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Sunday Puzzle: Fame Game

Sunday Puzzle
NPR
Sunday Puzzle

On-air challenge: Every answer today is the name of a famous person with only one name — either because they literally had only one name or because they chose to go by one name in show business. I'll give you anagrams. You name the people.

Example: BORON minus R: Singer -->BONO (lead singer for U2)
1. PERCH - P: Singer/actress
2. YEARN - R: Singer
3. SLEEP - S: Soccer player
5. OPERAS - R: Writer of fables
9. CUPULAR - C: Drag queen/TV personality
10. PORCINE - O: Singer/musician
11. IMMENSE - S: Rapper
12. MONOLOGS - G: King
13. ERGONOMIC - C: Indian chief
14. BRACELIKE - K: Pianist

Last week's challenge:Think of a common greeting in another country. You can rearrange its letters to get the capital of a country that neighbors the country where this greeting is commonly spoken. What greeting is it?

Challenge answer: Ni hao --> Hanoi

Winner:Trudy Nixon of Nashville, Tenn.

This week's challenge:This challenge comes from listener Joseph Young of St. Cloud, Minn., who conducts the blog "Puzzleria." Think of a familiar three-word phrase with "and" in the middle ("___ and ___"). Move the first letter of the third word to the start of the first word, and you'll form two means of transportation. What are they?

Submit Your Answer

If you know the answer to next week's challenge, submit it here. Listeners who submit correct answers win a chance to play the on-air puzzle. Important: Include a phone number where we can reach you by Thursday, May 2 at 3 p.m. ET.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

NPR's Puzzlemaster Will Shortz has appeared on Weekend Edition Sunday since the program's start in 1987. He's also the crossword editor of The New York Times, the former editor of Games magazine, and the founder and director of the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament (since 1978).