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Sunday Puzzle: In and Out

Sunday Puzzle
NPR
Sunday Puzzle

On-air challenge: Many words and phrases ending in "out" become their opposite if you change "out" to "in" — like "push out" and "push in." But in today's puzzle, answer the clues for words or phrases ending in "out" and "in" that have unexpectedly different meanings.

1. Person who leaves school before graduating / Unexpected visitor

2. Expel / Outdoor theater

3. Refrain from taking part / 1960s protest

4. Aftermath of a nuclear explosion / Slip through a trap door

5. Contest in which one side is held scoreless / Convalescent who's confined to home

6. Where baseball players sit during a game / Firmly entrenched

7. Option at a restaurant when you get your food and leave / Fool or deceive

8. Number of participants at an event or in an election / Go to bed

9. Person of exceptional ability / Person who substitutes for another

10. Examine / First thing you do at a hotel

Last week's challenge: Last week's challenge came from Joseph Young, who conducts the blog "Puzzleria!" Think of a familiar saying in seven words. The initial letters of the first three words in order spell a type of container. And the initials of the last four words in order spell something edible that might be found in this container. What's the saying?

Challenge answer: There is nothing new under the sun --> tin, nuts

Winner: Chris Olig of Verona, Wisconsin

This week's challenge: This week's challenge comes from listener Laura Kozma, of South River, N.J. Think of brand name in seven letters that you might find in a pharmacy. Drop the last letter and rearrange the letters that remain. You'll get another brand name, in six letters, that you might also find in a pharmacy. What is it?

Submit Your Answer

If you know the answer to the challenge, submit it here by Thursday, February 1st at 3 p.m. ET. Listeners whose answers are selected win a chance to play the on-air puzzle. Important: include a phone number where we can reach you.

Copyright 2025 NPR

NPR's Puzzlemaster Will Shortz has appeared on Weekend Edition Sunday since the program's start in 1987. He's also the crossword editor of The New York Times, the former editor of Games magazine, and the founder and director of the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament (since 1978).
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