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Sunday Puzzle: Thing from thing

Sunday Puzzle
NPR
Sunday Puzzle

On-air challenge

I'm going to name some things. For each one you tell me something the thing has that starts with the same first two letters that the thing does.

Ex. TRee —> TRunk (A tree has a trunk, and both tree and trunk start with TR)

1. Dresser

2. Bird

3. Play

4. Stairway

5. Lettuce

6. Makeup kit

7. Skeleton

8. Week

9. Quiz

10. Petunia

11. Rodeo

12. Pool table

Last week's challenge

Spell out the numbers from 13 to 20 -- THIRTEEN, FOURTEEN, FIFTEEN, SIXTEEN, SEVENTEEN, EIGHTEEN, NINETEEN, TWENTY. Select one letter from each word, in order, to name another number. No anagramming is necessary. What number is it?

Answer: Infinity

Winner

Karen Hillerman of Minneapolis, Minnesota.

This week's challenge

This week's challenge comes from Ben Bass, of Chicago. Think of a state capital and say it out loud. Change one vowel sound in it to name something many schoolkids study. What things are these?

If you know the answer to the challenge, submit it here by Thursday, September 3 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

Will Shortz has been the puzzle master for NPR's Weekend Edition Sunday since the program's start in 1987.
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