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Sunday Puzzle: Name the category

Sunday Puzzle
NPR
Sunday Puzzle

On-air challenge: Here are names of things that are in certain categories. Take the first two letters and reverse them. Then name something else in the same category that starts with those two letters.

Ex. Dress    Verse    -->   ADDRESS, ADVERSE

  1. Alpha
  2. Germany
  3. Parenthesis
  4. Amos
  5. Osmium
  6. Nationals
  7. Octahedron
  8. Defense
  9. "It Happened One Night"
  10. "Eleanor Rigby"

Last week's challenge: This week's challenge comes from listener David Dickerson, of Tucson, Arizona. The city UTICA, NEW YORK, when spelled out, contains 12 letters, all of them different. Think of a well-known U.S. city, that when its name is spelled out, contains 13 letters, all of them different. Your answer doesn't have to match mine.

Challenge answer: Casper, Wyoming

Winner: John Meissner of Estes Park, Colorado

This week's challenge: Name a place somewhere on the globe -- in two words. Rearrange the letters of the first word to name some animals. The second word in the place name is something those animals sometimes do. What is it?

Submit Your Answer

If you know the answer to the challenge, submit it here by Thursday, October 31st, 2024 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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