Synopsis of
NPR Weekend Edition puzzle
with Lulu Garcia-Navarro and Will Shortz
2021-02-28
And the announcement of our suspension of making synopses.
The listener challenge last week was from listener Andrew
Chaikin of San Francisco. Think of a famous philosopher, first and
last names. Change one letter in the first name to get a popular
dish. Drop two letters from the last name and rearrange the result
to get the kind of cuisine of this dish. What is it? The answers are:
Friedrich Nietzsche, fried rice and Chinese.
Lulu reported 1,500 correct entries.
The on-air player is Tim Erskine of Chester, Virginia. He used the
Monty Python’s Philosophers Song as a guide.
Tim has played the NPR puzzle since 2002 or 2003, he sets his
alarm for Thursdays at 2:58 pm so he will be ready to answer
NPR’s call in case he wins.
Today’s on-air puzzle is called, “You Got An A++.” The clues
come in pairs. Say the answers to the two clues with an A in front
to get each answer. For example, if the clues are “Prohibition /
Mafia chief,” then the answer would be ABANDON (A+ban+don).
Clues:
1. Hydroelectric facility / Insect that scurries
2. Old horse / Male sheep
3. Hot dog holder / Waltz or minuet
4. Where a scientist works / Fall flower
5. Untruth / Country or land
6. Colorado ski resort / Skill
Answers are near the end of this synopsis.
This week's challenge comes from Joseph Young of St. Cloud,
Minnesota. I'm looking for the names of two companies. One of
them has a two-part name (5,5). The other has a three-part name
(5,7,5). The last five-letter part of the two names is the same. And
the first five-letter part of the first company's name is something
the second company wants. What is it?
Joseph Young’s Puzzleria is at:
Answers must be received by 3:00 p.m. Eastern Time on
THURSDAY. NPR will no longer receive entries by email. Be
sure to include a telephone number where you can be reached if
you are selected as the winner.
Entries may be submitted at the NPR web page:
You can also get to this page by going to:
and clicking the "Submit Your Answer" link. You may also submit
a suggestion for a new puzzle by selecting Puzzle Idea from the
"I'd Like to" pulldown, and you may comment about NPR
programming at the same site.
* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *
Editor's notes:
Puzzles, and contents of Weekend Edition/Sunday puzzle
segment are copyrighted 2021, by Will Shortz and NPR.
Reprinted here with permission.
Here's our legacy monthly puzzle transcription schedule:
1st Sunday Joe
2nd Sunday Richard
3rd Sunday Joe
4th Sunday Richard
5th Sunday Kristy
Our e-mail addresses are:
Richard Renner <rrennerATigc.org>
Joe Wander <jdwandersrATgmail.com>
Kristy Compton <bisonbooksATgmail.com>
With mixed feelings, I have decided to suspend our weekly
preparation of synopses of the NPR puzzles. Twenty-six (26)
years is long enough for us (although Will is obviously carrying on
for the foreseeable future). Our co-editor, Joe Wander, has had
intermittent health issues and has become unavailable and non-responsive. While my heart goes out for Joe and wishes him well,
the present situation is an indicator of our overall situation. Our
lives change and we are mortal. If this endeavor is going to
continue, it needs a succession plan that draws in the next
generation of co-editors. That we do not have.
I feel immense appreciation for my co-editors, particularly Joe
who suggested long ago that these synopses would benefit from
sharing the work with a team of co-editors. He, Kristy Compton
and the late Jerry Miller made it possible for me to continue this
long. Justin Bassett and others also helpfully served as subs to
maintain continuity.
Together we are leaving a record in the public domain of the NPR
puzzle and commentaries. I like to think that the public discussion
has made the puzzle more inclusive and responsive. More
importantly, it created a community of both shared and diverse
interests.
I am calling this decision a suspension, albeit indefinite. If any of
us feel moved to submit a syopsis, we remain free to do so.
Whatever is ahead
for us, I do wish each of you the best in coping with the present
adversities and finding your own paths to accomplishment.
Here is a message from Kristy:
It's been a JOY to serve with you over the years. The puzzle is a
delightful staple of each weekend, and it's truly been delightful to
help out with the synopsis over the years. I count you all and our
late colleague, Jerry, as FRIENDS who have seen me through a
rough divorce, years of singledom, and then a happy remarriage.
Joe, you are in my prayers. At random times during the week, I
think of you and wonder how you are doing. Please be well and
know you are in our thoughts.
Richard, thank you for calling it a "suspension"...just in case. :-)
Justin, thank you for being such a good sport and
graciously/efficiently filling in whenever we needed you.
What a lucky gal I am to have such cool friends,
Kristy in Texas
We also have this email:
> > 2021-02-14
> > The listener challenge last week was from listener Ed Pegg
Jr.,
> > the news this year in a positive way. Say this person's first
> > initial
> > and last name out loud. It will sound like an important person
in
> > U.S. history. Who is it? The answer is Antony Blinken, making
"A.
> > Blinken" which sounds like "Abe Lincoln." Blinken is our newly
> > confirmed Secretary of State.
Date sent: Thu, 18 Feb 2021 08:59:04 -0700
Subject: Re: [NPR puzzle] 2021-02-14 NPR puzzle
synopsis
I neglected to send this comment to Will, but I checked first to
hear
what he actually said. He did not say "in a positive way" either on
Feb
14 or Feb 7. So I am glad I did not say anything to Will about it.
The "in a positive way" must either have been added by NPR to
their text
version of the puzzle online, or else in the original from Ed Pegg
(and
omitted by Will).
Either way, Will is blameless here.
I repeat: Anthony Blinken is a disaster. A TOTAL DISASTER.
This from Wayne:
>> On Feb 7, 2021, at 18:43, wrote:
>> ? No puzzle received today!!
> On Feb 8, 2021, at 08:36, Richard Renner wrote:
> ?Hmm. Right you are.
> Maybe it is time for us to lay down the weekly synopses.
Wayne:
I hope not!!
From Harvey:
Richard
Thanks so much for doing these newsletters. I read it almost
every week.
That said, I’m not prepared to volunteer to join the team sending
them out.
YIF,
From David:
I also noticed the omission and hope it was merely a case of
forgetfulness and not something more serious.
—David
From Phil:
Hi, Richard, Joe, Kristy, and Justin.
Thank you all for continuing to send the weekly synopses. I
am hopeful that we can continue to receive them and that other
listeners will offer their assistance in this effort. I don't have a
computer at home and have only very basic computer skills, so
am unable to be of any help to you.
Get well soon, Joe!!!
Yours, Phil Goodman
Binghamton, NY
Hints:
1. Hydroelectric facility / Insect that scurries: the insect might
invade a picnic, 3 letters, the strongest insect
4. Where a scientist works / Fall flower: the flower is 5 letters,
starting with A
6. Colorado ski resort / Skill: the ski resort has 4 letters; the skill is
in the form of a noun
* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *
Our group of volunteer co-editors distributes these free weekly
synopses of the NPR puzzle segment. You can read more about
this free distribution at:
You can subscribe from this page, too.
To unsubscribe from this group, send email to:
To change the email address of your subscription, remove the old
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NPR posts the weekly challenge (and the previous week's
answer) on its World Wide Web page:
Option 2: You can also listen to a recording of Weekend Edition
Sunday program after 12:00 noon ET each Sunday by going to
the first link at the top of this e-mail.
Podcasts are available at:
Podcasts of the Sunday puzzle are available at:
How do I subscribe to this podcast?
Copy the URL [above this paragraph] into your preferred
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* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *
Links of interest:
Audios of past NPR puzzle segments
World Scrabble Championship
American Crossword Puzzle Tournament
Merl Reagle’s article on constructing crossword puzzles, available
at
World Puzzle Federation (including Sudoku tournaments):
The US Team page is at:
Register for the USA team at:
Ed Pegg Jr.'s puzzles are available at:
National Puzzlers’ League
Kristy Fowler suggests linguaphiles visit
You can join Kathie Schneider's email list for accessible word and
logic puzzles. To subscribe, send a blank email to
Will noted that Matt Jones writes the Jonesin’ Crosswords which
appears in over 50 alternative newspapers.
Joseph Young’s Puzzleria is at:
Richard Renner
in Silver Spring, Maryland
rrennerATigc.org
Twitter: @rennerr3
* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *
Clues
|
Answers
|
1. Hydroelectric facility / Insect that scurries
|
adamant
|
2. Old horse / Male sheep
|
anagram
|
3. Hot dog holder / Waltz or minuet
|
abundance
|
4. Where a scientist works / Fall flower
|
alabaster
|
5. Untruth / Country or land
|
alienation
|
6. Colorado ski resort / Skill
|
availability
|
The strongest insect is actually the horned dung beetle:
The insect world is famous for its Olympian power-lifters, but the
horned dung beetle (Onthophagus Taurus) takes the gold. A
mere 10 millimeters long, the beetle can pull up to 1141 times its
own body weight-the equivalent of an average man lifting two
fully-loaded 18-wheeler trucks. Mar 23, 2010
End of NPR Puzzle Synopses, for now.