2021-01-10 NPR puzzle synopsis

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Richard Renner

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Jan 10, 2021, 9:10:12 AM1/10/21
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Synopsis of
NPR Weekend Edition puzzle
with Lulu Garcia-Navarro and Will Shortz
2021-01-10

The listener challenge last week was from listener Robert Flood of Allen, Texas: Think of a seven-letter hyphenated word for a kind of cooking. Change the middle letter to get a new word describing a kind of music. What words are these? The answers are bar-b-que and baroque. This should make Kristy happy. She revealed in our 2006-03-05 synopsis that, “My favorite word containing a Q is baroque. Each week, I listen to
Sunday Baroque.”

Lulu reported over 1,500 correct entries.

The on-air player is Nick Lewis from Montclair, New Jersey. He is from Texas, but tex-mex is only 6 letters. He has played the NPR puzzle for a long time, back to postcard days. He was excited to get the call, but his wife was screaming. He is a fan of Australian baseball because when his wife was assigned to work there in the late 80’s, he became general counsel for the nascent baseball league there.

Today’s on-air puzzle is called, “Categories First.” For each category, name members of that category that start with each of the letters F, I, R. S and T. For example, if the category were, “Girl's Names,” then the answers could be Flo, Iris, Rosa, Sarah and Teresa..

Categories:
1. State capitals
2. Parts of the human body that are common to both genders
3. Terms in mathematics
4. Appliances you plug in

Answers are near the end of this synopsis.

This week's challenge comes from listener Michael Shteyman, of Freeland, Maryland. Name a person in 2011 world news in eight letters. Remove the third, fourth and fifth letters. The remaining letters, in order, will name a person in 2021 world news. What names are these?

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.

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Editor's notes:
 
Puzzles, and contents of Weekend Edition/Sunday puzzle segment are copyrighted 2020, by Will Shortz and NPR. Reprinted here with permission.

Here's our regular 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>

No mail this week.

Hints:
1. State capitals: the two R’s are in the east coast, Mid-Atlantic and South
2. Parts of the human body: for R, think about inside the chest
4. Appliances you plug in: for R and S, think of appliances you use in the kitchen; for R think of something large

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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, for the foreseeable future
rrennerATigc.org
Twitter: @rennerr3

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Categories
F
I
R
S
T
1. State capitals
Frankfurt (KY), not Fargo (ND)
Indianapolis (IN)
Raleigh (NC), Richmond (VA)
Salem (OR), Sacramento (CA), Salt Lake City (UT), Santa Fe (NM), Springfield (IL), St. Paul (MN)
Tallahassee (FL), Topeka (KS), Trenton (NJ)
2. Parts of the human body
face, feet, forearm
index finger, incisor, iris, intestines
ribs, retina
stomach
toe, teeth
3. Terms in mathematics
factor
integer, integral
rhombus, ratio
set, square, sum, subtract, sine
theorem, triangle, tetrahedron, trapezoid
4. Appliances you plug in
fan, not frying pan
iron, intercom, immersion blender
refrigerator, range
stove
television, toaster

Nowadays, non-binary and transgender people, with their allies (like me), would note that thinking of only two genders is limiting. We could, instead, refer to all genders.

End of NPR Puzzle Synopsis.

  
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