AYESHA RASCOE, HOST:
And it's time to play the Puzzle.
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RASCOE: The puzzle editor of The New York Times and puzzlemaster of WEEKEND EDITION, Will Shortz, is out this week, so we are joined by Greg Pliska. He's the chief puzzle officer of "The Puzzler" podcast with A.J. Jacobs and a former puzzle guru of NPR's Ask Me Another. Hey there, Greg.
GREG PLISKA, BYLINE: Hey, Ayesha. Good morning.
RASCOE: So, Greg, remind us of last week's challenge.
PLISKA: Of course. It came to us from listener Andrew Chaikin of San Francisco. Think of a famous character in American literature. Change each letter in that character's name to its position in the alphabet - A equals one, B equals two, etc. - to get a famous year in American history. Who is this person, and what is the year? The answer is Captain Ahab from "Moby Dick," and the year is 1812.
RASCOE: OK, well, a lot of people got this right. There were about 2,400 correct entries, and this week's winner is Tom Gould of Cambridge, Mass. Congratulations, Tom.
TOM GOULD: Thank you.
RASCOE: So how long have you been playing the Puzzle, Tom?
GOULD: Probably since the postcard days.
RASCOE: Oh, my goodness.
GOULD: I've been doing it at least as long as my daughter's been alive. She's now a junior at George Washington in D.C.
RASCOE: And so have you ever won before?
GOULD: No.
RASCOE: Oh, well, see? All that hard work paid off. Now you're here. Now you're here. So what do you do when you're not playing the Puzzle?
GOULD: I work in computers for a IT distributor, and I curate collections of products that solve a particular business problem.
RASCOE: Oh, OK. But are you ready to solve the problem of the Puzzle? - is the question.
GOULD: I earnestly hope so.
RASCOE: (Laughter) OK, well, I guess I'll ask you formally. Tom, are you ready to play the Puzzle?
GOULD: Yes.
RASCOE: (Laughter) OK, Take it away, Greg.
PLISKA: Thanks, Ayesha, and welcome, Tom. This week's puzzle celebrates Black History Month. Each answer is the last name of a notable Black American, past or present, hidden inside a two-word phrase. For example, if I gave you the phrase swelling tongue, you would give me the name Ellington, as in Duke Ellington, the bandleader, musician and composer, because his name is spelled out inside that phrase. Now, the two-word phrases won't necessarily be real dictionary phrases, but each will hide the surname of a famous person.
GOULD: Got it.
PLISKA: All right. Here's your first one - bathtub manual.
RASCOE: You have an idea?
PLISKA: Oh, Tubman.
RASCOE: Yes.
PLISKA: Yes, Harriet Tubman, the abolitionist. Next one is pumpkin granola.
GOULD: King.
PLISKA: Yes. Martin Luther King Jr. Gerbil escalator. This one is a person - famous athlete, famous gymnast.
GOULD: Oh, Biles.
PLISKA: Simone Biles, exactly.
RASCOE: Oh, OK.
PLISKA: Yep, you always want to look right at the space between those two words and see where you can find the name. Here's another one - Manitoba mailbox.
GOULD: Oh, Obama.
PLISKA: Obama - Barack and Michelle Obama, right there in the Manitoba mailbox. I'll give you a few more. Alabama homestead.
GOULD: Mahomes - that's close to the top of the consciousness.
PLISKA: Patrick Mahomes.
RASCOE: Yes.
PLISKA: Archangel outside, archangel outside.
GOULD: Oh, Angelou.
PLISKA: Angelou, Maya Angelou, the author. And your last one, Kandahar rising. That's Kandahar, as in the city, rising.
GOULD: Harris.
PLISKA: Yes, I was going to say K-A-N-D-H-A-R. And that hides Kamala Harris, the current vice president of the United States.
GOULD: Wow.
RASCOE: Well, I mean, you did a great job, Tom. I had to catch on a little bit in the beginning. He got me with the Biles one.
GOULD: Me, too.
RASCOE: (Laughter) But you got it. You did a great job. How do you feel?
GOULD: I feel great. Thank you.
RASCOE: For playing our Puzzle today, you'll get a WEEKEND EDITION lapel pin, as well as puzzle books and games. You can read all about it at npr.org/puzzle. And, Tom, what member station do you listen to?
GOULD: I listen to two - WBUR and WGBH, both in Boston.
RASCOE: I love to hear that. That's Tom Gould of Cambridge, Mass. Thank you so much for playing the Puzzle.
GOULD: My pleasure.
RASCOE: OK, Greg, what's next week's challenge?
PLISKA: This challenge comes to us from listener Eric Berlin of Milford, Conn. Take the word sets, S-E-T-S. You can add the three-letter word par to this twice to get a common phrase, spare parts. Now take the word genie, G-E-N-I-E, add a three-letter word to it twice to get a common phrase. Again, start with genie. Insert a three-letter word into it twice and end up with a common phrase.
RASCOE: When you have the answer, go to our website, npr.org/puzzle, and click on the Submit Your Answer link. Remember, just one entry, please. Our deadline for entries this week is Thursday, February 29 at 3 p.m. Eastern. Don't forget to include a phone number where we can reach you. If you're the winner, we'll give you a call. And if you pick up the phone, you'll get to play the puzzle on the air for WEEKEND EDITION. And, Greg, thank you for being this week's puzzler.
PLISKA: Thank you, Ayesha.
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