NPR SUNDAY PUZZLE with the theme of EARTH DAY!!!

In honor of Earth Day on Tuesday, I've brought a game of Categories based on the word EARTH. For each category I give, name something in it starting with each of the letters E-A-R-T-H. 

For example, if the category were "Two-Syllable Girls' Names," you might say Ellen, Amy, Rachel, Tina, and Helen. Any answer that works is OK, and you can give the answers in any order. Note: In some cases there may be more than one answer.

 

1.  U.S. Presidents

 

   2.  Three-Letter Parts of the Body

 

   3.  European Capitals

 

   4.  TV Sitcoms

ANSWER KEYS

1.  Eisenhower, Arthur, Reagan, Taft, Hoover

2.  Ear, Arm, Rib, Toe, Hip

3.  Edinburgh, Amsterdam, Rome, Tirana, Helsinky

4.  Everybody Loves Raymond, Alf, Roseanne, That 70s Show, Home Improvement

Let's play with VOCABULARY!

Time to check with some English vocabulary/ expressions for better communication!

Try to fill in the following blanks with the most proper words using the given clues/ definitions.

 

1.  Uh-oh…. Your resume sounds a bit too embellished and exaggerated. I think you’d be in big trouble if you mis_________________ yourself like that. (*meaning “to falsify/ give misleading information about yourself”)

  

   2.  I get awestruck by the pictures of ae___________ on the cliff. High-flying birds like hawks and eagles always amaze me. (*meaning: birds’ nests built somewhere high on the cliff or tree tops)

  

   3.  Tm_____________ is a linguistic device that separates a compound word and inserting one or more words between the different parts. For example, you might hear someone say “abso-freakin’-lutely” instead of “absolutely” or “un-bloody-believable” instead of “unbelievable”. (*There’s already the definition of this word in the above sentence.)

  

   4.  I love this painting that makes me feel as if the autumn breeze were shifting the se_____  leaves from the dead trees. (*meaning “bone dry/ withered”)

   

   5.  Our community is planning to send a round-_____________ to the city hall to protest the noise from the nearby shooting range in the wee hours. Since the owner of the shooting range is also living in our gated community, it might be awkward for us to let him know who was the first to have signed the petition. (*meaning a petition, especially one with signatures written in a circle to conceal the order of writing)

  

   6.  Thomas wants to bring the old coin from his cherish box to an expert who can sh____________ the real value of the ancient coin. (*meaning “to test/ examine/ evaluate a coin/ gemstone)

 

   7.  When Harry found out about the unauthorized withdrawals of his assets that occurred several times in the past few months, he was in the state of shock and strongly determined to bring the matter to the court. It was one of the most glaring cases of the br_______________ of trust in his life. (*meaning “essentially any act or omission by a trustee that violates the terms of the trust or their legal duties. This can be intentional or due to negligence)

  

   8.  The King of Pop, Michael Jackson is still being har__________ by trashy tabloids even though 16 years have passed since his untimely demise. (*meaning “to keep bothering someone repeatedly”)

 

   9.  I hate his off-key joke. Against his own will, he always r__________ people around him the wrong way. (*meaning “to annoy someone without intending to…)

 

   10. Today, sl_____________ workers are no longer a new trend. People with multiple careers are everywhere. (*meaning “people who combine two jobs (or more) alternately over the same period”)  

 

 

Answer Keys

   1.  misrepresent  

   2.  aeries  

   3.  Tmesis

   4.  sere

   5.  round-robbin

   6.  shroff

   7.  breach

   8.  harried

   9.  rub

   10. slash workers = slashers

Here's the latest Sunday Puzzle! Try to find two-word phrases/ names beginning with the initial C and PA.

For tax season, this puzzle is titled "C.P.A.s." Every answer is a familiar two-word phrase or name, in which the first word starts with C- and the second word starts PA-.

 

Ex. Person's unsavory history  -->  CHECKERED PAST

 

    1.   Social gathering, often before dinner, at which guests sip drinks   

    2. Big green part of Manhattan

    3.   Place with metered spaces where you can pay to leave your automobile

    4.   In slang, a place to sleep for the night

    5.   _____   _______ Kids, 1980s doll craze

    6.   Crinkly, colored strips used for party decorations

    7.   Tree with fruit that might be seen on a Polynesian island

    8.   Field where cattle graze

    9.   Famous luxury hotel and casino on the Las Vegas Strip

   10. Something with buttons and switches that allows you to change an instrument's settings

 

Answer Keys

1.  Cocktail Party

2.  Central Park

3.  Car Park

4.  Crash Pad

5.  Cabbage Patch

6.  Crepe Paper

7.  Coconut Palm

8.  Cow Pasture

9.  Caesar’s Palace

10.      Control Panel

April is the national poetry month.

April is the national poetry month. Even though the world is going through myriads of natural disasters everywhere, let us find a quiet place to curl up in and be grateful for our Mother Nature by writing down our small thoughts in the form of poems.

Trees

by Jean Jiyoung Lee

Are you the one that has been in my yesterday?

Am I still in your memory?

You know my stories and quiet moments of silence in somber overlay

That from time to time emerge in a way so peremptory.

In the morning, you whisper sounds of hopes through balmy sunray

At dusk, you bring me to tears pointing toward the sky where my father is so gingerly.

 

Trees, you are listening when I pray

Then keep me stay peaceful in my trajectory.

Each time I get lost in a maze to my dismay,

Your changing colors of leaves have taught me life is full of mystery.

 

Will you be there for me in my twilight years in the same way?

I know you won’t judge me and say “now you’re an old lady who’s so peppery”.

Leaning on your wide and sturdy trunk as I lay,

I’d ask for a long, long whispering of the good old time so savory.

 

The stories would never seem bewhiskered to me.

 

 

 

FIND THE FAMILIAR PHRASES by CHANGING ONE LETTER FOR EACH GIVEN WORD! (FROM YESTERDAY'S NPR SUNDAY WORD PUZZLE)

Every answer today is a familiar phrase in the form "___ and ___." You'll get the first and last words, but with a letter changed in each one. Figure out the familiar phrase.

 

Ex. CRAZE & BARREN  -->  CRATE & BARREL

 

1. BREAK & BUTLER

 

2. CLOCK & DANGER

 

3. BLACK & TICKLE

 

4. ROUGE & FUMBLE

 

5. WIELD & STREAK

 

6. BLOCK & DICKER (commercial name)

 

7. PLAID & SIMILE

 

Answer Keys

    1.  BREAK & BUTLER => BREAD & BUTTER

    2.  CLOCK & DANGER => CLOAK & DAGGER

    3.  BLACK & TICKLE => BLOCK & TACKLE

    4.  ROUGE & FUMBLE => ROUGH & TUMBLE

    5.  WIELD & STREAK =>FIELD & STREAM

    6.  BLOCK & DICKER => BLACK & DECKER

    7.  PLAID & SIMILE => PLAIN & SIMPLE

Try to find the French-original words or phrases using the anagrams! (The latest NPR Word Puzzle)

Every answer today is a word or phrase that comes from French but is also commonly used in English. See if you can get them from their given anagrams.

 

Example: TOPED / Train station   -->   DEPOT

 

1.   BRIDES / Scattered pieces of waste

    2.   ROSE UP / One who pretends to be something he's not

    3.   BEARCAT / Nightclub

    4.   EURONET / On the way (2 words)

    5.   CONTOUR / Bit of toasted bread in soup or a salad

    6.   IT'S CHEAP / Artistic work that imitates another

    7.   BEARS OUT / One who deliberately wrecks something for military gain

    8.   QUITE SOUR / Bluish green

    9.   RUNESTONE / Confidentially (2 words)

    10. HOTEL SUITE / Dark outline of something against a light background

    11. CENTRAL BEACH / Complete freedom to act (2 words)

 

ANSWER KEYS

1.  debris

2.  poser

3.  cabaret

4.  en route

5.  crouton

6.  pastiche

7.  saboteur

8.  turquoise

9.  entre nous

10.      silhouette

11.      carte blanche

Do you want to learn some English vocabulary?

Every once in a while, you might want to check with your vocabulary while studying English. Here I am giving you sentences with blanks so that you can complete by filling in with proper words to make sense of each, using the given hints.

 

1.   After a long nap, he found himself wake___________ (*meaning wide awake) deep into the night.

 

2.   Joe always follows the weather forecast to learn about the air quality day in and day out. He’s worried about his asthma since there will be a huge ha____________ (*meaning sandstorm) throughout the next couple of weeks in his neck of the woods.

 

3.   Gabrielle Zevin is one of my favorite authors who makes the profundity of _________cape (*meaning essence or inner nature of someone/ something) in life easy to understand.

 

4.   People in South Korea are fed up with the Constitutional Court’s long-__________-out (*meaning protracted; lasting a very long time) process of verifying the impeachment of the President Yoon.

 

5.   I am trying to get the world news updates more from legitimate news outlets rather than social media det_________ (*meaning any disintegrated material or debris).

 

6.   No matter what, trust yourself and your la____________  ability (*meaning present but not visible; existing as potential) to forge ahead in life.

 

7.   Let’s just stop all these petty______________ (*meaning insignificant or petty) arguments! They’re only stalling the investigation!

 

8.   Whoa! Check out these guys from America’s funniest home video!! How are they so good at bir___________ (*meaning spinning/rolling) the log?

 

9.   A: So, how was the movie?

 

B: Hmmm…..let me just say in Merry Poppins’ way. I felt the movie was super_____________________lidocious! (*meaning extremely good or wonderful, which was created from Disney film Merry Poppins)

 

10.       I love this painting in your dining room. It looks like Ely__________ (*meaning paradise/ Heaven)

 

 

Answer Keys

    1.  wakerife

    2.  haboob

    3.  inscape

    4.  long-drawn-out

    5.  detritus

    6.  latent

    7.  pettifogging

    8.  birling

    9.  supercalifragilisticexpialidocious

   10.              Elysium