AYESHA RASCOE, HOST:
And it's time to play the Puzzle.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
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: Good morning, Ayesha.
RASCOE: So, Greg, remind us of last week's challenge.
PLISKA: Our challenge came from listener Anjali Tripathi of Los Angeles, Calif. Take the last name of a Nobel Peace Prize winner. Remove the middle three letters and duplicate the last two letters to get the first name of a different Nobel Peace Prize winner. What are those two names? The answer was Nelson Mandela and Malala Yousafzai.
RASCOE: OK, you know, y'all killed it with this one. And I think it's because y'all went through all the Nobel Peace Prize winners and then just did a process of elimination. I'm on to you guys. But good job. There were over 1,600 correct entries this week. And this week's winner is Thom Gillis of Livonia, Mich. Congratulations, Thom.
THOM GILLIS: Thank you, Ayesha.
RASCOE: So was I right? Is that how you got the answer, Thom? Did you just kind of go through all the winners?
GILLIS: Actually, it just kind of popped in my head as soon as I heard the question.
RASCOE: OK, OK. Well, you did good, then. You did really good. How long have you been playing the Puzzle?
GILLIS: I've been listening to the Puzzle probably since Will started it way back when.
RASCOE: Oh, OK, but I got to ask you, are you ready to play the Puzzle?
GILLIS: I am ready to play the Puzzle.
RASCOE: All right. Take it away, Greg.
PLISKA: All right, here we go, Thom. This week's puzzle was inspired by my puzzle-making friends at solvingfun.com. Each answer is a word made from a part of the body with an extra letter at the end. For example, if I gave you the clue polish, like an apple or a shoe, the answer would be shine, which is shin plus the letter E. So you take a body part, add a letter at the end and get a new word.
GILLIS: OK.
PLISKA: All right, here we go. Branch of the military.
GILLIS: That would be army.
PLISKA: Army - arm plus Y. Yes. Asian country.
GILLIS: China.
PLISKA: China - chin plus A. Fencing move.
GILLIS: A fencing move - well, probably a lunge.
PLISKA: Lunge, exactly. Lung plus E. Very good. One of America's original 13.
GILLIS: Colony.
PLISKA: Colony. Yes. Very good. Colon plus Y. Children's building block.
GILLIS: A Lego.
PLISKA: Leg plus O. Very good. Actress Lisa from "The Cosby Show" and "A Different World."
GILLIS: Oh.
RASCOE: Do you watch this, Tom? Do you know? I know, but I want to...
PLISKA: I...
RASCOE: They're in your body (laughter).
PLISKA: Well, yes, Ayesha. All of these hopefully are.
GILLIS: Thanks for the help, Ayesha. I appreciate that.
RASCOE: Under the skin. Under the skin.
GILLIS: Oh, Lisa Bonet.
PLISKA: Yes. Very good.
RASCOE: Yes. See, I got - see, we got there (laughter).
GILLIS: All right. Teamwork. Yes.
PLISKA: Your last one - a short upright piano.
GILLIS: Short upright piano - oh, a spinet.
PLISKA: Spinet - very good. Spine plus T. Amazing job.
RASCOE: Well, look, Thom, you did an awesome job coming up with these answers. Like, how do you feel?
GILLIS: I feel much better knowing that I've gotten through it.
RASCOE: (Laughter) Well, you did an amazing, fantastic job. 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 Thom, what member station do you listen to?
GILLIS: I'm a sustaining member of WUOM, 91.7, in Ann Arbor, Mich.
RASCOE: Oh, that is awesome. We love to hear that. That's Thom Gillis of Livonia, Mich. Thank you so much for playing the puzzle.
GILLIS: Thank you, Ayesha. Thank you very much, Greg. It was a great time.
RASCOE: OK, Greg, what's next week's challenge?
PLISKA: Here's the challenge. Take a body part. Add one letter at the beginning and another at the end to get a different body part. Then again add a letter at the beginning and another at the end to get something designed to affect that second body part. So start with a part of the body. Add a single letter at each end to get another part of the body. Then add a single letter at each end of that to get something designed to affect that part of the body.
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, March 14 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 on WEEKEND EDITION. And Greg, thank you for being this week's puzzler.
PLISKA: Thank you Ayesha.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
RASCOE: Now, one last thing before we go. If you tuned in last week, you know that our beloved puzzlemaster Will Shortz suffered a stroke a few weeks ago and is on his way to recovery. We received an outpouring of love and well wishes for Will, and we just wanted to play just a few of them for you all.
DAVID WESTWOOD: Hi, my name is David Westwood (ph) from Hayesville, N.C. I was so sorry to hear about Will Shortz's stroke, but glad to hear his message. I've listened to his puzzles on WEEKEND EDITION Sunday since they started. Though I'm not always smart enough to solve his puzzles, I recognize a brilliant or warm person when I hear one. Get well soon, Will.
JAN SUTHERLAND: Hi, this is Jan Sutherland (ph) from Midland, Mich. Will and Ayesha start my morning in the most awesome way. They make me think, and they make me laugh. They are an absolute blessing on my day and for that I am grateful.
DAVID KOSUB: My name is David Kosub (ph) from Silver Spring, Md. I wish Will the best of recoveries. I truly value your energy and your passion. And the Sunday puzzle is what I call my favorite time of the week. I was pleased to be a contestant once before in 2016, and you showed me nothing but goodwill.
STACEY ROBERTS: Hi, this is Stacey Roberts (ph) from Honolulu, Hawaii. I heard about Will Shortz's stroke. Please give him my best and tell him I'm sending out all my positive energy. I've been listening to WEEKEND EDITION Sunday since it started, and he got me hooked on puzzles. I got to meet him at Hawaii Theater when he came to Honolulu some years back. He was wonderful.
KENNY LAO: Hi, my name is Kenny Lao (ph), and I'm calling from Venice Beach, Calif. We've been thinking about you because we just celebrated our 10th anniversary and always remember how you, Rachel Martin, and the NPR WEEKEND EDITION team tricked John into thinking he had been chosen to be on WEEKEND EDITION as the Sunday Puzzle winner, only to turn it into a wedding proposal, complete with a WEEKEND EDITION lapel pin as a ring. Thank you for making that memory, and we can't wait to hear you on the radio soon.
RASCOE: Thank you to everyone who sent in a kind word and message for Will. We've passed them along, and we just can't wait until our puzzlemaster is back on the air with us very soon.
Copyright © 2024 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.