Summer Puzzle from NPR!

This is a summertime puzzle. I'm going to give you three words starting with the letters H, O, and T. For each set you give me a word that can precede each of mine to complete a compound word or a familiar two-word phrase.

 

Example: Heat, Oven, Tank   --> GAS (gas heat, gas oven, gas tank)

 

1. Hampshire, Orleans, Testament

 

2. Horse, Otter, Turtle

 

3. Hydrant, Opal, Truck

 

4. Hopes, Octane, Tide

 

5. Hard, Out, Torch

 

6. House, Onion, Thumb

 

7. Heavyweight, Opera, Touch

 

8. Hand, Order, Term

 

9. Hole, Olive, Tie

 

10. Hawk, Owl, Time

 

11. Havana, Ones, Toe

 

 

 

Answer Keys

    1.  NEW (New Hampshire, New Orleans, New Testament)

    2.  SEA (Sea Horse, Sea Otter, Sea Turtle)

    3.  FIRE (Fire Hydrant, Fire Opal, Fire Truck)

    4.  HIGH (High Hopes, High Octane, High Tide)

    5.  BLOW (Blow Hard, Blow Out, Blow Torch)

    6.  GREEN (Green House, Green Onion, Green Thumb)

    7.  LIGHT (Light Heavyweight, Light Opera, Light Touch)

    8.  SHORT (Short Hand, Short Order, Short Time)

    9.  BLACK (Black Hole, Black Olive, Blanck Tie)

   10.  Night (Night Hawk, Night Owl, Night Time)

   11.  Little (Little Havana, Little Ones, Little Toe)

JUNETEENTH DAY

Have you heard Juneteenth Day (also known as the Emancipation Day) which is one of the most important national days to commemorate in the U.S. history? “Juneteenth” is a portmanteau of "June" and "nineteenth", which marks the effective end of slavery in America.

Today, let us learn about the history of Juneteenth Day through a fast-facts quiz.

       

 .  1. Juneteenth commemorates June 19, 1865, the day Union Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger informed slaves of their emancipation from slavery. In which state did this event take place?   _______________

 

  

    2.   Granger’s announcement came almost three years after the Emancipation Proclamation, the famous executive order abolishing slavery issued by the 16^th U.S. president __________________.

 

 

    3.   The _____th Constitutional Amendment officially abolished slavery across the United States.

 

 

4.   What two Union border states continued to practice slavery up until the aforementioned Constitutional Amendment was ratified? _______________ & __________________

 

    5.   How many slaves were estimated to be in the United States in the early 1860s before slavery was outlawed? (             )

 a.   1.2 million     b. 2.4 million     c. 3.9 million     d. 9.3 million

 

6.   _______________ was the first state to recognize Juneteenth as a state holiday on January 1, 1980.

 

7.   On June 17, 2021, President _________________ signed a bill into law recognizing Juneteenth National Independence Day. Biden said the moment will go down as “one of the greatest honors” of his presidency.

 

8.   The flag, created by activist Ben Haith, founder of the National Juneteenth Celebration Foundation, has a white _____________ in the middle representing the Lone Star State of Texas as well as the freedom of African Americans in all 50 states.

 

9.   ______________ Day or Emancipation Day is another name often used to refer to Juneteenth.

 

10.   Arriving on the heels of spring, Juneteenth festivities typically involve picnics, with red foods and drinks dominating those spreads. The color red is believed to represent the blood shed by enslaved African ancestors. In this respect, ____________________ soda was the popular beverage for Juneteenth celebrations.

 

*source from CNN

 

Answer Keys   

    1.  Texas

    2.  Abraham Lincoln

    3.  The 13^th Amendment

    4.  Delaware & Kentucky

    5.  c. 3.9 million

    6.  Texas

    7.  Joe Biden

    8.  Star

    9.  Freedom

    10. Strawberry soda

The NPR On-Air Challenge Word Puzzle: Find the Name of a Famous Person or Thing using the clues!

Every answer today is the name of a famous person or thing in which the last two letters of the first half are the same as the first two letters of the second.

 

Ex. Star of TV's "Murder, She Wrote"  --  Angela Lansbury

 

1. Composer of "Rhapsody in Blue" and "An American in Paris"

2. Spanish opera singer who was one of the Three Tenors

3. Singer nicknamed "Mr. Las Vegas" on account of his long residency there

4. Nickname for Delaware on account of its order in ratifying the Constitution

5. Baseball program for kids

6. Old ___ (large canine breed)

7. Symbol for our neighbor to the north

8. July 1 -- when our neighbor to the north celebrates its independence

9. French composer of "Nocturnes" and "Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun"

10. New York locale where many immigrants arrived in the 19th century

 

 

 

 

 

Answer Keys

    1.     George Gershwin

    2.     Plácido Domingo

    3.     Wayne Newton

    4.     The First State

    5.     Little League

    6.     English Sheepdog    

    7.     Maple leaf

    8.     Canada Day  

    9.     Claude Debussy 

    10.  Ellis Island

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

If I asked you to name two occupations starting with the letters ENG-, you might say Engineer and Engraver. Now try these:

 

Name two ... starting with ...

 

1. Parts of the mouth ... TON

2. Chemical elements ... SIL

3. Mammals ... BEA

4. Dances ... CHA

5. Alcoholic drinks ... MAR

6. Units of distance ... MIL

7. Tropical trees ... BAN

8. Brands of candy ... TWI

9. Hand tools ... SCR

10. Spaces in which to hang coats ... CLO

11. Words in "The Star-Spangled Banner" ... PRO

 

 

Answer Keys

    1.  tongue & tonsil

    2.  silicon & silver

    3.  beaver & bear

    4.  cha cha & charleston

    5.  martini & margarita

    6.  mile & millimeter

    7.  banyan & banana trees

    8.  Twizzlers & Twix

    9.  Screwdriver & scraper

    10.  cloakroom & closet

    11. proud & proof

Evolving Grammar Rules

 The Grammar Rules Are Evolving or Becoming Extinct!

Are you hairsplitting grammar police based on the existing/ traditional prescriptive grammar or gravitating more towards casual/ colloquial descriptive grammar? As we are living in the era of myriads of fast-paced communication venues such as instant text messages and lots of online conversations, languages and their grammar rules are fast evolving today. English is no the exception.

Let us go over some of the English grammar rules that people ignore quite often times and are normally accepted today. Even the following examples might be out of their styles or seem outdated in any time soon. One thing you need to remember is that quite a lot of academic or formal writers are still expected to follow the existing/ old school grammar rules.

 

1.   Prescriptive Grammar: Don’t end a sentence with a preposition.

Vs. Descriptive Grammar: Yes, you can end a sentence with a prepostition.

 

E.g., Winston Churchill said “This is the sort of bloody nonsense up with which I will not put.”  

Today, you can hardly ever catch people in real life say that way.

 

You can say “Where are you at?” instead of “Where are you?”

Or “Where are you going to?” instead of “Where are you going?”

 

    2.   Prescriptive Grammar: preposition + whom 

vs. Descriptive Grammar: preposition + who

You never substitute WHO for WHOM after a preposition? Unless you are a caveman, you might have heard so many people use WHO instead of WHOM after a preposition. Yes, you can say WHO.

E.g., You bought this book for who?

        It depends on who you ask.

 

    3.   Prescriptive Grammar: You can’t start a sentence with a conjunction.

Vs. Descriptive Grammar: You can start a sentence with a conjunction.

Your writing teacher must have taught you NEVER to start a sentence with a conjunction, such as because, but, and, however, like. Today, this rule has become obsolete. Starting a sentence with a conjunction could make it sound more dramatic in your writing or speech.

 

E.g., Emma ate up the entire bowl of pasta, then devoured the side dish of mashed potatoes for dinner. But, she was still craving mud pie!

 

 4.   Prescriptive Grammar: Acronyms should be spelled out first when first appeared in writings.

Vs. Descriptive Grammar: Acronyms can stand alone from the beginning.

 

Frequently used acronyms appear in texting, social media posts, and even in some conversations.

E.g., BRB (Be Right Back), OMG (Oh My Gosh!), TBD (To Be Decided), LOL (Laughing Out Loud), and so on.

 

BTW, for formal writing, or any time you are relaying information that is not common knowledge, your best bet is to use the traditional/ classic rules for acronyms.

 

5.   Prescriptive Grammar: Between YOU and ME

Vs. Between YOU and I

 

You must have been taught to put the objective pronoun ME, HIM, HER, US, THEM when saying/ writing “between you and ________”. But informal writing makes use of between you and I quite frequently, and there are those grammarians who also make the case for the use of this phrase in more formal instances too.

 

E.g., Between you and I, this will remain under the hat ‘till we die.

(*source: dictionary.com  & clearvoice.com)

Let us practice and play with VOCABULARY/ PHRASAL EXPRESSIONS!!!

If you want to practice another batch of vocabulary/ phrasal expressions in English, come on in and give it a try. Fill in the blanks to make each of the following sentences to make sense, using the clues in parentheses and its context.

 

   1.  The movie was full of a lot of h________y (*meaning “corny or overly sentimental) scenes.

  

   2.  Let’s call it a day now and p_________ back up (*meaning to resume something after you stop) on this point in our next meeting.

  

   3.  I love the way he writes. He has his own z__________y (*meaning amusingly unconventional and idiosyncratic) way with words, which entertains the readers with such eccentrically humorous writing skills.

  

   4.  It was a spooky Halloween night that only a handful of trick-or-treaters were to be seen. They felt scared and cold in a thick po______________ (*meaning a dense icy fog in winter) formed after the icy rain.

  

   5.  I think it could be one healthy way for you to wi____________ the pen (* meaning to write or craft something using a pen, often with skill and intention, or to use writing to influence or exert power) to let your voice heard, especially when you feel down or frustrated in life.

 

   6.  Uh-oh! Don’t even try to steal my th___________ (*meaning to prevent someone from having success or getting attention, praise, etc., by doing or saying whatever that person is about to do/say)! This is MY TIME to shine.

 

   7.  He has been learning Korean language for three years, but last night, he kept tri___________ over (*meaning to stumble or hesitate while speaking, often due to nervousness, excitement, or difficulty finding the right words) his words in Korean.

 

   8.  He was str______________ up (*meaning honestly/ truthfully) enamored with Janet.

 

   9.  Ken’s joke was way too ris_________ (*meaning slightly indecent and liable to shock, especially by being sexually suggestive) and inappropriate at the year-end office party. He got frowned upon by his colleagues.

 

   10.  Each time he sees a beautiful picture of exotic islands, his w___________lust (*meaning a powerful urge to be on the move, travel, and explore) grows.

 

 

Answer Keys

1.  hokey

2.  pick

3.  zany

4.  pogonip

5.  wield

6.  thunder

7.  tripping

8.  straight up

9.  risqué

10.      wanderlust

Let's find words that have /gei/ sound somewhere in them!

Every answer today is a word or name with the syllable "gay" — phonetically (i.e., soundwise, NOT spellingwise) in any spelling — somewhere inside it.

Ex. Group of worshippers in a church  —>  CONGREGATION

 

1. Cousin of a crocodile

 

2. Big, fancy party

 

3. Japanese female dancer

 

4. Small bouquet

 

5. Person who plays Call of Duty or League of Legends

 

6. The "I" of F.B.I.

 

7. Russian composer Rachmaninov

 

8. River through Pittsburgh

 

9. Artificial watering of land for agriculture

 

10. Dance that's the national dance of the Dominican Republic

 

11. Merrymaking or festiveness

 

/gei/

Answer Keys

1.  alligator

2.  gala

3.  geisha

4.  nosegay

5.  gamer

6.  investigation

7.  Sergei

8.  Allegheny

9.  irrigation

10.      Merengue

11.      gaiety

NPR Sunday Puzzle: Can you find the national capital cities from each sentence with the sounds (NOT the spellings of each sentence)?

I'm going to read some sentences. In each one find the name of a national capital hidden somewhere in it phonetically (= NOT spellwise but soundwise).

 

 Ex. On eBay, rutabagas are seldom seen.  -->  BEIRUT

 

1. Where is the handbag daddy bought?

 

2. Throw the anchor away.

 

3. To an all-round athletic phenom, pentathlon is the ultimate sport.

 

4. We have tickets to see the Fighting Illini, Row B, seats 1 and 2.

 

5. During the Civil War sausage was scarce.

 

6. The gala was attended by many black tie-paying guests.

 

7. Let the music of Metallica rock us all night.

 

8. This is the sidewalk we'll be washing tonight.

 

 

Answer Keys

    1.  Bahgdad (handbag daddy)

    2.  Ankara (anchor away)

    3.  Phnom Penh (phenom, pentathlon)

    4.  Nairobi (Illini Row B)

    5.  Warsaw (War sausage)

    6.  Taipei (tie-paying)

    7.  Caracas (Metallica rock us)

    8.  Washington (washing tonight)