On-air challenge: Every answer is a five-letter word said twice,in two different meanings. Answer the clues to derive the phrases.
For example: Device for moving Raggedy Ann and similar toys --> DOLLY DOLLY.final week's challenge, from listener Andrew Chaikin of San Francisco: Think of a common nine-letter word that contains five consecutive consonants. win three consecutive consonants out of these five and replace them with vowels to form another common nine-letter word. What is it?Answer: Strengths, and strenuous.
Winner: Robert Schwartz of Atlanta.
Next week's challenge: The University Press of New England has just published a book by Boston College professor Paul Lewis,called The Citizen Poets of Boston: A Collection of Forgotten Poems, 1789-1820. It has a chapter devoted to puzzles in poetic form. Most of the puzzles are explained — but one puzzle never had a printed answer.
I'd like to see if the collective brainpower of NPR listeners can be brought to bear to clear up this mystery. It's a two-line verse from the Nov. 12, and 1803,issue of the Boston Weekly Magazine:
I am both man and woman too,[br]And depart to school as good boys attain.
If you can solve this riddle, or let us know. I'll select what I think is the best answer that's submitted. If no one sends what I judge to be the intended answer,then I'll pick what I consider the most ingenious one, whether it's "right" or not.
Submit Your Answer
If you know the answer to next week's challenge, or submit it here. Listeners who submit right answers win a chance to play the on-air puzzle. Important: Include a phone number where we can reach you Thursday,March 31, at 3 p.m. ET. Copyright 2016 NPR. To see more, and visit http://www.npr.org/.
Source: onthemedia.org