Houston, We Have a Problem

This is NOT this week's NPR Puzzle:

This is a two-part challenge. First, take the phrase "rap yet crash." Rearrange these 11 letters to name something that might follow a crash. Then cross out four letters in this answer. The remaining seven letters in order will spell an appropriate name. What is it?

It's what would have been the puzzle, if the Russian-backed separatists hadn't, allegedly, downed a Malaysian Airlines 777 plane on Thursday. *sigh*

Edited to add: This was the puzzle online until about 10:15 a.m. EDT, when it got replaced by the official CORRECT puzzle, below. Don't hint to the answer to this one; Will Shortz may use it another week, long after the crash is forgotten.

We have, of course, solved that one. You may have too. (What would happen if you sent it in? Sadly, I suspect it would be marked as wrong even though it was the official puzzle as per the website at 10 a.m. EDT.)

This week's NPR Puzzle is something else. Something that I got distracted and didn't hear (well, I knew it's online, right???) and Ross heard but not well enough to think he knows what it is.

UPDATE! We have a puzzle!

Here is this week's OFFICIAL NPR Puzzle:

Name something in five letters that's nice to have a lot of in the summer. Change the last letter to the following letter of the alphabet. Rearrange the result, and you'll name something else that you probably have a lot of in the summer, but that you probably don't want. What is it? (HINT: the second thing is a form of the first thing.)

Okay. We're all good. Solve this one, not that other one. (We have.)

Here's where to send the answer in, using NPR's intact Contact Us form.

Clearly the word of the week is "mistake." Flickr, do your magic!













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 choice: they can receive a puzzle book of our choosing or they can ask that a charitable contribution is made in the winner's honor. As of this week, we are providing an alternative to the Red Cross. If the winner wishes, we will make a contribution to his/her NPR station. Send us the call letters and we'll do the rest.

This week, zeke creek is the winner, with "over 400" entries. So try out our new system, zeke: puzzle book, Red Cross, or your own NPR station.

Here are the ranges:

Fewer than 50        51 - 100 101 - 150 151 - 200 201 - 250 251 - 300 301 - 350 351 - 400 401 - 450 451 - 500 501 - 550 551 - 600 601 - 650 651 - 700 701 - 750 751 - 800 801 - 850 851 - 900 901 - 950 951 - 1,000

1,001 - 1,050          1,051 - 1,100 1,101 - 1,150 1,151 - 1,200 1,201 - 1,250 1,251 - 1,300 1,301 - 1,350 1,351 - 1,400 1,401 - 1,450 1,451 - 1,500 1,501 - 1,550 1,551 - 1,600 1,601 - 1,650 1,651 - 1,700 1,701 - 1,750 1,751 - 1,800 1,801 - 1,850 1,851 - 1,900 1,901 - 1,950 1,951 - 2,000

2,001 - 2,050 2,051 - 2,100 2,101 - 2,150 2,151 - 2,200 2,201 - 2,250 2,251 - 2,300 2,301 - 2,350 2,351 - 2,400 2,401 - 2,450 2,451 - 2,500 2,501 - 2,750 2,751 - 3,000 3,001 - 3,250 3,251 - 3,500 3,501 - 4,000 4,001 - 4,500 4,501 - 5,000 More than 5,000 More than 5,000 and it sets a new record.

Our tie-break rule:   In the event that a single round number is announced with a qualifier such as "about" or "around" (e.g., "We received around 1,200 entries."), the prize will be awarded to the entrant who picked the range including that precise number, e.g., 551 - 600 wins if the announced range is "around 600." We retain the discretion to award the prize to an entrant who picked the adjacent range (e.g., 601-650) if that entrant had not already won a prize. In the event that both entrants had won a prize already or neither had, then to the earlier of the two entries on the famous judicial principle of "First Come First Serve," (or in technical legal jargon, "You Snooze, You Lose").  As of January, 2014, this rule is officially even more complicated than it's ever been, but at least it's consistent with what we actually do..