A “double-literectomy” can hurt! He who hesitates doesn’t medal; Pure peak-performance paragon; ‘Twas “last” at first, but ‘twas “first” at last; Bad guys ‘n’ good, “animalyrics,” “anagramusical” & lip-smacking snacking;

PUZZLERIA! SLICES: OVER  6!π SERVED

Schpuzzle of the Week:

A “double-literectomy” can hurt!

Remove two consecutive interior letters, and the last letter, from the name of a classical fictional character, leaving two words associated with pain.

The second word associated with pain occurs immediately; the first word is something that occurs later. 

Who is this character?

Hint: The letters you removed spell the result
of using one’s noggin, according to a philosopher.

Appetizer Menu

Chuck-full O’ Tricky Sticklers Appetizer:

Bad guys ‘n’ good, “animalyrics,” “anagramusical,” lip-smacking snacking

“Blinding you with science fiction”

1. 👺👼Name the bad-guy character from the title of a very popular science fiction movie. 

Add on the name of a European capital. 

Delete a “k”. 

Rearrange the remaining letters to name a good-guy character in another very popular science fiction movie from the same period. 

Who’s the bad-guy character? 

What’s the European capital? 

Who’s the good-guy character?

“Monkeys stand for honesty, giraffes are insincere?”

2. 🐒🦒Think of a very famous, seven-word song lyric that names two animals. 

In one of those animal names you’ll find four
consecutive letters (though not in correct order) that spell a third animal name. 

What’s the song lyric? 

What’s the third animal?

“Diggin’ up an ‘underground’ anagram,”

3. 🎥A well-known actor with an unusual name had a leading role in a long-running 1990s hit musical. 

He had a steady gig in the original Broadway show and then the movie. He married a cast member with whom he acted in that show and movie. 

An anagram of his name appears somewhere in this puzzle. 

Who’s the actor? 

What’s the musical?

“Talkin’ some ‘snack’ ”

4. 😋Think of a familiar eight-letter food brand that contains an R and an L. 

Delete both letters and add a single letter, a U, in return. 

Rearrange the result to name a popular snack for which the brand is famous. 

What’s the brand and what’s the snack?

MENU

Global Games And Magnates Slice:

He who hesitates doesn’t medal

Replace the first two letters of two-word Olympic event with one letter. 

In the second word, substitute a preposition for an interjection that indicates hesitation. 

The result is the name of a world leader. 

What are this event and name?

Hint: The first two letters of the two-word Olympic event, if you reverse their order, are usually pronounced the same as the one letter they replace. An example of this occurs in a synonym of certain Tibetian oxen.

Riffing Off Shortz And Egan Wright Slices:

‘Twas “last” at first, but ‘twas “first” at last

Will Shortz’s September 28th NPR Weekend Edition Sunday puzzle, created by Paula Egan Wright, reads:

Name a well-known island. Move the first letter six spaces later in the alphabet. Read the result backward. You’ll get where this island is located. What island is it?

Puzzleria!s Riffing Off Shortz And Egan Wright Slices read:

ENTREE #1

I. Name a 5-letter coral island in the Caribbean Sea. Switch the order of its third and fourth letters. Move the new third letter 8 places later in the alphabet to form a proper name.

II. Name a 3-letter British isle in the Irish Sea. Move its first letter one place earlier in the alphabet. 

Replace that new letter with two others that have a sum equal to the alphanumeric value of that new first letter to form a second proper name. (For example, the T in Take could be replaced with a B and R to form the word BRake; T, B and R have alphanumeric values of 20, 2 and 18.)

III. Name a 5-letter isle in the English Channel. Place an “r” between its first and second letters to form a third proper name.

These three proper names form the name of a puzzle-maker.  

Who is this puzzle-maker?

What are these three islands?

ENTREE #2

Name an article of clothing you would not likely see being worn around a popular island where people love to spend time together and congregate.

Move the last letter six spaces later in the alphabet. 

Read the result backward. 

Switch the order of the fourth and fifth letters and move the new fifth letter three places earlier in the alphabet. You’ll get where this island is located. 

Where is this island located?

What is the article of clothing?

ENTREE #3

Note: This puzzle has the same wording as the current NPR Sunday puzzle, except that it uses the word “last” instead of the word “first.”

Name a not-so-well-known island. Move the last letter (not the first letter) six spaces later in the alphabet. Read the result backward. 

You’ll get where this island is located. 

What island is it?

Where is it located?

ENTREE #4

Name a well-known island. 

Move the fourth letter eleven spaces later in the alphabet. 

Read the result in backward and split it in two to form a caption for the image pictured here. 

What island is it?

What is your caption?

ENTREE #5

Name a well-known product that is an antacid and pain reliever. 

Move the third letter eight spaces earlier in the alphabet (this is a  move that does not alter the pronunciation of the product).

After the fourth letter place the following letters, in order: 

✔ the eighth letter,

✔ the eleventh letter, 

✔ a duplicate of either the first or fourth letter, 

✔ and finally, the ninth letter.

The first eight letters of the result spell the name of a small Pacific island with inhabitants who once longed to leave, but that is now a tourist attraction.

What is the product.

What is the island?

ENTREE #6

Let’s imagine you are an author writing a novel about a utopian isle inhabited by anthropomorphic monkeys. It is an isle without wickedness — whether spoken, heard or seen. You come up with a six-letter name for the island that is composed of a four-letter and a two-letter word — a name that conveys this lack of wickedness.

Move the second letter of your novel’s island eight spaces earlier in the alphabet. Read the result backward. You’ll get a place where where many islands are located, but not your fictional island... unless, of course, your novel gets published and sells millions of copies and gets made into a major motion picture!

What is the name of this fictional island?

Where are many islands located (incuding your fictional one if it becomes a blockbuster success)?

ENTREE #7

Name a well-known Pacific island. Remove its first letter. Switch the postions of the only two letters in the name that appear just once. The result is the name of a nation that is a part of an island.

What are this island and part of an island?

Dessert Menu

Monicker Dessert:

Pure peak-performance paragon

Take the name of a professional person who, judging by the sound of his or her nickname, never gave a subpar performance.

What are the name and nickname of this professional person?

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.