1700s?

Anyone know?

MENU

A “Wiggy-Wammy” Hors d’Oeuvre:

“ ‘Toilet Paper’ is a Wipe, not a Weapon, Right?”

Bows and arrows, tomahawks, spears and war clubs are weapons that are sometimes, and
even often, found in tepees.

What weapon is always found in tepees?

Same-Old-Same-Old Slice:

“Way Down Upon The Swami River?”

Name a predictable daily occurrence.

Replace its third letter with the letters four and two places after it in the alphabet to spell something unpredictable. What are these two words?

Riffing Off Shortz And Baggish Entrees:

“I love slander!” said the Love Islander

Will Shortz’s June 12th Weekend Edition Sunday puzzle, from Steve Baggish of Arlington, Massachusetts, reads:

Take the 10-letter name of a popular TV series for which most of its seasons have been filmed in a foreign country. Remove the first and last letters, and the remaining letters can be rearranged to spell the name of a country. What are the two names?

Puzzleria!s Riffing Off Shortz And Baggish  Entrees read:

ENTREE #1

Take the 12-letter name of a very popular, prolific and clever NPR puzzle-maker. Remove the first and last letters. 

The remaining letters can be rearranged to fill in the ten blanks in a phrase for what a Valentine’s Day sweetheart who is showered with towers of flowers from her beau must do:

“_ _ _  a  _ _ _   _ _ _ _!”

Who is this puzzle-maker?

What is the phrase?

Note: Entrees #2 through #7 are conundrums drummed-up/dreamt-up by our friend and riffmeister extraordinaire, Nodd.

ENTREE #2 

Take the three-word, 10-letter name of a popular TV show dealing with unexplained phenomena. 

Replace the last two letters with a B. Rearrange to spell the name of a country and
a name for a native of a second country. 

What are the show, the country, and the name for a native of the second country?

ENTREE #3

Take the three-word, 13-letter name of a popular fantasy-drama TV show. 

Replace the second letter of the second word with an L. Rearrange to spell the name of a country and a name for a native of a second country. What are the show, the country, and the name for a native of the second country?

ENTREE #4

Take the one-word, 8-letter name of a popular TV show dealing with espionage. 

Replace the third letter with the letter that immediately precedes it in the alphabet.
Remove the fourth letter. You’ll name a country. 

What are the show and the country?

ENTREE #5

Take the two-word, 11-letter name of a popular TV crime drama show. 

Replace the first and second letters with the two-letter abbreviation for an American film
and TV production company. 

Change the ninth letter to the next letter in the alphabet. Rearrange to spell a country. What are the show and the country?

ENTREE #6

Take the one-word, five-letter name of a
popular TV historical drama. 

Rearrange to spell a country. 

What are the show and the country?

ENTREE #7

Take the seven-letter name of a TV political drama series. 

Remove the first letter and replace the last letter with a copy of the next-to-last letter. Rearrange to spell a country. 

What are the show and the country?

ENTREE #8

Note: Entree  #8 is the creation of our friend and prolific riffmeister extraordinaire, a true “MVP” (Most Valuable Puzzle-maker) who goes by the screen name “Plantsmith”... and who has truly been a stalwart creative presence on Puzzleria! since “the Postcard Days” (well, maybe not QUITE that long!)... He is truly a  MuchValuedPlantsmith! Enjoy!

Take a two word title of a TV series mainly filmed outside the U.S. 

Take out four letters and mix to get a country. 

The remaining letters in order are an acronym for a  kind of  medical equipment.

What are this series, country, and medical equipment?

Dessert Menu

‘Sposing and Spoonerizing Dessert:

“Impeding a pet and a punt”

Name what may restrict a pet's freedom, in two words. 

Spoonerize and transpose these words to name what sounds like what may impede a
punt’s progress. What are these four words?

Hint: The accompanying image is misleading.

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.

Mixing Meals “Pictures”-Perfectly; A Bird Nests in the Rocks; One Whale of a Romantic Tale!; Three 5s follow 3 3...Is it ‘alphibonacci?’; “Our Legendary Labour Leader”; “Collard greens are green, right?”; “Similar-sounding sidereal sidewinding snake-species”; Seeking low-fat? Run not slow, fast!”

PUZZLERIA! SLICES: OVER 5πe² SERVED

Schpuzzle of the Week:

Three 5s follow 3, 3... Is it “alphibonacci?”

How does the sequence of numbers 3, 3, 5, 5, 5 pertain to the alphabet?

It is true that 3 and 5 are consecutive numbers in the Fibonacci Sequence (1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21...) 

But that may be irrelevant.

Happily however, filling in the following blanks
may be helpful:

_u_e_ (third power)

_u_e   _ee! (getting overcharged)

_ i_ _   i_   _u_e (Dairy Month)

_ui_ _ _e_ (wisecracker)

_a_e   a_!   “_o_ _a!” (Paul Bunyan action & Babe’s bellowed reaction)

Appetizer Menu

EnLightning Electric Eclectic Appetizer:

Mixing Meals “Pictures”-Perfectly; A Bird Nests in the Rocks; A Whale of a Romantic Tale

Mixing Meals “Pictures”-Perfectly

1.  🍵🍵Start with two T’s. 

Then add the names of two common foods that rhyme. 

Delete two letters that are used only once. Rearrange the result to find two images. Name all the foods and images.

Bird Nests in the Rocks

2. 🪨🪹🪺🪨Merge the first names (6, 4) of two famous movie stars that have rock names. 

Delete the first letter of one name and any letters used twice. 

Rearrange the result and find a bird that rhymes with one of the names. 

Name the stars’ full names and the bird.

One Whale of a Romantic Tale!

3. 🏝 💘🐳🐋This popular European island (7 letters) is a great place to find romance. 

You may also spot a whale or two. 

What place is this?

MENU

A “Labour-not-Balfour-Brit” Hors d’Oeuvre:

“Our Legendary Labour Leader”

An appropriately surnamed past 20th-Century British Labour Party leader, journalist, and peace campaigner is considered a legend by many Brits.

Who is this British politico?Explain why he is appropriately surnamed.

“Seemingly Synonymous Slice”:

“Similar-sounding sidereal sidewinding snake-species”

A “slice of the calendar year” sounds synonymous with and similar to a species of snake. 

What are this “slice of the calendar” and snake species? 

Why do they seem synonymous?

Riffing Off Shortz, Picciotto & Kosman Slices:

“Seeking low-fat? Run not slow, fast!”

Will Shortz’s July 9th Weekend Edition Sunday puzzle challenge was created by puzzle-makers Henri Picciotto and Joshua Kosman, who are, along with Will, are attending the 186th convention of the National Puzzler League in Bloomington, Indiana. Their joint effort reads:

Name two words that are opposites. They share a single letter. Remove that shared letter from each word, put a hyphen between the two starting words, and you’ll get a term you sometimes see in food ads. What are the two words?

Puzzleria’s Riffing Off Shortz, Picciotto & Kosman Slices read:

ENTREE #1

Name two words related to creativity that often are paired together as “____ and ______.”

Move the first  letter of the second word to the beginning of the first word to spell two forms of transportation.

What are these creative words and forms of transportation?

ENTREE #2

Name two words – a “confused noisy clamor” and a common contributor to such clamor – in 3 and 5 letters. 

Remove the first letter from the first and the
first two letters from the second. The result is a pair of antonyms.

What are these noisy words and two antonyms?

ENTREE #3

Name a meteorological phenomenon, and what some people in its midst might quickly seek. 

Remove a total of three letters from the beginnings of these words to form, in 5 and 4 letters, a pair of antonyms.

What are this phenomenon, what people may seek, and antonyms? 

Note: Riffs #4 through #9 are the handiwork of our “resident riffmeister” Nodd.

ENTREE #4

Name two words that are opposites. Remove the first letter of the first word. The remaining letters of that word will sound like the main ingredient in a familiar food. 

Change the second letter of the second word to a different vowel to get a food typically served with the familiar food. 

What are the opposite words, the ingredient, and the two foods?

ENTREE #5

Name two words that are opposites. Move the first letter of the first word two places later in the alphabet and then swap the first and third letters of that word. Then remove the first letter of the second word. 

You’ll name a place where food is cooked and a place where it is served. What are the opposite words and the two places?

ENTREE #6

Name two verbs that describe opposite actions. If you remove a letter from the first word you’ll name a cooking utensil. If you instead change the first letter of the original first word to a P, the original first and second words together will name a kind of meat dish. 

What are the opposite words, the cooking utensil, and the dish?

ENTREE #7

Name two words that are opposites. 

Remove the first letter of the first word and the last two letters of the second word. Put a
hyphen between the words and you’ll get a term you might see on food labels. 

What are the opposite words and the hyphenated term?

ENTREE #8

Name two opposite words that are often applied to food. Change the last letter of the first word to an E and the last letter of the second word to a K. You’ll name two ingredients in a popular drink. 

What are the opposite words, the ingredients, and the drink?

ENTREE #9

Name two words that are opposites. Add a letter to the start of the first word and a different letter to the end of that word, and add a punctuation mark somewhere. 

Change the first letter of the second word to the letter one place earlier in the alphabet. The
two words together will now name a term for a kind of dessert. 

What are the opposite words and the kind of dessert?

ENTREE #10

Name two body parts – one above the belt, the other below. 

Remove letters from both words that can be arranged to spell something you may lay or stake. What remains spells a pair of antonyms.

What are these body parts?

What may you lay or stake?

What are the antonyms?

Dessert Menu

“A Horse of a Different Collar” Dessert:

“Collard greens are green, right?”

Name a noun associated with the color of a collar. 

Take a synonym of that noun. Transpose its first and fourth letters.

The result is a verb that, by definition, the noun would never do. 

What are this noun, synonym and verb?

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.