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Sunday Puzzle: P-Ro phrases

NPR

On-air challenge

Today's puzzle is for pros. Every answer is a familiar two-word phrase or name in which the first word starts with P and the second word starts RO-.

Ex. Slow-cooked beef dish often served for Sunday dinner --> POT ROAST
1. 1970s craze involving a stone you were supposed to water
2. Small place in a house where guests can freshen up
3. Course around the neighborhood for delivering the Times, the Herald, the Post, etc.
4. Longtime Cincinnati Red nicknamed "Charlie Hustle"
5. Auto route that's been upgraded from a dirt surface
6. Leader of the U.S. during the Great Depression
7. Minimalist music genre epitomized by the Ramones
8. Steeply slanted top of a house
9. Where the Pilgrims landed in Massachusetts

Last week's challenge

Last week's challenge came from Dave Shukan, of San Marino, Calif. Take the phrase EASTERN TIME. Change one letter and rearrange the result to name a place that observes Eastern Time.

Challenge answer

Empire State

Winner

Jeremiah Hyslip of New York City

This week's challenge

This week's challenge comes from Andrea Carla Michaels, of San Francisco. Name a famous actress (five letters in the first name, six letters in the last name). Change the first and third letters of her first name and the first letter of her last name. The resulting letters in order from left to right will name a place where you might see this actress.

If you know the answer to the challenge, submit it below by Thursday, October 2 at 3 p.m. ET. Listeners whose answers are selected win a chance to play the on-air puzzle.

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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