Every Friday at Joseph Young’s Puzzle -ria 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!
My partner is a gourmet puzzle maker from Greece named Lego Lambda. He 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.)
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Specialty of the House Slice:
“Trivial Scribble”
What three-word phrase is a bad thing if you’re playing Trivial Pursuit, not a bad thing if you’re playing Scrabble, and a thing that might seem to be a logical impossibility if you’re playing Pictionary?
Integral Slice:
Seven-come-what-May
Name the ninth number in the following sequence:
2, 5, 5, 4, 5, 6, 3, 7, __
Explain your answer.
Alfalfa-Butter Slice:
Graham cracked her conundrum… can you?
“_____ _____ its ugly head.” Several different pairs of words can fill those two blanks. Anna Graham chooses two she likes. Then she rearranges the letters in them to form a single word. What are Anna’s two words, and what is the single word she forms from them?
Celebrity Slice:“Trivial Scribble”
What three-word phrase is a bad thing if you’re playing Trivial Pursuit, not a bad thing if you’re playing Scrabble, and a thing that might seem to be a logical impossibility if you’re playing Pictionary?
Integral Slice:
Seven-come-what-May
Name the ninth number in the following sequence:
2, 5, 5, 4, 5, 6, 3, 7, __
Explain your answer.
Alfalfa-Butter Slice:
Graham cracked her conundrum… can you?
“_____ _____ its ugly head.” Several different pairs of words can fill those two blanks. Anna Graham chooses two she likes. Then she rearranges the letters in them to form a single word. What are Anna’s two words, and what is the single word she forms from them?
“Silen Screen”
Two actresses who are not United States natives (but are well known to U.S. cinephiles) have surnames that are approximate rhymes. The surname of one ends in a silent letter. Add that letter to the end of the other’s surname, and move the previous two letters of that surname to the beginning. The result is the surname of a well-known actor. Who are these thespians?
Please wait until after 3 p.m. Eastern Time on Tuesdays to post your answers and explain your hints about the puzzles. We at Joseph Young’s Puzzle -ria plan to serve up at least one fresh puzzle every Friday.
We invite you to make it a habit to “Meet at Joe’s!” If you like our “mystic puzzleria” tell your friends about us. Thank you.
With one change (or two), you will have lines outside your door for the Specialty of the House Slice.
ReplyDeleteNice to see you dropping by for a brunch-time puzzle slice, David. Your comment is, as yet, a mystery to me. But I shall ponder it.
DeleteThis week’s “Trivial Scribble” and “Graham cracked her...” puzzles may go down a bit easier than “Seven-come-what-May,” which may prove to be a bit tougher to chew on. (No hints here, just my assessment.)
Lego…
A couple hours not thinking about the Integral Slice, but then coming back for seconds got me the answer. At the moment, I can't come up with a clever and subtle hint.
DeleteVery impressive, David. I was afraid Puzzleria! patrons might just take a few nibbles of #2, mutter “Crust too tough,” and toss it in the trash. But you took your time (but not that much time) and finished it off.
DeleteHow about this for a hint for the Integral Slice? Some people might start your sequence with a blank. Both the starting and ending blanks would be filled in with the same number. (I had to watch out not to give too much away.)
DeleteTo say nothing of punctuating your answer properly, David.
DeleteDavid, regarding your initial comment:
DeleteIt seems to me that you have solved “Trivial Scribble” and your post is a fine hint. When you refer to “one change (or two)” do you mean a letter change, a word change, a sea change?
Lego…
I finally got the Alfalfa Butter Slice after reading your response to Paul (below) and then rereading your clue. I got the second word easily and then tried a couple dozen first words (including changing the tense of the verb), just not the right word.
DeleteAbout my initial comment, one letter change (plus) and one word change (plus). I "sea" nothing.
#1 Not special enough for me yet.
ReplyDelete#2 I had a sixth sense that we were not yet done with that upside-down alarm clock thing. An integral slice of life for sure.
#3 I have a two-word phrase answer that Involves Tim Tebow.
Thanks, Joe.
Word Woman,
DeleteCongrats 2 you too. Not sure where you stand on one. Three may have two, three or more acceptable answers, four all I know.
He’s got strong convictions and beliefs. He’s got charisma. He’s got a faithful following… Someday, may Tim Tebow BE MITT? OW!
LegOW!
Good hint, David. Well written.
ReplyDeleteBoth you and Word Woman have "punctured" my "I bet this poser will stump 'em" balloon.
LegoLoon
I have a good answer to your Anna Graham challenge, but I suspect it is not the intended answer.
ReplyDeleteHere is a challenge for you. How go you explain this geometric paradox?
ron,
DeleteGreat paradox. Kind of Escheresque. Thanks for linking it. Gee, I’m a tree, and even I can’t figure it out… yet.
When I create a puzzle I am tickled when solvers come up with answers I did not intend. It’s like readers of poetry who find meanings and truths in a poem of which the poet was totally oblivious.
LARCHoL’ELMbda
i) Celebrating like Fred Flintstone
ReplyDeleteii) Thanks, WW
iii) Pretty sure my answer is the intended answer
i) Why D D?
Deleteii) You're welcome, Paul.
iii) I think I am there also.
S o t H S) Why not the Brylcreem Boys or Kara Milovy? Damned if I know!
DeleteI S) -
A-B S) Only a foolish prating knave would hide behind his environmental stance.
1) Drawing a blank slate like Fred Flintstone. Yabaa Daaba Do!
Delete2) Upside-down alarm clock and punctuation referred to the alarm clock puzzle and the segments needed to make the numbers. Sixth sense referred to 6, the next number in the series.
3) My joke answer was Jealousy Rears which rearranges (Anger Rears) to Arousal Jersey.
.0285714285714...?
ReplyDeletePaul,
DeleteIf you are “pretty sure” about your “Graham Cracked Her Conundrum” answer, you are probably correct. I did indeed intend one answer (In the puzzle’s wording there is an obvious clue to this answer.), although I am not precluding the possibility of other correct answers.
Only one thing comes immediately to my mind when I envision “celebrating like Fred Flintstone,” but I am in a fog about its possible connection to my intended answer to “Trivial Scribble.”
Also foggy to me is your cryptic May 17 12:44 PM “repeating decimal” post. I am aware of the fractional equivalent but, still, no idea.
I am beginning to suspect our Puzzleria! patrons are far too clever for me!
LegoLostAtSea
(1/35) = (3/7) - (2/5) was significant in the revelation, to me, of the noncongruencence of certain polygons. Your mileage may vary.
DeleteThe ninth number in your Seven-come-what-May sequence? Let's see, Seven-of-Nine was a Borg, and, in Earnest, Borg Nine commanded PT Seventy-Three, which makes Two TV shows of the Sixties, so the answer must ... wait until Two's Day?
ReplyDeleteThere's an amazingly handy web site for solving sequences like this. To be continued...
We talked about it at Blaine's a while back, yes?
Deletejan,
DeleteThanks for dropping by. Great stream of numerology!
I am now determined to create a numerical puzzle that is more challenging than this one, fair, and un-website-solvable.
Lego…
FTR, I did not use that website for this. I relied on info re: Lego and previous puzzle fascination instead ;-)
DeletePuzzleria! patrons,
ReplyDeleteI have added a fourth puzzle to the blog this week. It’s a bonus “Celebrity Slice” I’m calling “Silen” Screen which I created a few years ago. I am uploading it now because a very creative Blaineville blogger screen-named ecoarchitect posted a very similar puzzle Sunday on that very excellent puzzle blog site.
The similar puzzle was one of four original puzzles that ecoarchitect posted on that blog. All, I suspect, “piggybacked” upon Dr. Will Shortz’s weekly puzzle challenge broadcast on National Public Radio’s Weekend Edition Sunday program, under “Next Week’s Challenge.”
A “piggyback” puzzle is one inspired by another puzzle. This week’s NPR puzzle involved an actress and syllable reversal. ecoarchitect’s puzzles involved actors/actresses and syllable reversal.
Such blog-contributor-generated additional puzzles are common and welcomed at Blainesville, and are welcomed, encouraged (and, thus far, common) also here at our Puzzleria!
Lego…
Integral Slice:
ReplyDeleteA most timely puzzle indeed.
sdb,
DeleteThanks for free-falling/parachuting in to our Puzzleria! (At least I hope your chute opened. Wouldn’t want you going to pieces on us. You have always been a man of integrity and we want to keep it that way.)
Speaking of which, I see you sampled our Integral Slice and digested it with ease. Tell me, did you use a fork or your fingers? And what led you here? I realize you are more accustomed to dining at higher-class eateries (Let’s face it, a puzzleria is just a hashhouse with a dash of pizzazz.) but you really should have eaten the Integral Slice with your fingers. Save the fork for your fancy finger sandwiches. (As if anyone around here seems to need a hint!)
Lego…
This week’s answers:
DeleteSpecialty of the House Slice:
“Trivial Scribble”
What three-word phrase is a bad thing if you’re playing Trivial Pursuit, not a bad thing if you’re playing Scrabble, and a thing that might seem to be a logical impossibility if you’re playing Pictionary?
Answer: Draw(ing) a blank
Integral Slice:
Seven-come-what-May
Name the ninth number in the following sequence:
2, 5, 5, 4, 5, 6, 3, 7, __
Answer: Six
Explain your answer:
The eight numbers in the sequence correspond to the counting numbers (integers) one through eight. Each number in the sequence represents the number of segments needed to form the corresponding integer on an LED, VFD or LCD seven-segment digital clock display. The integer nine needs six segments.
(David was correct with his hint: “Some people might start your sequence with a blank. Both the starting and ending blanks would be filled in with the same number.” If a blank started the sequence it would stand for zero, which also needs six segments.)
Alfalfa-Butter Slice:
Graham cracked her conundrum… can you?
“_____ _____ its ugly head.” Several different pairs of words can fill those two blanks. Anna Graham chooses two she likes. Then she rearranges the letters in them to form a single word. What are Anna’s two words, and what is the single word she forms from them?
Answer: Anger rears (its ugly head.) Anna rearranges “anger rears” to form “rearranges.”
Celebrity Slice:
“Silen Screen”
Two actresses who are not United States natives (but are well known to U.S. cinephiles) have surnames that are approximate rhymes. The surname of one ends in a silent letter. Add that letter to the end of the other’s surname, and move the previous two letters of that surname to the beginning. The result is the surname of a well-known actor. Who are these thespians?
Answer: Since I served up this Celebrity Slice just yesterday, I will give only a hint: This puzzle is far from sub-par.
Lego…
Lego,
DeleteA fork! In Italy and all over Europe pizza is eaten with a knife and fork. Your pizza photos look really good. I don't know where to get good pizza here any more. The best pizza I ever had was in Wurzburg, Germany. Last time I had it was in 1966 and I can still taste it. www.bella-napoli-wuerzburg.de/ I understand it was the very first pizza parlor in Germany. They also had a fantastic deep dish baked rigatoni with cheese that is outstanding.
Keep those puzzles/challenges to no more than 4 a week. As Yogi Berra said: "You better cut my pizza into four pieces; I don't think I can eat eight!"
DeleteOr six ;-). Plus, Lego, we don't want you to run out!
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteToo many pieces of pizza may result in indigestion.
DeleteOf course, what constitutes 'too many' is a personal decision.
Although, ironically, not entirely up to you.
Some meteor beer to go with your pizza?
Deletehttp://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2014/05/23/315130886/tonight-s-new-meteor-shower-could-be-a-great-one-nasa-says?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=npr&utm_term=nprnews&utm_content=20140523
The Anna Graham conundrum: From among the seven deadly sins LUST REARED its ugly head, producing ADULTERERS! I said I suspected this was not the intended answer.
ReplyDeleteCelebrity slice: Garbo, Bardot, Bogart.
ron,
DeleteThanks. Great Anna Graham answer. I prefer it to mine!
I take it my Celebrity Slice was as easy as pie for you.
Lego...
This comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteI had already solved all 4 of ecoarchitech's challenges over on Blaine's blog like I think you also had done, so this variation was fairly easy.
ReplyDeleteHere is another link to an interesting puzzle which I think you will find amusing. This is a RAILWAY MAZE. Do not click on the answer until either you have solved it or completely given up.
ReplyDeleteThanks, ron. I enjoyed the Geometrcal Paradox with the "twin" isosceles triangles.
DeleteLego...
I clicked on the answer without solving or completely giving up. What am I going to do with me? Maybe Fred Flintstone would find the American military establishment equally vexing.
DeleteGlad someone else did that. Paul. Did it seem like there was a superfluous loop in the answer? Not sure I understand your FF reference. . .
DeleteMy comment on the Specialty of the House Slice was "With one change (or two), you will have lines outside your door for the Specialty of the House Slice". Change lines to Linus (change one letter, plus capitalize), who always carried around his blanket (change a word, "blank" to "blanket".
ReplyDeleteThen Lego's comment about my hint allowed me to say "I 'sea' nothing", which sounds like "I see nothing", as Sgt. Schultz always said, which goes back to Charles Schulz, creator of Linus in Peanuts.
David,
DeleteYour super-clever hinting/riffing was alas lost on me. When you wrote, “With one change (or two), you will have lines outside your door for the Specialty of the House Slice,” I thought you were getting at “drawing a crowd” (or some similar object), with the change being the substitution of “crowd” for “blank.”
Your “I sea nothing” comment is like this: We’re playing volleyball. You’re at the net. I set you up for a spike, but it’s the worst set ever, at waist level. Still, somehow you manage to slam it home for the kill. Sea, see. Sgt. Schultz, Charles Schulz. Line, Linus, blank(et). Amazing brain-zigzagings!
LegoHogan