Schpuzzle of the Week:
“Transparency At Last!”
Take a two-word 20th-century novel title by an author whose seven-letter name is an anagram of two words: a “mild expletive” and an old-fashioned way of saying “no.”
Anagram the title to spell two longer words:
~ a surname prominent in a second author’s 20th-Century fiction, and
~ the relationship of Beatrice or Frances to Bessie and Les (in a second work of 20th-Century fiction).
What are this novel title, “mild expletive” and an old-fashioned way of saying “no”?
What is the fictional surname?
What is the relationship of Beatrice or Frances to Bessie and Les?
Appetizer Menu:
Skydiversionary Appetizer:“Vive la différence”; “Sleeping-bag no-no”; “Now, Presenting on stage...”; A pump implies the past;
1. ♚What is the difference between a consortium of male European royalty who were into philosophy and the failed attempt to help a relative in a time of difficulty?2. 🏔Think of a two-word phrase describing something an adventurer would never want to be.
Now make a homophone of that phrase
(altering the spelling of the first word) to describe something a serious mountaineer would never do to his sleeping bag. What are they?
Now replace the last letter of the last name
with an A and an E and rearrange to make a new word. These two words will now visually describe his stage presence. Who is the singer, and what are the two new words?
Anyone know?
MENU
A “Wiggy-Wammy” Hors d’Oeuvre:
“ ‘Toilet Paper’ is a Wipe, not a Weapon, Right?”
Bows and arrows, tomahawks, spears and war clubs are weapons that are sometimes, and
even often, found in tepees.
What weapon is always found in tepees?
Same-Old-Same-Old Slice:
“Way Down Upon The Swami River?”
Name a predictable daily occurrence.
Replace its third letter with the letters four and two places after it in the alphabet to spell something unpredictable. What are these two words?
Riffing Off Shortz And Baggish Entrees:
“I love slander!” said the Love Islander
Will Shortz’s June 12th Weekend Edition Sunday puzzle, from Steve Baggish of Arlington, Massachusetts, reads:
Take the 10-letter name of a popular TV series for which most of its seasons have been filmed in a foreign country. Remove the first and last letters, and the remaining letters can be rearranged to spell the name of a country. What are the two names?
Puzzleria!s Riffing Off Shortz And Baggish Entrees read:
ENTREE #1
Take the 12-letter name of a very popular, prolific and clever NPR puzzle-maker. Remove the first and last letters.
The remaining letters can be rearranged to fill in the ten blanks in a phrase for what a Valentine’s Day sweetheart who is showered with towers of flowers from her beau must do:
“_ _ _ a _ _ _ _ _ _ _!”
Who is this puzzle-maker?
What is the phrase?
Note: Entrees #2 through #7 are conundrums drummed-up/dreamt-up by our friend and riffmeister extraordinaire, Nodd.
ENTREE #2
Take the three-word, 10-letter name of a popular TV show dealing with unexplained phenomena.Replace the last two letters with a B. Rearrange to spell the name of a country and
a name for a native of a second country.
What are the show, the country, and the name for a native of the second country?
ENTREE #3Take the three-word, 13-letter name of a popular fantasy-drama TV show.
Replace the second letter of the second word with an L. Rearrange to spell the name of a country and a name for a native of a second country. What are the show, the country, and the name for a native of the second country?
ENTREE #4
Take the one-word, 8-letter name of a popular TV show dealing with espionage.Replace the third letter with the letter that immediately precedes it in the alphabet.
Remove the fourth letter. You’ll name a country.
What are the show and the country?
ENTREE #5Take the two-word, 11-letter name of a popular TV crime drama show.
Replace the first and second letters with the two-letter abbreviation for an American film
and TV production company.
Change the ninth letter to the next letter in the alphabet. Rearrange to spell a country. What are the show and the country?
ENTREE #6Take the one-word, five-letter name of a
popular TV historical drama.
Rearrange to spell a country.
What are the show and the country?
ENTREE #7Take the seven-letter name of a TV political drama series.
Remove the first letter and replace the last letter with a copy of the next-to-last letter. Rearrange to spell a country.
What are the show and the country?
ENTREE #8
Note: Entree #8 is the creation of our friend and prolific riffmeister extraordinaire, a true “MVP” (Most Valuable Puzzle-maker) who goes by the screen name “Plantsmith”... and who has truly been a stalwart creative presence on Puzzleria! since “the Postcard Days” (well, maybe not QUITE that long!)... He is truly a MuchValuedPlantsmith! Enjoy!
Take a two word title of a TV series mainly filmed outside the U.S.
Take out four letters and mix to get a country.
The remaining letters in order are an acronym for a kind of medical equipment.
What are this series, country, and medical equipment?
Dessert Menu
‘Sposing and Spoonerizing Dessert:
“Impeding a pet and a punt”
Name what may restrict a pet's freedom, in two words.Spoonerize and transpose these words to name what sounds like what may impede a
punt’s progress. What are these four words?
Hint: The accompanying image is misleading.
Every Thursday 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 Thursday.
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.
To place a comment under this QUESTIONS? subheading (immediately below), or under any of the three subheadings below it (HINTS! or PUZZLE RIFFS! or MY PROGRESS SO FAR...), simply left-click on the orange “Reply” to open a dialogue box where you can make a comment. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteLego...
QUESTIONS?
ReplyDeleteHINTS!
ReplyDeleteE8- series name is 8 letters 3 and 5. First name of series is a proper name and the second name sounds a lot or exactly like something you could see on "Rawhide."
DeleteSUNDAY HINTS FOR ENTREES 2-7:
Delete2. The host was a logical choice for the role.
3. The last word in the show title anagrams to a pesky hoops team.
4. Properly speaking, the country only existed from 1806 to 1810. Today, the name is sometimes used by outsiders to refer to an 11-letter country within the same continent.
5. The two letters you replace with the abbreviation are the initials of a two-word U.S. commonwealth. The country is also two words.
6. Should this show be set in Spain? Henry Higgins might say so.
7. The country is a hot topic right now, though somewhat obscured.
Late Sunday Early Monday Hints:
DeleteSchpuzzle of the Week:
“Transparency At Last!”
The old-fashioned way of saying “no” (which is an anagram of the author's first name) rhymes with a month.
The prominent surname is transparent.
The relationship of Beatrice or Frances to Bessie and Les rhymes with a common drink.
Appetizer Menu:
Skydiversionary Appetizer:
Skydiveboy prefers that his puzzles stand on their own, sans hints. We shall honor his wishes.
A “Wiggy-Wammy” Hors d’Oeuvre:
“ ‘Toilet Paper’ is a Wipe, not a Weapon, Right?”
When I sent this puzzle to a certain puzzle-master, I was told he solved it immediately! Sharp cookie!
Same-Old-Same-Old Slice:
“Way Down Upon The Swami River?”
To be frank, although the "daily occurrence" is indeed predictable, it is not always all that obvious, depending on weather conditions.
Riffing Off Shortz And Baggish Entrees:
“I love slander!” said the Love Islander
ENTREE #1
Forget-me-nots? Big(sic)onias? Savor and save your memories of their scents!
Nodd provides hints for his wonderful Entrees #2 through #7 in his July 19, 2026 at 5:02 PM Post.
Plantsmith provides a hint to his excellent Entree #8 in his July 18, 2026 at 7:49 PM Post.
Dessert Menu
Transposing and Spoonerizing Dessert:
“Impeding a pet and a punt”
The impediment to the dog's freedom is not a leash... but it does contain five letters.
The punted football might be called "a floater," I suppose... but what I had in mind is definitely a floater... for sure!
LegoHintalicious!
Thanks for the hints. I have the Entrees I was missing, but I'm still stuck on the Dessert. Can kind of guess at one of the words for the dog item, but don't really understand what to do for the punt and floater.
DeleteTortie, if my answer's right, the Dessert uses "punt" to mean something other than a kick.
DeleteIndeed it is a different meaning for the word "punt". Too bad I haven't gotten any closer to the answer with the hint, except in the definition of "punt". But that's all we've established so far.
DeletepjbFeelsTheNeedToParaphrasePaulRevereAndTheRaidersBySaying("WhatAren't)KicksJustKeepGettingHarderToFind..."
LOL at your tagline! I believe that I have established what the punt is, but it doesn't get me any closer to the answer.
DeleteProfessor of Rock on YouTube recently had a countdown of 60s earworms, catchy songs that get stuck in your head but they're songs that make you happy, and not stuff like "It's a Small World." He didn't include "Kicks," but he could have. (Also missing as far as I'm concerned: "Summer in the City.") He stayed away from the Beatles because they would have occupied all of the spaces otherwise (understandable). He also has a 70s and 80s earworms, but I've only started on the 80s one and haven't listened at all to the 70s yet..
PUZZLE RIFFS!
ReplyDeleteMY PROGRESS SO FAR...
ReplyDeleteIF YOU HAVE COMMENTS THAT DO NOT PERTAIN TO ANY OF THE FOUR CATEGORIES ABOVE, YOU MAY WRITE THEM BELOW THIS POST. THANK YOU.
ReplyDeleteGood Friday evening to all here on the blog!
ReplyDeleteI'm fine, but Mom said she got up today not feeling too good. She said something about eating something that has not agreed with her. Anyway, she did not feel like eating out, so we won't. Yesterday, Mia Kate said she'd want to go to Rock 'n' Roll Sushi tonight, but Bryan told Mom he didn't think they'd have anything he could eat, what with his trying to eat healthier after being diagnosed with diabetes, so he called the whole thing off anyway. Mom and I will be foraging for ourselves this evening. Fine with me, but I was okay with it either way. Just got most of the Prize Crossword solved already(set by Pasquale this time), but the Crossword Solver on Wordplays.com has not included the Prize clues just yet, so I'll have to wait a couple of hours before coming back to it.
Easy puzzles here this time. After checking the site late last night, I managed to solve everything except Skydiveboy's Appetizers, Plantsmith's Entree, and the Dessert. This means I only need hints for the last two, since sdb never provides any. Complete waste of time for both of us, IMHO, but there it is. Will be looking for those hints some time around Sunday evening. Hopefully it won't be TMI for me to say that IMDb was very helpful in figuring out most of the Entrees. That's just what I ended up choosing. Nobody has to go by how I did it in exactly the same way. Embrace your own individuality, y'all!
Good luck in solving to all, and please stay safe, and did you know that a few major networks chose not to air President Trump's address to the nation last night? ABC, NBC, and CNN, according to the Web. We still could've watched "Press Your Luck" and "The Greatest Average American"! Oh well. Cranberry out!
pjbWillAlsoGoBackToYoutubeToContinueWatchingTheFour-HourBlockOf"NightTracks"On[WTBS],WhichSomeoneActuallyUploadedFromAFew[VHS]TapesTheyUsedToRecordItBackIn1983-85,AccordingToTheDescription!Videos,Commercials,AndBumpers!ReallyTakesMeBack!ThoseWereTheGoodOldDays,ForSure!
PJB, I knew that about trump's blathering nonsense, so I watched "Press Your Luck." Amazingly, it came down to one spin. The guy spinning had something like $88,000 and the other guy had $2000. (The woman was already eliminated.) On his last spin, he got a Whammy, so the guy with $2000 won! But then...
DeleteABC felt compelled to break in with an analysis of Mango Mussolini's garbage. Yuck! I switched over to MeTVToons (always a great choice - Bugs Bunny and Friends is on then), then tried ten minutes later. still nonsense, so stuck with Bugs.
So I never found out how $2000 winner guy did. I do have Hulu, so I'll try to watch later. Liked the winning contestant especially. He's a puppeteer, and said it helped to bring shy kids and kids on the spectrum out of their shells. (True for the adults, too!)
SCHPUZZLE – ATLAS SHRUGGED; DARN, NAY (AYN RAND); GLASS, DAUGHTER
ReplyDeleteAPPETIZERS
1, 2 ??
3. ELVIS PRESLEY; PELVIS RELEASE
4. VOLTAIRE
HORS D’OEUVRE – EPEE
SLICE – SUNRISE, SURPRISE
ENTREES
1. STEVE BAGGISH; “GET a BIG VASE”
2. “IN SEARCH OF”; replace OF with B to get CHINA, SERB
3. “GAME OF THRONES”; replace F with L to get LESOTHO, GERMAN
4. “HOMELAND”; replace M with L and remove E to get HOLLAND
5. “PRISON BREAK”; change PR to UA (abbreviation for United Artists) and change E to F; rearrange to get BURKINA FASO
6. “REIGN”; NIGER
7. “SCANDAL”; remove S and change L to A; rearrange to get CANADA
8. “TED LASSO”; LAOS; TEDS (Thrombo-Embolic Deterrent stockings)
DESSERT– DOG FENCE; DENSE FOG
I think App 2 may concern down, as in an adventurer being tied down or a mountaineer losing down from a sleeping bag, but I wasn't able to make a set of homophones that worked.
DeleteSchpuzzle: ATLAS SHRUGGED, DARN, NAY; GLASS; DAUGHTER
ReplyDeleteApp:
1.
2. ??? CLOSE, CLOTHES
3. ELVIS PRESLEY, PELVIS RELEASE
4. ??? INFLATION
Hors d’Oeuvre: EPEE
Slice: SUNRISE, SURPRISE
Entrees:
1. STEVE BAGGISH; GET A BIG VASE
2. IN SEARCH OF, CHINA, SERB
3. GAME OF THRONES, LESOTHO, GERMAN
4. HOMELAND, HOLLAND
5. PRISON BREAK, BURKINA FASO
6. REIGN, NIGER
7. SCANDAL, CANADA
8. TED LASSO, LAOS, TEDS
Dessert: CHAIN? CRATE? FENCE? STAKE? Seems like the punt is a boat, but I can’t get anywhere with that (puzzle wise, not literally!)
Schpuzzle
ReplyDelete"ATLAS SHRUGGED", by AYN RAND, DARN, NAY, GLASS, DAUGHTER(in "Franny and Zooey", by J. D. Salinger)
Appetizer Menu
3. ELVIS PRESLEY, PELVIS RELEASE
4. VOLTAIRE(volt air), a French writer and philosopher who died in 1778
Menu
A "Wiggy-Wammy" Hors d'Oeuvre
The EPEE, a fencing sword, can always be found inside TEPEES.
Same-Old-Same-Old Slice
SUNRISE, SURPRISE
Entrees
1. STEVE BAGGISH, "GET A BIG VASE!"
2. "IN SEARCH OF", CHINA, SERB
3. "GAME OF THRONES", LESOTHO, GERMAN
4. "HOMELAND", HOLLAND
5. "PRISON BREAK", BURKINA FASO(UA is the abbreviation of United Artists.)
6. "REIGN", NIGER
7. SCANDAL, CANADA
8. "TED LASSO", LAOS, TEDS(Thrombo-Embolus Deterrent Stockings)
'Sposing and Spoonerizing Dessert
DOG FENCE, DENSE FOG(A "punt" is "a flat-bottomed boat with a square bow, designed for shallow water and small rivers". But then, just about any boat might have trouble going in a dense fog.)
Dr. Drew Pinsky is now the second competitor to be voted off of "Nation's Dumbest" earlier this evening, after Elle King last week. It is good that he got to leave, considering how much he kept talking about being able to see his new grandchild if and when he got out of there. Many happy returns, Grandpa Drew!-pjb
This week's official answers for the record, Part 1:
ReplyDeleteSchpuzzle of the Week:
“Transparency At Last!”
Take a two-word 20th-century novel title by an author whose seven-letter name is an anagram of two words: a “mild expletive” and an old-fashioned way of saying “no.”
Anagram the title to spell two longer words:
~ a surname prominent in a second author’s 20th-Century fiction, and
~ the relationship of Beatrice or Frances to Bessie and Les (in a second work of 20th-Century fiction).
What are this novel title, “mild expletive” and an old-fashioned way of saying “no”?
What is the fictional surname?
What is the relationship of Beatrice or Frances to Bessie and Les?
Answer:
"Atlas Shrugged" ("Darn"; "Nay" =Ayn Rand); Glass; Daughter
Lego
This week's official answers for the record, Part 2:
ReplyDeleteAppetizer Menu:
Skydiversionary Appetizer:
“Vive la différence”; “Sleeping-bag no-no”; “Now, Presenting on stage...”; A pump implies the past;
1. What is the difference between a consortium of male European royalty who were into philosophy and the failed attempt to help a relative in a time of difficulty?
Answer:
One is "the counts that thought," the other is the "thought that counts."
2. Think of a two-word phrase describing something an adventurer would never want to be.
Now make a homophone of that phrase (altering the spelling of the first word) to describe something a serious mountaineer would never do to his sleeping bag. What are they?
Answer:
Tied down. and TIDE down
(Note: A "tide down" refers to the colloquial mistake of attaching a sleeping bag to the outside of a backpack without a protective waterproof sack. Mountaineers avoid this to prevent the bag from absorbing moisture (rain or snow), tearing on rocks, or altering the pack's center of gravity.)
3. Think of a famous singer of the past. Move the first letter of his last name to the beginning of the first name.
Now replace the last letter of the last name with an A and an E and rearrange to make a new word. These two words will now visually describe his stage presence. Who is the singer, and what are the two new words?
Answer:
Elvis Presley; pelvis release
(Elvis Presley => pelvis resley => pelvis resleae => pelvis release
4. Why is it every time I look at my small 12-volt air pump I am reminded of the 1700s?
Anyone know?
Answer:
"12-volt air pump" includes the words "volt air" consecutively. Voltaire (1694–1778), born François-Marie Arouet, was a leading French Enlightenment writer and philosopher who "pretty much lived during the 1700s!"
Lego
NO, NO, NO. Tied down refers to a person feeling tied down and not free to follow his desires. And TIDE down refers to using TIDE detergent to wash a down sleeping bad, something no one should ever do.
DeleteThis week's official answers for the record, Part 3:
ReplyDeleteMENU
A “Wiggy-Wammy” Hors d’Oeuvre:
“ ‘Toilet Paper’ is a Wipe, not a Weapon, Right?”
Bows and arrows, tomahawks, spears and war clubs are weapons that are sometimes, even often found in tepees.
What weapon is ALWAYS found in tepees?
Same-Old-Same-Old Slice:
“Way Down Upon The Swami River?”
Name a predictable daily occurrence.
Replace its third letter with the letters four and two places after it in the alphabet to spell something unpredictable.
What are these two words?
Answer:
Sunrise; Surprise
Riffing Off Shortz And Baggish Entrees:
“I love slander!” said the Love Islander
Will Shortz’s June 12th Weekend Edition Sunday puzzle, from Steve Baggish of Arlington, Massachusetts, reads:
Take the 10-letter name of a popular TV series for which most of its seasons have been filmed in a foreign country. Remove the first and last letters, and the remaining letters can be rearranged to spell the name of a country. What are the two names?
Puzzleria!s Riffing Off Shortz And Baggish Entrees read:
ENTREE #1
Take the 12-letter name of a very popular, prolific and clever NPR puzzle-maker. Remove the first and last letters. The remaining letters can be rearranged to fill in the ten blanks in a phrase for what a Valentine’s Day sweetheart who is showered with towers of flowers from her beau must do:
“_ _ _ a _ _ _ _ _ _ _!”
Who is this puzzle-maker?
What is the phrase?
Answer:
Steve Baggish
“GET a BIG VASE!”
Lego
This week's official answers for the record, Part 4:
ReplyDeleteThe answers to Entrees #2 through #7, conundrums drummed-up/dreamt-up by our friend and riffmeister extraordinaire, Nodd:
ENTREE #2
Take the three-word, 10-letter name of a popular TV show dealing with unexplained phenomena. Replace the last two letters with a B. Rearrange to spell the name of a country and a name for a native of a second country. What are the show, the country, and the name for a native of the second country?
Answer:
“IN SEARCH OF”, replace “OF” with B => CHINA, SERB
ENTREE #3
Take the three-word, 13-letter name of a popular fantasy-drama TV show. Replace the second letter of the second word with an L. Rearrange to spell the name of a country and a name for a native of a second country. What are the show, the country, and the name for a native of the second country?
Answer:
“GAME OF THRONES”; replace F with L => LESOTHO, GERMAN
ENTREE #4
Take the one-word, 8-letter name of a popular TV show dealing with espionage. Replace the third letter with the letter that immediately precedes it in the alphabet. Remove the fourth letter. You’ll name a country. What are the show and the country?
Answer:
“HOMELAND”; replace M with L and remove E => HOLLAND
ENTREE #5
Take the two-word, 11-letter name of a popular TV crime drama show. Replace the first and second letters with the two-letter abbreviation for an American film and TV production company. Change the ninth letter to the next letter in the alphabet. Rearrange to spell a country. What are the show and the country?
Answer:
“PRISON BREAK”; replace PR with UA (abbreviation for United Artists), replace E with F => BURKINA FASO
ENTREE #6
Take the one-word, five-letter name of a popular TV historical drama. Rearrange to spell a country. What are the show and the country?
Answer:
“REIGN” => NIGER
ENTREE #7
Take the seven-letter name of a TV political drama series. Remove the first letter and replace the last letter with a copy of the next-to-last letter. Rearrange to spell a country. What are the show and the country?
Answer:
“SCANDAL”; remove S, replace L with A => CANADA
Lego...
This week's official answers for the record, Part 5:
ReplyDeleteMostValuablePuzzle-maker
The answer to Plantsmith's excellent Entree #8:
Entree #8
Take a two word-title of a TV series mainly filmed outside the U.S. Take out four letters and mix to get a country. The remaining letters in order are an acronym for a kind of medical equipment.
What are this series, country, and medical equipment?
Answer:
"Ted Lasso"; Laos;
TED LASSO – (TED+S) = LASO => LAOS; TED+S = TEDS
Note: TEDS (hose) are Thrombo-Embolus Deterrent Stockings, that are specialized medical compression garments designed to prevent blood clots (deep vein thrombosis) and reduce leg swelling in patients who are non-ambulatory or bed-bound. They apply graduated pressure, which is strongest at the ankle and decreases up the leg. (Plantsmith has a medical background.)
Left over =
(Educational Note: Plantsmith tells me that TEDS (Thrombo-Embolic Deterrent Stockings) are worn by most patients post-op. Some have inflatable capability to manually squeeze and release the legs to stimulate blood flow and help reduce possibility of blood clots.
Dessert Menu
Transposing and Spoonerizing Dessert:
“Impeding a pet and a punt”
Name what may restrict a pet's freedom, in two words.
Spoonerize and transpose these words to name what sounds like what may impede a punt’s progress.
What are these four words?
Hint: The accompanying image is misleading.
Answer:
Dog Fence; Dense Fog
Lego!
Joe,
ReplyDeleteTURN YOUR PHONE ON!
I see I'm too late....but there must be something interesting going on above (which I never read until after I have posted any answers), given SDB's post in capital letters!
ReplyDeleteSCHPUZZLE: NAY DARN => AYN RAND; ATLAS SHRUGGED => DAUGHTER & GLASS [in J.D. Salinger books]
APPETIZERS:
1. MURDER OF THE TSAR AND HIS FAMILY?
HORS D'O: EPEE (Sword)
SLICE: While I would hardly say that this is a predictable daily event, the only word I could find to work is: ENEMA => ENIGMA
ENTREES:
1. STEVE BAGGISH => TEVE BAGGIS => GET A BIG VASE