Monday, October 31, 2005

Parents and Children (11/1)

I'm thinking of a bestselling author of action-adventure fiction, seven letters in the first name and six in the last. Change the third letter in his/her last name to get a bragging, parental phrase which could have been used when he was a toddler.

Who's the author and what's the phrase?


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Sunday, October 30, 2005

Comic Horrors (10/31)

I recently saw a couple of comedies which were so bad that the execs decided to put both of them on one DVD, presumably to drive up their abysmal sales. Little did they know that among the letters of the titles of these horrific comedies was the word 'HALLOWEEN.' Each letter in HALLOWEEN comes in its proper order (albeit with several letters inbetween) within the combined six words of the two titles.

For example, 'TOM' can be found in its proper order within the name 'KATIE HOLMES.'

Can you identify the two horrific comedies?


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Saturday, October 29, 2005

Will the Real Will Please Stand Up? (10/30)

I’ve compiled a list of men whose name has Will in it or a derivative like Willy, Bill, etc. Some of these men might not have been named William but nonetheless share a derivative form. I have listed short clues to lead you to the correct person.

For example, "Spaceballs" would lead to BILL PULLMAN, a lead actor in the movie.

WILL you get the rest?

1) US president
2) Fresh rapper
3) Puzzle master
4) "Slingblade"
5) One-liner comedian
6) English playwright
7) Calvin cartoonist
8) Medieval warrior
9) Computer CEO
10) Country singer
11) Young gunslinger
12) "Twister"
13) "Mrs. Doubtfire"
14) Fictional janitor
15) ‘Idol’ outcast
16) Trekkie original
17) "The Sound and the Fury"
18) English prince
19) Scottish revolutionary
20) Science guy


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Friday, October 28, 2005

Scent-illating (10/29)

I'm thinking of a smelly type of meat/poultry/fish. Change the first and last letters, and you'll get something equally as smelly.

What are they?


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Thursday, October 27, 2005

Family Myths (10/28)

I'm thinking of a mythological Greek god. Change the first letter, read it backward, and you'll get another Greek god. On top of it all, these two gods are related.

Who are the two gods and how are they related?


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Wednesday, October 26, 2005

The List Goes On... (10/27)

I'm thinking of five different nouns. After the first noun, you'll drop a letter each time you progress to the next clue, and using the same letters minus one, you'll rearrange them to get the answer (there is one clue that doesn't require rearrangement). Thus, clue A has the most letters and clue E the least. Here are the clues:

A) holy site
B) computer tool
C) writer's inspiration
D) math term
E) letter in Greek alphabet

What are these nouns?


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Tuesday, October 25, 2005

The Hair Out There (10/26)

I'm thinking of a state. Change the third letter to a W. Now drop the first and last letters. Read the letters backward, and you'll have a hair style.

What's the state and what's the hair style?


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Monday, October 24, 2005

Bookstore Business (10/25)

There are two sections in every bookstore which rhyme.

What are they?


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Sunday, October 23, 2005

Abbreviated Animal (10/24)

I'm thinking of a common abbreviated organization. Read the letters backward with a T sound at the end, and you'll have the name of a familiar animal.

What's the organization and what's the animal?


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Saturday, October 22, 2005

Checkmate! (10/23)

Below are clues which contain the chess pieces (king, queen, bishop, knight, rook, and pawn) in their answers. For example, DANGEROUS SNAKE would produce KING COBRA. Some of the others might be a little trickier, but the letters of the pieces will always be consecutive. Check it out!

1) Anne Rice vampire book
2) Author of "Down Came the Rain"
3) Highest rank in the clergy
4) Richard Gere’s medieval flick
5) Comic book-turned-movie from the 1990s
6) Actor who played Ghandi
7) Business where you can trade merchandise for cash
8) Name of "Aliens" android
9) Big gorilla movie
10) Thirteen-point card in Hearts
11) Movie in which a young boy’s broken arm helps him pitch better
12) Co-star in the movie "Bend It Like Beckham"
13) Common sign in restaurants
14) African-American singer/actress
15) Poet who wrote "The Fish"


Click here for the answers!

Friday, October 21, 2005

Comp Time (10/22)

By dropping one or more letters from a common e-mail service, you can get a computer language.

What's the e-mail service and what's the computer language?


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Thursday, October 20, 2005

Backward with Help (10/21)

I'm thinking of a famous 20th century writer whose first and last names are 5 and 6 letters long respectively. Perform the following four functions on the name:

1) switch the fourth and fifth letters,
2) take the last letter and place it first,
3) the second to last letter and place it second,
4) the third to last letter and place it third.

Now if you read the letters from right to left, you've got the writer's name again.

Who is this writer?

Hint: A movie bearing the name of one of this author's novels came out within the last ten years.

Click here for the answer!

Wednesday, October 19, 2005

Stop, Drop, and Solve (10/20)

I saw a road sign today with three words. I noticed that, if you change the fourth letter to a U and add a C before the last word, you can make a two-word phrase indicating the part of a common food that you can't eat.

What does the sign say and what's the food?


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Tuesday, October 18, 2005

Funny City (10/19)

There is a major U.S. city which begins and ends with the same two letters in the same order. The two letters are also a state abbreviation.

What's the city?


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Monday, October 17, 2005

Those Crazy Abbreviations! (10/18)

Many state abbreviations are also the first two letters of a state's name. Can you think of a state's name in which the abbreviation comes in the middle of its name?


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Sunday, October 16, 2005

Double Triple (10/17)

Several USA states' names use only one type of vowel (like ALASKA using only the 'A'). There are two locations in the USA at which three states form a point. The states touching these points use only one type of vowel in their names. Furthermore, the two spots are about 150 miles from one another.

Can you name the states which touch these two locations?


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Saturday, October 15, 2005

Did You See THAT? (10/16)

So many national businesses and institutions in the USA have highly recognizable names and symbols. What would happen if I took the names away?

Below are business icons (with one institution icon thrown in) in a word or two. For example, "bell" would produce "TACO BELL."

Can you guess the rest of the businesses that go with these icons?

1) peacock
2) roof
3) tree and mountains
4) bread buns
5) staple
6) price tag
7) ampersand
8) eagle's head
9) 1/2 game piece
10) registered trademark symbol


Click here for the answers!

Friday, October 14, 2005

Abbreviation Connections (10/15)

I can spell the name of a country using just three US Post Office state abbreviations.

What's the country?


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Thursday, October 13, 2005

Tricky Analogy IV (10/14)

ROMANIA : SOMALIA :: OMAN : _______

a) BOLIVIA
b) MALI
c) UKRAINE
d) NONE OF THE ABOVE


Click here for the answer!

Wednesday, October 12, 2005

Mickey Mouse Position (10/13)

I'm thinking of a high government position with one pair of adjacent double letters in its name (like the T's in "KETTLE" but not the E's). Change the first letter to an 'I,' and then replace the second double letter with a blank. You should now have two groups of letters. Both groups, when rearranged, form two popular animated characters.

What's the position and who are the characters?


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Tuesday, October 11, 2005

Outnumbered (10/12)

I have taken the numbers 1 through 9 and rearranged them to make three groups:

1, 2, 6

4, 5, 9

3, 7, 8

Which group (if any) would the number 10 be grouped with?


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Monday, October 10, 2005

Verb Nation (10/11)

What country, when evenly divided in two, becomes an extremely common English infinitive?


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Sunday, October 09, 2005

Names, Names, Names (10/10)

I'm thinking of three people. One is a famous, twentieth century artist; one is a famous, twentieth century soccer player; the last is a famous, twentieth century rapper. Take the artist's name, replace the first four letters of the artist's last name with the last name of the soccer player, and you'll have the rapper's full name.

Who are these people?


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Saturday, October 08, 2005

African Rhyme Time (10/9)

The countries in Africa are just primed to be rhymed. The clues below will lead to a two-part answer, an African country’s name and a noun.

For example, the clue "West African boxer" would produce "MALI ALI." The country names would normally get their adjectival form, but for the sake of the rhyme, all country names will remain unchanged.

Can you rhyme the rest?

1) North African Mexican food
2) West African bouncy toy
3) East African Asian car
4) South African car race
5) West African coin
6) East African ‘Facts of Life’ character
7) Central African drum
8) West African bath
9) South African French writer
10) Central African family figure

BONUS
a) East African band
b) South African animals


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Friday, October 07, 2005

Strange Bedfellows (10/8)

I'm thinking of a North American ethnic food. Drop the first letter, add a letter to the end, and you'll have something you can usually see on a long road trip (conversely, it's usually hard to see this thing in a city).

What's the food and what's the thing?


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Thursday, October 06, 2005

Adjectival Rival (10/7)

I'm thinking of a country in Europe. Drop the first letter, and you'll get an adjective which does not describe its capital.

What's the country?


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Wednesday, October 05, 2005

Those Were the Days (10/6)

Remember the game "Operation"? Do you remember going for that one particularly difficult piece which buzzed you out every time? Just how well do you remember?

The game "Operation" consists of twelve pieces. The good news: I've listed eleven of the original twelve. The bad news: I've included a big, fat phony.

Adam's apple
Funny bone
Wish bone
Broken heart
Spare ribs
Butterflies in stomach
Writer's cramp
Bread basket
Charlie horse
Ankle bone connected to the knee bone
Trick knee
Wrenched ankle

Can you spot the fake?


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Tuesday, October 04, 2005

Impulse Puzzle (10/5)

I'm thinking of a brand name of an impulse-buy item that you regularly see as you are checking out at the grocery store. Take this name, drop the first and last two letters (four dropped letters total), and you will have a type of competition in which a product similar to the impulse-buy item is necessary to win.

What is the brand name and what is the competition?


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Monday, October 03, 2005

A Mysterious Buyer (10/4)

First, read the scene below. The instructions come afterward.

I was disgusted by the figure. We had received several generous donations from well-to-do dealers and collectors and expected that our drive to collect money would be a cinch. We had original oil paintings, sculptures, and antique collectibles, each of which would bag a small fortune on E-bay. The figure was less than half of what we had expected, made by a man no one seemed likely to overbid. Large, muscular, bearded, and tattooed, he stood out like a lobster in a candy store.

I whispered to my partner, "I knew we shouldn't have ________ that last piece. We need to close up shop. That man will shatter our chances of a respectable drive."

My partner replied, "No one ________ us about him. What are we going to do?"


Fill in the two blanks in the above paragraph with two words which meet the following requirements:

1) each word must contain each of the vowels exactly once (that is, A, E, I, O, and U).

2) both words must contain the exact same letters, only in different orders.

Can you unpuzzle this desperate scene?


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Sunday, October 02, 2005

Star Wars Discovered (10/3)

I'm thinking of a type of game (this excludes all specific titles). Drop the first two letters, double one of the remaining letters, and you'll get a Star Wars character.

What's the game and who's the character?


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Saturday, October 01, 2005

The Sequoia Code II (10/2)

The Sequoia Code is back! Each clue below leads you to a word which uses exactly one of each vowel (A, E, I, O, and U). We’ve also thrown in the vowel order as an extra hint. For example, "giant evergreen tree (EUOIA)" would produce "SEQUOIA." Happy code breaking!

1) Hopeful or full of promise (EOUAI)
2) Immunize (IOUAE)
3) Joking, usually at an inappropriate time (AEIOU)
4) Failed to operate correctly (AUIOE)
5) Totally new, usually referring to a scientific advance (OUEAI)
6) When you commit a minor crime, you go here (AIOUE)
7) Opposite of experienced (UAOIE)
8) Friendly, outgoing, and sociable (EAIOU)
9) State of being totally tired (EAUIO)
10) White vegetable (AUIOE)
11) English favorite (AOUIE)
12) 2 + 2 = 4 (EUAIO)
13) Type of arthritis (EUAOI)
14) State of showing kindness and compassion (AIOUE)
15) Warned (AUIOE)
16) Very evil and wicked (EAIOU)
17) Converse, talk, or correspond (OUIAE)
18) What a teenager is afraid of ruining (EUAIO)
19) A kind of ray which the damaged ozone layer fails to keep out (UAIOE)
20) Know-nothing dummies (IOAUE)


Click here for the answers!