Friday, November 17, 2017

Moisture on the half-shellter; Transglobal Groundhog Day; States of mischief, chiefs of state; Belly-dancing, bottom-pinching & main squeezing

PUZZLERIA! SLICES: OVER (987 + 65) SERVED

Welcome to our November 17th edition of Joseph Young’s Puzzleria!

Patrick J. Berry’s intricate Cryptic Crossword is our featured puzzle this week. Don’t be daunted, though. Patrick (screen name: cranberry) provides a Cryptic Crossword Tutorial at the bottom of his puzzle. Give it a shot; Patrick’s puzzles may be challenging but they are well worth your effort... And they are loads of fun.

This is Patrick’s fourth cryptic crossword to appear on Puzzleria! His previous “crossworded crypti” appeared here, here, and here.


Also on our menus this week are:

One mole, he is burrowing his way-ay to the sunlight” Appetizer
One stately, capital Riffing-Off-Shortz Slice; and
One Dessert you might want to save for a rainy (or dry) day.

So, quick, stick a fork in these intricacies before the Thanksgiving Day turkey tryptophan kicks in. And, please enjoy as you give thanks.

Appetizer Menu

Half A World Away Appetizer:
Transglobal Groundhog Day

If you dig a hole directly through the center of the Earth you would break through on the other side, literally half a world away
 
If you dig such a hole anywhere along much of the border between two particular countries you will pop up in a country that begins with the first three letters of one of the border countries and ends with the final three letters of the other border country. 
What three countries are these?


MENU

Cryptic Crossword Slice:
Belly-dancing, bottom-pinching & main squeezing

Instructions:
The number in parentheses at the end of each clue tells
how many letters are in the answer. Multiple numbers in
parentheses indicate how letters are distributed in
multiple-word answers.
For example, (6) indicates a six-letter answer like
“jalopy,” (7, 5) indicates a seven-and-five-letter answer
like “station wagon,” and (5-5) indicates a five-and-five-letter
hyphenated answer like “Rolls-Royce.”
(For insight about how to decipher the numbered cryptic clues, see Patrick’s tutorial which appears below the puzzle.)
ACROSS
7. Ran wild without a little naptime (7)  
8. Cool automobile requiring special fuel (7)  
10. A ploy made up to get some airplay! (6)  
11. Dances, trying to cut in line (8)  
12. Story that’s a delight to recall? (4)  
13. Is independent woman, slippery one to keep inside (4-6)  
14. Typo rather unusual, right, for one who’s good at spelling? (5, 6)  
19. Woman getting into belly-dancing has nowhere to turn (5, 5)  
22. Woman who’s part of the United Nations? (4)  
23. Main squeeze initially hugged by another jerk (5, 3)  
24. Teacher about to drink good whiskey? (6)  
25. Go by fashion, as nobility (7)  
26. Candidate not yours before primary election? (7) 



DOWN 
1. Fool gets up, having a problem with sleepwear (7)  
2. View of the country taking four seconds? (8)  
3. Represent not the whole side? (6)  
4. Knight, sort of clean sort (8)  
5. Think one’s a mess after last summer? (6)  
6. Fight for equal rights getting out of control? (7)  
9. Act strange – flippin’ unusual – taking medication for bug (11)  
15. Change rule to accommodate fool? (8)  
16. Quite shocking for boy standing around allowed to catch cold (8)  
17. Surprised to find couple of reptiles in swamp (7)  
18. Continued bottom-pinching – awfully rude! (7)  
20. Character, a nut, dancing about (6)  
21. Herb uses back trouble to hide bad heart (6)




ANSWERS ⇓ BELOW


Cryptic Crossword Tutorial:
(by Patrick J. Berry)
A cryptic crossword is a rather skeletal-looking puzzle – usually 225 boxes set within a 15-by-15 grid. You solve it just like a regular crossword except that the clues are usually made up of two parts:
1. The straightforward clue, and
2. The wordplay that may be essential to get the answer.
For example, in the clue “God – aching back! (4)” the answer is the Greek god of love, “Eros.” Thus “God” is the straightforward clue, and “aching back” is “wordplay” part of the clue: “aching” = “sore,” and “sore” spelled backward is “Eros.” 
The wordplay may also include:
anagrams, homophones, “containers” (one word inside another), hidden words within the clue (for example, “hidden words witHIN The clue” contains the word HINT!), initials, charades (“this” plus-or-minus “that”), reversals of spelling (like “sore/Eros”), or, in many instances, a combination of any of these.
And be on the lookout for abbreviations – such as L = left, R = right, B = born, D = dead.
Watch also for clues involving self-referring words and phrases, like “bandleader” = B (the “leader,” or leading letter, of “band”); “sorehead” = S (the “head” of “sore”); “Fourth of July” = Y (the “fourth letter” of  “July”); and “grand opening” = G (the “opening letter” of “grand”).

Riffing Off Shortz And Baggish Slices:
States of mischief, chiefs of state 

Will Shortz’s November 12th NPR Weekend Edition Sunday puzzle, created by Steve Baggish, reads:
Take the name of a U.S. state capital. Immediately to the right of it write the name of a world capital. If you have the right ones, the name of a U.S. state will be embedded in consecutive letters within that letter string. What three places are these?
Puzzleria!’s Riffing Off Shortz And Baggish Slices read:
ONE:
Take the name of a U.S. state capital. Immediately to the right of it write the name of a Canadian province. If you have the right ones, the last name of a U.S.president will be embedded in consecutive letters within that letter string. What two places and president are these?
TWO:
Take the name of a U.S. state capital. Immediately to the right of it write the name of another U.S. state capital. If you have the right ones, the last name of a U.S. president will be embedded in consecutive letters within that letter string, and the last name of another U.S. president will appear at the end. What two capitals and two presidents are these?
THREE:
Take the name of a U.S. state. Immediately to the right of it write another state’s postal abbreviation in lowercase. If you have the right ones, the last name of U.S. presidents will appear in consecutive letters at the end of that letter string. What two states and presidents are these?
FOUR:
Take the final letter of a U.S. state. Immediately to the right of it write the final two syllables of another U.S. state. If you have the right ones, the last name of a U.S. president will emerge. What two states are these? Who is the president?
FIVE:
Take the name of a U.S. state capital. Immediately to the right of it write the name of another U.S. state capital. Remove a string of consecutive letters within this result and close the gap that results. If you have the right ones, the last name of U.S. presidents will emerge. What two capitals are these? Who are the presidents?
SIX:
Take the name of a U.S. state. Remove its final two letters, and move the new final letter to the beginning.  If you have the right state, the last name of a would-have-been U.S. president will emerge... would have been, that is, in an Electoral Collegeless nation. What is this state and who is this would-be president?
SEVEN:
Take the name of planet from our solar system.  Immediately to the right of it write the name of a world nation. If you have the right ones, the last name of a U.S. president will be embedded in consecutive letters within that letter string. What planet, nation and president are these?
EIGHT:

Take the names of two months and place them side-by-side wihout a space. Duplicate the initial letter of one of the months and place it at the end, forming a string of consecutive letters. The first six letters of that string will form the name of a U.S. state capital, and so will the final seven letters of the string.
What are these months and these state capitals?


Dessert Menu

Dehydrate Hydrate Dehydrate Hydrate Dessert:
Moisture on the half-shellter

Name something found in the home, in two words, that might add moisture as it works. 
Remove its first letter and you'll name something found in the home, in two words, that might remove moisture as it works. 
What are these products?

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.

33 comments:

  1. Arrange the first letters of all the states that qualify as the first state in Riff #4 to get something you might put in your pocket.

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    Replies
    1. Minty-fresh observation, Paul,and a nice coincidence with one of last week's Riffs.

      LegoChallengesAllPuzzlerians!ToNameAMovieInWhichAnUncreditedFrankAlbertSinatraSangTheMovieTitleSong

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    2. Well, that's an interesting bit of trivia!

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    3. Indeed! Cute all the way around.

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  2. Happy Friday everyone! Hope you all enjoy my latest cryptic crossword! Thank you Lego, for putting another of my puzzles on the site. I must say I was a little surprised to see one of the images included moving! I thought it might be just the picture of a belly-dancer, but to actually see it move, I was not expecting that! Elsewhere on P!, I've already solved two of the Ripoff puzzles, but I'm a little confused. Why does #8 have the answer(supposedly the intended answer)included? Was this a mistake or is this a red herring? I know there has been the occasional typo in the puzzles here, but that seems careless even for you, Lego! I guess that one should be an easy one for everybody!

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  3. pjb -- Your cryptics are always fun -- and you really seem to be honing your setting skills. #24 was of the most delightful and devious clues I've ever seen, and #25 was just about up there too. It's obvious you do the Guardian every day -- you sure know all the tricks those brilliant setters use! Congratulations, and thanks for a wonderful time. Do you ever submit to that paper? You should....

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    Replies
    1. Great comment, Dowager Princess. Patrick's cryptic crosswords are indeed worthy of the Guardian. We are honored to publish them here.
      LegoNonCryptically

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    2. Just fluttering by to mention that I'm more than a fifth of the way through these clues.

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    3. Thanks to St. Vincent, I've finished another fifth.

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    4. In a flash, I'm 3/5 of the way there!

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  4. Thanks for the compliment, DP! I do check out the Guardian Prize crossword, as well as the Private Eye crossword. Just got done with them both as a matter of fact. Too bad the latter isn't interactive. I can only mentally fill the grid. Tomorrow I'll do the Everyman on the Guardian website. It's part of my regular Friday/Saturday routine. My love of cryptic crosswords actually goes back to college. I spent my off time at the library where I first discovered the puzzles in New York Magazine and New York Times Magazine, and later in the London Times, the European, and the Guardian(which was then known as the Manchester Guardian Weekly). Through trial and error I was able to solve almost the entire puzzle, but you do have to figure out the ins and outs of such a puzzle first. Eventually I started to make up my own puzzles. But I have to warn you in case you try your hand at creating cryptic crosswords: It's much harder than it seems. My experience has usually involved having some really good ideas come to me in bed at night, and then trying to think of any other clues to add to that, and you have to figure out how the grid is going to look(I have a few set patterns I've used more than once with a few occasional variations). But the most difficult part is coming up with an interesting clue that incorporates both the straightforward clue and the wordplay to get to that part of the clue. I usually start with an anagram idea and then go from there.
    Unfortunately, I've never been paid for my work, and Puzzleria! is really my public debut, possibly a good decade or so since I even started as a "setter". When I won the NPR Sunday Puzzle a few years back, I missed my chance to ask Will Shortz if he could use another good cryptic constructor at the NYT. But then, there's already a Patrick Berry contributing crosswords there, as well as other sometimes more challenging types of puzzles in GAMES/World Of Puzzles Magazine, of which I am a longtime subscriber(BTW I always start with the cryptic crosswords whenever I get a new issue). As for my own cryptic creations, I have a huge backlog of them in my computer room which I hope to present to all the Puzzlerians out there willing to accept the challenge every so often on this great website. And of course, I cannot thank Legolambda and Joseph Young enough for giving me this unbelievable opportunity to showcase my work. I do wish they could pay me for my efforts, but who knows? This may lead to bigger and better things that might turn one of my favorite hobbies into a full-fledged career! Again, DP, I thank you so much for the kind words regarding my clue-writing skills. It definitely takes practice to make those things sound perfectly sensible.

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  5. Sorry, DE! In my haste to reply I misread your screen name and called you by the wrong initials! I really should know better! It's DE for Dowager Empress! Cute name, BTW!

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  6. Yeah, I think what happened was I read Lego's post where he called her Dowager PRINCESS, not Empress, and that's what confused me. Sorry again!

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    Replies
    1. Yes.
      My apologies to both Dowager Empress and to cranberry for my goof.

      LegoWhoAgreesWithcranberryThatTyposTendToCreepIntoThisBlog

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  7. I've worked through all the Riff Offs (some hours ago) and the Appetizer. The Dessert, however, I'm not at all sure of; I can come up with only the two first words, and no second words seem to make much sense, at least to me.

    Will NOT be tackling the Crossword, as I feel about those the same way that pjb feels about math puzzles.

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  8. I'm sorry you feel that way, VT. I figured as many times as there have been anagram puzzles on P!, solvers might enjoy that and many other forms of wordplay all in one puzzle. Oh well.

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  9. VT-- I'm with pjb when he regrets your attitude regarding these puzzles. They're infinitely more fun than looking up lists of bands you had never heard of or lists of songs, or baseball players. That's drudgery, which nobody likes. -- especially when you could be having fun figuring out ridiculous, and often very literate wordplay on your own. (But lego has to please his clientele.) Try it sometime... Usually, I just skip those puzzles too, Best to you -- you're a lovely lady -- DE

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    Replies
    1. Hmmm, DE...but what *I* like is applying logic....which I like doing very much, even while looking things up. That 's just how my particular brain happens to work. THose Cryptic hints make absolutely NO sense to me, and all they do is annoy me. I wish everyone would quit trying to pressure me into them. Thanks for listening.

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  10. pjb and lego -- I'm much too old to be a princess, unless you count Margaret or Mrs Wallace. Please don't apologise. I do not appreciate kowtowing, though my rank should demand respect, since the junta consists of a Duchess, a Prince, a Minister of Defence, a Court Jester and a Grand Pajandrum.
    ,
    I had my first introduction to cryptics when I was called for jury duty, and by golly was called to serve. Knowing that this service would entail interminable breaks and stops in the trial. I brought along a couple of Penguin editions of the Times Cryptic Puzzles. Over the course of the trial I taught myself how to solve them and have been addicted ever since. By the way, I was the foreman, and we brought in the right verdict,. DE

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    1. That sounds extremely interesting, DE...the fact that you were a foreman on a trial jury, I mean. Are you allowed to talk about what KIND of crime it was? (And if the right verdict was G or NOT G?)

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  11. Yes DE, since the trial must now be over if you're speaking of it in the past tense, surely you might be allowed to discuss it now. Every time I hear about jury duty it happens to someone on a sitcom. Either they're the one keeping everyone there because they disagree on the verdict, or they have somewhere else important to be and someone else is keeping them there. It never fails. If I really had to do jury duty, I'd probably bring puzzle books too.

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  12. Hey Lego, I still haven't been able to solve the Appetizer or the Dessert. How about a few good hints?

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  13. 11th-hour hints:
    HAWAA:
    One of the three countries is the cliche hole-digging spectator's waggish question: "Hey, whatcha doin', diggin a tunnel to ____?" But the spectator would likely not be speaking English.
    All 3 countries are relatively large.
    DHDHD:
    The thing that adds moisture is very probably to be found in the bathroom and could be held in one's hand. The moisture remover, on the other hand, could be anyplace (or every place) in the house and could be held (maybe) in Ahhnold's or Charlie Atlas's hand.
    Each thing contains 5 syllables.

    LegoHourEleventhing

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  14. CHILE, ARGENTINA; CHINA [Thanks, Lego, for the link to the Antipode Map; it's a fun gadget]

    In order of solving:
    LANCELOT
    FREELANCES
    BEHALF
    REASON
    CAREFUL
    CATERPILLAR [flutter by]
    ANCESTRY
    QUARREL
    HARRY POTTER
    ELECTRIC
    EDNA [St.Vincent Millay]
    PAJAMAS
    PAYOLA
    PANORAMA
    SAGA [jumpin' Jack Flash, it's a gas]


    PHOENIX, ONTARIO; NIXON
    NEVADA, MISSISSIPPI; (John & John Q.) ADAMS
    {Colorado, Ohio, Idaho, or New Mexico}*, Alabama; OBAMA
    OREGON; GORE
    EARTH, URUGUAY; (Chester A.) ARTHUR

    *Three Coins in the (Trevi) Fountain

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  15. APPETIZER: CHILE & ARGENTINA => CHINA

    RIFF OFFS:

    1. PHOENIX & ONTARIO => NIXON

    2. COLUMBUS & HARTFORD => BUSH & FORD

    3. NEVADA & MS => ADAMS (es)

    4. "O" from OHIO or COLORADO or NEW MEXICO or IDAHO & "BAMA" from ALABAMA => OBAMA

    [Paul's aside: COIN]

    5. HARRISBURG & MADISON => remove "BURGMADI" => HARRISON (s)

    6. OREGON [I say proudly!] => GORE

    7. EARTH & URUGUAY => ARTHUR

    8. JUNE & AUGUST & A => JUNEAU AND AUGUSTA


    DESSERT: WASH/ ASH (Board, Tray, Machine?)

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    Replies
    1. I did NOT see the 11th hour hint re the Dessert (or the Appetizer).

      Delete
    2. Dessert: Wash CLOTH? Ash CLOTH? (would that be a dust rag? Never heard of ash cloth.)

      Delete
  16. Appetizer
    CHILE, ARGENTINA, and CHINA
    I'll let Lego handle explaining the cryptic clues in my puzzle.
    Ripoffs
    1. PHOENIX(Arizona), ONTARIO, (Richard)NIXON
    2. COLUMBUS(Ohio, Mississippi, or Georgia), HARTFORD(Connecticut), (George)BUSH, (Gerald)FORD
    3. NEVADA, MS(Mississippi), (John and John Quincy)ADAMS
    4. COLORADO(or OHIO or IDAHO), ALABAMA, (Barack)OBAMA
    5. HARRISBURG(Pennsylvania), MADISON(Wisconsin)or BOSTON(Massachusetts)or TRENTON(New Jersey), (Benjamin and William Henry)HARRISON
    6. OREGON, (Al GORE)
    7. EARTH, URUGUAY, (Chester A.)ARTHUR
    8. JUNE, AUGUST, JUNEAU(Alaska), AUGUSTA(Maine or Georgia)
    Happy Thanksgiving to all, and good luck to anyone who gets the call tomorrow to play on-air with Will Shortz!-pjb

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  17. I almost forgot NEW MEXICO IN #4! Thanks, VT!

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  18. This week's official answers, for the record, Part 1:
    We will begin this week's official answers with the solution to Patrick's fine Cryptic Crossword. He supplied me with the explanations for his cryptic clues. I have posted the crossword grid (filled in with Patrick's answers) on this week's Puzzleria!... just below the crossword clues and above the Patrick's cryptic crossword tutorial.

    MENU

    Cryptic Crossword Slice:
    Belly-dancing, bottom-pinching & main squeezing
    ACROSS
    7. Ran wild without a little naptime (7)
    8. Cool automobile requiring special fuel (7)
    10. A ploy made up to get some airplay! (6)
    11. Dances, trying to cut in line (8)
    12. Story that’s a delight to recall? (4)
    13. Is independent woman, slippery one to keep inside (4-6)
    14. Typo rather unusual, right, for one who’s good at spelling? (5, 6)
    19. Woman getting into belly-dancing has nowhere to turn (5, 5)
    22. Woman who’s part of the United Nations? (4)
    23. Main squeeze initially hugged by another jerk (5, 3)
    24. Teacher about to drink good whiskey? (6)
    25. Go by fashion, as nobility (7)
    26. Candidate not yours before primary election? (7)
    Answers:
    7. MANAGED (N+AGE in MAD)
    8. CAREFUL (CAR+FUEL anagram)
    10. PAYOLA (A PLOY anagram+A; cryptic & lit.)
    11. ANCESTRY(hidden in dANCES, TRYing)
    12. SAGA(A GAS reversed)
    13. FREE-LANCES (EEL in FRANCES)
    14. HARRY POTTER (TYPO RATHER anagram+R)
    19. BLIND ALLEY (LINDA in BELLY anagram)
    22. EDNA (hidden in UnitED NAtions)
    23. NORTH SEA (S in ANOTHER anagram)
    24. ROTGUT (G in TUTOR reversed)
    25. PEERAGE (PEE+RAGE)
    26. NOMINEE ("NO, MINE"+E)

    DOWN
    1. Fool gets up, having a problem with sleepwear (7)
    2. View of the country taking four seconds? (8)
    3. Represent not the whole side? (6)
    4. Knight, sort of clean sort (8)
    5. Think one’s a mess after last summer? (6)
    6. Fight for equal rights getting out of control? (7)
    9. Act strange – flippin’ unusual – taking medication for bug (11)
    15. Change rule to accommodate fool? (8)
    16. Quite shocking for boy standing around allowed to catch cold (8)
    17. Surprised to find couple of reptiles in swamp (7)
    18. Continued bottom-pinching – awfully rude! (7)
    20. Character, a nut, dancing about (6)
    21. Herb uses back trouble to hide bad heart (6)
    Answers:
    1. PAJAMAS (A JAM in SAP reversed)
    2. PANORAMA (every second letter in fOuR in PANAMA)
    3. BEHALF ("BE HALF")
    4. LANCELOT (CLEAN anagram+LOT)
    5. REASON (R+ONE'S A anagram)
    6. QUARREL (anagram of EQUAL R, R)
    9. CATERPILLAR (ACT anagram+PILL in RARE reversed)
    15. REASSIGN (ASS in REIGN)
    16. ELECTRIC (C in LET in ERIC)
    17. FLOORED (RE in FLOOD)
    18. ENDURED (RUDE anagram in END)
    20. NATURE (A NUT anagram+RE)
    21. YARROW (A in WORRY reversed)

    Lego...

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

    Appetizer Menu

    Half A World Away Appetizer:
    Transglobal Groundhog Day
    If you dig a hole directly through the center of the Earth you would break through on the other side, literally half a world away.
    If you dig such a hole anywhere along much of the border between two particular countries you will pop up in a country that begins with the first three letters of one of the border countries and ends with the final three letters of the other border country.
    What three countries are these?
    Answer:
    https://www.findlatitudeandlongitude.com/antipode-map/#.WgeNEGiPLIU>Chile; Argentina; China
    For more than half (the northern portion) of the 3,200-mile long border between Chile and Argentina, digging a hole through the center of the Earth would result in a re-emergence in China. When you dig beginning about 100 miles south of San Carlos de Bariloche, you would wind up in Mongolia. Digging further on down south on the border will have you eventually popping up in Russia.

    MENU

    Riffing Off Shortz And Baggish Slices:
    States of mischief, chiefs of state
    ONE:
    Take the name of a U.S. state capital. Immediately to the right of it write the name of a Canadian province. If you have the right ones, the last name of a U.S.president will be embedded in consecutive letters within that letter string. What two places and president are these?
    Answer:
    Phoenix, Ontario; (Richard) Nixon
    TWO:
    Take the name of a U.S. state capital. Immediately to the right of it write the name of another U.S. state capital. If you have the right ones, the last name of a U.S. president will be embedded in consecutive letters within that letter string, and the last name of another U.S. president will appear at the end. What two capitals and two presidents are these?
    Answer:
    Columbus (Ohio), Hartford (Connecticut);
    (George H.W. or George W.) Bush, (Gerald) Ford
    THREE:
    Take the name of a U.S. state. Immediately to the right of it write another state’s postal abbreviation in lowercase. If you have the right ones, the last name of U.S. presidents will appear in consecutive letters at the end of that letter string. What two states and presidents are these?
    Answer:
    Nevada, ms (Mississippi);
    (John and John Quincy) Adams
    FOUR:
    Take the final letter of a U.S. state. Immediately to the right of it write the final two syllables of another U.S. state. If you have the right ones, the last name of a U.S. president will emerge. What two states are these? Who is the president?
    Answer: Idaho (or Colorado, New Mexico, Ohio), Alabama;
    Barack Obama
    FIVE:
    Take the name of a U.S. state capital. Immediately to the right of it write the name of another U.S. state capital. Remove a string of consecutive letters within this result and close the gap that results. If you have the right ones, the last name of U.S. presidents will emerge. What two capitals are these? Who are the presidents?
    Answer:
    Harrisburg (Pennsylvania), Madison (Wisconsin) (also Boston, Charleston, Jackson, Trenton);
    (Benjamin and William Henry) Harrison

    Lego...

    ReplyDelete
  20. This week's official answers, for the record, Part 3:
    Riffing Off Shortz And Baggish Slices:
    States of mischief, chiefs of state (continued)

    SIX:
    Take the name of a U.S. state. Remove its final two letters, and move the new final letter to the beginning. If you have the right state, the last name of a would-have-been U.S. president will emerge... would have been, that is, in an Electoral Collegeless nation. What is this state and who is this would-be president?
    Answer:
    Oregon; (Al) Gore;
    SEVEN:
    Take the name of planet from our solar system. Immediately to the right of it write the name of a world nation. If you have the right ones, the last name of a U.S. president will be embedded in consecutive letters within that letter string. What planet, nation and president are these?
    Answer:
    Earth; Uruguay; (Chester A.) Arthur
    EIGHT:
    Take the names of two months and place them side-by-side wihout a space. Duplicate the initial letter of one of the months and place it at the end, forming a string of consecutive letters. The first six letters of that string will form the name of a U.S. state capital, and so will the final seven letters of the string.
    What are these months and these state capitals?
    Answer:
    June, August;
    Juneau (Alaska), Augusta (Maine)

    Dessert Menu
    Dehydrate Hydrate Dehydrate Hydrate Dessert:
    Moisture on the half-shellter
    Name something found in the home, in two words, that might add moisture as it works.
    Remove its first letter and you'll name something found in the home, in two words, that might remove moisture as it works.
    What are these products?
    Answer:
    hair conditioner; air conditioner

    Lego...

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