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Sunday Puzzle: Can you conquer this Christmas carol puzzle?

Sunday Puzzle
NPR
Sunday Puzzle

On-air challenge: Every answer today involves a Christmas carol or a popular Christmas song.

  1. Rearrange the letters of TINSEL to spell a word. Then rearrange the letters of THING to spell a word. The two words together are the title of a Christmas carol. What is it?
  2. Take the phrase "He Threw Rings." Change one letter in each word to get the first three words of a popular Christmas carol.
  3. The leading newspaper in Nebraska is the Omaha World-Herald. What Christmas carol has "World" in its title? What Christmas carol has "Herald" in its title?
  4. The refrain of what popular Christmas song consists of only two-letter words?
  5. Name two colors that come before "Christmas" in Billboard top 40 song titles.

Last week's challenge: Last week's challenge came from listener Joseph Young. Change one letter of a place on earth to get a familiar phrase much heard around this time of year. What is it? The answer consists of three words (5,2,5).

Challenge answer: Change one letter of "place on earth" to get "peace on earth!"

Winner: Heather Reed of Eureka Springs, Ark.

This week's challenge: This week's challenge comes from Dan Ezekiel, of Ann Arbor, Mich. Think of a two-word brand name for a food item that is marketed as upscale. Remove the last two letters of the first word and the first letter of the second word. Read the result from left to right and you'll get a one-word brand name associated with the budget-conscious. What is it?
 

Submit Your Answer

If you know the answer to the challenge, submit it here by Thursday, December 26th, 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.