© 2025 Connecticut Public

FCC Public Inspection Files:
WEDH · WEDN · WEDW · WEDY
WEDW-FM · WNPR · WPKT · WRLI-FM
Public Files Contact · ATSC 3.0 FAQ
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Sunday Puzzle: Vowelin' for you

Sunday Puzzle
NPR
Sunday Puzzle

On-air challenge: I'm going to give you some categories in two words. You name something in each category starting with each initial in the category. Any answer that works is fine.

Ex. Foreign Languages --> French, Lithuanian
1. Breakfast Orders
2. Precious Stones
3. Butchers' Meats
4. Coastal States
5. Beatles Hits
6. Automobile Parts

Last week's challenge: Last week's challenge was based on an idea by listener Jeff Lande, of Minneapolis. If a BOY is 5,839, and a COW is 6,874, how much is a FISH?

Challenge answer: 953,161. You get the answer from looking at corresponding numbers on the periodic table of the elements. For example, B stands for boron (#5), O stands for oxygen (#8), and Y stands for yttrium (#39), which go together to make 5,839. Similarly, F is fluorine (#9), I is iodine (#53), S is sulfur (#16), and H is hydrogen (#1), which go together to make the answer.

Winner: Angie Miller of Beatrice, Nebraska

This week's challenge: This week's challenge comes from listener Mark Meiches, of Dallas. Name a state that contains all five vowels — A, E, I, O, and U — once each.

Submit Your Answer

If you know the answer to next week's challenge, submit it here by Thursday, March 31, 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 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

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).

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.

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.