The case of the purloined letters; Spooning out some Shakespeare; Just another Mickey Mouse puzzle; The bright moonlights of Hollywood; Brands not named Neville or Russell

PUZZLERIA! SLICES: OVER 8!/21 SERVED


Schpuzzle Of The Week:
Just another Mickey Mouse puzzle

Mickey Mouse is the mascot of the Walt Disney Company. 
Mickey Mouse’s name has a rather odd property not shared by any other major Disney cartoon characters, or by Walt Disney himself for that matter. 
What is this property?
Hint: While “Donald Duck” does not share this property, both “quack” and “squeak” do.

Appetizer Menu

Conundrums You Can’t Beat With A Drumstick Appetizer:
Brands not named Neville or Russell

🥁1. Think of a cereal brand name that ends with a number. Remove the number and append a movie rating to get a term familiar to Word Woman. 
Hint: The term familiar to Word Woman is associated with precision. 
Note: Word Woman is the screen name of a good friend of Puzzleria! She is a geologist who is curious about all branches of science. Her blog, Partial Ellipsis Of The Sun (PEOTS), “a blog for scientists who like words and writers who like science,” is well worth visiting.
🥁2. Think of another cereal brand name that ends with a number one higher than in CONUNDRUM #1, above. Remove this number and append the same movie rating as in the previous conundrum to get the name of a well-known musician.
🥁3. Think of a particular reference book brand. Swap the first two letters and put an F at the beginning. The result will be what can happen if you try to think of a word, thus leading to a need for the reference book.
🥁4. Think of an actress best known for her work in a ‘90s TV drama. Remove a vowel from her last name to get the brand name of a product you might find at a laundromat. Add a vowel to her first name to describe an important feature of the product.

MENU

Payback Slice:
The bright moonlights of Hollywood


Prominent film directors are sometimes paid a reimbursement for doing an activity on their own time when they are not sitting in the director’s chair, in one word. 
Rearrange the letters of this activity to form the first names of two prominent film directors who have often been so reimbursed. 
Their full names also share something even more obvious in common. 
Change one letter in what they obviously have in common to form another word for this reimbursement. 
Who are these directors? 
For what are they reimbursed?
What else do their full names obviously have in common?



Riffing Off Shortz Slices:
The case of the purloined letters

Will Shortz’s March 17th NPR Weekend Edition Sunday puzzle reads:
Take the letters S Y T O Y. Add the same letter of the alphabet six times to complete a familiar phrase. What is it?

Puzzleria!s Riffing Off Shortz Slices read:
ENTREE #1:
Take the letters Y K N B K.
Add the same letter of the alphabet six times to complete a description of  “Acorn” or “Grapefruit.” 
What is it?
ENTREE #2:
Take the letters I L E. Add the same letter of the alphabet four times to complete a synonym of “bilked” or “lollygagged.” What is it?
ENTREE #3:
Take the letters W I M I. 
Add the same letter of the alphabet five times to complete the name of a beverage brand that is also the title of a Laurel and Hardy movie. 
What is it?
ENTREE #4:
Take the letters A L E A L E. 
Add the same letter of the alphabet four times to complete a synonym of “canary.” 
What is it?
ENTREE #5:
Take the letters I A O O. 
Add the same letter of the alphabet five times to complete a caption for the image pictured here. 
What is this caption?
ENTREE #6:
Take the letters I T H I I G. Add the same letter of the alphabet five times to complete a two-word term from the world of sports that has a top and a bottom, but sometimes just a top. What is it?
ENTREE #7:
Take the letters O Y A R E. Add the same letter of the alphabet four times to complete the name of a singer who co-wrote a song about a prodigal whose mama writes him a note pleading with him to return home. Who is it?
ENTREE #8:
Take the letters M M. Add the same letter of the alphabet four times to complete the name of a garment one might hear (sic) down on the farm. What is it?

Dessert Menu

The Shaming Of The True Dessert:
Spooning out some Shakespeare

Switch the beginning sounds of the name of a Shakespearian character and the first name of a past singer/actor to form what sounds like the name of a past novelist. 
What are these three names?
Hint: The first name of the past singer/actor and the last name of a past comedian are homophones.

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.