2018-01-14 NPR puzzle synopsis

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Richard Renner

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Jan 14, 2018, 9:14:31 AM1/14/18
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Synopsis of
NPR Weekend Edition puzzle
with Lulu Garcia-Navarro and Will Shortz
2018-01-14

Last week's challenge comes from listener Neville Fogarty of Newport News, Virginia. Take the first and last names of a journalist well-known to NPR listeners. Remove the first letter of the last name. The remaining letters can be rearranged to spell two modes of transport. And here's a hint: The modes of transport have the same number of wheels. Who is the journalist, and what are the modes of transport? The answer is not Jack Spear (making Jeep and K-car).  It is Cokie Roberts, making scooter and bike.

Lulu reported almost 300 correct entries.

The winner is Robert Switzer of West Hollywood, California. He has played the NPR puzzle since Susan Stamberg asked for postcard entries. He asked Will how the NPR puzzle started. He met Cokie Roberts recently at a reunion of congressional pages. Will explained how Susan wanted a radio representation of the Sunday crossword puzzle, and Will came up with this format (since crosswords themselves are hard to do via radio).

Today’s on-air puzzle is called “A Twisted Ending.” The answers are pairs of five-letter words.  Reverse the positions of the last two letters of the answer to the first clue to get the answer to the second.  For example, if the clues were, “aristocratic” and “prestigious annual prize,” the answers would be NOBLE and NOBEL.

CLUES:
Squiggle over a Spanish "n" / Like a bathroom floor
Move along slowly / Thin pancake
Variety of grape for wine-making / Spotted horse
Something that's 90 degrees on a square / Heavenly figure
Bread-making need / Irish poet who wrote "The Lake Isle of Innisfree"
English county / More timid
Feature on a necklace / Applauds
First sign of the zodiac / Get out of bed

Answers are near the end of this synopsis.

The listener challenge for next week asks for the name of a world capital. It's an older way of spelling the name. Drop three letters, and the remaining letters, in order, will name another world capital. Both cities have more than a million residents. What cities are these?

Answers must be received by 3:00 p.m. Eastern Time on THURSDAY.  One answer per person. 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 made at the web page:
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.

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Editor's notes:
 
Puzzles, and contents of Weekend Edition/Sunday puzzle segment are copyrighted 2018, by Will Shortz and NPR. Reprinted here with permission.

Here's our regular monthly puzzle transcription schedule:
1st Sunday Even-numbered months: Joe; odd-numbered months: Jerry
2nd Sunday Richard
3rd Sunday Joe
4th Sunday Jerry
5th Sunday Richard
Our e-mail addresses are:
Richard Renner <rrennerATigc.org>
Joe Wander <jdwandersrATgmail.com>
Jerry Miller <jmmillerATmiamioh.edu>

Will announced that he has become a consultant for a "crossword mystery" movie. It is about a crossword puzzle editor who solves mysteries.

Mail:

David Sobelsohn writes:
I hope I'm not the only NPR listener to note that, when Will Shortz said he once heard "If you ever get tired of writing, you are tired of life,” he was hearing someone paraphrase Samuel Johnson. According to Boswell's "Life of Johnson" (1763), the original line (included in a book with the unintentionally ironic title "Bartlett's Familiar Quotations") was "When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life; for there is in London all that life can afford."  Even an hypergraphic Will probably concede that writing does not provide all of life's necessities.

David’s wish is granted.

Hi, Everyone. 
        In today's (1/7/18) NPR puzzle segment, Will referred to a quotation about if being tired of writing, being tired of life. I think the original quotation is by Samuel Johnson (When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life."). 
                           Yours,               Phil Goodman
                                                    Binghamton, NY

NB, please: We editors are always eager to receive e-mail comments (even when you are pointing out one of our slips), and we will generally add them to this section of the following week's synopsis. Please let us know in the first line of your message if you would like your comment included or withheld from the synopsis. Also, if you do want your comment included, let us know if it is okay to share your name and email address. If no constraints are mentioned, we will assume it is okay to publish it as it arrived--with comment, name, and e-mail address intact.

Lulu and Will gave these clues:
Squiggle over a Spanish "n": what do you call the diacritical mark?
Move along slowly: could also be a horrible man
Variety of grape for wine-making: a French variety
First sign of the zodiac: a ram

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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:
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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.

Richard Renner
rrennerATigc.org
Silver Spring, Maryland

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CLUES
ANSWERS
Squiggle over a Spanish "n" / Like a bathroom floor
tilde, tiled
Move along slowly / Thin pancake
creep, crepe
Variety of grape for wine-making / Spotted horse
pinot, pinto
Something that's 90 degrees on a square / Heavenly figure
angle, angel
Bread-making need / Irish poet who wrote "The Lake Isle of Innisfree"
yeast, Yeats
English county / More timid
shire, shier
Feature on a necklace / Applauds
clasp, claps
First sign of the zodiac / Get out of bed
Aries, arise


End of NPR Puzzle Synopsis.
  
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