Doggerel that just dozen’t die! Filthily lucrative flummoxen; What’s the color of a cataclysm? Lose a letter, win; lose a letter, lose! Great American novel? No... great American nosh!

PUZZLERIA! SLICES: OVER 3(7!) SERVED

Schpuzzle Of The Week: 
Great American novel? No... great American nosh!



Replace the last word in the title of a 20th-Century novel with a synonym. 
The initial letters in this altered title spell a healthy food. 
What are this title and food?

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“PerCASHion” Conundrums
Filthily lucrative flummoxen 

🥁1. Think of a synonym for currency. 
Add an A and rearrange. 
The result will be a type of worker.
🥁2. Name an honorific. 
Remove a letter to name someone who is tight with money. 
Remove a different letter from the honorific to name a term from carpentry.
🥁3. Name a currency. 
Place a letter at the start and end to name a small part of the body. 
Place a different letter in the center to name something even smaller.

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Circular Slice:
Doggerel that just dozen’t die! 

I have x’ed out a dozen words in this circular piece of doggerel that I created about a half-century ago. Unlike fine wine, it has not aged particularly well! 
Still, it has somehow survived.  
In any event, what are these twelve words?
Hint: For each word, the number of x’s is equal to the number of letters.

Riffing Off Shortz And Berry Slices:
Lose a letter, win; lose a letter, lose!

Will Shortz’s May 24th NPR Weekend Edition Sunday puzzle, created by Patrick J. Berry of Jasper, Alabama, reads: 
Think of a well-known European city in seven letters. If you remove the third letter, you’ll get a two-word phrase describing what you must do to win a race. If instead you remove the fourth letter, you’ll get a two-word phrase describing what you can’t do to win a race. What’s the city?

Puzzleria!s Riffing Off Shortz And Berry Slices read:
ENTREE #1:
Think of a puzzle-maker, in 13 letters, whose first name rhymes with a two-word stage performance.
Double the third, fifth, sixth and ninth letters in the name, resulting in a total of 17 letters. 
Rearrange these letters to form:
* one of two participants in the stage performance (6 letters)
* what the other participant does to the 6-letter participant during the performance’s finale (4 letters)
* a word associated with the puzzle-maker (7 letters).
Who is this puzzle-maker?
What is the stage performance? 
What are the performance participant, what the other participant does to that participant, and the word associated with the puzzle-maker?
ENTREE #2:
Think of a well-known Asian city in six letters that is associated with a certain enclosure in eight letters. 
If you remove the third and sixth letters of the city, you’ll get another word associated with that enclosure. 
What’s the city?
What are the enclosure and the other word associated with it?
ENTREE #3:
Think of a well-known European city in five letters. 
If you remove the second letter, you’ll get a word spoken by inhabitants of the city that means “taken.” 
If instead you remove the fourth letter, you’ll get such a word meaning “leave.” 
If instead you remove the fifth letter, you’ll get such a word meaning “bet.” 
What’s the city?
What are the three words?
ENTREE #4:
Think of a well-known South American city in eight letters. 
If you remove the first four letters, you’ll get a Shakespearean character. 
If instead you remove the first and sixth letters, then tack a U.S. breadbasket state postal abbreviation onto the end, you’ll get a Sophocles character. 
What’s the city?
Who are the two characters?
ENTREE #5:
Think of a well-known European city in six letters. 
If you get rid of the first and third letters, you’ll get a word describing the climate of the continent south of the city. 
If instead you get rid of the fourth and fifth letters, you’ll get an acronym for a 40-year-old North American non-profit organization.
What’s the city?
What are the climate and non-profit?
ENTREE #6:
Think of a well-known European city in nine letters. 
If you remove the fourth and ninth letters, you’ll get a common noun followed by a proper noun. 
The proper noun is the first name of a person who appears to be striving to raise the technological [common noun]. 
What’s the city?
Who is the person? 
What is the technological [common noun] that this person is trying to raise?
Hint: The person has been in the national news this past week.
ENTREE #7:
Think of a well-known African city in ten letters. If you divide the city into three parts, you’ll get 
* the first name of an NHL star associated with Washington, D.C.; 
* a common conjunction, and
* an anagram of the first name of a past multi-millionaire whose wife was associated with Washington, D.C. 
What’s the city?
Who are the NHL star and the multi-millionaire?

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Phenomenological Dessert:
What’s the color of a cataclysm? 

Name a cataclysmic geological phenomenon, in eight letters. 
Remove half its letters, an equal number from the beginning and end, leaving the color of the phenomenon. 
What is this phenomenon?
Hint: The color of the phenomenon can also serve as a prefix indicating the locus of the phenomenon. 

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.

Madmen and Scotsmen, lions and tabbies, heroes and fools; Exploring the deserts of Europe; Sun in a run for the roses; Department of Wealth, Medication and Housewares; Put some bread in my jar!

PUZZLERIA! SLICES: OVER 8!/20 SERVED

Schpuzzle Of The Week:
Exploring the deserts of Europe

A word in a name on the European map sounds like a letter of the alphabet. 
Replace the word with the letter it sounds like. 
Rearrange the first four letters of this result to spell a word describing deserts, and rearrange the final five letters to spell things found in deserts. 
What is this name on the map?

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Cryptic Crossword Appetizer:
Madmen and Scotsmen, lions and tabbies, heroes and fools

Greetings, cryptic crossword aficionados. Patrick J. Berry (screen name, “cranberry”) has presented us with his fifteenth 15-by-15 grid of mystifying fun. 
Here are the links to Patrick’s fourteen previous cryptic crosswords on Puzzleria!
ONE TWO THREE FOUR FIVE 
SIX SEVEN EIGHT NINE TEN ELEVEN
TWELVE THIRTEEN FOURTEEN
If you are unfamiliar with cryptic crossword puzzles, here are a few basic cryptic crossword puzzle instructions:
Regarding the Across and Down clues and their format...
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) simply indicates a six-letter answer like “jalopy,” (5,3) indicates a five-and-three-letter answer like “cargo van,” and (5-5) indicates a five-and-five-letter hyphenated answer like “Rolls-Royce.”
(For further insight about how to decipher these numbered cryptic clues, see Patrick’s “Cryptic Crossword Tutorial” in this link to his November 17, 2017 cryptic crossword. 
The Tutorial appears below the grid that contains the answers in that edition of Puzzleria!)

ACROSS
1. Defying the odds, real comic legend-turned-easygoing daytime talk show host(5,9)
9. Called “soft” and “old”(5)
10. Strike back with good figure of speech in dangerous situation(9)
11. Ambassador’s failure during bad year(8)
12. Not just broadcast, “fun” broadcast!(6)
14. Eats, happy to dig into seconds(4)
15. Not hard covering Black Sabbath classic without heavy metal band?(4,6)
18. Poem seen as poorly written magic words?(4,6)
19. Go right inside, showing determination(4)
21. Fool with story about dog(6)
23. Perfection in cryptic: I mislead!(8)
25. Gang finds tabby in Disney remake(9)
26. Beef with a Scotsman?(5)
27. Author’s great war novel has a twist ending, framed by humor(8,6)

DOWN
1. Say lines so funny with a straight face(14)
2. Appealing sort of bonus(9)
3. Madman providing insult, one that’s barely there?(6)
4. Jimmy supporting record company(10)
5. Extremely excited guy, highly strung(4)
6. Foreigner, one going to college in England, gets point(8)
7. Drink up to hide personal problem? It can make you sick!(5)
8. Comment from Her Majesty, awfully mad–tore us a new one, going off!(2,3,3,6)
13. Drive a man insane with some tweeted comment?(10)
16. Courage of alien raised to accept “being human”?(7-2)
17. Hoping to keep one in a vault?(8)
20. Empty container put inside larger container(6)
22. Present-day hero with some pleasant advice(5)
24. Lion’s first appearance in den(4)

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Piano Bar Slice:
Put some bread in my jar!

Name another word for the “bread” a patron may put into a piano bar jar and a word patrons use to address the piano player, according to certain song lyrics. 
Rearrange the letters in these words to name where a patron might get the bread and what he might use to get it. 

Riffing Off Shortz Slices:
Department of Wealth, Medication and Housewares 

Will Shortz’s May 17th NPR Weekend Edition Sunday puzzle reads:
Name a Cabinet department – as in “Department of ___.” Rearrange the letters of what goes in the blank to get the brand name of a product you might find at a drugstore or supermarket. 
What is it?
Puzzleria!s Riffing Off Shortz Slices read:
ENTREE #1
Name a Cabinet department – as in “Department of ___.” 
Rearrange the letters of what goes in the blank to get a two-word tool that can be found in the interior of your car – most likely in the trunk. 
What is it?
ENTREE #2
Name a Cabinet department – as in “Department of ___.” 
Rearrange the letters of what goes in the blank to get the two-word brand name of a product you can find, for example, at Target stores or at Wayfair.com. It is a product you can either walk upon or hang on a wall. 
What is it?
Hint: The first word in the brand name was a noblewoman in ancient Rome.
ENTREE #3
Name a two-word Cabinet department – as in “Department of ___ ____.” 
Rearrange the letters of what goes in the two blanks to get a possible three-word stage name of Don Rickles. 
What is it?
ENTREE #4
Name a now-defunct two-word Cabinet department – as in “Department of ___ ____.” 
Rearrange the 14 letters of what goes in the two blanks to get three words: a kind of expedition associated with a certain continent, a nation in that continent, and the first word in the phrase “___ the beaten path,” which describes the location of such expeditions. What are these three words?
ENTREE #5
Cab and Nettie Robinson are ornithophiles. They have a pond in their spacious backyard where birds of a feather – of the family Anatidae – are free to flock together. The pond is surrounded by birdbaths where other birds are free to perform splashy ablutions.
On one merry morning in March (with the temperature at 39 degrees Fahrenheit), Nettie and Cab install a trough on the periphery of the pond where their wading and paddling birds could help themselves to birdseed (see illustration).
Give a two-word name for the birdseed trough. Rearrange the letters in those two words to form the words that fill the following blanks: “Department of ___” and “Department of _______,” which are the former and current names of a U.S. cabinet department.
Now change an F in the two-word name for the birdseed trough to a T. Rearrange the result to form an adjective and noun that describe the contents, on that particular March morning, of the pond and birdbaths. 
What U.S. cabinet department is is this? What is the birdseed trough also called? What two words describe the contents of the pond and birdbaths on that 39-degree morning in March?

Dessert Menu

Triple Crown Dessert:
Sun in a run for the roses 

Why would “Sun” be a good name for a throroughbred Triple Crown contender?
Hint: The answer involves punning.


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.

A moveable puzzle feast for those not on the go; Great danes, cranes and automobiles; A dumbfounding demon of a demonym; Live from New York...; Nun of the Above?

PUZZLERIA! SLICES: OVER 8!/20 SERVED

Schpuzzle Of The Week:
Nun of the Above? 

The answer to this Schpuzzle of the Week is not “Nun (or even None) of the above.” It is not a multiple-choice quiz. What it is, is a fill-in-the-blanks quiz.
So, fill in the four blanks in the following sentence with two different words:
A nun in need of a miracle _______ her beads and _____, but most folks just _____ their _______. 
What are these two words?

Appetizer Menu

Econfusion Appetizer:
A moveable puzzle feast for those not on the go

(Note: We introduce this week a new feature by a great puzzle creator whose screen name is ecoarchitect. We call it “Econfusions.” He is an an architect who is equally adept at designing structures and puzzles. Enjoy!)

National movements
?1. Name two countries. 
In each country, move the last letter to the 3rd position, and the result will be something you might have wanted 1000 years ago, but don’t want today.

You can be famous without vowel movements
?2. Name a well-known celebrity, first and last name. Of the 14 letters in that name, six are the same vowel, and there are no other vowels in that name. Not so useful hint: The celebrity’s middle name has three letters, two are the same vowel.
?3. Name a well-known writer, first and last name. Of the 15 letters in that name, five are the same vowel, and there are no other vowels in that name.

And a movement to solve problems
?4. Name something in 10 letters that people, including folks on this blog, use to solve a problem. Move the 5th letter nine places in the alphabet (or 17, depending on which direction you’re moving) to get another thing people use to solve a problem.

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Retail Comedy Slice:
Live from New York...

Name a U.S.-based high-end global retailer. Change a letter to the letter before it in the alphabet. 
Rearrange the result to form the first and last names of an Saturday Night Live alumna. 
What is this retailer?
Hint: The alumna has remained somewhat ubiquitous on television in the wake of her SNL tenure.


Riffing Off Shortz And Heckler Slices:
Great danes, cranes and automobiles

Will Shortz’s May 5th NPR Weekend Edition Sunday puzzle, created by Jerry Heckler of Chardon, Ohio, reads:
Name the make and model of a popular car. Change the first and last letters of the make to name an animal. Change the first and fourth letters of the model to name another animal.
What car is this? 
Puzzleria!s Riffing Off Shortz And Heckler Slices read:
ENTREE #1
Take the first and last names of a puzzle-maker. Write down the first and second letters, followed by the ninth and fifth letters, and then the tenth letter, written twice. 
The result is the last name of a character created by a Scottish author.
Now write the sixth, fifth and seventh letters of the puzzle-maker’s name. Between the fifth and seventh letters place the fifth letter in the puzzle-maker’s hometown. The result is the last name of a character created by the same Scottish author.
Who is the puzzle-maker?
Who are the two characters?
ENTREE #2
Name the make and model of a popular car. Change the first two letters of the make to name an animal. 
Change the last two letters of the model to name another animal. 
What car is this?
ENTREE #3
Name the make and model of a popular car.
Change the first and fourth letters of the make to name a slang term for an owl.
Change the first and fourth letters of the make again to name a slang term for an dog.
Change the fourth letter of the model to name another animal.
What car is this? 
ENTREE #4
Name the make and model of a popular car. 
Change the third letter of the make, and remove its fifth and seventh letters, to name an animal. 
Replace the third letter of the model with a vowel and consonant to name another animal. 
What car is this?
ENTREE #5
Name the make and model of a popular car. Change the first and last letters of the make to name a part of an animal that is also a part of a car. Remove a Greek letter from the beginning of the model and spell the remaining letters backward to spell very small animals. 
What car is this?
ENTREE #6
Name the make and model of car manufactures during the 1990s. 
Change the last two letters of the make to name something cars need in order to function. 
Change the first letter of the model and place an L at the end to name a synonym of that something. 
What car is this?
ENTREE #7
Name the brand of a past popular car associated with a former governor. Change the first and fourth letters of the brand to name a car part. 
Change the second letter of the brand to name a slang term for another car part. 
What car is this?
ENTREE #8
Name the make and model of a past popular car that was manufactured for about 35 years. 
The final five letters of the make spell a body part. The second, third, fourth, first and last letters of the make spell a bodily fluid related to blood. 
Double one letter in the model to spell an adjective that describes many animals.  
What car is this?

Dessert Menu

Letter-Dropping Dessert:
A dumbfounding demon of a demonym 

Remove one letter in the name of a country and place the result after the name of the same country to name a citizen of the country. 
What is the country?


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.