Take Two Cities and Call Us in the Morning

Here's this week's NPR Sunday Puzzle:

Name a state capital. Drop one of its letters. The remaining letters can be rearranged to name of another major city in the United States. What is it? There are two different answers, and you should find both of them.

We have a guest here for "Cookie Weekend" and she solved one-half of this puzzle right away. (I won't describe her method as it would constitute a hint.) I solved the other half by crunching a list of state capitals.

You, of course, need no house guests as ringers. You got both cities right away! So what are you waiting for? Send those puppies in, using the NPR Contact Us form, decked out here for the shopping season.

Last week I asked Henry what he wanted for the photo section. He said "Oh, heck," and that's what he got. This week, I warned him that the first words out of his mouth would be my search terms, so he was quiet for quite a while. (Heh heh.) Then he said, "Ash tree."

Boy, what that a smart pick!



















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. 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, either to the Red Cross, or, 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.

They received "about 1,500" entries. At first I thought Richard had won, but when I double-checked with Henry, the magic number is 1,500, and that means Maggie Strasser has the first ever Pick a Range hat trick. Another contribution to WAMC, Maggie?

What range shall you pick this week?

Here are the ranges:

0 - 25  26 - 50  51 - 75  76 - 100 101 - 125 126 - 150 151 - 175 176 - 200 201 - 225 226 - 250 251 - 275 276 - 300 301 - 325 326 - 350 351 - 375 376 - 400 401 - 425 426 - 450 451 - 475 476 - 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 - 2,250 2,251 - 2,500 2,501 - 2,750 2,751 - 3,000 3,001 - 3,500 3,501 - 4,000 4,001 - 4,500 4,501 - 5,000 More than 5,000

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.").  As of August, 2015, this rule is officially even more complicated than it's ever been, but at least it's consistent with what we actually do.