Unwrapping Eight-Letter Presents

By Will Shortz

Published December 25, 2005 at 12:00 AM EST

Puzzle master Will Shortz quizzes one of our listeners, and has a challenge for everyone at home.

Challenge for Dec. 18:

Take the word non-perception. Rearrange its 13 letters to name three things that are in the same category. What are they?

Answer: Copper, Tin, Neon. All are elements.

Winner: Jesse Levy of Burbank, Calif.

Challenge for Dec. 25:

Name something in nine letters commonly seen around Christmas. Change the first letter to the previous letter of the alphabet. Change the third letter to the following letter of the alphabet. And the result will name part of the human body. What body part is this?

Will Shortz

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).

See stories by Will Shortz

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