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Sunday Puzzle: The Name Of The Game

Sunday Puzzle
NPR
Sunday Puzzle

On-air challenge: Every answer is the name of a famous person with only one name — either because they literally had only one name or because they are generally known by one name. I'll give you anagrams. You name the people.

Example: USUAL - U Biblical king --> SAUL

1. VIDEO - E Roman poet

2. CHROME - C Greek poet

3. LEADER - R Singer

4. SHAKEN - N Singer

5. TITANIC - C Italian artist

6. PEARL ASH - S Painter

7. OPTICIAN - I Native American leader

8. PALACE TOUR - U Queen

9. MERCHANDISE - N Mathematician/inventor

Last week's challenge:Think of a common 5-letter word. If you insert an E after the second letter, you'll get a common 6-letter word. If instead you insert an E after the fourth letter, you'll get another 6-letter word. And if instead you insert an E at the end, you'll get still another 6-letter word. What words are these?

Challenger answer: SPARS (spears, spares, sparse)

Winner: Jacob Jaffe of Seattle

This week's challenge:This challenge comes from listener Tyler Lipscomb of Hamden, Conn. If five = four, six = nine, and seven = five, what does twelve equal?

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, Aug. 22at 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).