Friday, February 24, 2017

The pitter-patter of little fruit; Oscar Wiener Mayer links relinked; Whet o difference un “a” mikes…; Frank Carpa? Mel Brooktrout? Six-for-six… that’s acting a thousand; “Sure, you may be getting sleepy, but the winner is…” Spartans of peach

P! SLICES: OVER (65 + 432) SERVED

Welcome to our February 24th edition Joseph Young’s Puzzleria! We would like to thank the Academy for awarding us with fodder for our half-a-dozen puzzles this week that pertain to the acting profession.

We would also like to thank Will Shortz for his production of an NPR Sunday puzzle that we adapted (to computer screen) for a trilogy of Ripping Off Shortz puzzles.

And thanks also to Steve Bannon for tossing us a nice fat “adverbial softball” that we hit out of Fenway with our “Spartans of Peach” Dessert.  

That makes ten puzzles. I would also like to thank... (Music from the orchestra pit begins “playingLegoLambda off” stage)

Please enjoy our award-winning puzzles.

Hors d’Oeuvre Menu

Executive Casting Hors d’Oeuvre
He gets to play the president?!

Name something an actor auditions for and hopes to land during a casting call, in two words. Rearrange the letters to form the last name of a U.S. president.

Who is this president? For what does an actor audition?


Morsel Menu

Who’s Right With This Picture Morsel:
Six-for-six… that’s acting a thousand

An actor appeared or costarred in only six full-length feature motion pictures. All six films were nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture, and three of the six won the Best Picture Oscar.

Who is this actor?

Appetizer Menu

Kitchen Inspector Gadget Appetizer:
The pitter-patter of little fruit

Move the last letter of the first name of a well-known movie director to the end of the director’s last name, resulting in a kitchen gadget that is also known as a “cherry pitter.” 

Who is this director?


MENU 

The Heavy-Eyelidded Envelope Please Slice:
“Sure, you may be getting sleepy, but the winner is…”

In his cameo role in the 2001 movie “Shallow Hal,” Tony Robbins hypnotizes Jack Black’s character. Alas, the Academy did not recognize Robbins’ performance.

As the title character in “Candyman” (1992), Tony Todd went to a hypnotist so he could be more relaxed for scenes in which he is suspended swinging in a heavyweight harness, runs through a bonfire and is covered with 30,000 bees... but won no award for his efforts.

In “Audry Rose” (1977), the girl that Tony Hopkins’ character believes is the reincarnation of his deceased daughter dies while being hypnotized. But sadly, no award.

There is a whole lot of hypnotism happening in “Trance” (2013), but it is conducted by Rosario Dawson as Elizabeth, not, alas, by Tony Jayawardena as Security Guard #2.

The cast of the 2012 Swedish movie “The Hypnotist” includes actors named Oscar Pettersson and Emma Mehonic. Alas, neither plays the title role.

Showtime’s Emmy Rossum was once nominated for a Golden Globe Award, but not for an Emmy or Oscar. (But perhaps, had she been cast as a hypnotist…)

In “Dead Again” (1991), Emma Thompson’s character “Grace” is a hypnotizee... but alas not a hypnotizer.

In “The Testament of Dr. Mabuse” (1933), the spirit of the deceased title character, a mad hypnotist, merges with the silhouette of Oscar Beregi Sr.’s character.

You would think the names Oscar, Tony and Emmy (or Emma) would seem to be fitting names for actors and actresses who covet statuettes representing recognition of their histrionics. But why are these names especially fitting if their role is that of a hypnotherapist, or if their character receives treatment from a hypnotherapist?

Ripping Off Shortz Slices:

Will Shortz’s February 19th NPR Weekend Edition Sunday puzzle reads:

Think of an article of apparel in five letters. Change one letter in it to name another article of apparel. Change one letter in that name to name a third article of apparel. Then change one letter in that name to name a fourth article of apparel. The positions of the letters you change are different each time. What articles are these?

Puzzleria’s Ripping Off Shortz Slices read:

ONE:
1. Think of articles of apparel – “biceps-bracelets,” you might call them – that you might see at a museum, in seven letters.
2. Change one letter in that word to form an adjective describing a famous sculpture.
3. Change one letter in that adjective to form an adjective describing a museum that has been cleaned out by thieves.
4. Then change one letter in that adjective to form an adjective describing an exhibition at a museum of an ancient Bible manuscript that excludes all writings of Luke.
5. Finally, change one letter in that adjective to name the profession of a grateful performer you shall see toting a trophy on television on the evening of February 26. 2017 (a trophy that may someday be displayed at a museum of the dramatic arts).

Here are further restatements of (or alternative clues for) the five 7-letter words you seek:
1. Jewelry for the biceps mentioned in Exodus Chapter 35 of the English Standard Version of the bible
2. Like Aphrodite of Milos
3. Like a painter’s studio after an overnight break-in and heist, or like a dodgy Jack Dawkins wannabe who is all thumbs?
4. Like the output of a do-nothing Congress?
5. Isabelle Huppert, Ruth Negga, Natalie Portman, Emma Stone or Meryl Streep.

TWO:
1. Think of the name of a more-than-century-old magazine, in five letters.
2. Change one letter in that name to form an adjective that might modify “recollections,” “symptoms” or “generalities.”
3. Change one letter in that adjective to name a noun that can be preceded by “absolute,” “face” or “retail.”
4. Change one letter in that noun to name one of four main movable parts of the heart.
5. Then change one letter in that part to name a synonym of “balm.”
6. Finally, change one letter in that synonym to name what lieutenants like Columbo try to do to crimes and what mathematicians like Cantor try to do for x.

Here are further restatements of (or alternative clues for) the six 5-letter words you seek:
1. Madonna song title
2. Fuzzy
3. Treasure
4. A gastropod usually has one
5. Assuage
6. What you’re attempting to do at present

THREE:
1. Think of the first name of a ballplayer, in four letters. 
2. Change one letter in it to name another ballplayer’s first name.
3. Change one letter in that name to name something an umpire makes...
Repeat this process a total of nineteen times – always changing one letter of the previous word to form the succeeding word – until you have found 20 words, all which have a connection to baseball. What words are these?

Here are clues for the 20 words, in order:
1. Averill
2. Hubbell
3. Fair, foul, out, safe, the game if it’s raining…
4. Horsehide
5. Green Monster, for example
6. Alston 
7. “Free pass” (sometimes abbreviated B.O.B.)
8. What results when the pitcher drops the ball while toeing the rubber
9. What managers often do just before they kick dirt on umpires’ shoes
10. Fenway
11. Fidrych
12. One of the “tools of ignorance”
13. About 145 grams, for a baseball
14. Where a baseball weighs only one-and-two-thirds ounces, not five (as on Earth)
15. “Marvelous” Met, ____ Throneberry
16. “Wheel of Fortune” creator who hired an emcee who is nuts about baseball
17. A Bob who beat out Ted Williams as an All Star Game starter
18. Bennett who has a ballpark named after him in Maryland
19. Kind of baseball toddlers play with
20. What “baseball purists” might call a sabermetrician… (which is also an actual sabermetrics term!)

Dessert Menu

Directorial Dessert:
Frank Carpa? Mel Brooktrout?

Name a well-known movie director, first and last names. Remove one letter from one name and spell the other name backward, forming the names of two bony fishes.

Who is this director?

Oscar Wiener Mayer links relinked

Name a multinational chain in three syllables. Interchange the second and third syllables and add one syllable of the chain’s slogan to the end. The result when spoken aloud sounds like a well-known actor. 

Who is it?



Spun Dessert:
Spartans of peach

“The president was clearly describing the manner in which this was being done... the president was using that as an adjective; it’s happening with precision.” 

That is what Donald Trump’s press secretary and communicatons director  Sean Spicer said on February 23, spinning his boss’s use of the phrase “military operation to describe how Trump plans to get really bad dudes out of this country.

Spicer likely meant to say that the president was using that as an metaphor, not as an adjective. But Spicer is paid to spin, so blurring the difference between metaphor and adjective is probably a part of his job. 

more telling and apropos part of speech, however, was an adverb used by Trump’s chief strategist Steve Bannon. Bannon’s adverb, like the adjective “military,” also begins with an “m” and ends with a “y”. The adverb modifies how President Trump is focused on executing his campaign pledges, according to Bannon, in an address given February 23 at the Conservative Political Action Conference. 

The first six letters of Bannon’s adverb form a noun that, according to some, is a word that applies to the president. The remaining four letters of the adverb form a noun that applies to Bannon vis-a-vis Trump, and Trump vis-a-vis Bannon.

What is this adverb? 


Every Friday 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.

48 comments:

  1. Rip-off ONE: 6 letters???????

    Together, the Hors d’Oeuvre and the Appetizer make me think of Jimi Hendrix.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Paul. Seven letters, not six. It is now fixed... or perhaps rather "fevened."

      LegoNominatesThisAsPerhapsTheBestDylanCoverEver

      Delete
    2. ROSS ONE: ARMLETS, ARMLESS, ARTLESS, ACTLESS, ACTRESS

      Hors d’Oeuvre: film role > Fillmore
      Appetizer: Oliver Stone > olive stoner
      The first track of Jimi Hendrix's posthumous album "Live At The Fillmore East" is "Stone Free".

      Delete
  2. I could get all mavericky and fire off a barrage of alternative trajectories that ROSS TWO might have taken, but that would take some nerve, wouldn't it?

    ROSS THREE: Having doggedly pursued the correct line of reasoning, I concur: 9x2=18

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. ROSS TWO: VOGUE, VAGUE, VALUE, VALVE, SALVE, SOLVE
      Or, if my VAGUS nerve starts twitching, I might go ROGUE and launch a SALVO of alternatives.

      ROSS THREE: EARL, CARL, CALL, BALL, WALL, WALT, WALK, BALK, BARK, PARK, MARK, MASK, MASS, MARS, MARV, MERV, CERV, CERF, NERF, NERD
      I didn't know Bennett Cerf had a Park named for him. Part of it has recently been made available to the canine species, which seems to have captured the attention of search engines. However, I eventually found that it also has a baseball field (Little League, I believe), not to mention a stream and pond for fishing and a climbing wall shaped like a baseball glove.
      Good for Bennett; well-deserved!

      Delete
  3. Happy Friday from snowy Colorado. So glad February is finally behaving itself and acting like winter!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Speaking of spicy spinning, I'll take dancers for $100, Alex.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Do Japanese Jews like Oscar Mayer Wieners?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Gilbert Gottfried tweeted on March 12, 2011 that Japanese Jews like Hebrew National Tsunami. His AFLAC gig didn't last long after that.
      KFC finger-LICKin' good > KCF LICK > Casey Affleck

      Delete
  6. Heavens to ... Murgatroyd! I'm no ichthyologist!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Spike Lee > pike, eel
      I thought Betsy was too much of a giveaway, so I opted for Murgatroyd; I wanted to do the right thing.

      Delete
  7. Wow, I was chugging along very nicely (not counting the Heavy Eyelid Envelope Menu item, which will be hopeless without further info), until I hit the 17th and 18th words in the third Rip Off. Brother, no amount of Googling got me anywhere, for some reason. I finally used the old backward technique, going to 19 and 20, and then had to logic/trial and error for 17 and 18, but it finally worked itself out. Joy of joys.

    On to trying the Dessert, and if that one were to succumb, then I'd have everything for this week except the Hypnotism puzzle.

    However, I count only EIGHT puzzles, not ten as stated in the intro. Who is wrong?

    Lastly, Lego, why did you change how you count P! slices served? Did you just want some variety?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Who's your brother, VT?
      Just kidding.
      Lego altered his algorithm?

      Delete
    2. Maybe it was a move to restore integrity.
      ?

      Delete
    3. Up top where it now says (65 + 432) SERVED.

      I COULD tell you on here about my brother, but it would be violating his privacy! Hee ha ha

      Delete
    4. Yes, I altered our AlGoreRhythm for the sake of variety, which is the Sean Spicer of life... and for the sake integrity, which seems not to be the boss of Sean Spicer of life.

      LegoWhoAlsoDidNotRealizeJustHowComplicatedHealthCareReallyIs!

      Delete
  8. I forgot to mention (brag) that I managed to do Rip Off 1 and 2 without using (or even having SEEN in the first case) the hints included!

    ReplyDelete
  9. I can honestly say I got the puzzle about the bony fishes right away, since I once considered the EXACT SAME wordplay for the EXACT SAME movie director, and was almost going to send it in to Will Shortz! You inadvertently stole one of MY ideas, Lego!

    ReplyDelete
  10. I have also solved the Hors d'Oeuvre, the first two Ripoffs, and all of the Desserts(including one for the most obvious of reasons).

    ReplyDelete
  11. Oh dear, I completely MISSED seeing the first two desserts! Usually there is only ONE dessert, and I had scrolled up from the Comments section...and found only the third one. Whoops.

    ReplyDelete
  12. So saying, I managed to figure out Dessert #1 and #3, but am stuck on #2.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The "well-known actor" in the MGMD was wearing a tux on ABC-TV quite recently. So was his brother. Indeed, everyone involved seemed to be wearing their Sunday best, as if they were at their Churches. They can afford it; each makes enough
      "(British) spinach" to Fill-A Chickpea salad bowl, or perhaps Popeye's gullet!

      LegoGivingStrongHintsToTheFinishWithoutGuzzlingSpinach

      Delete
    2. Thanks so much, LegoSpinach....I got from the above hint....though not sure what spinach has to do with it. The 'brothers' thing was the real hint!

      Delete
  13. Hey Lego, got any hints for the puzzles? I still need the Morsel, the Appetizer, the Menu, and Ripoff #3. I have no idea what other name there is for a cherry pitter!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. PJB, did you see all the hints that are ALREADY included in Rip Off 3?

      Delete
    2. As for "cherry pitter", what ELSE could the pit be called?

      Delete
    3. ViolinTeddy,
      Checking out lyrics of a folk song performed by a Bishop in an old John Belushi flick might prove to be of some assistance.

      LegoBlutarsky

      Delete
    4. Assume you are referring once again to the second Dessert puzzle....however, having looked up the lyrics and now knowing the answer, I can't seem to find any clues in said lyrics that make any sense.

      Delete
    5. WRWTPM:
      In one of the six feature-length movies, the actor appeared poshumously via file footage. In the last years of his life he had a romantic relationship with a much-honored actress.

      KIGA
      See the suggestion to VT in my February 27 @ 8:51 PM post on this week's Comments.
      (VT: What ELSE the cherry "pit" could be called, I believe, is a word in the lyrics of the folk song.)

      MENU: THEEPS:
      This is the kind of puzzle Mendo Jim usually says he loathes. Note that many of the actors/actresses names have names like Emmy, Emma, Tony and Oscar. The occupation of therole that each of these players portray has a two word anagram that is a general term for three of those first names.

      ROSS:
      ONE:
      1. put the second syllable first to form a rallying cry soldiers might cry
      2. a.k.a. the "Venus de Milo"
      3. put a personal masculine pronoun at the beginning of the word to forma 9-letter word describing a cruel or insensitive soul
      4. Luke wrote the fifth book of the New Testament
      5. The plural of this word often sport flowing [the last 7 letters of this plural word]

      TWO:
      1. rooted in "row," as a boat
      2. rhymes with "mag"
      3. Treasure as a verb.
      4. a plumbermight install one
      5. precedes "regina" in a Latin hymn
      6. Ifyou do this weekly, a lapel pin may be in your future

      THREE: (You may need togo to the DuckDuckGoogle...)
      1. ____ Averill
      2. ____ Hubbell
      3. Fair, foul, out, safe, the game if it’s raining, or a texting alternative…
      4. Horsehide sphere
      5. Green Monster at #10, for example
      6. ____ Alston
      7. “Free pass” (sometimes abbreviated B.O.B.), resulting from four #4's
      8. What results when the pitcher drops the ball while toeing the rubber, andbaserunners get to advance 90 feet.
      9. What managers often do just before they kick dirt on umpires’ shoes (pooches do this also)
      10. Fenway, home of the #5
      11. ____ Fidrych
      12. One of the “tools of ignorance” (Was Zorro ignorant?)
      13. About 145 grams, for a baseball (ask Isaac, he'll explain)
      14. Where a baseball weighs only one-and-two-thirds ounces, not five (as on Earth), think candy bar or god
      15. “Marvelous” Met, ____ Throneberry
      16. “Wheel of Fortune” creator who hired an emcee who is nuts about baseball who co-host with Vanna. He also creatd Jeopardy!
      17. A Bob who beat out Ted Williams as an All Star Game starter (fittingly, he tracked downfly balls with a "deer-like" gait and grace)
      18. Bennett who has a ballpark named after him in Maryland, and who was a buddy of John Daly, not the golfer
      19. Kind of baseball toddlers play with; it's actually a softball, a really soft ball
      20. What “baseball purists” might call a sabermetrician… (which is also an actual sabermetrics term!)
      This week's official answers for the record, part 1: (A plural variant spelling of this term is the title of an early album sung by a trio of sisters)

      LegoMoonlightMoonbeamMoonsweptR.I.P.MaggieR.(1951-2017)

      Delete
    6. Fabulous...thanks to your Heavy-Eyelid puzzle clue, I have the answer. It surely hadn't been clear before how in heck we were supposed to approach it. I'd been looking for historical facts connecting hypnotism and the 3 or 4 names.

      Delete
  14. I am pleased to announce I now only have the trivia question about the actor in the six feature films to solve. Will need more to work with for this one. I know James Dean only did three films before his death, but that's the best I can do so far. Any other hints, Lego?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The six Best Picture Oscar nominees were directed by three different people. Two of the three had a surname beginning with the same letter, even though the starts of those surnames do not sound alike.
      In three of the films the actor played a three different characters, all with a first name beginning with S.
      In the remaining three films the actor played the same character (MAJOR HINT ALERT!).

      In five of the six movies, guns play a rather prominent role.

      LegoAddsThatFiveOfTheSixMoviesWereReleasedInTheSameDecade

      Delete
  15. Pairing the Morsel and the Appetizer could get you into a fine mess.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I didn't see any of the Godfather pictures, but I remember Stan from The Deer Hunter. I don't recall how I became aware of the relationship between Meryl Streep and John Cazale, but it's been only fairly recently.

      Delete
  16. So, that leaves me with just the hypnotherapist thing. Even with the hints, I don't see myself figuring it out in this lifetime. I found nothing useful among the boy king's holdings.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tut,tut, Paul. Lifetime? I suspect you shall live at least as long to witness the election of President Baron Trump!
      So, let me throw you this lifeline:
      1. The first word of my intended answer is a three-syllable word that some people confuse with the L not in BLT but in LGBTQ... (both of these ACRONYMS I can type on three rows of my Smith-Corona porable typewriter).
      2. The second word, a two-syllable noun, seems to describe the type of wife to which our president seems to be attracted.

      LegoGoesByTheQuotations

      Delete
    2. Perhaps I've allowed my anagramming skills to "waste away" somewhat.

      Delete
    3. Not a statuette, but a trophy.
      On a clear day, sometimes I don't see very far.
      You don't have to be a thespian to win a Grammy.

      Delete
  17. You're not making it any easier to get this last puzzle, Lego. I will say tomorrow I have an appointment to see my therapist(not a hypnotherapist)at 1pm. Then we have to pick up my nieces from school. All that, and it's supposed to be bad weather in Jasper that whole time. Will reveal my answers later weather(and possibly power)permitting.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Whether this will do you any good or not, pjb, I know not: but I had NEVER HEARD of this six-movie actor. While hunting around Google, I had been despairing, and then all of a sudden, somehow, there was his name. So I do think it's a hit or miss proposition.

      Delete
  18. Egads, I always FORGET that it is puzzle-reveal day.....sorry again...although I see nobody else has put their up yet either.

    HORS D'OEUVRE: "FILM ROLE" => "FILLMORE"

    MORSEL: "JOHN CAZALE" (1935-1978) All 3 Godfather movies, The Deer Hunter, The Conversation and Dog Day Afternoon

    APPETIZER: "OLIVER STONE" (Stoner)


    MENU:

    HEAVY EYE LID ENVELOPE: HYPNOTHERAPIST = THESPIAN TROPHY

    RIP OFFS:

    1. ARMLETS => ARMLESS => ARTLESS => ACTLESS => ACTRESS

    2. VOGUE => VAGUE => VALUE => VALVE => SALVE => SOLVE

    3. EARL => CARL => CALL => BALL => WALL => WALT => WALK => BALK => BARK => PARK => MARK => MASK => MASS => MARS => MARV => MERV => CERV => CERF => NERF => NERD

    DESSERT:

    1. "SPIKE LEE" => "PIKE" and "EEL"

    2. "KFC" => KAYCEE EFF LICK => "CASEY AFFLECK"

    3. "MANIACALLY "

    ReplyDelete
  19. Hors d'Oeuvre
    FILM ROLE,(Millard)FILLMORE
    Appetizer
    OLIVER STONE, OLIVE STONER
    Menu
    HYPNOTHERAPIST=THESPIAN TROPHY
    Ripoffs
    1. ARMLETS
    ARMLESS
    ARTLESS
    ACTLESS
    ACTRESS
    2.
    VOGUE
    VAGUE
    VALUE
    VALVE
    SALVE
    SOLVE
    3.
    EARL
    CARL
    CALL
    BALL
    WALL
    WALT
    WALK
    BALK
    BARK
    PARK
    MARK
    MASK
    MASS
    MARS
    MARV
    MERV
    CERV
    CERF
    NERF
    NERD
    Dessert
    1. SPIKE LEE, PIKE, EEL
    2. KFC, KCF LICK=CASEY AFFLECK
    3. MANIACALLY, MANIAC, ALLY
    By the time I got my Kindle back from Maddy, it had 12% battery power left. That's why I'm so late revealing my answers.-pjb
    P.S. I won't hold it against Legolambda for using the same SPIKE LEE idea I had.

    ReplyDelete
  20. This week's official answers, for the record, Part 1:

    Hors d’Oeuvre Menu

    Executive Casting Hors d’Oeuvre
    He gets to play the president?!
    Name something an actor auditions for and hopes to land during a casting call, in two words. Rearrange the letters to form the last name of a U.S. president.
    Who is this president? For what does an actor audition

    Answer:
    Millard Fillmore;
    film role

    Morsel Menu

    Who’s Right With This Picture Morsel:
    Six-for-six… that’s acting a thousand
    An actor appeared or costarred in only six full-length feature motion pictures. All six films were nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture, and three of the six won the Best Picture Oscar.
    Who is this actor?

    Answer:
    John Cazale

    Appetizer Menu

    Kitchen Inspector Gadget Appetizer:
    The pitter-patter of little fruit
    Move the last letter of the first name of a well-known movie director to the end of the director’s last name, resulting in a kitchen gadget that is also known as a “cherry pitter.”
    Who is this director?

    Answer:
    Oliver Stone (olive stoner)

    Lego...

    ReplyDelete
  21. This week's official answers, for the record, Part 2:

    MENU

    The Heavy-Eyelidded Envelope Please Slice:
    “Sure, you may be getting sleepy, but the winner is…”
    In his cameo role in the 2001 movie “Shallow Hal,” Tony Robbins hypnotizes Jack Black’s character. Alas, the Academy did not recognize Robbins’ performance.
    As the title character in “Candyman” (1992), Tony Todd went to a hypnotist so he could be more relaxed for scenes in which he is suspended swinging in a heavyweight harness, runs through a bonfire and is covered with 30,000 bees... but won no award for his efforts.
    In “Audry Rose” (1977), the girl that Tony Hopkins’ character believes is the reincarnation of his deceased daughter dies while being hypnotized. But sadly, no award.
    There is a whole lot of hypnotism happening in “Trance” (2013), but it is conducted by Rosario Dawson as Elizabeth, not, alas, by Tony Jayawardena as Security Guard #2.
    The cast of the 2012 Swedish movie “The Hypnotist” includes actors named Oscar Pettersson and Emma Mehonic. Alas, neither plays the title role.
    Showtime’s Emmy Rossum was once nominated for a Golden Globe Award, but not for an Emmy. (But perhaps, had she been cast as a hypnotist…)
    In “Dead Again” (1991), Emma Thompson’s character “Grace” is a hypnotizee... but alas not a hypnotizer.
    In “The Testament of Dr. Mabuse” (1933), the spirit of the deceased title character, a mad hypnotist, merges with the silhouette of Oscar Beregi Sr.’s character.
    You would think the names Oscar, Tony and Emmy (or Emma) would seem to be fitting names for actors and actresses who covet statuettes representing recognition of their histrionics. But why are these names especially fitting if their role is that of a hypnotherapist, or if their character receives treatment from a hypnotherapist?

    Answer:
    Tony, Oscar and Emmy (or Emma, if "close" counts in horseshoes, hand grenades and awards shows) are the manes of statuettes that could also be called "thespian trophies," the lettersof which can be rearranged to form the word "hypnotherapist."

    Ripping Off Shortz Slices:
    Whet o difference un “a” mikes…
    ONE:
    1. Think of articles of apparel – “biceps-bracelets,” you might call them – that you might see at a museum, in seven letters.
    2. Change one letter in that word to form an adjective describing a famous sculpture.
    3. Change one letter in that adjective to form an adjective describing a museum that has been cleaned out by thieves.
    4. Then change one letter in that adjective to form an adjective describing an exhibition at a museum of an ancient Bible manuscript that excludes all writings of Luke.
    5. Finally, change one letter in that adjective to name the profession of a grateful performer you shall see toting a trophy on television on the evening of February 26. 2017 (a trophy that may someday be displayed at a museum of the dramatic arts).
    Here are further restatements of (or alternative clues for) the five 7-letter words you seek:
    1. Jewelry for the biceps mentioned in Exodus Chapter 35 of the English Standard Version of the bible
    2. Like Aphrodite of Milos
    3. Like a painter’s studio after an overnight break-in and heist, or like a dodgy Jack Dawkins wannabe who is all thumbs?
    4. Like the output of a do-nothing Congress?
    5. Isabelle Huppert, Ruth Negga, Natalie Portman, Emma Stone or Meryl Streep.
    Answer:
    1. armlets (see verse 22)
    2. armless
    3. artless
    4. actless (and a do-nothing Congress seldom passes an act)
    5. actress

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  22. This week's official answers, for the record, Part 3:

    ...MENU
    The Heavy-Eyelidded Envelope Please Slice:
    “Sure, you may be getting sleepy, but the winner is…” (CONTINUED)

    TWO:
    1. Think of the name of a more-than-century-old magazine, in five letters.
    2. Change one letter in that name to form an adjective that might modify “recollections,” “symptoms” or “generalities.”
    3. Change one letter in that adjective to name a noun that can be preceded by “absolute,” “face” or “retail.”
    4. Change one letter in that noun to name one of four main movable parts of the heart.
    5. Then change one letter in that part to name a synonym of “balm.”
    6. Finally, change one letter in that synonym to name what lieutenants like Columbo try to do to crimes and what mathematicians like Cantor try to do for x.
    Here are further restatements of (or alternative clues for) the six 5-letter words you seek:
    1. Madonna song title
    2. Fuzzy
    3. Treasure
    4. A gastropod usually has one
    5. Assuage
    6. What you’re attempting to do at present
    Answer:
    1. Vogue (or, this magazine)
    2. Vague
    3. Value
    4. Valve
    5. Salve
    6. Solve

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  23. This week's official answers, for the record, Part 4:

    ...MENU
    The Heavy-Eyelidded Envelope Please Slice:
    “Sure, you may be getting sleepy, but the winner is…” (CONTINUED)

    THREE:
    1. Think of the first name of a ballplayer, in four letters.
    2. Change one letter in it to name another ballplayer’s first name.
    3. Change one letter in that name to name something an umpire makes...
    Repeat this process a total of nineteen times – always changing one letter of the previous word to form the succeeding word – until you have found 20 words, all which have a connection to baseball. What words are these?

    Here are clues for the 20 words, in order:
    1. Averill
    2. Hubbell
    3. Fair, foul, out, safe, the game if it’s raining…
    4. Horsehide
    5. Green Monster, for example
    6. Alston
    7. “Free pass” (sometimes abbreviated B.O.B.)
    8. What results when the pitcher drops the ball while toeing the rubber
    9. What managers often do just before they kick dirt on umpires’ shoes
    10. Fenway
    11. Fidrych
    12. One of the “tools of ignorance”
    13. About 145 grams, for a baseball
    14. Where a baseball weighs only one-and-two-thirds ounces, not five (as on Earth)
    15. “Marvelous” Met, ____ Throneberry
    16. “Wheel of Fortune” creator who hired an emcee who is nuts about baseball
    17. A Bob who beat out Ted Williams as an All Star Game starter
    18. Bennett who has a ballpark named after him in Maryland
    19. Kind of baseball toddlers play with
    20. What “baseball purists” might call a sabermetrician… (which is also an actual sabermetrics term!)
    Answer:
    1. Earl
    2. Carl
    3. Call
    4. Ball
    5. Wall
    6. Walt
    7. Walk
    8. Balk
    9. Bark (as in, yell)
    10. Park
    11. Mark
    12. Mask
    13. Mass
    14. Mars
    15. Marv
    16. Merv
    17. Cerv
    18. Cerf
    19. Nerf
    20. Nerd

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  24. This week's official answers, for the record, Part 5:

    Dessert Menu

    Directorial Dessert:
    Frank Carpa? Mel Brooktrout?
    Name a well-known movie director, first and last names. Remove one letter from one name and spell the other name backward, forming the names of two bony fishes.
    Who is this director?
    Answer:
    Spike Lee; Pike, Eel

    Metro Goldwyn Mayer Dessert:
    Oscar Wiener Mayer links relinked
    Name a multinational chain in three syllables. Interchange the second and third syllables and add one syllable of the chain’s slogan to the end. The result when spoken aloud sounds like a well-known actor.
    Who is it?
    Answer:
    Casey Affleck;
    KFC + "finger-LICKin' good" >> KC F-Lick = Casey Affleck

    Spun Dessert:
    Spartans of peach
    “The president was clearly describing the manner in which this was being done... the president was using that as an adjective; it’s happening with precision.”
    That is what Donald Trump’s press secretary and communicatons director Sean Spicer said on February 23, spinning his boss’s use of the phrase “military operation” to describe how Trump plans to get “really bad dudes out of this country.”
    Spicer likely meant to say that the president was using that as an metaphor, not as an adjective. But Spicer is paid to spin, so blurring the difference between metaphor and adjective is probably a part of his job.
    A more telling and apropos part of speech, however, was an adverb used by Trump’s chief strategist Steve Bannon. Bannon’s adverb, like the adjective “military,” also begins with an “m” and ends with a “y”. The adverb modifies how President Trump is focused on executing his campaign pledges, according to Bannon, in an address given February 23 at the Conservative Political Action Conference.
    The first six letters of Bannon’s adverb form a noun that, according to some, is a word that applies to the president. The remaining four letters of the adverb form a noun that applies to Bannon vis-a-vis Trump, and Trump vis-a-vis Bannon.
    What is this adverb?
    Answer:
    Maniacally (at 1:51 in the clip)
    The adjective that Spicer claimed Trump was "using as an adjective" was "military."

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