AYESHA RASCOE, HOST:
It's time to play the Puzzle.
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RASCOE: Joining us is Will Shortz. He's puzzle editor of The New York Times and puzzlemaster of WEEKEND EDITION. Hey there, Will.
WILL SHORTZ, BYLINE: Good morning, Ayesha.
RASCOE: So, Will, would you please remind us of last week's challenge?
SHORTZ: Yes, it came from listener Evan Kalish of Queens, N.Y. I said name a state capital. Remove its first two letters, and you can rearrange the rest to name something in two words that you might find while beachcombing in that state. What is it? Well, the capital is Tallahassee, the capital of Florida. Get rid of the T and A, and you can rearrange the remaining letters to spell a seashell.
RASCOE: I thought people might get that 'cause they got to just go through the capitals - 'cause there were over 1,600 correct entries. And this week's winner is Brian Levin of Brooklyn, N.Y. Congratulations, Brian.
BRIAN LEVIN: Thank you. Thank you so much. Good to be here.
RASCOE: So how long have you been playing the Puzzle?
LEVIN: Man, many years. Long as I can remember - but this is my first time submitting.
RASCOE: It's your first time submitting?
SHORTZ: Wow.
RASCOE: Really?
LEVIN: Yeah.
RASCOE: And you won.
LEVIN: I know. What are the odds?
RASCOE: You got to get that lottery ticket.
LEVIN: Yeah.
(LAUGHTER)
LEVIN: There you go.
RASCOE: So what do you do when you're not playing the Puzzle?
LEVIN: I work in strategic communications.
RASCOE: Do you do any puzzles or anything when you're not playing this puzzle?
LEVIN: I love the New York Times Crossword, the entire game suite. But with what little time I have, I'm with my kids who are 4 and 1 1/2.
RASCOE: Oh, my goodness.
LEVIN: They keep me busy.
RASCOE: I know about that. So, Brian, then, I have to ask you, are you ready to play the Puzzle?
LEVIN: As ready as I'll ever be.
RASCOE: OK, take it away, Will.
SHORTZ: All right, Brian. I'm going to read you some sentences that have two words left out. The first missing word has a double E. Change the double E to a double O, and you'll get the second missing word. For example, if I said, the tired boatman plans to blank overnight on his blank, you'd say he decided to sleep overnight on his sloop.
LEVIN: OK.
SHORTZ: Double E to double O. Here we go. If you were offered both brie and cheddar, which blank would you blank?
LEVIN: Which cheese would you choose?
SHORTZ: You got it. On April 1, I had a blank the practical joker was intent on blank me.
LEVIN: One more time?
SHORTZ: On April 1, I had a blank the practical joker was intent on blank me. What does a practical joker try to do to you on April 1?
LEVIN: Well, I think the second one is fool - feel and fool?
RASCOE: Oh, OK, OK.
SHORTZ: I had a feeling the joker was intent on fooling me. You got it.
LEVIN: Ah, had to work backwards on that one.
SHORTZ: The shepherd was directing his flock across a shallow blank by waving a blank in his hand.
LEVIN: Sheep and...
SHORTZ: He was directing his flock across a shallow blank. What would be something shallow with a double E?
LEVIN: Creek and a crook.
SHORTZ: Waving a crook - you got it. The blank on the oven thermometer indicated the temperature of the tuna blank casserole.
LEVIN: Needle and noodle.
SHORTZ: You got it. Once during hay fever season, my loud blank awoke my father from his blank.
LEVIN: Sneeze and snooze.
SHORTZ: You got it. You can use almost any metal, like copper, iron, or blank, to fashion a blank to sit on.
LEVIN: Steel and stool.
SHORTZ: You got it. Smoking blank while carrying an armload of shingles up a ladder wouldn't be wise for a blank to do. So what sort of worker would have - do shingles?
LEVIN: Reefer and roofer.
SHORTZ: That's right. OK, here's your last one. If you're blank over an insult someone has given you, you might find a hot bath nicely blank.
LEVIN: Seething and soothing.
SHORTZ: Nice ending. Good job.
LEVIN: (Laughter).
RASCOE: I was no help on that, Brian, 'cause I could not figure that out.
LEVIN: You were there for moral support along the way. I really appreciate it.
RASCOE: I usually can get some. (Laughter) What - and Will, you said this was an easy one. They were hard.
SHORTZ: Sorry about that.
RASCOE: (Laughter) But you did an excellent job, Brian. How do you feel?
LEVIN: I feel great. This was a lot of fun. Thank you so much.
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, Brian, what member station do you listen to?
LEVIN: WNYC.
RASCOE: That's Brian Levin of Brooklyn, N.Y. Thanks for playing the Puzzle.
LEVIN: Thank you.
RASCOE: OK, Will, what's next week's challenge?
SHORTZ: Yes, it comes from listener Dan Pitt of Palo Alto, Calif. Think of something in two words - seven letters in the first word, five letters in the second one - that you might take camping. The phrase has seven consonants which are all different, and they appear in alphabetical order from left to right through the phrase. What camping item is it?
So again, a camping item - seven, five. It has seven consonants. They are in alphabetical order from left to right. What camping item is it?
RASCOE: You have the answer, go to our website npr.org/puzzle and click on the Submit Answer link. Remember, just one entry, please. Our deadline for entries this week is Thursday, July 11 at 3:00 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 on the air with the puzzle editor of The New York Times and the puzzlemaster of WEEKEND EDITION, Will Shortz. Thank you, Will.
SHORTZ: Thanks a lot, Ayesha.
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