Friday, August 17, 2018

Solve this puzzle you will if four blanks you can fill; Morphing Mini-Me into mini-metaphor; Cosmic squawks and smoggy magic; White tie and tails vs face-pie and pratfalls?

PUZZLERIA! SLICES: OVER (2!)(6!) SERVED



Schpuzzle of the Week:
White tie and tails vs face-pie and pratfalls?

Name a actor, first and last names, who appeared in stylish, sophisticated and occasionally comedic films. 
Change the first letters of both names to different consonants and delete the last letter of the actor’s first name to name an actor who appeared in slapstick, unsophisticated and always comedic films. 
Who are these two actors?
Hint: One actor was born a few years before the other, and lived a few years longer. 


Appetizer Menu

Bedeviled Egotist Appetizer:
Morphing Mini-Me into mini-metaphor

Name an egotistical world leader, in two words. Change the first letter of  the second name, remove a common preposition from the end, and remove the space between words. The result is a synonym of “mini-metaphor,” the kind that may bedevil a learner of a new language.
Who is this past world leader, and what is the synonym of “mini-metaphor?”


MENU

Riffing Off Shortz Slices:
Cosmic squawks and smoggy magic

Will Shortz’s August 12th NPR Weekend Edition Sunday puzzle (part 2 of a two-week challenge) reads:
These four words have a very interesting and unusual property in common — something about the letters in them (all the letters). What is it? When you know it, think of a common 7-letter word that shares the unusual properties of both last week’s and this week’s words.
SCARECROW
SCREENSAVER
CAMERAWOMAN
CURVACEOUSNESS
Puzzleria!s Riffing Off Shortz Slices read: 
ENTREE #1:
These six words have a very interesting and unusual property in common — something about all the letters in them. What is it?
SQUAWK
SMOGGY
MAGIC
QUICK
COSMIC 
MOSQUE

ENTREE #2:
The words that are the answers to the clues below have a kind of interesting and somewhat unusual property in common — something about all the letters in them. (The number of parentheses indicate how many letters are in each word).
1. Toffee and chocolate bar (5)
2. Starr, for one (6)
3. Rhyming phrase meaning to stay cool under a blazing sun (4,3,4)
4. Woodworker’s tool (5)
5. Two pairs of consecutive Greek letters (5,4;3,5)
6. Rhyming (well, kind of) instructions to Shane Stant? (3,4,7)
7. Egg whites in a bowl, or the 1962 Mets, for example (8)
8. Modifier of potato, banana, orange or carrot (8)
9. “Cinderella,” “The Sleeping Beauty, ” “Romeo & Juliet” or “Anna Karenina,” for example (6)
10. Part of a jacket familiar to those who (like SuperZee) submit NPR puzzle entrees (5)
11.  A kind of judge (9)
12. Word associated with “Tom and Ray” (6)
13. Place that oily paints stick to (7) 
14. Place that oily peanut butter sticks to (6)
15. What Gores, Garys and gears have (5)
16. Informal term for a thirty-three-and-a-third r.p.m. platter (5)
17. Tangible, like felt for example (8)
18. Word describing adorable puppies and kitties (8)
19. Achilles’ plea, after Paris “went all Cupid” on him? (4,4)
20. The last word in the title and the first word in a poem by Eliza Cook (4,4)
21. A word for something that contains 28 syllables, and that also contains every letter in the 20 other answers in this ENTREE at least once) (8)

ENTREE #3:
These words in the football-picture caption below (Refs admit Wes’s witty “hel-mitt” wuz a helluv a riot!) have an interesting and somewhat unusual property in common — something about all the letters in them.
Some other words that share this property are:
ARDENT
DESK
HELLO
EXIT 
WEEP
AHEM
FLIP
DWELL
AWE
What is this property?
Note: The Oxford English Dictionary was used as a reference in baking up this ENTREE #3.

Dessert Menu



Field of Envision Dessert:

Solve this puzzle you will if four blanks you can fill

Fill in the blanks with four rhyming words to complete the following couplet (in anapestic trimeter):

Is the “grail” you seek _____ sweet and ____?
Try envisioning _____ as they ____.

Hint: All four word in the blanks rhyme with one another.

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. There's no (number) for Entree #2's Cinderella puzzle (the 9th)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you ViolinTedditor. I shall fix it.

      LegoSaysTheNumberForNumberNineIsSix

      Delete
    2. Ah yes, I just saw the '6' up there.

      Also, awhile ago, was lounging in recliner and suddenly, as often happens when I am merely 'musing' over a puzzle, the answer to the Schpuzzle came to me. I can only chuckle that when I TRY to solve things, often, I have no luck, and only later at odd moments does the answer come into focus!

      Delete
    3. Suddenly, and only just a moment ago, the Dessert solved itself, as well! Would that I'd have those kind of epiphanies with the REST of this week's P! I don't think it's going to happen, though!

      Delete
    4. I can hardly believe it, the same thing just happened on the Appetizer (which last night, gave me NO signs of being solvable)....the synonym hit me, and thus, the world leader. If the Entrees do this, I'm going to faint from the shock.

      Delete
    5. VT, I'm guessing that you have very active subconscious brain wave activity.
      As for the ENTREEs, #1 and #2 are moderately challenging, but #3 is really a stickler.

      LegoContendsThatWhileViolinTeddyHasBrainWavesLegoLambdaHasBrainRipples

      Delete
  2. Happy Friday everyone! After the somewhat confusing(and disappointing)two-week challenge from the PuzzleMaster, I may not really be in the mood for any more "interesting but unusual property" puzzles right now. I have the Schpuzzle, I have the Appetizer, I even have most of Riff-Off #2(1-7, 9-13, and 21). But the rest will require some REALLY good hints. Otherwise, I got nothin'. And remember, I wasn't too crazy about the last Sunday Puzzle going into Week 2.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, cranberry, I do remember. But no more "interesting but unusual properties" in next week's Riff Off ENTREES... I guarantee it.
      If you have the answer to Clue # 21 in ENTREE #2, you have essentially solved it. Your answers to 14 through 20 will simply verify what you already know.

      I will provide clues for ROSS ENTREES #1 and #3 and the Dessert (and perhaps Schpuzzle and Appetizer) in due time.

      LegoSaysThatENTREE#1IsNotEvenThatDifficult

      Delete
  3. Some Early Hints:

    SOTW:
    Let's say someone asks, "What are the first and last names of one of the actors in this puzzle?"
    Someone else might reply by writing down the title of a Christmas carol with a question mark or colon placed after its second word.
    BEA:
    Consider the first and last names of the world leader: One is a palindrome; the other is an anagram for the name of a street in literature.
    ROSS:
    ENTREE #1:
    One of the weirdest ENTREES ever!
    ENTREE #2:
    Solve for Clue #21 and you've solved the entire ENTREE #2 .
    ENTREE #3:
    Doctor, heal thyself? No. Alphabet, alphabetize thyself!
    FOED:
    Fence

    GeloAlphabetizingHimself!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I now have all of Entree #2 except Parts 6, 8, 12, and 15. I believe I have the seven-letter word in Part 6, but I don't understand how it "kinda" rhymes with the other two words. Are you sure you have the right numbers in the parentheses for that one?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. cranberry,
      The 7-letter word in Part 6 has 3 syllables. The first of its syllables rhymes with the 3- and 4-letter words preceding it. I wrote "kinda rhymes" because the first syllable of the 7-letter word is unstressed.

      LegoWhoWantsAKindaGentlaRumination

      Delete
    2. BTW congratulations on getting another of your puzzles used by the PuzzleMaster, Lego! And I solved it too! About as easy as this week's Schpuzzle or Appetizer, I'd say! Still don't have Entrees #1 or #3 or the Dessert, though. Got a few more hints I can chew on?

      Delete
    3. Thanks for those kind words, cranberry. As I mentioned over on Blaine's blog, Will Shortz has also used multiple puzzles of yours on National Public Radio.
      Some Not-S0-Early Hints:

      ROSS:
      ENTREE #1:
      One of the weirdest ENTREES ever?
      How about, one of the oddest ENTREES ever!
      ENTREE #3:
      Some of my puzzles are as easy as ABC... This one is as easy as AHR!
      FOED:
      The first three words that belong in the blanks begin with the same letter. Other words in the couplet begin with that letter also. All four words that belong in the blanks rhyme.

      LegoPlottingHisPuzzlesAlongTheVAndYAndZAxes

      Delete
    4. I goofed in the hint for The Dessert, above.
      It ought to read:
      FOED:
      Two of the words that belong in the blanks begin with the same letter. Other words in the couplet begin with that letter also. All four words that belong in the blanks rhyme.

      LegoApologetic

      Delete
  5. I got Entree #3! Oddly enough, my last name has this same property(up to a certain point)!

    ReplyDelete
  6. I still don't get Entree #1 and the Dessert. Got any eleventh-hour hints that might help, Lego?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Some 11th-hour Hints:

      ROSS:
      ENTREE #1
      _u_ _ _ e_ ia!
      is
      u_ _ oa_ e _
      e_e _y
      _ _ i _ ay
      _y
      _ego
      _am_ _a.
      FOED:
      Charlie Horse's and Hush Puppy's buddy.

      LegoSaysIt'sToughToPaintWhenYou'veOnlyGotHalfAPaletteToWorkWith!

      Delete
  7. NOEL COWARD >> MOE HOWARD

    IDI AMIN >> IDIOM

    ReplyDelete
  8. SCHPUZZLE: NOEL COWARD => MOE HOWARD

    APPETIZER: IDI AMIN => IDIOM

    ENTREE #1: Letters that make up the 6 words: S Q U A W K M O G Y M I C E, which can make "GIMME QUAKY COWS" [
    Re the 11th hour hint: BY LEGO LAMBDA? Still don't know what to do with that]

    ENTREE #2: Seven letters make up all the words: A B E H L P T which spell ALPHABET, as in 21.

    1. HEATH
    2. BEATLE
    3. BEAT THE HEAT
    4. LATHE
    5. ALPHA/BETA; ETA/THETA
    6. BAT THAT PATELLA [or it could have been ATHLETE, if no rhyming necessary?]
    7. BEATABLE
    8. HEATABLE ??? [ A better 9-letter modifier might be PALATABLE.]
    9. BALLET
    10. LAPEL
    11. APPELLATE
    12. TAPPET
    13. PALLET
    14. PALATE
    15. TEETH [Don't understand about GARYS, though]
    16. LABEL
    17. PALPABLE
    18. PETTABLE?
    19. HELP HEEL !!
    20. I can find NO poem by her [15 exist] that has both a four-letter last word in title AND a four-letter first word of text, made up from these 7 letters. 4, 4
    21. ALPHABET

    ENTREE #3: The only letters of the alphabet NOT in all the words are B, C, G, J, Q. Don't know what to do with that info, either.

    DESSERT: SLEEP / DEEP; SHEEP / LEAP [Pre all hints]

    ReplyDelete
  9. Schpuzzle
    NOEL COWARD, MOE HOWARD
    Appetizer
    IDI AMIN, IDIOM
    Riff-Offs
    Entree #2
    All the answers are made up entirely of only the letters in the word ALPHABET.
    1. HEATH
    2. BEATLE
    3. BEAT THE HEAT
    4. LATHE
    5. ALPHA, BETA/ETA, THETA
    6. BAT THAT PATELLA!
    7. BEATABLE
    9. BALLET
    10. LAPEL
    11. APPELLATE
    12. TAPPET
    13. PALETTE
    14. PALATE
    15. TEETH(Don't understand Garys OR Gores)
    16. PLATE
    17. PALPABLE
    18. PETTABLE
    19. HEEL HELP
    21. ALPHABET(There are 26 letters, but thanks to W having three syllables, that makes it 28 syllables.)
    Entree #3
    Each word is spelled with letters that are in alphabetical order, except one letter which must be removed for it to be in perfect alphabetical order(though it results in a non-word most of the time).
    REFS-R=EFS
    ADMIT-M=ADIT
    WES'S-W and WITTY-W=ESS and ITTY
    HEL-MITT-H and M= EL and ITT
    WUZ-W=UZ
    A(A only)
    HELLUV-H=ELLUV
    another lone A
    RIOT-R=IOT
    ARDENT-R=ADENT
    DESK-K=DES
    HELLO-H=ELLO
    EXIT-X=EIT
    WEEP-W=EEP
    AHEM-H=AEM
    FLIP-I=FLP
    DWELL-W=DELL
    AWE-E=AW
    Dessert
    SLEEP, DEEP/SHEEP, LEAP(It makes perfect sense now; Thanks in part to ViolinTeddy.)
    The letters in my last name, BERRY, are perfectly alphabetical as they are, without dropping any out-of-order letters whatsoever.-pjb(in reverse alphabetical order!)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. What, perchance, did I say about the Dessert, pjb? I can't find any comment I made that might have helped you. ???

      Delete
    2. OK, I'll admit it. I had just seen your answer to the Dessert. At that moment all the hints made sense. Technically, I hadn't really solved it. Sorry.

      Delete
    3. It'll never happen again, VT. I promise.

      Delete
    4. Oh, what a tangled web we weave........etc. : O )

      Delete
  10. For that matter, I, PAT, have never really been that close to an ELLA in my life!

    ReplyDelete
  11. However, I don't mind "taking a knee" if I must.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Lego, shouldn't you already have the official answers up by now? We still don't know what Entree #1 was all about.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Maybe he's actually counting sheep?

      Delete
    2. Yeah, cute! Serta sheep, there he goes. (I LOVE those Serta sheep!)

      Delete

  13. This week's official answers for the record, part 1:

    Schpuzzle of the Week:
    White tie and tails or face-pie and pratfalls?
    Name a actor, first and last names, who appeared in stylish, sophisticated and occasionally comedic films.
    Change the first letters of both names to different consonants and delete the last letter of the actor’s first name to name an actor who appeared in slapstick, unsophisticated and always comedic films.
    Who are these two actors?
    Hint: One actor was born a few years before the other, and lived a few years longer.
    Answer:Noel Coward; Moe Howard (of the Three Stooges)

    Appetizer Menu

    Bedeviled Egotist Appetizer:
    Morphing Mini-Me into mini-metaphor
    Name an egotistical world leader, in two words. Change the first letter of the second name, remove a common preposition from the end, and remove the space between words. The result is a synonym of “mini-metaphor,” the kind that may bedevil a learner of a new language.
    Who is this past world leader, and what is synonym of “mini-metaphor?”
    Answer:
    Idi Amin; idiom

    Lego...

    ReplyDelete
  14. This week's official answers for the record, part 2:

    MENU

    Riffing Off Shortz Slices:
    Cosmic squawks and smoggy magic
    Puzzleria!s Riffing Off Shortz Slices read:
    ENTREE #1:
    These six words have a very interesting and unusual property in common — something about the letters in them (all the letters). What is it?
    SQUAWK
    SMOGGY
    MAGIC
    QUICK
    COSMIC
    MOSQUE
    Answer: The words contain only odd numbered letters of the alphabet:
    A C E G I K M O Q S U W Y
    ENTREE #2:
    The words that are the answers to the clues below have a kind of interesting and somewhat unusual property in common — something about all the letters in them. (the number of parentheses indicate how many letters on in each word).
    1. Toffee and chocolate bar (5) HEATH
    2. Starr, for example (6) BEATLE
    3. Rhyming phrase meaning to stay cool under a blazing sun (4,3,4) BEAT THE HEAT
    4. Woodworker’s tool (5) LATHE
    5. Two pairs of consecutive Greek letters (5,4;3,5) ALPHA, BETA; ETA, THETA
    6. Rhyming (well, kind of) instructions to Shane Stant? (3,4,7) "BAT THAT PATELLA!"
    7. Egg whites in a bowl, or the 1962 Mets, for example (8) BEATABLE
    8. Modifier of potato, banana, orange or carrot (8) PEELABLE
    9. “Cinderella,” “The Sleeping Beauty, ” “Romeo & Juliet” or “Anna Karenina,” for example (6) BALLET
    10. Part of a jacket familiar to those who submit NPR puzzle entrees (5) LAPEL (as in "lapel pin," the "holy grail" one wins for playing NPR's "The Puzzle" on-air with Will Shortz)
    11. A kind of judge (9) APPELLATE
    12. Word associated with “Tom and Ray” (6) TAPPET
    13. Place that oily paints stick to (7) PALETTE
    14. Place that oily peanut butter sticks to (6) PALATE
    15. What Gores, Garys and gears have (5) TEETH
    16. Informal term for a thirty-three-and-a-third r.p.m. platter (5) ELPEE
    17. Tangible, like felt for example (8) PALPABLE
    18. Word describing adorable puppies and kitties (8) PETTABLE
    19. Achilles’ plea, after Paris “went all Cupid” on him? (4,4) "HEAL, HEEL!"
    20. The last word in the title and the first word in a poem by Eliza Cook (4,4) "BELL," "PEAL"
    21. A word for something that contains 26 letters, and that also contains every letter in the 20 other answers in this ENTREE at least once) (8) ALPHABET
    Answer:
    Each answer to the twenty-one clues above contains only the letters in the word ALPHABET:

    ENTREE #3:
    These words in this football-picture caption (Refs admit Wes’s witty “hel-mitt” wuz a helluv a riot!) have an interesting and somewhat unusual property in common — something about all the letters in them.
    Some other words that share this property are:
    ARDENT
    DESK
    HELLO
    EXIT
    WEEP
    AHEM
    FLIP
    DWELL
    AWE
    What is this property?
    Note: The Oxford English Dictionary was used as a reference in baking up this ENTREE.
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_alphabet
    Answer: If you spell the words for the letters of the alphabet out, then put those 26 words in alphabetical order, the result is:
    a
    bee
    cee
    dee
    e
    ef
    gee
    aitch
    i
    jay
    kay
    el (or ell)
    em
    en
    o
    pee
    cue
    ar
    ess
    tee
    u
    vee
    double-u
    ex
    wy
    zee
    If you alphabetize those word the result is:
    A = a
    H = aitch
    R = ar
    B = bee
    C = cee
    Q = cue
    D = dee
    W = double-u
    E = e
    F = ef
    L = el
    M = em
    N = en
    S = ess
    X = ex
    G = gee
    I = i
    J = jay
    K = kay
    O = o
    P = pee
    T = tee
    U = u
    V = vee
    Y = wy
    Z = zee
    I call this alphabet the Words Of Letters Alphabetized alphabet, or The WOLA alphabet for short. The letters in all the words above are in WOLA alphabtical order.

    Lego...

    ReplyDelete
  15. This week's official answers for the record, part 3:

    Field Of Envision Dessert:
    Solve this puzzle you will if four blanks you can fill
    Fill in the blanks with four rhyming words to complete the following couplet (in anapestic trimeter):
    Is the “grail” you seek _____ that is ____?
    Try envisioning _____ as they ____.
    Answer:
    Is the “grail” you seek SLEEP that is DEEP?
    Try envisioning SHEEP as they LEAP.

    Lego...

    ReplyDelete