Alphagraffiti; "It'll take an act of Congrocery marketing!"; Bonus Slice: Global oxy-yokel

PUZZLERIA! SLICES: OVER e⁵ SERVED

Welcome to Joseph Young’s Puzzleria! ‘Tis still April, month of showers. Rain showers of cats and dogs, pitchforks and hammer-handles, warm fuzzy-wuzzies and puzzle-slices for the unmuzzled…

And, speakin’ of wuzzie-fuzzies, we here at Puzzleria! don’t cotton to usin’ no energy-saving nozzles when we shower you with our sprays of puzzles (except perhaps if you hail from California).

And, speaking of the Western Seaboard, we offer this week another delectable bonus puzzle slice cooked up by our friend Mark Scott who hails (when it is not raining, anyway) from Seattle, up-a-ways on that sinister coast.

Mr. Scott – also known as “skydiveboy” on the blogosphere, and as Master Gourmet French Puzzle Chef “Monsieur Garcon du Parachutisme” here at Puzzleria! – has served up stacks of such bonus slices already in Puzzleria!’s just-under-a-year-so-far cyber-run.

The stylish chef, who in many ways is out-of-this-world, is nevertheless everthemore a man of the world, which many of his puzzles reflect, including this one, an irresistible appetizer:  

Cosmopolitan Slice:

Global Oxy-yokel

Think of a country in two syllables that could be considered an oxymoron.

What is this country?

Feeling sharp? Feeling dull? Try feeling your way through the following menu of chockful-o’-moxie, ironic puzzle slices:

MENU

Easy As ABC Slice:

Alphagraffiti

Think of the alphabet as uppercase letters printed on a closed loop of paper so that …XYZ is followed by ABC… (The loop not need to be a Mobius strip, although it very well could be.)

Take four consecutive letters from this alphabet. Alter one of the letters, graffiti-style, by adding just a little bit to it. The four letters (three original ones plus the new one you created), in their same order, now spell out a word.

Now take five consecutive letters from the alphabet, also in uppercase print. Alter one of the letters, graffiti-style, by adding a little bit to it. The five letters (four original ones plus the new one you created), in their same order, now spell out a word.

What are these two words?

Political Slice:

“It’ll take an act of Congrocery marketing!”

Name an American politician who is sometimes called by a nickname. Replace two letters of the nickname with their mirror images.

That result as well as the politician’s last name are two words that both can be seen on shelves in a grocery store, on the same side of the same aisle (just like in Congress!).

Who is this politician?

Note: The two letters that are replaced with their mirror images are lowercase, not uppercase, letters.

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!

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 Tuesdays 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.