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Sunday Puzzle: Connect The Words

NPR

On-air Challenge: Every answer today is a word starting with SH-. I'm going to give you two words. The first one can precede the answer and the second one can follow it, in each case to complete a compound word or a familiar two-word phrase.

Ex. Jump Glass --> SHOT [jump shot, shot glass]

1. Tortoise Game
2. Milk Hands
3. Soft Polish
4. Coffee Talk
5. Talk Business
6. Window Tree
7. Space Cock
8. Meteor Stall
9. Look Shooter
10. Cold Blade

Last challenge: This week's challenge comes from listener Ed Pegg Jr. Think of something that gets people moving vertically. Remove the middle two letters, and you get something that moves people horizontally. What two things are these?

Challenge answer: Trampoline --> Tramline

Winner: Martha Hasting of St. Louis, Mo.

This week's challenge: This week's challenge comes from listener Ben Austin, of Dobbs Ferry, N.Y. Take the name of a major American city. Move one of its letters three spaces later in the alphabet. Embedded in the resulting string of letters, reading left to right, is a cardinal number. Remove that number, and the remaining letters, reading left to right, spell an ordinal number. What city is it, and what are the numbers?

Submit Your Answer

If you know the answer to next week's challenge, submit it here by Thursday, Aug. 26, at 3 p.m. ET. Listeners who submit correct answers win a chance to play the on-air puzzle. Important: Include a phone number where we can reach you.

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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SOMOS CONNECTICUT is an initiative from Connecticut Public, the state’s local NPR and PBS station, to elevate Latino stories and expand programming that uplifts and informs our Latino communities. Visit CTPublic.org/latino for more stories and resources. For updates, sign up for the SOMOS CONNECTICUT newsletter at ctpublic.org/newsletters.

SOMOS CONNECTICUT es una iniciativa de Connecticut Public, la emisora local de NPR y PBS del estado, que busca elevar nuestras historias latinas y expandir programación que alza y informa nuestras comunidades latinas locales. Visita CTPublic.org/latino para más reportajes y recursos. Para noticias, suscríbase a nuestro boletín informativo en ctpublic.org/newsletters.

The independent journalism and non-commercial programming you rely on every day is in danger.

If you’re reading this, you believe in trusted journalism and in learning without paywalls. You value access to educational content kids love and enriching cultural programming.

Now all of that is at risk.

Federal funding for public media is under threat and if it goes, the impact to our communities will be devastating.

Together, we can defend it. It’s time to protect what matters.

Your voice has protected public media before. Now, it’s needed again. Learn how you can protect the news and programming you depend on.