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Sunday Puzzle: Play The GaMe

NPR
On-air Challenge:Every answer today is a four-letter word that is composed of two consecutive state postal abbreviations.

Ex. Similar --> AKIN [Alaska + Indiana]
1. What a volcano spews
2. Mineral that comes in thin layers
3. Breeze
4. Like moist grass in the morning
5. Stash away
6. Arrived
7. Opera solo
8. Grand party, as a black-tie affair
9. Hotel employee who makes beds
10. Unconscious state
11. Sound of a siren
12. Interoffice note
13. Donations to the poor, once
14. Numerous

Last week's challenge: Last week's challenge comes from Robert Render, of Skokie, Ill. It's more challenging that it sounds. Name a well-known tourist locale that attracts millions of visitors a year. It has a two-word name. The first word is a number. And that number is the same as the total number of letters in the name. What's the tourist site?

Challenge answer: Ocho Rios.

Winner:Alex Hart of Havertown, Pa.

This week's challenge:This week's challenge comes from Ed Pegg Jr. of Champaign, Ill. Take the phrase ZANY BOX KEPT HIM. Write it in capital letters. Something is special about the 14 letters in this sentence that sets them apart from all the other 12 letters of the alphabet. What is it?

Submit Your Answer

If you know the answer to next week's challenge, submit it here by Thursday, March 25, at 3 p.m. ET. Listeners who submit correct answers win a chance to play the on-air puzzle. Important: Include a phone number where we can reach you.

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).