On-air challenge: I'm going to name some things that are in categories -- like days of the week or U.S. states. Each one I name is second alphabetically in its category. You name the one that's first.
Ex. Five --> Eight (alphabetically the first two digits)
1. August
2. Sight
3. British Columbia
4. Astros
5. Columbia
6. "Antony and Cleopatra"
7. Huron
8. Brooklyn
Last week's challenge: Last week's challenge comes from Joseph Young, who's a frequent contributor here. Name a famous island in eight letters. Remove three consecutive letters. The letters that remain, in left-to-right order, will name where many islands can be found -- but not this one. What is this island, and where can't it be found?
Challenge answer: Atlantis --> atlas
Winner: Drew Skinner of Havertown, Pennsylvania
This week's challenge: This week's challenge comes from listener Dan Asimov, of Berkeley, Calif. In English the two-letter combination TH can be pronounced in two different ways: once as in the word "booth," the other as in "smooth." What is the only common English word, other than "smooth," that ends in the letters TH as pronounced in smooth?
If you know the answer to the challenge, submit it here by Thursday, March 27 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 2026 NPR
