The "Cape Charles, Virginia" Edition

Here's this week's NPR Sunday Puzzle:

If you punch 0-1-4-0 into a calculator, and turn it upside-down, you get the state OHIO. What numbers can you punch in a calculator, and turn upside-down, to get a state capital, a country and a country's capital?

We've gotten two of the three. Well, Ross has. I'm writing the blog. (Hey, it's important too, you know.) Nope, he's got all three. Based on that, I'd say it's not a hard puzzle.

You know this for yourself, as you've already solved it and merely need me to provide this link to NPR's special Back-to-School Contact Us form to send all three answers in.

Ross and I are going to take NEXT WEEK off. I'll do Thursday's blog as usual, but next Sunday's puzzle is left as an exercise for the reader. (That's you.)

That's because we're going here:













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.

B. Haven wins again (Ross: "Not again?") (he was kidding, promise) with 270. Definitely more for next week. But...how much more? Pick. We'll announce the winner on Sunday, 9/28.

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..