Friday, March 9, 2018

ROyalty and “mice-presiDENTS” sphinX marks the spot; A handful of Best Picture Oscar non-winners; 7-up...loaded jpeg pics, plus 1

PUZZLERIA! SLICES: OVER (1110 + 98) SERVED

Welcome to our March 9th edition of Joseph Young’s Puzzleria!
Think of us as the Uncola” of puzzle blogs. Our puzzles are served up fresh every week. You like us, and we like you.

On our menus this week are:
ONE Caption-Happy Appetizer💚;
ONE  Vice-Slice💛;
ONE  Oscar Wilder Dessert💜and
SEVEN Land-Marky Mark Riff Offs💙💙💙💙💙💙💙.

Have fun solving!  


Appetizer Menu

Caption-Happy Appetizer:
7-up...loaded jpeg pics, plus 1


Write two-word captions for each of the eight images pictured here. 
If you have the right ones, seven captions will rhyme with the two-word name of a person who has recently been in the news...
But one of the captions will sound exactly like the two-word name of that same recently newsworthy person.
What are your eight captions?
Who is the person who has recently been in the news?














MENU

Vice-Slice:
ROyalty and “mice-presiDENTS”

“Jerry, Chip and Dale are mice.”
That statement is not completely true. True, Jerry (of Tom and Jerry fame) is a mouse. But Chip and Dale, although they are rodents, are not mice but chipmunks.
“(U.S., 40) (U.K., 52) (U.S., 16) (U.S., 44) (U.S., 45) (U.S., 48).”
How does the partially true statement relate to the abbreviations and numbers in parentheses immediately above?
Hint: The key to solving this puzzle pertains to names of some who are second-in-command, those biding their time before they may become top bananas, commanders-in-chief and kings  that is to say, people like vice-presidents and princes.

Riffing Off Shortz And Collins Slices:
sphinX marks the spot

Will Shortz’s March 4th NPR Weekend Edition Sunday puzzle, created by Peter Collins, reads:
Name a famous singer — first and last names. Change the last three letters of each name to an E and you’ll name a well-known landmark. What is it?
Puzzleria!’s Riffing Off Shortz and Collins Slices read:
ONE:
Name a signature song, in one word, made famous by a country quartet. Name a similar country quartet, in three words, that sang the song on 1990s TV as a tribute to the first group. Change the last three letters of the second group’s middle word to an E. 
Change the second and third letters of the song title to two different consonants and change the last letter of the title to an E. If you place the altered song title in front of the altered middle word in the second group’s name you’ll name the first two words of a well-known landmark. What are the landmark, the song title and the two country quartets?
TWO:
Name a somewhat famous sports executive — first and last names. Change the last three letters of each name to two different letters with alphanumeric values that are evenly divisible by a prime number greater than three and you’ll name a well-known landmark. What is it?
THREE:
Describe what you have if you are safeguarding your retirement savings in a bank vault, in a three-word phrase of 6, 4 and 3 letters. 
Change the last three letters of the first word to an H and the last four letters of the remainder of the phrase to an S. You’ll name a well-known landmark. What is it?
FOUR:
Name a well-known landmark, in two words. Remove the last two letters of the first word and change the last two letters of the second word to a C and O. You’ll name a fictional evil scientist who was a nemesis of Donnie, Mikey, Leo and Raph. Who is the scientist and what is the landmark?
FIVE: 
Name a somewhat famous singer — first and last names. Remove the last two letters of the first name. 
Spell the last name backward, then replace the first five letters of that result with a T. Reverse the order of the altered first and last names and you’ll name a well-known landmark. What is it? Who is the singer?
Hint: The name of the landmark is also the name of another singer.
SIX:
Name a somewhat famous lead singer in a past rock group — first and last names. Interchange the second and second-last letters of the last name, then remove last three letters from this result. Interchange the first and last names and remove the space to form a word that the Gateway Arch, Space Needle, Old Faithful, Golden Gate Bridge or White House is an example of. 
Who is the singer? What is the word?
SEVEN:
Name a not-at-all-well-known actress— first and last names. Remove the last letter of the first name. In her last name replace the M with an L and the A with a Y. Interchange the first and last names and you’ll name a well-known landmark. What is it? Who is the little-known actress? 


Dessert Menu

Marilyn Never Won An Oscar Either Dessert:
A handful of Best Picture Oscar non-winners

Consider the following list of cinematic titles:
“Kenner,” “New Orleans,” “Alexandria,” “Fargo”...
“Kenner” is a 1969 movie drama  starring Jim Brown in the title role.
“New Orleans” is a 1947  movie romance featuring Billie Holiday and Louis Armstrong.
“Alexandria” is a 2001 Greek  movie drama.
“Fargo” is a 1996 black comedy crime thriller nominated for a best picture Oscar.
These four titles are related to the title of a movie that was very much mentioned during a television broadcast of a relatively recent Oscars awards ceremony. 
This movie title was also mentioned a few times during the most recent Oscars ceremony broadcast on Sunday, March 4th 2018. 
What is this movie title? How do the four other movie titles relate to this more recent movie title?

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.

37 comments:

  1. Good evening, or more accurately, good middle of the night.....had been eagerly awaiting the new P!, and thus have been having fun with it the last couple of hours. Solved the Appetizer (except for the first word of #4, and the second word of #6, for some reason), and all the Riffs EXCEPT #2.

    The Vice Slice (despite collecting possible relevant info) and Dessert are a mystery thus far, however.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Appetizer image x provides a clue for Ripoff x+1. Solve for x.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oops, that should be x+2:
      Appetizer image x provides a clue for Ripoff x+2. Solve for x.

      Delete
    2. Thanks, Paul.
      x = what little lambs eat.

      LegoLiddleLambda

      Delete
    3. The college entry essay prompt I used with this class of SAT test takers and college applicants was "Find X" from the U of Chicago.

      Their first comments were "That's so deep."

      I'm thinking of them all right now as they are taking the March 10 SAT. They will be X-tra happy when 2 p.m. finally comes today.

      Delete
    4. Thanks, Word Woman, for sharing that "Find X" gem, which "prompted" me to go to the DuckDuckGo, unearthing this.
      I wish I were taking the SAT these days! Lots of fun!
      My essay would meet with E.B. White's approval, I think. It is terse and, paradoxically, not Windy:
      "Find x? It's in Chicago!"

      LegoWhoUsedToBeChicYearsAgo

      Delete
    5. Thanks for that link, Lego. Their essays were astounding. I really enjoyed your signature today. Chic xxxxx ago, indeed!

      Delete
    6. Loved your x solution above, LegoLiddleLambda, because I was finally able to figure out what Paul has been talking about. (And it was cute, to boot).

      Delete
  3. I believe I just cracked the Vice Slice. Yippee.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Finally I patched together an IDEA for the Dessert, but I'm not at all sure it is correct; it could be utterly off the mark.

      Delete
  4. Happy Friday everyone! I checked today's puzzles late last night, and got Riff-Off #1 right away. Somehow during a day spent babysitting Mia Kate and Maddy, eating out at a new restaurant called "I Don't Know, I Don't Care, Whatever"(I could not make that name up!), and solving the Guardian Prize Crossword and the Private Eye Crossword, I finally managed to solve all except the Dessert! Any hints you can spare for that one will be most appreciated, Lego. I am a little confused as to what the "52" means in the "UK 52" portion of the Menu puzzle. If my answer for that one is correct, the information I looked up to find him said something about "58", not "52", but I'll let everyone else here figure that one out(you'll just have to look it up the same way I did). The kids are fine, but for some reason Mia Kate did not want to read from one of her new books in the "Dork Diaries" series, much like she's done a few days before while visiting us. If you're unfamiliar with this series of books, I highly recommend them. They're hilarious!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You may be correct, cranberry, about that UK 58 vs. UK 52 snafu.
      I used Wikipedia as my source, so we may take 52 with a grain of Morton's... but I also might have simply miscounted.
      It would have been better had we only elected a chimney sweep or cargo ship as our Veep at some point.
      I suspect that ViolinTeddy has solved the Dessert. It is a rather weird puzzle.

      LegoLanda

      Delete
    2. In reference to the 52 vs 58 debate, I would think either one would be technically correct. We could ALSO argue for 69, if you think about it.

      I'm not so sure about my having correctly solved the Dessert, because one of the four other movies doesn't really 'fit.'

      Delete
    3. I still believe you are on the right track, VT. Remember, ultimately you are seeking a movie title, which contains three vowels, all the same. I did not watch the entire Oscars telecast, so I am not certain how many times the movie title may have been mentioned, but I do know it was mentioned twice, almost inaudibly under someone's breath.

      LegoStackingTheDeckedHallsWithHeapsO'Hints

      Delete
    4. In view of your comment above, it is perhaps true after all that I DO have the right movie answer. STill can't make one of the other movies 'fit', however.

      Delete
    5. VT,
      Is it "Fargo"?

      LegoKnowsNotHowFarToGoWithTheseHints

      Delete
    6. OK, VT. There is a hint in this post. Perhaps three.

      LegoWhoIsHopingToAddressAnyMisunderstandingAboutThisDessert

      Delete
    7. Hmmmm...I see what could be TWO potential hints, even though I don't really see how what I'm thinking [are the two hints] really solves my mystery. I am just as confused as ever.

      And I'm still stuck on Riff #2, which is REALLY annoying me!!

      Delete
    8. Sorry about the Dessert confusion, VT. Perhaps another Puzzlerian! who has solved it can lend a helping hint?
      Riff #2 hintz: Brad Pitt


      LegoPredictsLotsOfRiffingPossibilitiesForNextFriday'sP!

      Delete
    9. Oh, Lego, thank you for that hint. I had actuallY TRIED that particular person, but had MISUNDERSTOOD the directions!! I thought BOTH first and last names were supposed to have the SAME TWO letters put onto each of them, not one letter onto the first name and a different letter onto the last name. So I have it now....whew!

      Delete
  5. Speaking of the Dessert, I still haven't been able to solve it myself. Other than all four movie titles being geographical locations in the U.S., I just don't get the connection. Any good hints for me, Lego?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Go postal, cranberry.

      LegoTryingToAddressPatrick'sQuandary

      Delete
    2. I myself just had THE 'aha moment' regarding how Fargo fits in...

      Delete
  6. POPE PICKS
    NOPE NIX
    TROPE TRICKS
    COPE KICKS
    HOPE HICKS
    SOAP SIX
    MOPE MIX
    'LOPE LICKS

    JERRY
    CHARLES?
    ANDREW
    DAN
    AL
    MIKE
    ??????????????

    ELVIRA, THE STATLER BROTHERS, THE OAK RIDGE BOYS, EMPIRE STATE

    BILLY BEANE, BIG BEN

    LOCKED NEST EGG, LOCH NESS

    I had the Ninja Turtle villain earlier, but I forgot it, and now all I can find is Baxter Stockman, which doesn't work at all

    MAHALIA JACKSON, TAJ MAHAL

    MARK LINDSAY, LANDMARK

    LALALAND

    [The scene from Blazing Saddles was meant to convey TOPE TICS; The Agony of Defeat footage represented SLOPE SLICKS; and cordon gin joint leads to ROPE RICK'S -- not very good; Lego had already used all the good (and G-rated) examples.]
    [One of the people in the KICKS image is, of course, Mark Lindsay, thus x= "ivy".]

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I forgot BRIDGET BROOKMAN / BROOKLYN BRIDGE.

      Delete
    2. Now I remember: VICTORIA FALLS / VICTOR FALCO!

      Delete
    3. Paul, I am Koping/Kicksing myself for not coming up with TOPE TICS, SLOPE SLICKS, and ROPE RICK'S!

      LegoEspeciallyLikesSlopeSlicks

      Delete
  7. APPETIZER: Person: HOPE HICKS; 1. POPE PICKS; 2. NOPE NIX; 3. TROPE TRICKS; 4. KOPE??? KICKS; 5. HOPE (diamond) HICKS: 6. SOAP SPICS?? ; 7. MOPE MIX; 8. LOPE LICKS.

    VICE-SLICE: 40th VP was JERRY FORD; Heir Apparent in UK as of 1952 = CHARLES; 16th VP was ANDREW JOHNSON; 44th VP was DAN QUAYLE; 45th VP was AL GORE; 48th VP is MIKE PENCE. The first letters of each of their first names are the same as the words in the sentence Jerry, Chip And Dale Are Mice. J, C, A, D, A, M.


    RIFF-OFFS:

    1. ELVIRA by OAK RIDGE BOYS ; 2nd group: THE STATLER BROTHERS => EMPIRE STATE [BLDG]

    2. BILLY BEANE => BIG BEN

    3. LOCKED NEST EGG => LOCH NESS

    4. VICTORIA FALLS => VICTOR FALCO

    5. MAHALIA JACKSON => MAHAL NOSKCAJ => MAHAL TAJ => TAJ MAHAL

    6. MARK LINDSAY => MARK LAND => LANDMARK

    7. BRIDGET BROOKMAN => BRIDGE BROOKLYN => BROOKLYN BRIDGE

    DESSERT: Kenner, LA; New Orleans, LA, Alexandria, LA, and Fargo, ND. Those postal abbreviations spell out : LA LA LAND.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Appetizer
    The person in the news is HOPE HICKS.
    1. POPE, PICKS
    2. NOPE, NIX
    3. TROPE, TRICKS
    4. COPE, KICKS
    5. HOPE(Diamond), HICKS
    6. SOAP, SIX
    7. MOPE, (Tom)MIX
    8. LOPE, LICKS
    Menu
    (Jerry)JERRY FORD, 40th VP
    (Chip)(Prince)CHARLES, Prince of Cornwall, 1958
    (and)ANDREW JOHNSON, 16th VP
    (Dale)DAN QUAYLE, 44th VP
    (are)AL GORE, 45th VP
    (mice)MIKE PENCE, 48th VP
    Riff-Offs
    1. "ELVIRA"(The Oakridge Boys), THE STATLER BROTHERS, EMPIRE STATE (Building)
    2. BILLY BEANE, BIG BEN
    3. "LOCKED NEST EGG", LOCH NESS
    4. VICTORIA FALLS, VICTOR FALCO(enemy of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles)
    5. MAHALIA JACKSON, TAJ MAHAL
    6. MARK LINDSAY(lead singer, Paul Revere and the Raiders), LANDMARK
    7. BRIDGET BROOKMAN, BROOKLYN BRIDGE
    Dessert
    Kenner, LA(Louisiana)
    New Orleans, LA
    Alexandria, LA
    Fargo, ND(North Dakota)
    LA LA LAND
    "Giddy-up-a-oom-papa-oom-papa-mow-mow, hi-yo Silver away!"-pjb

    ReplyDelete
  9. This week's answers, for the record, Part 1

    Appetizer Menu

    Caption Happy Appetizer:
    7-up...loaded jpegs
    Write two-word captions for each of the seven images pictured here.
    If you have the right ones, six captions will rhyme with the two-word name of a person who has recently been in the news...
    And one of the captions will sound exactly like the two-word name of that same recently newsworthy person.
    What are your seven captions?
    Who is the person who has recently been in the news?
    Answer:
    1. Pope picks
    2. Nope, nix
    3. Trope, tricks
    4. Cope, kicks
    5. Hope, hics (or hicks)
    6. Soap six
    7. Mope, Mix
    8. Lope, licks (antelopes lope, antelope licks)
    Hope Hicks has recently been in the news.

    MENU

    Vice-Slice:
    ROyalty and “mice-presiDENTS”
    “Jerry, Chip and Dale are mice.”
    That statement is not completely true. True, Jerry (of Tom and Jerry fame) is a mouse. But Chip and Dale, although they are rodents, are not mice but chipmunks.
    “(U.S., 40) (U.K., 52) (U.S., 16) (U.S., 44) (U.S., 45) (U.S., 48).”
    How does the partially true statement relate to the abbreviations and numbers in parentheses immediately above?
    Hint: The key to soving this puzzle pertains to the names of those who are second-in-command, those biding their time before they may become top bananas, commanders-in-chief and kings, that is to say people like vice-presidents and princes.
    Answer:
    JERRY ford, 40th vice-president of the United States = JERRY
    CHarles philIP arthur george, 52nd prince in the United Kingdom = CHIP
    ANDrew johnson, 16th vice-president of the United States = AND
    DAn quayLE, 44th vice-president of the United States = DALE
    Al goRE, 45th vice-president of the United States = ARE
    MIke penCE, 48th vice-president of the United States = MICE

    Lego...

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

    Riffing Off Shortz And Collins Slices:
    sphinX marks the spot
    Puzzleria!’s Riffing Off Shortz and Collins Slices read:
    ONE:
    Name a signature song made famous by a country quartet and a similar country quartet, in three words, that sang the song on 1990s TV as a tribute to the first group. Change the last three letters of the second group’s middle name to an E. Change the second and third letters of the song title to two other consonants and the last letter of the title to an E and you’ll name the first two words of a well-known landmark. What is is the landmark, the song title and the two country quartets?
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1zvp2xPh8PQ
    Answer:
    Empire State (Building); "Elvira"; The Oak Ridge Boys, The Statler Brothers
    Elvira - (l+v+a) + (m+p+e) = Empire; Statler - (ler) + e = State
    TWO:
    Name a famous sports executive — first and last names. Change the last three letters of each name to two different letters whith alphanumeric values that are evenly divisible by a prime number greater than three and you’ll name a well-known landmark. What is it?
    Answer:
    Big Ben (Billy Beane); G and N have alphanumerical values of 7 and 14
    THREE:
    Describe what you have if you safeguard your retirement savings in a bank vault, in a three-word phrase. Change the last three letters of the first word to an H and the last four letters of the remainder of the phrase to an S. You’ll name a well-known landmark. What is it?
    Answer:
    Loch Ness (Locked nest egg)
    FOUR:
    Name a well-known landmark, in two words. Remove the last two letters of the first word and change the last two letters of the second word to a C and O. You’ll name a fictional evil scientist who was a nemesis of Donnie, Raph, Leo and Mikey. Who is the scientist and what is the landmark?
    Answer:
    Victor Falco; Victoria Falls

    Lego...

    ReplyDelete
  11. This week's answers, for the record, Part 3:

    Riffing Off Shortz And Collins Slices (continued):
    sphinX marks the spotFIVE:
    Name a famous singer — first and last names. Remove the last two letters of the first name. Spell the last name backward, then replace the first five letters with a T. Reverse the order of the first and last words and you’ll name a well-known landmark. What is it? Who is the singer?
    Hint: The name of the landmark is also the name of a singer.
    Answer:
    Taj Mahal; Mahalia Jackson (Mahalia - ia = Mahal; Jackson >> noskcaj - noskc + T = Taj)
    Hint: Taj Mahal, the singer who also sounds like a landmark
    SIX:
    Name a somewhat famous singer lead singer in a past rock group — first and last names. Interchange the second and second-last letters of the last name, then remove last three letters of the last name. Interchange the first and last names and remove the space to form a word that the Gateway Arch, Space Needle, Old Faithful, Golden Gate Bridge or White House are an example of. Who is the singer? What is the word?
    Answer:
    Mark Lindsay; Landmark
    SEVEN:
    Name a not-at-all-well-known actress— first and last names. Remove the last letter of the first name. In her last name replace the M with an L and the A with a Y. Interchange the first and last names and you’ll name a well-known landmark. What is it? Who is the little-known actress?
    Answer:
    Brooklyn Bridge; Bridget Brookman

    Dessert Menu

    Marilyn Never Won Best Actress Dessert:
    A handful of Best Picture Oscar non-winners

    Consider the following list of cinematic titles:
    “Kenner,” “New Orleans,” “Alexandria,” “Fargo”...
    “Kenner” was a 1969 drama movie starring Jim Brown in the title role.
    “New Orleans” was a 1947 romance movie featuring Billie Holiday and Louis Armstrong.
    “Alexandria” is a 2001 Greek drama movie.
    “Fargo” was a 1996 black comedy crime thriller nominated for a best picture Oscar.
    These four titles are related to the title of a movie that was very much mentioned during a television broadcast of a past, but relatively recent, Oscars awards ceremony, but not the most recent one on March 4th 2018. This movie title, however, was in fact mentioned a few times during this 2018 Oscars ceremony television broadcast, even though it was not nominated for awards this year.
    What is this movie title? How do the four other movie titles relate to this movie title?
    Answer:
    La La Land” (see 1:22)
    “La La Land” is made up of eight letters that can be divided into four pairs: LA, LA, LA and ND, which are the U.S. postal abbreviations of Louisiana, Louisiana, Louisiana and North Dakota. Kenner, New Orleans and Alexandria are cities in Louisiana. Fargo is a city in North Dakota.

    Lego...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. COuld you please explain to me, Lego, about the caption "Soap SIX", because I counted only five soaps, yet eight of the bottle caps. Where does SIX fit in? That's why I didn't know what to do about that word.

      Also, what is a COPE? A pope's cape? That had me confused, as well.

      Delete
    2. VT,
      The "bottle caps" are actually all soaps. They, and the other soap bars, are arranged in the shape of a 6. Click on the "cope" link to see more copes. They are liturgical vestments.

      LegoJustTryingToCope

      Delete
    3. Oh, geez, Lego, I never even NOTICED that they were arranged in the shape of a 'six'. WOE IS ME! (But I never would have known those weren't bottlecaps...I had actually found the website that I thought you had gotten those pictures from.)

      And since I had asked the cope question, I HAD looked it up and found the liturgical vestments def. Of course, I had NO familiarity with such....but thanks! On to the new puzzles, which I see are there!

      Delete