A new batch of NPR Sunday Word Puzzle! Find the words that begin with /tie/ sound (in any spellings)!

Every answer today is a word, name, or phrase whose first syllable sound is "tie" — in any spelling.

 

Ex. Very small --> Tiny

1. Neat

2. Violent storm in the western Pacific

3. Disease that causes a high fever

4. Method of giving in the Mormon Church

5. Pre-Olympian god, in Greek myth

6. Hobbes, in "Calvin & Hobbes"

7. President between Harrison and Polk

8. Heavyweight champ Mike

9. New Testament book before Philemon

10. Passenger ship that sank in 1912

11. Popular pain reliever

12. Capital of Taiwan

13. Its capital is Bangkok

14. Fort in the American Revolution

15. River of Rome

16. Hippie t-shirt technique

17. Korean martial art

 

Answer Keys 

1. tidy

    2.  Typhoon

    3.  Typhoid

    4.  tihes

    5.  Titans

    6.  tiger

    7.  Tyler

    8.  Tyson

    9.  Titus

    10.  Titanic

    11. Tylenol

    12.  Taipei

    13.   Thailand

    14.   Ticonderoga

    15.   Tiber

    16.   tie dye

    17.  Taekwondo

Spring is in the air!

March is named for the Roman god of war, Mars. This was the time of year to resume military campaigns that had been interrupted by winter. But what comes to your mind when you think of March? You might say “Srping” when the weather gradually becomes warmer and brings gentle south breeze.

 

 

Can you answer the following questions about Spring?

    1.   Does Spring begin on March 1 or on the Equinox?

 

    2.   Are day and night equal on the vernal Equinox?

 

    3.   According to folklore, you can stand a raw egg on its end on the Equinox. Is this true?

 

    4.   Which day has the most sunlight in North America?

 

    5.   The March Full Moon is called _____________ Moon, because ___________ and grubs are reappearing in this month.

 

    6.   Did you know that the increasing sunlight inspires _____________ to sing? Just like Karen Carpenter sings, I wonder why _____________ suddenly appear every time Spring is near!

 

    7.   Trees, shrubs, and flowers are sensitive to temperature and day length, too. Since ancient days, people have used natural events as indicators of when the weather is right for ___________________. For example, blooming crocuses are your cue to _____________ radishes, parsnips, and spinach.

 

Answer Keys

    1.  Both. The answer depends on your definitions of “Spring”. Both dates are accurate; they’re just from different perspectives. Astronomically speaking, the first day of Spring is marked by the Spring Equinox, which falls on March 19, 20, or 21 every year. This date only signals spring’s beginning in the Northern Hemisphere; it announces fall’s arrival in the Southern Hemisphere.

 

2. Meteorologically speaking, the official first day of spring is March 1 and the last day is May 31, which is based on the annual temperature cycles rather than on the position of Earth in relation to the Sun.

 

3.  No, but they are quite close to equal. In reality, day and night are not exactly equal on the Equinox for two reasons: First, daytime begins the moment any part of the Sun appears over the horizon and is not finished until the last part of the Sun disappears below the horizon.

 

    4.  As with most folklore, it’s only partly true. You should be able to balance an egg on its end on the equinox, but it’s possible to balance an egg on other days, too. Try this yourself and let me know what happens. (Tip: You’ll probably have better luck balancing an egg if you try it on a rough surface or use an egg that has a bumpy end.)

 

    5.  The date of the longest day, called Summer Solstice – from June 20 to 22 – gets the most daylight.

 

    6.  Worm Moon

 

    7.  birds

 

    8.  planting, plant

The latest word puzzle from NPR!

Every answer today is a word or name with the syllable "may," in any spelling, somewhere inside it.

Ex. Judgment or opinion of something --> ESTIMATION

 

1. The "T" of B.L.T.

2. Spotted dog

3. Love of setting fires

4. Specialty of Disney Studios

5. Country whose capital is Bucharest

6. Island state of Australia

7. Facts and figures

8. Use of machinery in place of human labor

9. Alternative to burial

10. Language that Jesus is believe to have spoken

11. Astounding

12. Demand that might end "... or else!"

 

Answer Keys 

    1.  tomato

    2.  Dalmatian

    3.  pyromaniac

    4.  animation

    5.  Romania

    6.  Tasmania

    7.  information

    8.  automation

    9.  cremation

   10. Aramaic

   11.  amazing

12.              ultimatum

Dr. Jedidiah's Diary Episode# 82: Jenn, the Funniest Girl that I Got Back in My Life

Dr. Jedidiah’s Diary

Dr. Jedidiah is a psychiatrist who loves traveling, meeting new people, and exploring different cultures as a single father who lost his perky self for the last decade. During those hard years, he has met hundreds of, thousands of people from various walks of life around all over the world. Meeting new people and listening to their stories through the formal encounter groups or being truly honest with himself. Here is Dr. Jedidiah’s monologue that has left him with some food for thoughts in life…. or a fodder to justify his own mistakes in the past.

 

Episode #82. Jenn, the funniest girl that I got back in my life

 

Sometimes I wonder what would have happened in my life if I had ever asked Jennifer out for a candlelight dinner or a long post-dinner walk to pop the question. Would she have said yes with a smile and stayed in my life? Tonight I happened to see her stage of stand-up comedy at a local bar was unforgettable. I was a bit tipsy with a couple bottles of beer, so I could not believe what I saw. There was a woman with such a familiar and mischievous smile on the stage of the open mic for any hilarious bar hoppers. ‘Wait a minute….is she….is she THE Jenn from my childhood? The class clown Jennifer Meek in my 3^rd grade year?’

 

Jennifer always made a noise out of the blue, using her mouth. She could make a farting pop without a woopy cushion, and all our classmates and even the teacher could not stop laughing. Sometimes, she was even good at performing ventriloquism with a dummy doll she brought to school, so our lunch break was always full of fun and laughter. Although it seemed silly, I found her presence in the boring school to be like some sweet thirst quencher like a lake or oasis in a barren land.  Only the nasty lunch ladies at our school cafeteria were disgruntled with noisy kids’ uncontrollable laughter and shouting. But it was none other than those ladies - with a scornful look towards this funny kid – that were having a hard time hiding and suppressing their laughter back in the kitchen. Jennifer would look them in the eyes and say “Well, just so you know, laughter can hardly be covered. I saw you turning back and laughing!”

 

Time passed, we all moved to 4^th, 5^th, 6^th grades, and I saw Jennifer for the very last time at the graduation ceremony of our elementary school. I expected her to amuse us all in the playground while the school principal was giving us a never-ending speech. To all our dismay, Jennifer had been very quiet, looking like the most invisible kid at school that day. She was just rushing home without even saying goodbye to me and other friends when the ceremony was over. I followed Jennifer without calling her name and saw someone waiting for her in the school parking lot. She was a lady living next door to Jenn’s family. When I asked the lady where they’d go in such a hurry, she just said nothing back to me with the saddest eyes that I had ever seen in my life. And….that was it. I thought Jenn would just be the girl out of my life until I was lucky to reunite with her in several decades at the most unexpected place tonight.

 

Her 15-minute-long stage of stand-up comedy tonight was a real tour de force to me. Her jokes about the saving grace of being the third wheel on a date as a free ride cracked me up. She even took light of the most painful memories in her life, which was her mom’s hopeless struggling to fight mental illness. Jenn’s mother had been suffering from sciamachy for a long time and took her own life on the day that happened to be our graduation day. Jennifer jokingly said “Thanks to my mom, who was always throwing and swinging her punch in the air, we got no flies or mosquitoes at home even during the long summer time in deep Southern Louisiana. She said she was chasing away evil spirit out of our place, but I thought she was trying to shoo away flies and mosquitoes.” Tonight, Jennifer gave me the saddest but the happiest moment through her unmatched show time. She was showing me the same familiar and mischievous smile after the show, which felt like I should surely ask her out for a night cap.

 

 

 

 

 

Expressions

    1.  to pop the question: to propose marriage

 

    2.  tipsy: slightly drunk

 

    3.   open mic: a session in a club during which anyone is welcome to sing or perform stand-up comedy

 

    4.  class clown: a student who tries to make other students laugh

 

    5.   ventriloquism: the production of the voice in such a way that the sound seems to come from a source other than the vocal organs of the speaker

 

    6.  barren: bleak or lifeless

 

    7.   Just so you know: a phrase we use when we are giving a piece of information that we are not obligated to give. It implies that the information given is simply a courtesy.

 

    8.   tour de force: a feat or display of strength, skill, or ingenuity

 

9.  saving grace: a positive quality (grace) that saves somebody from being perceived as useless or undesirable

  

    10. the third wheel:  a person who feels left out by a couple or a pair of besties

 

    11.  sciamachy: argument or conflict with an imaginary opponent

The US Trivia Quiz

Here’s an interesting USA trivia quiz. Check out how much you know about the States.

 

    1.   80% of the land in the state of ____________________ is owned by the US government.

 

    2.   100 acres of _______________ (that’s originated in Italy) are served in the US every day!

 

    3.   The current US flag features 50 stars and was designed by Robert G. Heft. Heft initially created the American flag in the year of 19___ ___ as a high school project.

 

    4.   ______________________ served as the nation’s capital city for five years between 1785 and 1790.

 

    5.   The United States uses 18% of the world’s __________________.

 

    6.   The fast food chain called ___________________________ is among the largest employers in the U.S. It is believed that 1 out of every 8 Americans have been employed or will be employed there at some point.

 

    7.   At 6,640 miles, the US state of ____________________ has the longest coastline compared to any other state in the country.

 

    8.   The Internet was a US invention. During this decade, 19______s, the Department of Defense granted contracts for packet network systems. ARPANET was the first switching network to be developed.

 

    9.   The United States has the largest economy in the world. The nation’s economy accounts for about ________% of the world’s nominal GDP.

 

    10.  If the state of _______________ were a country, it would rank as the 6^th largest economy in the world.

 

    11. ________________ is the second most populated state in the US. The state is the second largest in the country by land area.

 

    12.  Due to its large land area, ___________________ ranks as the second least densely populated state in the country.

 

 

Answer Keys

1.  Nevada

2.  Pizza

3.  1958

4.  New York City

5.  Energy

6.  McDonald’s

7.  Alaska

8.  1960s

9.  25%

10.              California

11.              Texas

12.              Wyoming