Friday, June 10, 2022

“Four-letter words;” Inventors, musicals, novels and more! Hankerin’ for heaven-bound trains; Shirts vs. skins street roundball! ALBAnia? BRUT, Lebanon? mONAco?

PUZZLERIA! SLICES: OVER 6!π SERVED

Schpuzzle of the Week:

Inventors, musicals, novels and more!

Each clue below has just one answer. 

One word in the clue will lead you to that answer. (Solve one of the eight, and you’ll likely solve ‘em all!) 

1. Her novel was deemed filmable, six times!

2. Literary contemporary of Arrowsmith’s author

3. President who withstood a governor’s
challenge

4. Inventor with an outstanding curriculum vitae

5. Stalwart composer of musicals

6. Reagan appointee with wisdom

7. Grim Reaper tale teller

8. Thoreau was once her schoolmaster

Appetizer Menu

“One-Letter-Later” Appetizer:

“Four-letter words”

What happens if you change each letter of a word to the next letter in the alphabet? 

Usually the result is nothing interesting ... for example, the word WORD itself would become XPSE. 

Yet in a few cases you do get another word ... a famous example is that STEEDS becomes TUFFET

So, here is our challenge:  

Find a pair of four-letter words that have this same relationship. The first word is a measure of electrical circuits; the second word is a measure of liquids.

MENU

Sinfully Sinless Slice:

Hankerin’ for heaven-bound trains

Take a word for a person who hankers for heaven, and who may even believe she or he is surely heaven-bound.

Anagram the first four letters to name those who Jesus said might have difficulty attaining heaven. 

Anagram the remaining letters twice:

1. once, to spell a word associated with sin,
and 

2. a second time to spell a word associated with sinlessness. 

What are these four words?

Riffing Off Shortz And Bass Slices:

ALBAnia? BRUT, Lebanon? mONAco?  

Will Shortz’s June 5th NPR Weekend Edition Sunday puzzle, created by Ben Bass of Chicago, Illinois, reads:

The name of what country contains a deodorant and an air freshener in consecutive letters?

Puzzleria!s Riffing Off Shortz And Bass Slices
read:

ENTREE #1

Take the first and last names and hometown of a puzzle-maker. Delete the two spaces between these three words.

The first name contains a mid-alphabet letter, spelled-out. Replace this spelled-out letter with  a mantra. Replace the fifth letter in the hometown with a “k”. Divide the result into a six-letter sock brand, a six letter razor brand and a board game. 

Who are this puzzle-maker and what is the hometown?

What are the two brands and the board game?

ENTREE #2

The name of a country begins with a noun that pertains to either Robert or Paul regarding their paricipation together in two Best-Picture-Oscar-nominated films (one which won). 

The remaining letters in the country are the first three letters in the name of a high-flying son of a Greek craftsman. 

The remaining letters in that name are the first three letters of a large Eurasian country.

What is this country?

What is the noun the pertaining to Robert or Paul? What are the name of the high-flying Greek and the Eurasian country? 


ENTREE #3

The name of what country begins with the first name of the wife and first cousin, “relativitibly,” of a well-known physicist.

The remaining letters are an anagram of a northwestern U.S. desert where female drivers have driven their vehicles faster than 500 mph!

What are this country, first name and desert?

ENTREE #4

Remove a word for a form of precipitation that is embedded within the name of a country. The remaining letters in order spell the 3-letter short form of a musical instrument associated with an island. A coastal city on that island experiences such precipitation, on average, about 270 days of the year. 

What are this country, precipitation, musical instrument and coastal city?

ENTREE #5

Change the third letter of a 10-letter island nation to a duplicate of either its second, sixth or ninth letter. 


Move this duplicate letter to the beginning. 

Move the 4th, 5th and 6th letters of this result to the front,  forming a 6-letter food. 

Spell the remaining four letters in reverse to spell a verb. Place it to the left of the food.

The result is what purveyors of string or brick do.

What is this nation? What do purveyors of “string or brick do?  

ENTREE #6

Rearrange the first four letters of a Polynesian island to spell an inhabitant or the language of a country in Southeast Asia.

Rearrange the last five letters of this island to spell to spell a country that occupies the western part of a Carribean island.

What are the Polynesian island, the Southeast Asian inhabitant or language, and the Carribean country?

ENTREE #7

The name of what country begins with an anagram of the first word in a J.D. Salinger novella... and ends with the name of a Shakespearean king, spelled in reverse? 

ENTREE #8

Remove the first letter from the name of an African nation to spell the ancient name of a
peninsular kingdom. 

What are this African nation and peninsular kingdom?

ENTREE #9

The first four letters of the name of an nation plus just the second, third and fourth letters of that same nation spell a two-word beverage.

The remaining letters can be anagrammed to spell a container for that beverage.

What are this nation, beverage and container?

ENTREE #10

Name a 10-letter island chain that “connects” two island nations in the Carribean. (The chain is a part of one of these nations.) Delete the first two letters and the last letter, leaving seven letters.

Remove the 1st, 3rd and 4th letters of this result, leaving a 4-letter number. Then put the three letters back where they were.

Now delete the 5th letter, then move the two letters that follow that deleted 5th letter so that they are between the 2nd and 3rd letters. 

The result is a word for group consisting of a certain number of things; that number is the 4-letter number you discovered above.

What is this island chain?

What is the group that consists of a certain number of things, and what is that number?

ENTREE #11

The first half of the name of an Indian city contains a deodorant brand. 

The second half (if you move its letters 14 places ahead in the alphabet – so A becomes O, B becomes P, etc.) spells an American entertainment and media production company formed in 2001 by, among others, Stan Lee, creator of Spider-Man, Iron Man and the Hulk.

What are this city, deodorant brand and production company?

Hint: The deodorant brand is sometimes “the word.”

Dessert Menu

Pick-Up Game Dessert:

Shirts vs. skins street roundball!

Something a handful of athletes may schedule sounds like two consumables that resemble one another.

What may a handful of athletes schedule?

What are these consumables?


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.

37 comments:

  1. Well, here once again in the wee hours, I am doing P! instead of going to bed! Am baffled on the Schpuzzle (though I gave it a good attempt on all eight of them, to try to find the 'trick' to a word in each clue...no luck), but have solved the Appetzier, Slice [they were fairly easy], and the first eight Entrees. I'm just too tired to try 9, 10 and 11...but did look at Dessert.... which I have zero idea how to tackle.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. VT,
      If you would spill either of the consumables in the Dessert, a whisk broom or mini-vacuum might be the tool to use in the process of cleaning up.
      In the Schpuzzle's #3 clue, the "President who withstood a governor’s challenge" was famous for a saying what a presumptuous deer-stalker might have printed on a poster hanging from the wall in his deer stand.

      LegoProvidingRelativelyEarlyBirdieHints

      Delete
  2. Another good Friday to you all!
    Mom and I are fine. She fixed Shepherd's Pie for supper. It was good. We had some trouble with our Wi-Fi after Mom got us switched over from Spectrum to Verizon. Somehow I got the wrong time zone on my Kindle, and can't seem to change it back. Also, I'll need to get a few of my "Favorites" or "Frequently Visited" sites back on my phone. I lost those due to the last software update, or the Verizon switch, or maybe even both. Finally, I misspoke when I said it was Mia Kate's 14th birthday this past week. Actually, she turned 15! Another year and she'll be learning to drive! Not our problem, of course, but we're sure to hear about it later on from Bryan and Renae. Kids do grow up fast, don't they?
    Now on to this week's puzzles.
    I honestly don't think the Schpuzzle can be solved at all, any of it, without a few good hints(including or maybe not including the "deer stand" comment). So far I've solved Rudolfo's Appetizer and all Entrees except the "IKEA-instruction-style" stumper that is #10(way too confusing to try to tackle late Thursday/early Friday, IMHO), and I thought I had the Dessert for sure, but I don't know if what I got would be easily cleaned up by a broom or mini-vacuum. If anything, the first thing I came up with for what athletes may schedule may very well end up a great alternative answer. I may have to explain Wednesday. Looking forward to reading any hints Lego shall suggest later on.
    Good luck in solving to all, please stay safe, and I do hope Rachel Dratch wins her first Tony for "POTUS" on Sunday night's awards telecast. I've loved her ever since her SNL days! Cranberry out!
    pjbBelievesAWinWouldMakeUpForThe"DebbieDownerInDisneyland"SketchGoingOffTheRailsBackIn'04!

    ReplyDelete
  3. If two of the eight Schpuzzle answers are the same, I think I have them all - and the clue in each case. The Deer Stand hint was the confirming break after a long stare down; but, that didn't make the other answers automatic for me. The key word birdie still had to be flushed out. No hint in this except to say that the Deer Stand hint made for a useful starting point. (If I'm wrong about the duplicate answers, I'm still sticking with them.)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I have to hand it to both you and geo, GB, for having solved the Schpuzzle answers. I still have zero idea, on #3 with the Deer Stand clue, or on any of the others.

      Delete
  4. Hello, all.
    Have answers for everything (2 Dessert answers probably are alternates and one requires Australian accent).
    Liked the Schpuzzle - learned some new things. As GB noted, 2 answers are duplicates.

    ReplyDelete
  5. As is often the case, I came up with an idea for the Dessert answer while getting ready for bed....natch, I'm not really 'up' on what athletes do! However, as geo mentioned above, the second word would rather require some kind of accent to sound like the word it is meant to represent. [The first word is an exact match.]

    ReplyDelete
  6. I could still use a few more hints myself. BTW It was Phylicia Rashad, not Rachel, who won Sunday night. In other words, Debbie Downer got beaten by Clair Huxtable. Oh well.
    pjbWasAlsoHavingSupperWhenTheirCategoryWasAnnounced,SoHeFoundOutAfterTheFact!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Hi, I'm new here! It took me some time to figure out how to create a Blogger account. It didn't seem to work with the Safari browser, but seems to work on Chrome. In any case, I was just about to post that I had solved all but the Schpuzzle and Dessert, but I gave the Schpuzzle one last try. For some reason, I was stuck on one particular President, who turns out to never have defeated a governor in his quest for the presidency. When I figured out the correct president, all fell into place. So, now I'm just stuck with Dessert, a phrase I'd like to use outside of Puzzleria!.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. An example of, dare I say. . . Tortitude. Sorry, couldn't help it. Welcome. I've been the rookie here far too long. Good catch on the Schpuzzle. The President and the Deer Stand were the key, methinks.

      Delete
    2. Welcome, Tortitude, to our blog!
      Congrats on solving the Schpuzzle. Hints for the Dessert ect. shall be forthcoming.

      LegoWhoNotesThalAllAreWelcome

      Delete
    3. Yes, Tortitude, welcome, and I hope you like cryptic crosswords because they will come up every so often, created by yours truly. As we speak, I have a number of drafts of future cryptic puzzles that will soon turn up here. If you have any puzzle ideas of your own that you'd like to share on this site, feel free to email them to Mr. Young at jrywriter.com. Also, don't hesitate to ask for hints if and when necessary(like I feel I must do now, so close to the deadline!). If you like puzzles, you're going to love it here.
      pjbIsNotAPaidSpokesperson,NorIsHeANon-AttorneySpokesperson

      Delete
  8. At long last, I have caught on to the 'trick' for the Schpuzzle...it's high time! Thus, I had had only one correct answer [#6] in my guesses. I have now pinned down #s 1, 3 and 8, though I fail to connect the Deer Stalker hint with #3...perhaps I need to go hunting for it..ha ha.] I am diligently attempting the last four now.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I believe Lego's first post above referring to a famous saying is the deer stand - #3 solution link. Along those lines, did you see the hint elaboration I posted at the end of last week's edition in response to your request?

      Delete
  9. I believe I am done now, although am still not sure of #2...it was definitely the toughest Entree for me.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Early Wednesday hints:

    Schpuzzle of the Week:
    Novelist, poet, essayist, and travel writer from a country where you can hear the skiRLS of bagpipes...

    “One-Letter-Later” Appetizer:
    Place the "measure of liquids" before the "electrical circuits" and divide the result between the fifth and sixth letters to get a word that precedes "beans" and an acronym that precedes "Pinafore."

    Sinfully Sinless Slice:
    Middle name of a Danish spinner of fairy tales whose literary works did not get tossed into trasHCAns.

    Riffing Off Shortz And Bass Slices:
    ENTREE #1
    The board game contains but two letters.
    ENTREE #2
    Robert and Paul shared top billing in their best-known films.
    The name of the high-flying son's dad is Daedalus
    ENTREE #3
    "Pour me One container of your best German beer, barkeep!"
    ENTREE #4
    It's a really common "form of precipitation."
    ENTREE #5
    The islands sound like they were sold by a female by the seashore.
    ENTREE #6
    The inhabitant or the language of a country in Southeast Asia can also be anagrammed from the middle four letters of the 6-letter Polynesian island.
    ENTREE #7
    The J.D. Salinger novella is not "Seymour."
    ENTREE #8
    The African nation sounds like it is a place sans many restrictions.
    ENTREE #9
    The two-word beverage is sometimes preceded by the name of a populous country.
    ENTREE #10
    Remove a two-letter preposition from near the end of the10-letter island chain to spell weapons of war.
    ENTREE #11
    The deodorant brand smacks of British "maternalism."

    Pick-Up Game Dessert:
    The sport played by the "handful of athletes" employs a "roundball," but one that is much smaller than a basketball. One of the two consumables was the first word in the title of a Cat Stevens album; the other consumable was the last word in the title of a Simon & Garfunkel album.

    LegoComingBackFromScarboroughFairWhereChildrenPlayAndSeagullsSingTheirHeartsAway

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you for the hints and all of the warm welcomes. Well, I've finally finished Dessert. Got the answer based on the album names. I wasn't anywhere close before, with either the consumables or scheduled event. I think your hint for Schpuzzle will give it away, but here are two more puzzles that fit: 1) He's another presidential jobholder who fended off a governor's challenge; 2) He had heaps of hit records. (Hint: he has something in common with one of the Schpuzzle entries.)

      Delete
    2. I just realized that the people in my puzzles don't quite fit the theme, but I think the puzzles are solvable anyway.

      Delete
    3. 1.) During his 30-month stint as a Mormon missionary in France, the governor who challenged the presidential jobholder may have had occasion to store sacred oils and vessels in an aWMRy in the temple.
      2.) The guy with heaps of hit records TAPped this "colonel" in the Louisiana State Militia to manage his rock 'n' roll career.

      LegoWhoAlwaysHopedToHitHeapsOfHomersOutOfTheParkJustBeyondTheOutstretchedArmsAndOpenMittsOfFrustratedFlycatchers!

      Delete
    4. Excellent! The word "awmry" is new to me. Answers: Barack Hussein Obama, Elvis Aron Presley, Willard Mitt Romney, Thomas Andrew Parker. I didn't realize that Colonel Tom Parker gave himself a middle name. There's also some controversy as to whether Elvis' middle name was "Aron" or "Aaron." Looks like it was originally "Aron" but he wanted to change it to "Aaron" later. In any case, for my purposes, both start with "A." :D

      I feel that Elvis and Obama don't quite fit the puzzle theme, since they are not strictly known by three names, yet their middle names are well known. Then again, Thomas Edison is widely known as either Thomas Edison or Thomas Alva Edison. I've never heard Louisa May Alcott referred to as Louisa Alcott, or Edgar Allen Poe as Edgar Poe.

      Until I came up with the Elvis puzzle, I didn't realize he had the same initials as Edgar Allen Poe!

      Delete
  11. Schpuzzle: [The initials of each solution person are in one word of that clue.]
    1. Louisa M. Alcott - in fiLMAble
    2. William S Maugham - in "a"rroWSMith's
    3. Harry S Truman - in witHSTood
    4. Thomas A. Edison - in viTAE
    5. Andrew L. Webber - in stALWart
    6. Sandra D. O'Connor - in wiSDOm
    7. Edgar A. Poe - in "r"EAPer
    8. Louisa M. Alcott - in schooLMAster

    Appetizer: OHMS becomes PINT

    S S Slice: Christian, Rich, Stain & Saint

    Entrees:
    1. Ben Bass & Chicago; Bombas, Schick, Go
    2. Costa Rica; Costar; Icarus; Russia
    3. El Salvador, Elsa & Alvord
    4. Ukraine; Rain; Uke (Ukulele) & Hilo (HI)
    5. Seychelles; Sell Cheese
    6. Tahiti, Thai & Haiti
    7. Israel ("Raise High the Roof Beam" & Lear)
    8. Liberia & Iberia
    9. Palestine; Pale Ale; Stein
    10. Grenadines; Ennead & Nine
    11. Mumbai; Mum; POW!

    Dessert: Tee Time; Tea & Thyme

    Good eye, Rudolfo. Fun, and educational, ones all round, Rudolfo & Lego.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Schpuzzle:
    1. fiLMAble → LMA→ LOUISA MAY ALCOTT
    2. ArroWSMith → WSM → W SOMERSET MAUGHAM
    3. witHSTood → HST → HARRY S TRUMAN (“the buck stops here”)
    4. viTAE → TAE → THOMAS ALVA EDISON
    5. stALWart → ALW → ANDREW LLOYD WEBBER
    6. wiSDOm → SDO → SANDRA DAY O'CONNOR
    7. rEAPer → EAP → EDGAR ALLEN POE
    8. schooLMAster → LMA → LOUISA MAY ALCOTT

    Appetizer: OHMS → PINT

    Slice: CHRISTIAN → RICH, STAIN, SAINT (also SATIN for “heavenly clothing”)

    Entrées
    #1: BENBASSCHICAGO → BOMBASSCHICKGO → BOMBAS, SCHICK, GO
    #2: COSTA RICA → CO-STAR, ICARUS → RUSSIA
    #3: ELSA + ALVORD → EL SALVADOR
    #4: UKE, RAIN → UKRAINE, HILO (HI)
    #5: TAHITI → THAI, HAITI
    #6: SEYCHELLES → ESECHELLES → CHEESE LLES → SELL CHEESE
    #7: IS, LEAR → ISRAEL
    #8: LIBERIA → IBERIA
    #9: PALESTINE → PALE ALE, STEIN
    #10: GRENADINES – GR, S → ENADINE – EAD → NINE; ENADINE – I, shift NE → ENNEAD
    #11: MUM + BAI → POW

    Dessert: SERIAL RACE → CEREAL, RICE [said with Australian accent]
    SERIAL TRICKS [in snow- or skateboarding] → CEREAL, TRIX [brand name]
    RACE MEET [for a drag race] → RICE [said with Australian accent], MEAT [doesn't agree w/hint]

    ReplyDelete
  13. Schpuzzle
    1. fiLMAble, LOUISA MAY ALCOTT
    2. arroWSMith, WILLIAM SOMERSET MAUGHAM
    3. witHSTood, HARRY S. TRUMAN
    4. viTAE, THOMAS ALVA EDISON
    5. stALWart, ANDREW LLOYD WEBBER
    6. wiSDOm, SANDRA DAY O'CONNOR
    7. rEAPer, EDGAR ALLAN POE
    8. schooLMAster, LOUISA MAY ALCOTT
    Appetizer Menu
    OHMS, PINT
    Menu
    Sinfully Sinless Slice
    CHRISTIAN, RICH, SATIN, SAINT
    Entrees
    1. BEN BASS, CHICAGO, BOMBAS, SCHICK, GO
    2. AMERICA, ICARUS, RUSSIA
    3. EL SALVADOR, ELSA(Einstein), ALVORD
    4. UKRAINE-RAIN=UKE(ukulele), HILO(Hawaii)
    5. SEYCHELLES, SELL CHEESE
    6. TAHITI, THAI, HAITI
    7. ISRAEL, RAISE("Raise High The Roof Beam"), LEAR
    8. LIBERIA, IBERIA
    9. PALESTINE, PALE ALE, STEIN
    10. GRENADINES, NINE, ENNEAD
    11. MUMBAI, MUM(never heard of it before), POW
    Dessert
    TEE TIME, TEA, THYME
    My compliments to geofan for his interesting alternative answers to the Dessert. I initially thought TEE TIME was far too obvious, but I went with it anyway.-pjb

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I agree, cranberry. geofan's alternatives for the Dessert were excellent.

      LegoWhoEspeciallyLiked"SerialTricks"Becoming"CerealTrix"(AreForKids)

      Delete
    2. For SATIN, read STAIN.
      pjb,InHisHaste,WentWithTheWrongAnagram,ThusMixingUpTheMix-Up

      Delete
    3. And COSTA RICA and CO-STAR in Entree #2 instead of AMERICA.
      pjb'sPrettySureHeGotEverythingElseAfterThat,Though!

      Delete
  14. SCHPUZZLE:

    1. LOUISA MAY ALCOTT? [FI”LMA"BLE]

    2. W. S. MERWIN [ARRO”WSM"ITH]

    3. HARRY S TRUMAN [WIT”HST"OOD]

    4. THOMAS ALVA EDISON [VI”TAE”]

    5. ANDREW LLOYD WEBBER [ST”ALW"ART]

    6. SANDRA DAY O’CONNOR [WI”SDO"M]

    7. EDGAR ALLAN POE [R”EAP"ER]

    8. LOUISA MAY ALCOTT [SCHOO”LMA"STER] ( ...this would be the ‘repeat’ mentioned by Geo and GB)

    APPETIZER: OHMS => PINT

    SLICE: CHRISTIAN => RICH; STAIN & SAINT

    ENTREES:

    1. B(EN) BASS CHICAGO => B(OM)BASS CHICKGO => BOMBAS / SCHICK / GO

    2. COSTAR => COSTA R/ICA => ICA/RUS => RUSSIA

    3. ELSA [Einstein] => EL SALVADOR => LVADOR => ALVORD

    4. UKRAINE => RAIN & UKE; HILO, HAWAII

    5. SEYCHELLES => SEECHELLES => ESECHELLES => CHEESE & SELL => SELL CHEESE

    6. TAHITI => THAI & HAITI

    7. ISRAEL [SIR? & LEAR]

    8. LIBERIA => IBERIA

    9. PALESTINE => PALE ALE & STEIN

    10. GRENADINES => ENADINE => NINE; ENADINE => ENADNE => ENNEAD [of deities; never heard of this word]

    11. MUMBAI => MUM & POW!

    DESSERT: TIME OUTS => THYME & OATS; Post Hint: TEE TIME => TEA & THYME

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. ViolinTeddy,
      W.S. Merwin is a great alternative answer to my intended answer to Schpuzzle #2, W.(illiam) Somerset Maugham.
      "Arrowsmith" author Sinclair Lewis 1885-1951 overlapped in lifespan for more than two decades with W.S. Merwin 1927-2019.
      Also, your original Dessert answer (TIME OUTS => THYME & OATS) is a pretty solid alternative to my "TEA for the Tillerman"/Parsley, Sage Rosemary and THYME answer.

      LegoCallIngA"ThymeOat"AnAcceptableAlternative

      Delete
    2. Thanks for the above, Lego. I DID double check the lifespans of Lewis and Merwin, to make sure they overlapped.

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

    Schpuzzle of the Week:
    Inventors, governors, novels and more!
    Each clue below has just one answer. One word in the clue will lead you to that answer.
    1. Her novel was deemed filmable, six times!
    2. Literary contemporary of Arrowsmith’s author
    3. President who withstood a governor’s challenge
    4. Inventor with an outstanding curriculum vitae
    5. Stalwart composer of musicals
    6. Reagan appointee with wisdom
    7. Grim Reaper tale teller
    8. Thoreau was once her schoolmaster
    Answer:
    One word in each clue contains a 3-letter monogram of the answer to the clue:
    1. Louisa May Alcott (fiLMAble) (Six "Little Women" films were produced.)
    2. W.(illiam) Somerset Maugham (arroWSMith) (Maugham(1874-1965), Sinclair Lewis (1885–1951))
    3. Harry S Truman (witHSTood) (Trumen beat Gov. Thomas Dewey in the 1948 presidential election.)
    4. Thomas Alva Edison (viTAE) (his curriculum vitae is packed with inventions)
    5. Andrew Lloyd Webber (stALWart) (A reliable and hard-working composer)
    6. Sandra Day O'Connor (wiSDOm) (A Supreme Court Justice must have wisdom.)
    7. Edgar Allan Poe (rEAPer) (Death figured in many of Poe's plots.)
    8. Louisa May Alcott (schooLMAster) (Thoreau taught little Louisa at Concord.)

    Appetizer Menu
    “One-Letter-Later” Appetizer:
    “Four-letter words”
    What happens if you change each letter of a word to the next letter in the alphabet? Usually the result is nothing interesting ... for example, the word WORD itself would become XPSE. Yet in a few cases you do get another word ... a famous example is that STEEDS becomes TUFFET.
    So, here is our challenge:
    Find a pair of four-letter words that have this same relationship. The first word is a measure of electrical circuits; the second word is a measure of liquids.
    Answer:
    OHMS, PINT

    MENU
    Sinfully Sinless Slice:
    Hankerin’ for a heaven-bound train
    Take a word for a person who hankers for heaven, and who may even believe she or he is surely heaven-bound.
    Anagram the first four letters to name those who Jesus said might have difficulty attaining heaven.
    Anagram the remaining letters twice:
    1. once, to spell either a word associated with sin, and
    2. a second time to spell a word associated with sinlessness.
    What are these four words?
    Answer:
    Christian; rich, stain, saint

    Lego...

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

    Riffing Off Shortz And Bass Slices:
    ALBAnia? mONAco? BRUT, Lebanon?
    Will Shortz’s June 5th NPR Weekend Edition Sunday puzzle, created by Ben Bass of Chicago, Illinois, reads:
    The name of what country contains a deodorant and an air freshener in consecutive letters?
    Puzzleria!s Riffing Off Shortz And Bass Slices read:
    ENTREE #1
    Take the first and last names and hometown of a puzzle-maker. Delete the two spaces between these three words.
    Replace a mid-alphabet letter, spelled-out, with a mantra. Replace a letter at the beginning of the alphabet with a “k”. Divide the result into a six-letter sock brand, a six letter razor brand and a board game.
    Who are this puzzle-maker and hometown?
    What are the two brands and the board game?
    Answer:
    Ben Bass, Chicago; Bombas (socks), Schick, Go
    Benbasschicago => BombasSchickGo => Bombas Schick Go
    ENTREE #2
    The name of what country begins with a word for either Robert or Paul two Best-Picture-Oscar-nominated films (one which won).
    The remaining letters in the country are the first three letters in the name of a high-flying son of a Greek craftsman. The remaining letters in that name are the first three letters of a large Eurasian country.
    What is this country?
    What are the word for Robert or Paul, the name of the high-flying Greek, and the Eurasian country?
    Answer:
    Costa Rica; Co-star, Icarus, Russia
    ENTREE #3
    The name of what country begins with the first name of the wife and first cousin, “relativitibly”, of a well-known physicist.
    The remaining letters are an anagram of a northwestern U.S. desert where female drivers have driven their vehicles faster than 500 mph!
    What are this country, first name and desert?
    Answer:
    El Salvador; Elsa (Löwenthal) Einstein; Alvord
    ENTREE #4
    Remove a word for a form of precipitation that is embedded within the name of a country. The remaining letters in order spell the 3-letter short form of a musical inSTRUMent associated with an island. A coastal city on that island experiences such precipitation an average of about 270 days of the year.
    What are this country, precipitation, musical instrument and coastal city?
    Answer:
    Ukraine; rain, uke (ukulele), Hilo

    Lego...

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  17. This week's official answers for the record, part 3:
    Riffing Off Shortz And Bass Slices, continued:
    ENTREE #5
    Change the third letter of a 10-letter island nation to a duplicate of its second, sixth or ninth letter. Move this letter to the beginning. Move the 4th, 5th and 6th letters of this result to the front, forming a 6-letter food. Spell the remaining four letters in reverse to spell a verb. Place it to the left of the food.
    The result is what purveyors of stilton, string or brick do.
    What is this nation?
    What do what purveyors of stilton, string or brick do?
    Answer:
    Seychelles; Sell cheese
    Seychelles => esechelles => cheese lles
    ENTREE #6
    Rearrange the first four letters of a Polynesian island to spell an inhabitant or the language of a country in Southeast Asia.
    Rearrange the last five letters of this island to spell to spell a country that occupies the western part of a Carribean island.
    What are the Polynesian island, the Southeast Asian inhabitant or language, and the Carribean country?
    Answer:
    Tahiti; Thai; Haiti
    ENTREE #7
    The name of what country begins with and anagram of the first word in a J.D. Salinger novella... and ends with the name of a Shakespearean king, spelled in reverse?
    Answer:
    Israel; ("Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters;" (King) Lear)
    ENTREE #8
    Remove the first letter from the name of an African nation to spell the ancient name of a peninsular kingdom.
    What are these African and ancient nations?
    Answer:
    Liberia, Iberia
    ENTREE #9
    The first four letters from the name of an nation plus just the second, third and fourth letters from that same nation spell a two-word beverage. The remaining letters can be anagrammed to spell a container for that beverage.
    What are this nation, beverage and container?
    Answer:
    Palestine; Pale ale, Stein (-stine)

    Lego...

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  18. This week's official answers for the record, part 4:
    Riffing Off Shortz And Bass Slices, continued:
    ENTREE #10
    Name a 10-letter island chain that “connects” two island nations in the Carribean. (The chain is a part of one of these nations.) Delete the first two letters and last letter, leaving seven.
    Remove the 1st, 3rd and 4th letters, leaving a 4-letter number. Then put the three letters back where they were.
    Now remove the 5th letter and move the 6th and 7th between the 2nd and 3rd letters, resulting in a group of a certain number, the 4-letter number you discovered above.
    What is this island chain?
    What is the group of a certain number, and what is that number?
    Answer:
    Grenadines; ennead, nine
    GRENADINES => ENADINE => NINE => ENADINE => ENNEAD
    ENTREE #11
    The first half of the name of an Indian city contains a deodorant brand. The second half (if you move its letters 14 places ahead in the alphabet – so A becomes O, B becomes P, etc. – spells an American entertainment and media production company formed in 2001 by, among others, Stan Lee, creator of Spider-Man, Iron Man and the Hulk.
    What are this city, deororant brand and production company?
    Hint: The deodorant brand is “the word.”
    Answer;
    Mumbai; Mum, Pow!
    Dessert Menu
    Pick-Up Game Dessert:
    Shirts vs. skins street roundball?
    Something a handful of athletes may schedule sounds like two consumables that resemble one another.
    What may a handful of athletes schedule?
    What are these consumables?
    Answer:
    Tea, thyme (tee time)

    Lego!

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  19. My sticking point for Schpuzzle #3: I was stuck on thinking it was Teddy Roosevelt ("Speak softly and carry a big stick."). That seemed like something he might say while hunting. When I switched tactics to researching governors who ran for the presidency, I found Thomas Dewey, of "Dewey Defeats Truman" fame.

    I also thought that Schpuzzle #2 was the hardest. I figured that "Arrowsmith" was the pertinent word, and figured out W. Somerset Maugham by looking up a list of three named authors.

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    Replies
    1. Nice solving, Tortitude. Hope to see you again this coming week.

      LegoWhoWelcomesAllPuzzleAficionadosLikeTortitude

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