Dang good, but also dang bad! What did Noah drink on the Ark? Run for the border, loosen your belts; Four on a match; Mamas & Papas, Marimba? & Grammys

PUZZLERIA! SLICES: OVER 3(7!) SERVED

Schpuzzle Of TheWeek:
Four on a match

Your puzzle assignment, should you choose to accept it, is to write a two-word title to the five-stanza anapestic dimeter poem, below.
Hint: Identify 18 words in the poem. These words contain a total of 63 letters (but only 7 different letters!). 
Consider 14 of these 18 words as 7 pairs, consider 3 of them as one triplet, and consider one of them as a single stand-alone 7-letter word. 
Each of the pairs contains 7 different letters, as does the one triplet, as does the single word. 
The words in each of these seven pairs of words are in close proximity within the text of the poem. The three words in the one triplet are consecutive in the poem’s text.

MIXED DOUBLES

On the court, four did joust:
Ed and Deb, Bud and Sue.
Two were skirted and bloused,
Two wore tees from J. Crew.


Sue was bold, Deb had soul,
Young buck Ed had no clue.    
Graybeard Bud had a hole 
In the sole of his shoe.

“Hey Ed, lob us the ball,”
 Yelled Bud, trusting that Sue
(Who had grace like Bacall)
Would smash-volley it true.

Ed indeed used a lob,
But Sue whiffed! What bad news!
Deb cheered, “Ed, Superb job!
We win! Sue and Bud lose!”


And so ends this sob story
Of a duel two-on-two.
On green sod two found glory...
For two, blue was the hue.

Appetizer Menu

Rock Fare by Chad Appetizer:
Mamas & Papas, Marimba? & Grammys

Name a musical instrument in five letters, two syllables. 
Add the name of a famous theatrical award to the first syllable. 
Add what mothers and fathers have in common to the second syllable. 
You will name a very famous pop/rock musical group in two words, 14 letters. 
What is the instrument and who is the group?

MENU

Southern Creature Comfort Slice:
What did Noah drink on the Ark?

Say the names of two creatures aloud, in alphabetical order. Both creatures begin with an S. 
What you say will sound like something non-alcoholic from which you drink when you are outdoors, in one word, followed by something alcoholic you drink, in two words.
What are these two creatures? 
Hint: Add a letter to the beginning of a word associated with the biblical Jacob to spell a word associated with this alcoholic “something” (and also with its consumer).


Riffing Off Shortz And Graham Slices:
Run for the border, loosen your belts

Will Shortz’s June 7th NPR Weekend Edition Sunday puzzle, created by Chad Graham of St. Louis, Missouri, reads:
Name a well-known restaurant chain. Rearrange its letters to name a large area in the United States. This area has a two-word name. What is it?
Puzzleria!s Riffing Off Shortz And Graham Slices read:
ENTREE #1:
Interchange the first and last names of a puzzle-maker. Rotate the last letter of this result 180 degrees to form a new letter. 
After this new letter write the three-letter word that belongs in the following blank: “Wise ___ #2,” the name of a character in “Life of Brian.” 
The result is the name of the actor who portrayed “Wise ___ #2.”
Who are this puzzle-maker and actor?
ENTREE #2:
Name the two-word generic female subject of an 1860’s-era oil painting by an American artist. Rearrange the 11 letters in the words to name a large area in North America. 
This area has a two-word name. What is it?
Hint: The artist’s first name is the same as that of a Nobel prize-winner who served in the cabinets of two presidents. The artist’s surname is the same as that of the lead singer of of a rock band formed 30 years ago on the West Coast.
ENTREE #3:
Give a description of this stuffed animal using two adjectives beginning with an F and C and a noun beginning with T. 
Rearrange the letters of this description to name a large area in the United States. This area has a two-word name. 
What are this name and this description?
ENTREE #4:
Name a well-known restaurant chain. Rearrange its letters to spell two words:
1. a type of carriage, and 
2. an adjective for the animal that the carriage is drawn by (like “feline” or “canine,” for example). 
What is this chain? 
What are this carriage and creature-adjective?
ENTREE #5:
Name a somewhat well-known restaurant chain that was founded in Florida. Rearrange its 13 letters to spell three words: 
1. one that follows “kobe” on a menu, 
2. a cool seafood on a menu that is often served with soy sauce, and 
3. a word on the drink menu that follows “whiskey.” 
This restaurant chain has a two-word name. 
What is it?
ENTREE #6:
Name a reasonably well-known restaurant chain. 
Rearrange its letters to spell a two-word caption for the image pictured here. 
What are this caption and restaurant chain?
Hint: Lopping of the final two letters of the caption will produce an alternative caption for the image.
ENTREE #7:
Chad Graham, the creator of this week’s NPR puzzle, also created this week’s Appetizer (under his screen name, Chuck). 
The title of his “Conundrumbstruck by Chuck!” feature this week is titled “Rock Fare by Chad Appetizer.”
Rearrange the combined letters in “Rock,” “Fare” and “Chad” to name a well-known restaurant chain. 
What is it?
ENTREE #8:
Name a very large two-word area in the United States that is also the brand name of a beverage produced in Minnesota.
Rearrange its letters to form two words:
1. how certain native Europeans say the word “day” and
2. a city where such a European might reside.
What are the beverage/area and the European’s hometown?

Dessert Menu

Dangling Dessert:
Dang good, but also dang bad!

Name two words: something good that is dangled and something that is bad when it is dangling. 
Both begin with the same syllable. 
What are these two words?


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.