Wanna check out this last Sunday's Puzzle from NPR?

It’s time to play the puzzle! Here’s the latest Sunday Puzzle from NPR on-air challenge. On-air Challenge: Here's a "two-part puzzle." With two things given in each question, find something that is part of each of them.

 

Example: Ex. The eye / A school --> PUPIL

 

1. An elephant / A car

2. A river / Wall Street

3. An Olympic swimming pool / A poem

4. The leg / A cattle farm

5. A fish / A post office

6. A bird / A legislative agenda

7. A peach / The Indianapolis 500

8. The nose / A ship

9. A plant / A tournament bracket

10. The hand / A tropical island

11. [triple:] A jack-in-the-box / A spa / The year

 

(*picture source: https://m.facebook.com/SomethingInCommonCambridge/videos/?ref=page_internal&mt_nav=0)

 

Answer Keys

    1.  trunk

    2.  bank

    3.  meter

    4.  calf

    5.  scale

    6.  bill

    7.  pit

    8.  bridge

    9.  seed

    10.  palm

    11.   spring

 

Expressions for offering a praise!

The noted author and pastor Croft M. Pentz said “Praise, like sunlight, makes all things to grow.” Kind words of compliments, admiration, and appreciation would lift up not only the ones who have achieved something big but anyone around you as well. There are various ways to offer praise or compliments to people. How about filling in the blanks below with words/ phrases meaning “compliments” to make each sentence sense?

 

    1.   My aunt deserves ku_____s for devoting more than 10 years of her life to raising her grand children.

 

    2.   You are a true leader, Tim! Your leadership in this project has gone way beyond phe_____________!

 

    3.   Let us give a huge shout-________ to all the volunteers working all day at each Covid 19 vaccination hub.

 

    4.   My favorite makeup artist and beauty director David Razzano has always been on the forefront of makeup trends with his stel_______ works.

 

    5.   Have you seen this new action-packed film? Man, this is out____________!! It’s the b______!!!

 

    6.   Quite a lot of people wish to send their kids to a bootcamp during their long Summer break. I know a right place that is on _________ in terms of discipline.

 

    7.   OMG! I checked out your ppt presentation! What a top _____________ work!

(*picture source: https://www.dreamstime.com/give-yourself-pat-back-unique-hand-written-quote-inspiration-self-development-vector-lettering-template-image157050494)

Answer Keys 

    1.  kudos

    2.  phenomenal

    3.  shout-out

    4.  stellar

    5.  outrageous, bomb

    6.  on fire

    7.  top drawer

Time to play the Sunday Puzzle from NPR On-Air Challenge!

With the given clues, find the answer to each one which is one of the words in the clue with its vowel sound changed. (Make sure to change the vowel sound, not just a single vowel letter)

 

Example: What fish bite --> BAIT (the word "bite" with the long-I sound changed to a long-A)

 

1. What a babe might wear in a high chair

2. Family dude

3. River seen in Paris

4. Waters that run through Cologne

5. Something that goes "boom!"

6. What you bowl with

7. What the government takes from your income

8. What a hat adds to your body

9. Where to order a beer

10. Something that will go round and round

11. What a cryptographer could read

12. Word that means "strange"

13. When night is done

 

Answer Keys

    1.  babe => bib

    2.  dude => dad

    3.  seen => Seine

    4.  run => Rhine

    5.  boom => bomb

    6.  bowl => ball

    7.  takes => tax

    8.  hat => height

    9.  beer => bar

    10.   will => wheel

    11.   could => code

    12.   word => weird

    13.   done => dawn

 (*picture source: https://www.google.com/search?q=change+a+vowel+in+a+word&rlz=1C1CHBF_enUS944US944&sxsrf=ALeKk00U09xHaqvrdoOYIZDILxWa_BmHDw:1618779869796&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjx6O742IjwAhVbWs0KHVC9ADwQ_AUoAXoECAEQAw&biw=870&bih=561)

Political Slang

 Are you comfortable with political conversations in your family reunion or in a get-together with friends? Talking about one's political stance or viewpoints could be the fastest way to create a crevice in your relationships with them. Well, like it or not, let us go over a couple of political expressions/ slang today. 

Political Slang

 

1.  to comey or to pull a comey: to flipflop back and forth to the point of absurdity/ to be indecisive or bungling something at the last minute (based on the former FBI director James Comey who turned into a backstabber.) You can use “comey” as a noun or an adjective as well.

 

2.  Blue Lives Matter: Blue Lives Matter is an organization created to support the police and to stand against violence against police officers. In recent times it has been a topic of controversy due to the number of recent police brutality incidents.

 

3.  a hit dog: A person acting sensitive, mad, or butt hurt as if something said applied to them (hit home)

Someone who responds defensively to a general statement, meaning they clearly took it personal

 

4.  Jexodus: the fake departure of American Jews from Democratic party (the name of a right-wing political effort to encourage Jewish Democrats to leave (as an exodus) and join the Republican party due to the left's supposed anti-Semitic, anti-Israel policies)

 

5.  Proud Boys: white supremacist group whose members are pro-gun rights, against feminism and gender equality, and take a libertarian stance on issues such as welfare

 

6.  middle-of-the-road: neutral/ less severe than far left (or progressive) or far right (conservative) positions on the political spectrum

 

Let’s recap what you’ve learned by practicing!

    1.  Jeremy always calls himself a ______________________ politician, but anyone who knows him thinks he belongs to the far right political group and has been secretly supporting ___________ Boys.

 

    2.  Samuel Porter Jones, who was a lawyer-turned pastor and preacher said “Throw a stone into a crowd of dogs, and the ________ dog will holler”

 

 

    3.  Republicans are insisting there is a sizable and growing movement among American Jews — especially younger ones — to abandon the Democratic Party for supposedly embracing anti-Semitism, or at least anti-Israel positions. They call this ____________________, which is not based on truth.

 

    4.  I saw the protesters in front of the police station, holding the sign that said “_______________________________” which is the pro-police term coined in response to “Black Lives Matter”.

 

    5.  Everyone hoped the new FBI director will be a steadfast, respectable, trustworthy, and dignified leader versus being a total _________________.

 

 

Answer Keys

    1.  middle-of-the-road, Proud

    2.  hit

    3.  Jexodus

    4.  Blue Lives Matter

    5.  Comey

(picture source: https://clocktower.ucollege.edu/articles/2020/political-slang-defined-based-politics) 

NPR Sunday Puzzle aired on April 11th, 2021: Name the TV shows!

A hardish one today. Every answer is the name of a classic TV game show, past or present. Identify the shows from their anagrams.

Ex. WHOLE FREE FUTON (5,2,7) --> WHEEL OF FORTUNE

 

1. DOPER JAY (8)

2. DROP SAWS (8)

3. OFF A CRATER (4,6)

4. INNOCENT ACTOR (13)

5. MANY WHISTLE (5,2,4)

6. SHOW ODORS EQUALLY (9,7)

*The answer to question 5 is a well-known CBS TV show back in the old days in the States. Fun fact! My mom appeared on the show in 1963! Wanna check it out? Click What's My Line

 

Answer Keys

    1.  JEOPARDY

    2.  PASSWORD

    3.  FEAR FACTOR

    4.  CONCENTRATION

    5.  WHAT’S MY LINE

    6.  HOLLYWOOD SQUARES

Time to play the latest weekend puzzle from NPR!!

 NPR Sunday Puzzle by Will Shortz aired this last weekend. (April 4, 2021)

The puzzle master Will Shortz is an avid collector of old puzzle books. Today’s questions are excerpted from his recently acquired one published in 1863 titled Bwother Tham's Conundrums. See how you do on these. Shortz says it helps to think literally.

 

    1.   What did Adam first set in the garden of Eden?

 

    2.   What question is that to which you must answer yes?

 

    3.   Would you rather an elephant kill you, or a gorilla?

 

    4.   Why does a miller wear a white hat?

 

    5.   What is that which goes from London to York without moving?

 

    6.   What is the smallest bridge in the world?

 

 

 Answer Keys

    1.  Foot

    2.  What does YES spell?

    3.  Kill a gorilla (a matter of intonation)

    4.  to keep your hat warm

    5.  a road

    6.  the bridge (on your nose) of a pair of glasses

 

*picture source: https://panamaadvisoryinternationalgroup.com/blog/news-from-panama/a-conundrum/

Easter Quiz on Easter Sunday ^^

Happy Easter! Got a minute to see how much you know about Easter? Here’s an easy breezy quiz about Easter.

 

    1.  Easter Friday right before Easter is known as ________________ Friday.

 

    2.  Easter day is commemorated as the day when Jesus was ______________.

 

    3.  What do children do to celebrate Easter day? _________ hunt and decorate/ color the ___________.

 

    4.  Easter egg is a symbol of fertility and ______________.

 

    5.  The largest decorated Easter egg is in (which country?) _________________.

 

    6.  Easter is linked to the Jewish _____________ by its origin.

 

    7.  __________ is 40 days of reflection and preparation before the celebrations of Easter, which is marked by ____________, both from food and festivities.

 

    8.  The above season of fasting begins on _______ Wednesday that is a holy day of prayers and fasting before Easter day.

 

    9.  The Easter _____________ carries the eggs in a basket.

 

    10. The naming of the celebration as "Easter" seems to go back to the name of a pre-Christian goddess in (which country?) ___________, Eostre, who was celebrated at beginning of spring.

Answer Keys

    1.  Good

    2.  resurrected/ risen

    3.  egg, eggs

    4.  rebirth

    5.  Ukraine

    6.  Passover 

    7.  Lent, fasting

    8.  Ash

    9.  bunny

    10.  England

      (*Picture Source: https://www.almanac.com/content/surprising-origins-easter-symbols-lambs-lilies) 

(*information from https://www.usnews.com/news/national-news/articles/2017-04-12/why-easter-is-called-easter-and-other-little-known-facts-about-the-holiday#:~:text=The%20naming%20of%20the%20celebration,seventh%20and%20early%20eighth%20century, https://busyteacher.org/15115-easter-trivia-quiz.html )