Pa Rum Pa Pum Pum

Q:


Take the phrase "fusion tea".  You can rearrange the letters to come up with three distinct words.  One word has the opposite meaning of the other two, although the other two words are not necessarily synonyms.  What words are these?

A:

Pretty straight forward.  The word UMP appears twice in the title, as in an umpire in baseball.

Out    -    In    and    Safe

Found In Translation

Q:


There are many foreign words that are made simply by removing one letter from an English word.  For example, a stylish young woman would be a chic chick.  See if you can come up with the answers to these clues.

Holidays for the sopranos                    Spanish

Found on a trike                                 Spanish

Giant potato                                        German

Fight over money                                 Russian

A:


Holidays for the sopranos                 Divas'  Dias                    Divas' Days

Found on a trike                               Tres  Tires                      Three Tires

Giant potato                                      Uber  Tuber                    Super Tuber

Fight over money                               Ruble  Rumble                 Ruble Rumble

Life Is Short

Q:

Shank             Gold Tiara             Cower             Gib

__________ : __________ :: __________ : __________

Rearrange each group of letters and put them in their proper places to make a sensible analogy.

A:

Hanks  :  Big  ::  Crowe  :  Gladiator

Locked and Loaded

Q:


Take the word "bit" and a synonym of the word "bit".  Rearrange the letters to name a well known movie by a well known director.

A:

Another term for locked and loaded is cocked and ready.  The image is of something you would attach to the end of a trailer hitch.  One synonym of the word "bit" is "shred" - as in a shred of evidence.  Rearrange to get 

The Birds

It Never Sleeps

Q:


Take the phrase

Noticeable Evils

Rearrange the 15 letters to get a two-word phrase describing where you might find noticeable evils.

A:


The title and image are clues.  "It never sleeps" hints at 24/7 and the image is the reverse image of Vermont (VT-->TV).  24/7 TV.

Cable Television

Two Against One

Q:


Take the following phrase:

 Shady Forest

Add one more letter and rearrange to come up with three words, one the opposite of the other two.

A:

The light in a shady forest is a soft light.  The added letter is an A.  Rearranging gives you 

Hard   -   Soft  and  Easy

It's What We Do

Q:


What is the next pair in this series?

DD     PP     LL     LD     MM     SS     GL     _ _

A:

Drummers drumming, pipers piping, lords a-leaping, etc.

The solution pair of letters is GR for golden rings.

Time To Eat Yet?

Q:


Name something that is part of a group of twelve.  Move the first letter up two places and translate to name something that is part of a group of seven. 

A:


The title mentions time and the image is soup, as in soup du jour.  An hour is part of a group of 12 (excluding military time).  Move up 2 places and you get jour, French for day.  There 7 days in a week.

I've Seen This Before

Q:


Think of a US state postal abbreviation whose letters can be reversed to name a chemical element from the periodic table.  Think of a second US state postal abbreviation with the same property.  The name of the second chemical element will describe a property of  the first chemical element.  What are the states and elements?

A:

The title and image provide a clue.  The piece of wood has a large burl and when followed by the first four letters of the title, you get Burl Ives. 

There are two solutions to this puzzle.  Louisiana (LA) and Indiana (IN) can be reversed to Al (aluminum) and Ni (nickel).  Both are silver (Ag) in color which is reversed to get GA (Georgia).

Thanks to Lorenzo for pointing out the second solution.

More Color Codes

Q:


Last week we gaveth.  This week, we taketh away.

Take the phrase INDIGO ROE.  Drop one letter and rearrange the result to name a well known food brand.

Now, take the phrase TEAL NESTS.  Drop one letter and rearrange the result to get the full name of the company that owns the brand.

A:

The image is the Swiss Stock Exchange where the company trades.  Drop E and T to get

DIGIORNO                      NESTLE  SA

Color Coded

Q:


Take the phrase RED GOAT.  Add a vowel and rearrange the letters to name a popular beverage brand.

Now, take the phrase AQUA STORK.  Add a vowel and rearrange the letters to name the company that owned the brand for almost twenty years.

A:

The image shows blue and orange, the colors of the University of Florida.  The beverage was developed there in 1965 and shortly after the 1967 Orange Bowl, the production rights were sold to Stokely-Van Camp.  After 18 years, another company purchased the brand and subsequently sold it to Pepsico in 2001. 

Add an A to red goat and an E to aqua stork.

GATORADE             QUAKER OATS

Who Wants to Get Things Started?

Q:


This week we have multiple challenges.


Take the phrase

Native Beagle Cheered

First challenge -  how many four letter animal names can you come up with?  I came up with fourteen singular animal names, six of which have a homophone.

Second challenge - take one of the more common animals and add a consonant.  The five letters can now be rearranged twice to make a pair of homophones.  What are they?

Third challenge - using the letters of  Native Beagle Cheered only once, complete four common phrases that each begin with one of the above five letter homophones.

Good luck!!

A:

Common animals - bear, crab, hare, deer, bird, gnat 

Crossword animals - erne, tern, rhea

Crazy animals - hart, hind, ling, teal, rail

Add a "K" to bear to get "brake" and "break".

Using the letters in "Native Beagle Cheered" gives you four phrases beginning with "break".

The title hints at - break the ice.

Good luck hints at - break a leg.

The other two are - break bread and break even.

Sibling Rivalry

Q:


Take the phrase Boggle Winner.  Rearrange the letters to name the sister of a certain 2011 NPR Sunday Puzzle solution.

A:

In 1910, two sister schools were chartered in Ohio.  Kent State as mentioned in last Sunday's NPR puzzle and a school located about 20 miles south of Toledo.   Rearranging Boggle Winner gives you

Bowling Green

Next In Line, Please

Q:


It's time to renew your tag for your license plate.  You go to the Secretary of State's office only to find twenty people already in line when three clerks open their windows.  Clerk A can complete the transaction in two minutes.  Clerk B can do it in three minutes and clerk C, in four minutes.  Assuming everyone knows this and all are in a hurry, how long does it take you to get your license plate tag?

Bonus Q:

Take the phrase  NOWHERE STILL.  Add one letter OR one punctuation mark and rearrange the result  to name something unusual about today.

A:  

After 18 minutes, clerk A has processed 9 transactions, clerk B has processed 6 and clerk C has completed 4 1/2.  Add to get 19 1/2 meaning 19 are done and number 20 is with clerk C.  A and B are open and you choose the faster of the 2, clerk A.  Your transaction takes 2 minutes for a total of 

20 Minutes

For the bonus, add an I or an apostrophe and rearrange to get either answer.

Will is not here.

Will's not here.

AC/DC

Q:


Take the phrase Fat Flyswatter.  Add one more vowel and rearrange the letters to name an east coast misnomer.

A:

The AC in the title refers to Atlantic City, New Jersey.  Add an A and the result (which contains no saltwater) is

Saltwater Taffy

Are You Talking to Me?

Q:


Take the nationalities of the starred countries.  Find a homophone of each.  Rearrange the result to complete this often asked question:

_________________ or _________________?

A:

The starred countries are Finland and the Czech Republic.  The nationalities are Finnish and Czech.  The homophones are finish and check.  The anagrams are chicken and fish.   

CHICKEN  or  FISH?

"What'd Ya Say, Abe?"

Q:


TLA stands for many things, but in this case, it stands for three letter abbreviation.  In the US(A), there are four very well known and very closely related TLA's.  Two contain a two letter US postal abbreviation.  The other two do not.  Name the four TLA's.

A:

Among many things, Abe Lincoln said "Four score...".  The image says "No Eye".  Coaches often tell their players, "There is no "I" in T-E-A-M".  So we are in the sports category.  National Basketball Association, National Football League, National Hockey League and Major League Baseball.  The states are Florida and New Hampshire.

NBA       N(FL)       (NH)L       MLB

P(GA) also fits but  is not part of what is referred to as the four majors.

On the radio version (no title or image) another acceptable answer is C(IA), FBI, (DE)A and ATF, all US government law enforcement agencies.  Thank you, Paul.

I'd Say Those Gloves Are Absolutely Winsome

Q:


With Labor Day fast approaching, it might be time to plan a picnic in the park.  The park I like has a picnic table under a tree by a river.  Here's the challenge.  Take the words

Tree        River        Labor       Day

Change one letter and rearrange the result to name something you might see in a park on Labor Day.

A:

A synonym for winsome could be fetching and the stitch in the gloves is called a fetching stitch.  Change the Y to an R and rearrange to get

Labrador Retriever

I Think Therefore I Am

Q:


Think of a two word phrase meaning "had".  Switch the order of the words to name how you would probably  feel.

A:

In this case, had means to be tricked or deceived.  The title refers to Rene Descartes and the image is that of an apple (duh) giving us Des apple cartes.

Set Up             Upset

This Just In (AVM Revisited)

Q:


Think of a four letter word that names (as far as kingdoms are concerned) a certain animal, a certain vegetable and a certain mineral.  Rearrange the four letters to name a certain twenty first century farm collective.

A:

The title refers to news and the image is that of an eland.  New Zealand is a solution of an NPR puzzle from March of 2010.  

A kiwi bird (animal kingdom) is indigenous to New Zealand.

A kiwi fruit (vegetable kingdom) is widely cultivated in New Zealand.  

A kiwi stone (mineral kingdom) is a type of quartz used in making faux jewelry.

And finally, a wiki farm is a web hosting service that connects any number of wikis (websites) to collectively create and share information.

You're My Hero

Q:

There are two car companies that meet these criteria:

1)  they both have two sets of repeated letters

2)  the repeated sets of letters for both companies are the same distance apart in the alphabet

What car companies are these?

A:

This week's title refers Hiroshima or Hirohito.  The image is the Mach 5, driven by Speed Racer.  Both are references to Japan as both car companies are Japanese.

O and T are 5 spaces apart in the alphabet as are N and S.  The answer is

Toyota                          Nissan

Such a Drag!

Q:  

Take the oft used slogan,

 "Save The Whales".

Remove the first name of a well known childrens' author and rearrange what's left to name what many US citizens are experiencing lately.

A:

The title refers to Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis cross dressing in the Movie "Some Like it Hot".  The image is a clue to the author,  Shel Silverstein, whose works include "Where the Sidewalk Ends". 

Remove SHEL and rearrange the result to get   HEAT WAVES

Almost Time For Dinner

Q:

If you ever watch The Food Network, you may have seen the show, Chopped.  Each chef is given a basket of generally non-related food items with which they must prepare a dish for the judges. Your challenge?  You must use the letters in these ingredients to name four well-known cocktails.

Gingersnaps

an

Enchilada

Marinated Ants 

and a 

Solid Hoof

Your time starts now!

A:

A lengthy though straight forward anagram:

Singapore Sling - Manhattan - Old Fashioned - Sidecar

You're Driving Me Crazy

Q:

Think of two well known Americans who share the same first name and began their careers the same way.  Their last names are each two syllables long.  The word way can be added to the first syllable of each to make two common compound words.  The word hood can be added to the second syllable of each to make two more common compound words.  Who are these people?

A:

The title contains the first clue.  You can drive on a freeway or a fairway (don't use your driver).  

The image is that of Oedipus explaining the riddle of the Sphinx - What walks on four legs in the morning, two legs in the afternoon and three legs in the evening? - a reference of moving from childhood to manhood.

Both stars started their acting careers on the daytime soaps, specifically Another World and Search for Tomorrow.  Both soaps ran for thirty five years.

Morgan Freeman           Morgan Fairchild

Just One More

Q:  


Take the phrase "The Customer Smiles".  Rearrange the letters to name something that makes for a long day.

A:

I don't suppose many of you tried to make a connection to a massive hangover, did you?  This was a pretty straightforward puzzle.  "The Customer Smiles" anagrams into "The Summer Solstice" which is the longest day of the year and this post was published on 6/21/2011, the summer solstice.

Animal, Vegetable or Mineral

Q:


Think of a tree in three letters.  Add a state postal abbreviation and rearrange the five letters to name an animal.

Think of another tree in three letters.  Add another postal abbreviation and rearrange the five letters to name another tree.

Think of one more tree in three letters.  Add one more postal abbreviation and rearrange the five letters to name a mineral.

A:

Oak + Louisiana (LA)  = Koala

Elm + Pennsylvania (PA) = Maple

Tea + Georgia (GA) = Agate

Some Do Too Much While Others Do Little

Q:


Take the words:                            
                                       LOAMY  -  YARD  -  AMPLIFYING

Rearrange the letters to name two well known titles that are related.

A:

Pygmalion - 1912 play by George Bernard Shaw with main character Eliza Doolittle.

My Fair Lady - 1956 Broadway musical based on the above play.

All That Remains

Q:


What is the next letter in this series:

N - U - S - D - E - R - W - __ ?

A:

Perhaps a few too many clues?   On a map hanging vertically, north, south, east and west become up,down, right and Left.  All That Remains is what is Left.   I originally cropped out Elle Decor but changed my mind.  

The series reads:   N - U - S - D - E - R - W - L

Rags to Riches

Q:

Take the phrase "ten upon these beams".  Rearrange the letters to name two things that are at opposite ends of the spectrum.

A:


Pretty straight forward puzzle.  As you move from rags to riches, you are able to move out of your parents BASEMENT and into a PENTHOUSE.

Shop, Drop and Roll

Q:

Rearrange the same four letters to complete these two statements:

People leave __ __ __ __ 's carrying more than when they came in.

People leave the __ __ __ __ carrying less than when they came in.

BONUS:  What is the connection to the image?

A:

I'll give the solutions in reverse order.  The gentlemen in the image are:

1)   Frank Lloyd Wright  -  famous architect in the field of CONSTRUCTION

2)   Sting  -  pop star and former front man for the POLICE

3)   Tris Speaker  -  hall-of-famer with the Cleveland INDIANs

4)   Troy Aikman  -  hall-of-famer with the Dallas COWBOYs

5)   George C. Scott  -  actor noted for his portrayal of Patton, a famous G.I.

6)   Evel Knievil  -  famous daredevil and BIKER

And those, my friends, are the Village People.  Their most famous hit was YMCA, where you leave carrying less.  Rearrange to get MACY's, where you leave carrying more.  

Ten is Ne one?

Q:  

Of the postal abbreviations for the fifty US states, fifteen are also symbols for chemical elements on the periodic table, as in NE for Nebraska and Ne for Neon.  If you assign a number to each letter of the alphabet, A=1, B=2, etc.,  there is a numerical property unique to one of these chemical elements.  What is it?

A:

There are multiple answers to the puzzle if you look only an the set of numbers.  However, looking at the relationship between the numbers and their respective chemical elements narrows the field substantially.

Aluminum (Al) is the only element that has this property:

Assign the numerical values and A(1) + L(12) = 13, which is the atomic number of aluminum.

Opposites Attract

Q:

Take the opposite meanings of these words:

Yeah             Asset                 Abundance             Key     

One result is two letters long and the other three are four letters long.  Rearrange the fourteen letters to get a common phrase relating to hard hitting or heavy lifting.

A:

The picture is a 'black locket'.  The opposites are Na, Debt, Lack and Lock.  Anagramming these gives you the solution.

Block and Tackle

1040 Short Form

Q:

The phrase "editors' guards" contains each vowel only once.  Change two of the vowels to e's for three e's total.  Rearrange the result to name something you might find in a bathroom or on  a bedroom nightstand.

A:


Drop the O and U, replace with E's and rearrange to "Reader's Digest".

Spring Fever

Q:

Arrange the vowels of the alphabet in a circular pattern like this:

A

U        E

O   I

Think of a spring flower in four letters with two vowels.  Shift one vowel clockwise one space and the other counter-clockwise one space.  Rearrange the result to name a different flower.  

Think of a spring flower in five letters with two vowels.  Shift the vowels in the same way.  Rearrange the result to name a part of that flower.

Think of a spring flower in six letters with two vowels.  Shift the vowels in the same way.  Rearrange the result to name the same flower.  There are several possibilities, but.....

This next flower is a species of the previous six letter answer.  Think of a flower in seven letters with two vowels, prized for its aromatic qualities.  Shift the vowels in the same way.  Rearrange the result to name the part of your body most attracted to this flower.

A:


The first answer is IRIS to ROSE.  The second is TULIP to PETAL.  For the third, any flower with adjacent vowels will work since you are merely switching the order.  ORCHID works but CROCUS was the intended answer and SAFFRON is attractive to your SNIFFER.