© 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: Can you guess these words from these phonetic clues?

Sunday Puzzle
NPR
Sunday Puzzle

On-air challenge: This is a phonetic puzzle. If I asked you to say the cry of a ghost plus a letter of the alphabet to get a bunch of flowers, you'd say BOO plus K to get BOUQUET. Now try these.
 

Say ... plus a letter of the alphabet ... to get ...

  1. The sound of a horse ... military force at sea
  2. The sound of a cow ... given to sudden changes in temperament
  3. Grind with the teeth ... difficult to satisfy
  4. French city with an annual film frestival ... sweets
  5. Dull shade ...  meat sauce
  6. Huffed and puffed ... a colorful bird
  7. Went across, as a river ... a stretchable fabric
  8. One who violates the Ten Commandments ... result of two things working together advantageously 

Last week's challenge: Name a place somewhere on the globe — in two words. Rearrange the letters of the first word to name some animals. The second word in the place name is something those animals sometimes do. What is it?
 

Challenge answer: Hudson Bay (hounds, bay)

Winner: John Byrne of Watertown, Massachusetts

This week's challenge: This week's challenge comes from listener Mark Maxwell-Smith. Name a place where experiments are done (two words). Drop the last letter of each word. The remaining letters, reading from left to right, will name someone famously associated with experiments. Who is it?

Submit Your Answer

If you know the answer to the challenge, submit it here by Thursday, November 7th 2024 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 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).

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.