2020-10-18 NPR Puzzle Synopsis

[Joe Wander]

NPR Weekend Edition Puzzle

Lourdes Garcia-Navarro and Will Shortz

2020-10-18

 

Last week's challenge  from listener Tyler Lipscomb, of Augusta, Georgia: Name certain fruits — in the plural. Change the second letter to an L and read the result backward. You'll name two things to drink. What are they?

Will's answers are avocados, soda and cola. 

 

Lulu reported more than 1400 correct responses.  This week's on-air player was Steve Becker of Grantham, New Hampshire, who was in the car when the call came, and glad that he answered. Steve is a  sustaining member of NHPR and into geocaching---a scavenger huntish event using a GPS to lead you to a "treasure" at which you may sign a log book to indicate your participation and possibly swap tokens. He googled a list of fruits to find avocado(s).

 

The theme of today's puzzle posted to the NPR site is "P, B & J." Each prompt is three words, starting with the letters P, B and J. The response is a fourth word that can follow each of the three to complete a compound word or a familiar two-word phrase.

 

For the example given, "Parking, Back, Job," the answer would be "Lot." (parking lot, back lot, job lot)  

Prompts (*A hint was given)

1. Penalty, Boom, Juke

2. Power, Buzz, Jig

3. Present, Birth, Judgment

4. Pill, Bed, Jitter

Four-letter answers:

5. Perp, Board, Jay

6. Paddle, Basket, Jump

7.* Parting, Big, Jell-O

8. Plymouth, Bed, Jailhouse

Five-letter answers:

9. Pogo, Broom, Joy

10. Pocket, Butter, Jack

11. Passion, Bearing, Juicy

Six-letter answer:

12. Pickled, Bell, Jalapeno 

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Editor's notes:

Continuing the pattern since we finally engaged in isolating from covid-19, no news items or upcoming events announced. Steve, with a single exception, ripped through Will's challenges.

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

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Mail:
NB, please: We editors are always eager to receive e-mail comments (even when you are pointing out one or more 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 that 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.

Correspondence this week:  None

 

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 This week's challenge from listener Michael Schwartz of Florence, Oregon: Name a world capital. Change one letter in it to D-Y. The result will be two words, one after the other. The first word names somebody you like to be around. The second word names somebody you don't like to be around. What city is it?

Here is our current 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>

Justin Bassett <justin.t.bassettATgmail.com> 

Still on schedule. Mail this week should be sent to Richard  with a "carbon copy" (cc:) to Justin,  Kristy, and me  please.  

 Hints:

  7. (after Jell-O) something they do on spring break

How do I subscribe to this podcast?

Copy the URL [above this paragraph] into your preferred podcasting tool software (e.g. Odeo, iTunes, iPodder). You will automatically receive this podcast each time it is published.

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Links of possible interest:

Blaine's Puzzle Blog (snarky takes on the listener challenges)

American Crossword Puzzle Tournament  World Puzzle Federation

Merl Reagle's article on constructing crossword puzzles

North American Scrabble Championship  World Sudoku Puzzle Championships

 

Our group of volunteer co-editors has distributed these free weekly synopses of the NPR puzzle segment. Read more about this free distribution here.

You can subscribe from this page, too.

 

Follow this link to unsubscribe from this group or this link for more options.

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NPR posts the weekly challenge (and the previous week's answer) on its World Wide Web page.  You can also listen to a recording of Weekend Edition Sunday programs after noon ET each Sunday by going to this page and clicking on the blurb about the puzzle sequence.

Submit answers as well as comments about any NPR programming here.

Podcasts of NPR shows are available here.

U.S. Puzzle Championship info   Audios of past NPR puzzle segments

Ed Pegg Jr.'s puzzles  National Puzzlers' League

Kristy Compton suggests linguaphiles visit A.Word.A.Day

To join Kathie Schneider's email list for accessible word and logic puzzles, send a blank email to blind-puzzle...@googlegroups.com

Matt Jones' Jonesin’ Crosswords

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Prompts and answers

1. Penalty, Boom, Juke -- box

2. Power, Buzz, Jig -- saw

3. Present, Birth, Judgment -- day

4. Pill, Bed, Jitter -- bug

5. Perp, Board, Jay -- walk

6. Paddle, Basket, Jump -- ball

7.* Parting, Big, Jell-O -- shot

8. Plymouth, Bed, Jailhouse -- rock

9. Pogo, Broom, Joy -- stick

10. Pocket, Butter, Jack -- knife

11. Passion, Bearing, Juicy -- fruit

12. Pickled, Bell, Jalapeno -- pepper  

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Joe Wander

Panama City, Florida