Ay, and I Don't Want It?

Here's this week's NPR Puzzle:

Name something in five letters that's generally pleasant, it's a nice thing to have. Add the letters A and Y, and rearrange the result, keeping the A and Y together as a pair. You'll get the seven-letter word that names an unpleasant version of the five-letter thing. What is it?

Another of the "Surely there can be too many answers?" puzzles. We've solved it, and we're declaring this a "No-Hinting" week. (Add an AY to "no hinting" and you get "don't let me see you do it.")

You need to know where to send your answer? Here's the link to the hibernating NPR Contact Us form.

And photos? You know me, I'm off the reservation when it comes to photos these days. If there's a connection, I'll tell you all about it on Thursday.













It was supposed to be all carousel horses, but I couldn't resist the dragon and sea monster at the bottom.

Time for

This is where we ask you how many entries you think NPR will get for the challenge above. If you want to win, leave a comment with your guess for the range of entries NPR will receive. First come first served, so read existing comments before you guess. Or skip the comments and send an email with your pick to Magdalen (at) Crosswordman (dot) com. Ross and I guess last, just before we publish the Thursday post. After the Thursday post is up, the entries are closed. The winner gets a puzzle book of our choosing or a contribution in the winner's honor to the Red Cross, or World Food Programme, both helping communities hit by Haiyan (aka Super Typhoon Yolanda).

Around 200 entries last week, and Maggie Strasser is our winner. Ross will make a contribution to the Red Cross in your name, Maggie!

This week is, we believe, easier. But I take Mendo Jim's point that NPR isn't making it simple for people to find the Contact Us form, which must have some effect on the number of entries. So, calculate the wind chill where you are, the chance of a storm surge, and general post-New Year's lassitude, divide by the rate of New Year's Resolutions, and then pick a range.