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Sunday Puzzle: Double take, famous names with repeated letters

Sunday Puzzle
NPR
Sunday Puzzle

On-air challenge: Every answer today is the name of a famous person in which the first two letters of the first name are the same as the last two letters of the last name. I'll give you the repeated letters and categories of the people. You tell me who they are.
 

Ex. GE, Oscar winner for Best Actress  -->  Geraldine Page (winner for the 1985 movie "The Trip to Bountiful")

  1. RO, Oscar winner for Best Actor (in "Raging Bull")
  2. SA, Seven-time M.L.B. All-Star (primarily with the Chicago Cubs)
  3. EL, Writer and Peace Nobelist (author of "Night" and other works on the Holocaust)
  4. MA, Former White House daughter
  5. AN, Woman who taught Helen Keller
  6. [one name:] BA, queen consort in the Bible (wife of David, mother of Solomon)
  7. LO, Comic actor of old Hollywood (partner of Bud Abbott)

Last week's challenge: Last week's challenge comes from listener Michael Schwartz, of Florence, Ore. Think of a classic American author, whose first and last names are each one syllable. The last name, when said aloud, sounds like part of the body. Insert the letters AS into the first name, and you'll get the location of this body part. Who is the author?

Challenge answer: Bret Harte (breast, heart)

Winner: Stan Durey of Anacortes, Washington

This week's challenge:  This week's challenge comes from listener Greg VanMechelen, of  Berkeley, Calif. Name a state capital. Inside it in consecutive letters is the first name of a popular TV character of the past. Remove that name, and the remaining letters in order will spell the first name of a popular TV game show host of the past.  What is the capital and what are the names?

Submit Your Answer

If you know the answer to the challenge, submit it here by Wednesday, November 27th, 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).

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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.

Federal funding is gone.

Congress has eliminated all funding for public media.

That means $2.1 million per year that Connecticut Public relied on to deliver you news, information, and entertainment programs you enjoyed is gone.

The future of public media is in your hands.

All donations are appreciated, but we ask in this moment you consider starting a monthly gift as a Sustainer to help replace what’s been lost.