NPR: Sunday Puzzle Podcast

Every answer is the name of a famous person. The person's last name is a plural noun that is part of a category. The clues are the person's first name and the category of the last name. For example, if the clues are "Britney" and "weapons," the answer is ...

Every answer is a familiar two-word phrase that has the letters N-E-T consecutively inside. Specifically, the letters N-E will end the first word, and T will start the . For example, if the clue is "cause of a breakdown on the road," the answer would be ...

This is a game called Blobs that Will Shortz found in an old book of party games. Will talks about his recent trip to Turkey, and the account has a number of intentional errors. Every time there's an error of fact, logic or word usage, the player says ...

Every answer in today's puzzle is a familiar phrase in the form BLANK of BLANK, where the first word starts with the letter "T." Given the last word of the phrase, the player must give the first word.

To mark Liane Hansen's 20th anniversary hosting Weekend Edition Sunday, this puzzle is a game of categories using the word "radio." Will Shortz names the categories, and the guest names something in the categories beginning with each of the letters in ...

Each clue is a sentence with two blanks. Fill in the blanks with two words that complete the phrase. But here's the twist: The words that complete the sentence are homophones of the words in the answer phrase.

This puzzle is called "Mix and Match." Every answer is a familiar two-word phrase in which the first word starts with M-I and the word starts with M-A, as in "Mix and Match." For example, for the clue "a day before St. Patrick's Day," you would say ...

I'm going to give you some clues. The answer to each clue is a four-letter word which can be found in consecutive letters inside the clue. For example, if I said "a sail boat's part", you would say "spar", because a sail boat's part is a spar, and it's ...

This week's puzzle involves the letters P-S-U as in Portland State University, where Will spoke on Saturday. Each answer is a familiar two-word phrase in which the first word starts with "P" and the word starts with "SU." So if the clue is "What a lawyer ...

Each clue consists of two words starting with the letter "C." The answer is a third word starting with "C" that can follow the first word and precede the one to complete a compound word or familiar two-word phrase.

This week's puzzle is in honor of Michigan's Upper Peninsula. Because U.P. is short for Upper Peninsula, each answer has "U" and "P" in it. The first clue is: "U" and "P" are the initials of a common two-word phrase naming something holding a street ...

For each clue, the answer is a four-letter word. The word is an anagram of one of the words in the clue. For example, if the clue is "main line through Egypt," the answer would be "Nile," because Nile is a rearrangement of the letters in "line."

This puzzle is called "Dividing the Pie." Every answer is a familiar two-word phrase in which the first word starts "pi" and the word ends with "e." So, the "pi-e" is divided. For example, if the clue is "power source for most automobiles," the answer ...

For each word given, add the letter "a" and rearrange all the letters to name a well-known island. For example, if the clue is "trees," add an "a" to get the answer: Easter.

Each answer starts with a clue for a six-letter word. If you drop the first letter and read the remaining letters backward, you'll get a five-letter word that answers a clue.

From two given four-letter words, rearrange the letters of one of them to get a synonym of the other. For example, given "each" and "pain," the answer is "ache," because "ache" is an anagram of "each," and it means "pain."

This puzzle involves meditation. Every answer is a familiar two-word phrase that starts with the initials "O-M." For example: protection for the hand while cooking? Answer: oven mitt.

It's a game of completing analogies. Each involves wordplay. For example, "pink" is to "pen" as "plead" is to "pencil," because by removing the "p" from "pink," you get "ink," which goes inside a pen. And by removing the "p" from "plead" you get "lead," ...

Every answer is a familiar proverb or saying. Given a two-word phrase, one of the words is in that proverb or saying, and the other is an anagram of a word in it. The anagram can be either word in the phrase.