Friday, August 28, 2020

Putting positive spin on a proverb; What is worn & where you wear it; Good Hope hunting, Lord willing; Readin’ and writin’ and rev·el·ry; Stump Isle stumper

PUZZLERIA! SLICES: OVER 3(7!) SERVED

Schpuzzle Of TheWeek:
Putting positive spin on a proverb

Take a familiar proverb. 
Replace one word with an antonym. 
Replace two words with homophones. 
At the end of this result add a popular one-word newspaper name, like “Journal” or “Tribune,” for example. The result will be a more positive proverb. 
What is the familiar proverb?
What is the more positive proverb?

Appetizer Menu

Econfusions Appetizer:
Readin’ and writin’ and rev·el·ry

Red read?
?1. Think of a verb in the past tense. 
A homophone of that word can describe a person who has done that same action, but the two words are etymologically unrelated (for example, like “Red read” in the image shown here).  
What are the two words?

Writing in the sand?
?2. Name a famous author predominantly known for works in the first half of the 20th Century.  
Spoonerize the first and last name, and the result will be an observation after a day with the family at the beach.
Who is this author?  
Hint:  The author is not an American.
A brief syllabratory break at the top of the day?
?3.The last name of a well-known celebrity has two syllables. 
Depending on how you separate the syllables, it phonetically breaks into two different short phrases. 
One phrase might be a hope for those tracking Covid-19, the other might be advice from those afflicted with it.
Who is this celebrity?


MENU

Smooth Operator Slice:
Stump Isle stumper

What common English word equals either about 427 or 56 depending on which operation you apply to it?
Hint: The combined letters in your operation options can be rearranged to form “Stump Isle.”

Riffing Off Shortz and Weisz Slices:
Good Hope hunting, Lord Willin’ 

Will Shortz’s August 23rd NPR Weekend Edition Sunday puzzle, created by Sandy Weisz, of Chicago, Illinois, reads:
Think of a place on earth with a four-word name. Take the third word. 
Advance three of its letters to the next letter of the alphabet (so A would become B, B would be come C, etc.). You’ll get the fourth word in the name. What place is this?
Puzzleria!s Riffing Off Shortz and Weisz Slices read:
ENTREE #1:
Think of a puzzle-maker with a two-word name. 
Advance the first three letters of the first name four places ahead in the circular alphabet (so A would become E, B would be come F, etc.). 
Leave the remaining letters in the first name as they are.
The result sounds like an adjective that might describe the puzzle-maker.
In the second name, advance all but the fourth letter four places ahead in the circular alphabet. Move the fourth letter thrice-as-many (that is, twelve) places ahead.
The result is a verb that is missing from the following sentence:
“Puzzle-makers, from the bygone Zeno-of-Elia Era to the present-day Shortz-of-Pleasantville Era, have always  _____ to both baffle and bedazzle puzzle-solvers.” 
Who is this puzzle-maker?
What adjective might describe the puzzle-maker?
What is the missing verb that belongs in the blank?
ENTREE #2:
Think of a place on earth with a compound-word name. The first part is an adjective sometimes associated with gills. The second part is verb for what an angler might do to a fish.
Remove the place’s last and third-last letters. Advance the remaining letters eight places ahead in the circular alphabet (so A would become I, B would be come J, etc.)
The result is the last word in the title of a musical fantasy film involving the Muppets, followed by the year the film was released, followed by where audiences viewed its May 20 premiere.
What is this place on earth?
ENTREE #3:
Think of a six-letter noun that defines Greenland. Remove the sixth letter. 
Advance four of this truncated noun’s five letters to the next letter of the circular alphabet (so A would become B, B would be come C, etc.). 
Advance the as-yet-unadvanced letter two places ahead in the alphabet (so A would become C, B would be come D, etc.). 
The result of all this “advanced alphabetology” is a five-letter adjective that describes the six-letter noun that Greenland is.  
What are this noun and adjective?
ENTREE #4:
Think of a well-known large body of water on earth with a two-word name. 
Take the second word. Advance all but the second letter 17 places ahead in the circular alphabet (so A would become R, B would become S, etc.). Advance the second letter 24 places ahead in the circular alphabet (so A would become Y, B would be come Z, etc.). The result is the surname of a retired pro quarterback who had talent “up the _____.”
Now take the word in the blank that follows “up the ...” 
Advance all but the second letter five places ahead in the circular alphabet (so A would become R, B would become S, etc.). Advance the second letter 17 places ahead in the circular alphabet (so A would become R, B would be come S, etc.). The result is the first name of the retired pro quarterback with talent “up the _____.”
Drop the last two letters from the body of water’s first word. Keep the antepenultimate letter (that is, the “new” last letter) as it is, but advance all other letters four places ahead in the circular alphabet (so A would become E, B would become F, etc.). The result is an adjective that describes the pro quarterback as a passer.
What is the body of water?
Who is the quarterback?
What is the word in the blank?
What adjective describes the quarterback?
ENTREE #5:
Think of a place on earth with a two-word name. 
Take the first word. Advance its second letter eight places ahead in the circular alphabet (so A would become I, B would be come J, etc.). Advance the remaining letters three places ahead in the circular alphabet (so A would become D, B would be come E, etc.). You’ll get what vacationers who visit the place might order at a restaurant.
Take the first word a second time. This time leave the first letter as it is. Advance its other letters 14 places ahead in the circular alphabet (so A would become O, B would be come P, etc.). You’ll get, more specifically, what vacationers who visit the place might order at a restaurant.
What is this place on earth?
Hint: The specific food ordered at the restaurant is not surprising, given the second word in the place’s name.
ENTREE #6:
Think of a place on earth, in a six-letter word, according to a singer with the initials B.C.
Advance the letters 22 places ahead in the circular alphabet (so A would become W, B would be come X, etc.). 
Change the third letter of this result to an N and the fifth letter to an O. 
The sixth, fifth, fourth, first, second and third letters will then spell a river associated with the “place on earth.”
What place is this?
What is the river?

Dessert Menu

Changing Clothes Dessert:
What is worn & where you wear it

Name certain things people wear. 
Switch the first and last halves of this word. (For example, the word “casebook” would become “bookcase.”) 
Performing such a “literary switcheroo” will name a place you are likely to see people wearing them. 
What are these wearables and where do people wear them?

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.


83 comments:

  1. Good Friday Morning to all on the blog!
    I've done all I can for the time being on these puzzles, and I hate to tell you I'm already sick of trying to advance letters in the alphabet ahead however many. Especially 17 or 24. BTW Lego, you had 17 in there twice for no reason in Entree #4. Five letters ahead does NOT equal 17 ahead. Nevertheless, I have solved the following:
    Entrees #1, #2, #3, and #6, and part of but not all of #4
    Hints will be expected and should be mandatory with puzzles such as these!
    Good solving to all, good luck, and stay safe, and wear those masks!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Oddly enough, this time the first Entree was the hardest as far as I am concerned (usually, it is the easiest one)....in fact, I could only get an answer IF I moved the fourth letter of the last name 12 spaces ahead, rather than just 8. Is this wrong? Do I have the wrong NAME?

    GOt all the other Entrees, and I thought 4 and 5 were the EASIEST ones, so I was surprised to see that those were the two pjb didn't have yet. I suppose I just made fortunate guesses for the places on those two.

    And I just came up with AN answer for Dessert, although I have no idea if it's correct. Do the 'halves' have to be absolutely EQUAL in length? If so, then my solution isn't right.

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    Replies
    1. ViolinTeddy,
      You are not wrong at all. You are completely correct, and I again must express my gratitude to you for your very helpful "ViolinTedditing"! The fourth letter in the puzzle-maker's surname must be moved twelve (not eight!) places ahead in the circular alphabet. I have corrected my faulty puzzle text.
      And yes, in the Dessert, my "intended answer" requires that the halves be equal in length (like "casebook" and "bookcase"). They are shorter words, however.
      That said, I am now curious to see your "unequal-halves" solution.
      As for your comment, below, regarding the Smooth Operator Slice, I am confident you shall solve it. It involves a knowledge of math and of ancient Roman history (or perhaps Super Bowl history!)

      LegratefullyToOurViolinTedditor

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    2. Very glad to have (accidentally?) helped, Legratefully!

      I shall tackle the Slice, now, with help from the 'hint' above.

      Delete
    3. The dessert answer words are shorter than bookcase or other way around?
      Hint: The missing word in #4 entree was recently seen in a national campaign Add. I may have to go without dessert this week but got three entrees.

      Delete
    4. I hear they wear these in Nebo, NC.

      Delete
  3. Forgot to mention, I have utterly NO idea how to tackle the Smooth Slice (again, with the letters having numerical value)

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  4. Sounds like she blew so hard she became blue in the face...

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    Replies
    1. Thanks, ron. It's always great to have you drop by.
      There is also Blue blew... blues!

      LegoWhoWonders:DidLenaHorneHornInOnAnyOfBlue'sRecordingSessionsEver?

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    2. When he won, he became number one in the world...

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    3. Holy Kleenex Batman - he was right under our nose and we blew it.

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    4. Good for him, ron. Bobby Fischer? Boris Spassky? Bobby Boris Pickett?
      Alas, I've never really won one of anything in my life!

      LegoWhoAfterThinkingAboutItABitMoreHoweverDoesRecallWhenHeactuallyDidWinWinnDixie'sEmployeeOfTheMonthCitationWhenHeWorkedThereAsABaggerAsALad(ItWasAWinWinnSituation!)

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    5. Great to be graced by your presence also, Plantsmith, here on Puzzleria! Don't be a stranger.

      LegoWhoNotesThatBatmanNeedNotCarryKleenexBecauseHeWearsWearsACape(WhichIsEssentiallyJustAJumboSizedHandkerchief!)

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    6. Sounds like a Covid cape to me. A superspeader event perhaps?

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    7. And, if a Jumbo elephant sneezes (whether he is wearing a mask or not) even your keeping a responsible social distance of six feet will be on no use to youse at all! All those viral drooly elephantine droplets will be projectiled right achoo!

      LegoWhoNotesThatASneezingDonkeyWillLikelyNoTBeAsMuchOfARisk

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    8. Yea "It's all happening at the zoo. i do believe it's true."

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    9. I got four entrees,2,3,4,5. Knew somehow Times was in the Schpuzzle. Better than last week however.

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    10. I have a spin on the NPR puzzle this week i could send you.

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    11. Except i had Kazoo instead of Wazoo for the football adjective hence the reference to a recent Facebok Add featuring - Kazoos.
      I had Thomas Mann- Appetiser two-- -but could not make the Spooner work for me.
      And living in Hawaii for a year and actually making a couple of Leis did not get me any sugar this week. Oh well. Great puzzles anyway. Oh well. It is almost Lent anyway.

      Delete
    12. Thank you, Plantsmith.
      I would love to see spin on the NPR puzzle this week. Please send it to jrywriter@aol.com

      LegrasMardi

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  5. Have answers to all the Entrées, Ecoappetizers #1 (3 answers) and #2, and have an idea on the Stump Isle. No idea yet on the others.

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  6. BTW I at least have the two "operation options" made from installing "Stump Isle". Unfortunately, I couldn't get any further than that.

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  7. I'm thinking the "popular one-word newspaper name" might figure into one of the other puzzles. Am I thinking amiss?

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    Replies
    1. You are thinking not "amiss" but, happily, "ahit," Paul. (Plus, it is "a hint" extraordinaire.) Sounds as if you have solved at least the Schpuzzle and the Stump Isle Stumper Slice.

      LegoDoesNotIntendToBeSexistByNotingThatPaulIsThinkingNotAMissButRatherAMister

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  8. Late Saturday/Early SundayHints:

    Schpuzzle Of TheWeek:
    The proverb involves food.

    Econfusions Appetizer:
    1. The examples posed thus far in our comments section for etymologically unrelated homophones ("Red read," "Blue blew," "one won" and "win Winn-") contain totals of 7, 8. 6 and 7 letters, respectively.
    eco's intended answer, on the other hand, contains 13 total letters!
    2. Though the author is not American, the title of a work by the author can be found in Santa Clarita.
    3. If you apply the "spoonerism principle" (that we applied to the author in econfusion #2) to the celebrity in econfusion #3, the first part of the spoonerized result will sound like a greenish-blue color.

    Smooth Operator Slice:
    The word has four letters. It is a homophone of a past sitcom character's surname.

    Riffing Off Shortz and Weisz Slices:
    ENTREE #1:
    The adjective that might describe the puzzle-maker does not describe the kind of tight, concise prose that copyeditors like.
    The missing verb is what both Will Tell and Lee Harvey Oswald did...
    But Jack Ruby? Not so much.
    ENTREE #2:
    The adjective sometimes associated with gills is a color. What an angler might do to a fish comes after the baiting and casting but before the filleting and feasting.
    ENTREE #3:
    The six-letter noun that defines Greenland was a place once inhabited by Grumby, Grant, Howell and Hinckley.
    ENTREE #4:
    The body of water is a "Pond."
    The word in the blank rhymes with a musical instrument.
    ENTREE #5:
    The place on earth with a two-word name in on an east coast. It is alliterative.
    ENTREE #6:
    The singer, of course, is not a Crosby -- either a Bing or a David.
    The first name of the singer is the second word in a two-word 1940s controversial movie that dealt with rumors and rape.
    The singer's second name ends with a word in one of this week's italicized puzzle titles (like Good Hope hunting, Lord Willin’ , for example).

    Changing Clothes Dessert:
    The word is a four-letter word!
    And the word for "things people wear" is likely a plural word. Many (but not all) plural words end in S.

    Lego(WhichIsAlsoAFour-LetterWord!)WouldBecome "Gole"

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    Replies
    1. I finally came up with an Eco #1 answer, but it's only 12 letters long, not 13....and I've decided that is close enough!

      Delete
  9. Well, that takes care of the Dessert for me!

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  10. Also got the Dessert from the hint. I had been working under the false assumption that both halves of the word had to be words (as in "bowtie" and in the text example). Alas, not the case.

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    Replies
    1. That is an interesting observation, geofan.
      When I composed the puzzle, I struggled to find examples of words that became new words when you "interchange their halves." I finally "settled on casebook/bookcase" because I assumed finding compound words with such a property would be more promising. I still believe that assumtion to be correct.
      But now I am curoius about how may pairs of non-compound English words share that "switcheroo" property.
      As of the present moment (2:50 AM CDT, 8/30/2020), my intended Dessert answer is the only example I can think of!

      GoleBdalam

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    2. When looking for a 4-letter answer, I first focused on ARTS/TSAR (with Ts = "T-shirts") At that point I had not yet realized that there was no requirement that the word-halves themselves be words. Of course, AR is not a word, and TSAR does not fit. So I moved on.

      As to other flipflop/flopflip words, excluding trivial cases such as DODO, MUUMUU, TSETSE, it is hard. How about
      LITRES/RESLIT, DIETED/TEDDIE(name), HARLOT/LOTHAR(name)?

      For the Schpuzzle, in addition to Ron's WON/ONE, I found also GROWN/GROAN (Oh, I'm, getting old...") and THROWN/THRONE (the emperor, after the revolution). These have 10 and 12 letters, but not yet 13. Maybe I should look at regular verbs [as an aid. I used as a crutch the "seznam nepravidelných sloves = list of irregular verbs" from a Czech-English dictionary that was conveniently at hand].

      Delete
    3. Of course, in another trivial direction (2 letters) there are AH/HA, AM/MA, EH/HE, EM/ME, EW/WE, IT/TI, ON/NO, OS/SO and some more Scrabbley pairs as well.

      Delete
    4. I too thought of BOWTIE/TAEBO. BTW Congrats, Lego! I just heard another one of your puzzles was accepted by Will Shortz! Huzzah and kudos, good sir!

      Delete
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  12. I have an Appetizer 1 wild guess that contains 12 letters total. Oh, well.

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  13. And finally, after a load of incessant head scratching, I have calculated guesses on everything - even the elusive Slice.

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  14. I am thrilled to report that I just solved the Schpuzzle! Yippee!

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  15. Early this morning I was awakened by a power outage, and my Wi-Fi wasn't working. Lasted from a little before 9:00am until almost 11:00am. No bad weather or anything. It just went out!

    ReplyDelete
  16. And now, if I may get back on topic, have you got any more hints, Lego?

    ReplyDelete
  17. Wednesday Hints:

    Schpuzzle Of TheWeek:
    The proverb involves a dessert food.
    The antonym is the same as the word it replaces if you add an apostrophe and t to the end of the antonym.

    Econfusions Appetizer:
    1. The homophones sound like each other, of course, but also sound like another word for a dairy farmer.
    2. The "observation after a day with the family at the beach" might be made by a son or daughter about a parent... a sun-worshipping parent.
    3. If you spoonerize the name of the celebrity, the first part would rhyme with "lion" (as well as the greenish-blue color from my previous hint) and the second part would sound like a phrase that those tracking Covid-19 would not hope for.

    Smooth Operator Slice:
    The 4-letter word is homophone of a past sitcom character's surname (as I wrote in my previous hint). That character was in a branch of the military.

    Riffing Off Shortz and Weisz Slices:
    ENTREE #4:
    The body of water is a "Pond..." as in "across the Pond."
    The word in the blank rhymes with a musical instrument. That musical instrument was pictured in a recent Puzzleria! image.
    ENTREE #5:
    The place on earth rhymes with "shape? broad."

    LegoSaysThatWhatMarieAntoinetteProbablyDidNotReallySayMightHelpYouWithTheSchpuzzle

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    Replies
    1. Lego: It appears that you pronounce the color as a homophone of "scion". I pronounce it as if it were the 2 names Sy-Ann. So did not get the relationship to "lion". I had taken the hint for "cerulean" where -lean is pronounced as Leann (not exactly "lion").

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  18. So the four-letter word is PILE, but I still don't get the numerical connection. Entree #5 I got right away. The instrument in #4 I already got, but can't get the "across the Pond" connection. Now as I'm writing this, I just got eco's second and third puzzles! And I think I might know the verb in his first puzzle, but there must be something more to it than that if it's 13 letters in all. I need a little more information on that one.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. pi+L+e; (pi)(L)(e)
      ENTREE #4:
      The well-known large body of water on earth with a two-word name is sometimes called "the Pond."
      In Econfusion #1, the other word for a dairy farmer (that is a homophone of the two homophones) is the surname of a Fox Sports media personality who once worked for ESPN.

      LegoWhoseBonnyOnceLayOverThePond

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  21. Econfusion #1: My answers are alternates. I like my first (10-letter) one best (as it applies).

    Econfusion #3: It appears that I have an alternate for the color, thus for the answer. The color that is an imperfect rhyme with LION was not familiar to me.

    Entrée #5: For me, the 2nd word is an imperfect rhyme with "broad". This is from a difference in dialects between western WI and NE USA. Linguists call this the "cot-caught merger".

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    Replies
    1. Pronunciation puzzles can be prolematic.

      LegoAProudWesternWisconsin(ArrowheadCountry)Native

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  22. Legolambda, you were randomly selected as the on-air NPR puzzle winner two years in a row. Once on June 13th, 2013 and again on June 29th, 2014.
    The audio is available online.
    Lucky, huh?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Here is an slightly edited version of a reply to Wordsmyth that I posted over on Blainesville earlier today:
      My dear Wordsmyth,
      I, Joseph Young, alias legolambda, did indeed play the on-air puzzle on 6/13/13 and 6/29/14 (and on 5/21/17!)
      I am painfully aware that playing on-air in 2014 and 2017 deprived two deserving puzzle-solvers of an opportunity to play on-air (most likey more proficiently that I!) and to procure the coveted lapel pin holy grail (see 0:17, 0:55, 1:19 and 1:40).
      I feel guilty about that. My only excuse is that I was blinded by the likelihood of being able to shamelessly plug my puzzle blog over the airwaves to a national audience of puzzle aficionados.
      (I got "the call" once subsequenty, but politely declined, as I would do again if called a fifth time.)


      LegoLuckyInPuzzlingButUnluckyInLove

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  23. I knew last Friday that the newspaper name was TIMES, but even the food hint didn't help me fill out the rest until early this morning when it suddenly came to me that "you can't have your cake and eat it, too, but you can halve your cake and eat it two times".

    I got nothing on the ecoconfusions.

    I guess w+x+y+z=56 and wxyz=427, but I can't figure out the word WXYZ (and what's the "about" about?).

    SANDY WEISZ > WERDY(wordy), AIMED

    GREENLAND > OZ, MMV(2005), TV

    GREENLAND is a JUMBO ISLAND

    I forgot all about #5

    I just read a hint indicating that the body of water is the Atlantic Ocean, but I've run out of time and interest in tackling the football player.

    HEAVEN is a place on earth, according to Belinda Carlisle, and you have to cross the JORDAN to get there.

    LEIS > ISLE

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  24. Schpuzzle: You can't have your cake and eat it too, CAN'T => CAN, HAVE => HALVE, TOO => TWO. Yields “YOU CAN HALVE YOUR CAKE AND EAT IT TWO TIMES.” [post-Sun-hint]
    Liked this puzzle! The answer is even mathematically plausible (rather like a stock split).

    Econfusion appetizers
    #1: GROWN/GROAN (“Oh, I'm old.” – best answer!); THROWN/THRONE (emperor, post-revolution); WON/ONE (“I'm #1.”). Post-Sun-hint: 13 letters => ???
    #2: THOMAS MANN => MOMA'S T(H)AN(N)
    #3: Post-Sun-hint: NEIL (from TEAL) TYSON => TIES IN (to a contact) or TIE, SON (“wear that mask, man”). Post-Wed-hints: Lion => CERULEAN (not a familiar color to me) or CYAN => RYAN, DIANNE ???

    Smooth Operator Slice:
    Post-Sun-hint: Let's sum pi OR times plus. Super Bowl LVI (56) is scheduled for Feb 2021. Siteom last name Howell => HOWL => ???
    Post-Wed-hints: PILE(Pyle) => π + L (50) + e ≈ 55.8; π * L (50) * e ≈ 426.7 (after Wed giveaway)

    Entrées
    #1: SANDY WEISZ => WERDY(wordy), WEISZ => AIMED (got it pre-12-shift-correction)
    #2: GREENLAND – A,D => GREENLND => OZMMVTV => OZ, MMV(2005), TV “Muppets Wizard of Oz”
    #3: ISLAND => ISLAN => JUMBO
    #4: WAZOO => BRETT, OCEAN => FAVRE, ATLANTIC => ATLANT => EXPERT
    #5: CAPE COD, CAPE => FISH, CAPE => CODS, COD
    #6: HEAVEN => DAWRAJ => DANROJ => JORDAN(River), BELINDA CARLISLE (never heard of her)

    Dessert: LEIS => ISLE [post-Sun-hint]

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    Replies
    1. For the Schpuzzle I also had an alternate proverb/answer:
      WHAT YOU SEE IS WHAT YOU GET =>
      WHAT EWE SEE AIN'T WHAT YEW GET NEWS

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    2. The image here is more of a male dog than a ewe, though. Maybe good news for the yew.

      Delete
    3. ..or maybe more appropriate, the above fractured proverb but using POST(Washington DC) or DISPAtCH(Columbus OH):
      WHAT EWE SEE AIN'T WHAT YEW GET POST
      WHAT EWE SEE AIN'T WHAT YEW GET DISPATCH

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    4. or even the MORNING-CALL(Allentown PA)

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    5. Great alternative Schpuzzle stabs-at-it, geofan. Like 'em!

      LegoWhoAsAPuzzleDoctorLivingHereInStCloudTownPrescribesTakingTwo(Too?)PuzzlesAndCallingHimInTheMorning

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    6. The Morning Call relates more to urological concerns.

      Delete
  25. Schpuzzle: You can't have your cake and eat it too; You CAN HALVE your cake and eat it TWO TIMES.

    Appetizers:

    1. Guess Guessed (Not unlike this pedestrian puzzle guesser. Not 13 letters; just 12.)
    2. Thomas Mann
    3. Ryan Seacrest; See Crest; Seek Rest

    S.O. Slice: PILE; Pi = 3.14; L = 50 (Roman Numeral); e = 2.718 (Euler's Constant) - Therefore: Pi x L x e = 426.726 and Pi + L + e = 55.858

    Entrees:

    1. Sandy Weisz; Wordy (Werdy); Aimed
    2. Greenland (Oz; MMV; TV)
    3. Island & Jumbo
    4. Atlantic Ocean; Brett Favre; Wazoo; Expert
    5. Cape Cod (Fish; Cods)
    6. Heaven; Jordan

    Dessert: Leis; Isle

    A number of themes running through things this week, it would appear. Good gray cell exercise.

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  26. Replies
    1. "Guest guessed" is a great alternative answer, GB. Who gives a fig about it containing just a dozen (and not a baker's dozen) letters!

      LegoWhoBelievesThatecoarchitect(TheComposerOfThePuzzle)MightAgree

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  27. I don't see Lego's official publication of the answers, so I'll provide the intended Appetizer answers:

    1) Verb in the past tense, a homophone of that word can describe a person who has done that same action. Coward → Cowered.

    2) Spoonerize the first and last name of a famous author for an observation after a day with the family at the beach. Thomas Mann → Mom is tan (or Momma's tan)

    3) Two syllable celebrity phonetically breaks into phrase that might be a hope for those tracking Covid-19, the other might be advice from those afflicted with it. Ryan Seacrest → see crest. seek rest.

    Congrats to GB, who seems to have had the most success. Guessed/ guest isn't bad, but to my mind a guest hasn't inherently guessed. Same with Geofan's grown/ groan (I was always happy when I'd grown taller) and thrown/ throne, which is a limited context, and looks less likely each day. Won/ one seems too easy, and being one can mean other things.

    That's my one cents worth, anything less is non-cents.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. My intent as to the meaning of the alternates:

      (1) GROWN(old) / GROAN -- refers to older age (arthritis, etc.), not to a young person's reaching adulthood. I like it best of the three. IMO, maybe as good as the "intended" answer.

      (2) THROWN / THRONE -- after the Revolution, the Emperor was THROWN from the THRONE. Not as good as (1) above, Also, I fear that eco's assessment is correct as to the outlook in the current situation. I was thinking more historically.

      (3) WON/ONE (as noted by Ron also). not as good as (1) -- agree with ecoarchitect on this.

      With differences in regional pronunciations of "cyan" and also due to the fact that I had never heard of Ryan Seacrest, my failure to get the intended answer is understandable. But a good puzzle nonetheless.
      geofan

      Delete
    2. I knew what you meant with grown/ groan; I just prefer to live in denial. And hope that with age I will someday have grown wiser.

      I also hope we are all able to forget the name Ryan Seacrest. I can't remember how I came up with that puzzle; I think I had gotten an email from someone named Sechrest, and the mind started spinning out of control.

      Cyan is one of those words one sees more than hears, but I've heard an emphasis on the second syllable (like Diane), making it a tough rhyme for Ryan.

      Delete
    3. eco, see my cot-caught merger for a discussion of cyan and words with similar phonemes.

      My encounters with cyan have mostly been with additive production of white light (as in color TV receivers): the 3 primary colors are red, green. blue and the 3 possible pairs mix to give magenta, cyan, and yellow.

      Delete
  28. Replies
    1. I second Plantsmith's gratitude to eco.

      LegoWhoNotesThatOfficialAnswersShallBeForthcomingLaterAfterMorePuzzlerian!PuzzleSolversHaveChimedInWithTheirAnswers

      Delete
  29. Schpuzzle
    YOU CAN'T HAVE YOUR CAKE AND EAT IT, TOO.
    YOU CAN HALVE YOUR CAKE AND EAT IT TWO TIMES.
    Clever.
    Appetizer Menu
    eco Puzzles
    1. COWARD, COWERED
    2. THOMAS MANN, MOM IS TAN
    3. RYAN SEACREST(SEE CREST or SEEK REST)
    Smooth Operator Slice
    PILE(Pi=3.14, L=50, e=2.718)
    Pi×L×e=426.726(427)
    Pi+L+e=55.858(56)
    Menu
    Entrees
    1. SANDY WEISZ, WERDY(WORDY), AIMED
    2. GREENLAND, OZ, MMV(2005), TV
    3. ISLAND, JUMBO
    4. WAZOO, BRETT FAVRE, ATLANTIC OCEAN, EXPERT
    5. CAPE COD, FISH, CODS
    6. HEAVEN, JORDAN(B. C. stands for Belinda Carlisle.)
    Dessert
    LEIS, ISLE
    I hope never again to have to advance one letter 14 or 17 letters ahead for any reason, as long as I live.-pjb

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. pjb, I agree with your assessment of the letter shifts. I feel your pain. Web sites such as rot13 minimize this pain.

      Delete
    2. cranberry,
      Amen.

      LegoWhoIsNotABigFanOfShiftyAndRotten!

      Delete
    3. It was slightly easier to count the other direction for 12 or 9 spots, respectively.

      Delete
  30. CHPUZZLE: YOU CAN HALVE YOUR CAKE AND EAT IT TWO TIMES!


    APPETIZERS:

    1. GUESSED; GUEST; MADE/MAID

    2. THOMAS MANN, author of Magic Mountain (Santa Clarita hint) => MAMA'S TAN [Pre-hint]

    3. [1st Hint: CYAN] [2nd hint: ??] ?EINS???? or ?INES??? or ?IONS???? Have racked brain on this, but no luck.


    SMOOTH SLICE: PILE => 3.1415 (π) + 50 (L : Roman Numeral) + 2.718 (Euler's number) [STUMP ISLE = TIMES or PLUS] Using multiplication, 3.14 x 50 x 2.718 = approx 427


    ENTREES (Pre-hints):

    1. SANDY WEISZ => WERHY & AIMED

    2. GREENLAND => OZ MMV TV

    3. ISLAND => JUMBO

    4. ATLANTIC OCEAN => FAVRE; WAZOO => BRETT; ATLANT/IC => EXPERT

    5. CAPE COD => FISH; CAPE => CODS

    6. HEAVEN => DAWRAJ => DANROJ => JORDAN

    DESSERT: [BALLDRESS => DRESS BALL...I didn't think about the fact that the result was supposed to be ONE word only...oh well.]

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I had also had "HEARD/HERD" for Eco's #1, till I realized, of course, that a HERD is not a person!

      Delete
    2. VT,
      I enjoyed your "GUESSED; GUEST; MADE/MAID" alternative answers to eco's econfusion #1.
      And, congrats on cracking econfusion #2, possibly the toughest puzzle this week.

      LegoWhoAddsThat"BallDressDressBall"IsAPrettyDecentAlternativeAnswerForTheDessert("OneWord"BeDamned!)

      Delete
    3. Thanks, Lego, but everyone else got Eco #2, too. I realize that I TOTALLY misunderstood the Eco #3 hints....not realizing that I was supposed to make CYAN out of the first name....no wonder I got nowhere.

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

    Schpuzzle Of TheWeek:
    Put positive spin on a proverb
    Take a familiar proverb.
    Replace one word with an antonym.
    Replace two words with homophones.
    At the end of this result add a popular one-word newspaper name, like “Journal” or “Tribune,” for example. The result will be a more positive proverb.
    What is this proverb?
    Answer:
    You can halve your cake and eat it two times.
    (You can't have your cake and eat it too.)

    Appetizer Menu

    Econfusions Appetizer:
    Readin’, writin’ ‘n’ rev·el·ry
    Red reading?
    1. Think of a verb in the past tense.
    A homophone of that word can describe a person who has done that same action, but the two words are etymologically unrelated (for example, like “Red read” in the image shown here).
    What are the two words?
    Answer:
    Cowered, coward. Coward has its origins in Old French, couard, based on Latin cauda, meaning tail. Cower comes from Middle Low German, from kuren ‘lie in wait’
    Writing in the sand?
    2. Name a famous author predominantly known for works in the first half of the 20th Century. Spoonerize the first and last name, and the result will be an observation after a day with the family at the beach.
    Who is this author?
    Hint: The author is not an American.
    Answer:
    Thomas Mann; "Mom is tan" or "Mama's tan"
    A brief syllabratory break at the top of the day:
    3. The last name of a well-known celebrity has two syllables.
    Depending on how you separate the syllables, it phonetically breaks into two different short phrases. One phrase might be a hope for those tracking Covid-19, the other might be advice from those afflicted with it.
    Who is this celebrity?
    Answer:
    Ryan Seacrest; See crest, seek rest

    MENU

    Smooth Operator Slice:
    Stump Isle stumper
    What common English word equals either about 427 or 56 depending on which operation you apply to it?
    Hint: The combined letters in your “operation” options can be rearranged to form “Stump Isle.”
    Answer:
    pile;
    (pi)(L)(e) = (3.14...)(50)(2.71...) = 426.96...; (pi)+(L)+(e) = ( 3.14...)+(50)+(2.71...) = 55.85...
    What common (4-letter) word equals either about 854 or about 106 depending on which (arithmetic) operation is applied to it? (you apply to it)
    Answer:
    epic; (e)(pi)(C) = (2.71...)(3.14...)(100) = 853.97...; (e)+(pi)+(C) = (2.71...)+( 3.14...)+(100) = 105.85...

    Lego...

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

    Riffing Off Shortz and Weisz Slices:
    Good Hope hunting, Lord Willin’
    Puzzleria!s Riffing Off Shortz and Weisz Slices read:
    ENTREE #1:
    Think of a puzzle-maker with a two-word name.
    Advance the first three letters of the first name four places ahead in the circular alphabet (so A would become E, B would be come F, etc.). Leave the remaining letters in the first name as they are.
    The result sounds like an adjective that might describe the puzzle-maker.
    In the second name, advance all but the fourth letter four places ahead in the circular alphabet. Move the fourth letter thrice-as-many (that is, twelve) places ahead.
    The result is a verb that is missing from the following sentence:
    “Puzzle-makers, from the bygone Zeno-of-Elia Era to the present-day Shortz-of-Pleasantville Era, have always _____ to both baffle and bedazzle puzzle-solvers.”
    Who is this puzzle-maker?
    What adjective might describe the puzzle-maker?
    What is the missing verb?
    Answer:
    Sandy Weisz; Wordy (sounds like "Werdy"); aimed
    ENTREE #2:
    Think of a place on earth with a compound-word name. The first part is an adjective sometimes associated with gills. The second part is verb for what an angler might do to a fish.
    Remove the place’s last and third-last letters. Advance the remaining letters eight places ahead in the circular alphabet (so A would become I, B would be come J, etc.)
    The result is the last word in the title of a musical fantasy film involving the Muppets, followed by the year the film was released, followed by where audiences viewed its May 20 premiere.
    What is this place on earth?
    Answer:
    Greenland; Oz ("The Muppets' Wizard of Oz"); MMV (2005); TV
    GREENLAND-->OZMMVTIVL-->OZMMVTV-->OZ MMV (2005) TV-->
    ENTREE #3:
    Think of a six-letter noun that defines Greenland. Remove the sixth letter.
    Advance four of this truncated noun’s five letters to the next letter of the circular alphabet (so A would become B, B would be come C, etc.). Advance the as-yet-unadvanced letter two places ahead in the alphabet (so A would become C, B would be come D, etc.).
    The result of all this “advanced alphabetology” is a five-letter adjective that describes the six-letter noun that Greenland is.
    What are this noun and adjective?
    Answer:
    Island, Jumbo (ISLAND-->ISLAN-->JSMBO-->JUMBO (Greenland is the world's largest island.)
    ENTREE #4:
    Think of a well-known large body of water on earth with a two-word name.
    Take the second word. Advance all but the second letter 17 places ahead in the circular alphabet (so A would become R, B would become S, etc.). Advance the second letter 24 places ahead in the circular alphabet (so A would become Y, B would be come Z, etc.). The result is the surname of a retired pro quarterback who had talent “up the _____.”
    Take the word in the blank. Advance all but the second letter five places ahead in the circular alphabet (so A would become R, B would become S, etc.). Advance the second letter 17 places ahead in the circular alphabet (so A would become R, B would be come S, etc.). The result is the surname of the retired pro quarterback with talent “up the _____.”
    Drop the last two letters from the body of water’s first word. Keep the antepenultimate letter as it is, but advance all other remaining letters four places ahead in the circular alphabet (so A would become E, B would become F, etc.). The result is an adjective that describes the pro quarterback as a passer.
    What is the body of water?
    Who is the quarterback?
    What is the word in the blank?
    What adjective describes the quarterback?
    Answer:
    Atlantic Ocean; Brett Favre; ("Up the) wazoo"; Expert
    OCEAN-->FTVRE-->FAVRE
    WAZOO-->BFETT -->BRETT
    ATLANTIC-->EXPERT

    Lego...

    ReplyDelete
  33. This week's official answers for the record, part 3:
    Riffing Off Shortz and Weisz Slices (continued):

    ENTREE #5:
    Think of a place on earth with a two-word name.
    Take the first word. Advance its second letter eight places ahead in the circular alphabet (so A would become I, B would be come J, etc.). Advance the remaining letters three places ahead in the circular alphabet (so A would become D, B would be come E, etc.). You’ll get what vacationing visitors to the place might order at a restaurant.
    Take the first word a second time. This time leave the first letter as it is. Advance its other letters 14 places ahead in the circular alphabet (so A would become O, B would be come P, etc.). You’ll get, more specifically, what vacationing visitors to the place might order at a restaurant.
    What is this place on earth?
    Hint: The specific food ordered at the restaurant is not surprising, given the second word in the place’s name.
    Answer:
    Cape, Fish, Cods
    CAPE-->CIPE-->FISH
    CAPE-->CODS
    ENTREE #6:
    Think of a place on earth, in a six-letter word, according to a singer with the initials B.C.
    Advance the letters 22 places ahead in the circular alphabet (so A would become W, B would be come X, etc.).
    Change the third letter of this result to an N and the fifth letter to an O.
    The sixth, fifth, fourth, first, second and third letters will then spell a river associated with the “place on earth.”
    What place is this?
    What is the river?
    Answer:
    Heaven ("a place in earth" according to a song sung by Belinda Carlisle); Jordan (River, where John the Baptist christened Jesus)
    HEAVEN-->DAWRAJ-->DANROJ-->JORDAN

    Dessert Menu

    Changing Clothes Dessert:
    What’s worn & where you wear it
    Name certain things people wear.
    Switch the first and last halves of this word. (For example, the word “casebook” would become “bookcase.”)
    Performing such a “literary switcheroo” will name a place you are likely to see people wearing them.
    What are these wearables and where people wear them?
    Answer:
    Leis; Isle

    Lego!

    ReplyDelete
  34. Note to Puzzlerian!s:
    TOMORROW'S EDITION OF PUZZLERIA! WILL NOT BE POSTED UNTIL LATER FRIDAY MORNING, SOMETIME BEFORE NOON

    Thank you.

    LegoLaterThanNormal

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Are you having a techno-crisis, Lego? I hope nobody (or you) is sick!

      Delete
    2. No, VT, but thanks for your concern. I just had a busy week.

      LegoAddsThatItTookSomeTimeToRiffOffHisNPRPuzzle....SixteenTimes!

      Delete