美国国家公共电台 NPR Sunday Puzzle: Switch It Up

 

A MARTINEZ, HOST:

Normally, if you hear me on KPCC, I'd be giving you the latest news out of Southern California. But here on WEEKEND EDITION SUNDAY, I know what shines brightest for our listeners. It's The Puzzle.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

MARTINEZ: Joining me, of course, is Will Shortz. He's puzzle editor of The New York Times and WEEKEND EDITION's puzzlemaster. Will, good morning.

WILL SHORTZ, BYLINE¹: Good morning, A.

MARTINEZ: And thanks for taking time out of running the National Puzzlers' League convention. You know, Will, there is a line in a very famous Beyonce song and it goes like this - so don't you ever for a second get to thinking you're irreplaceable.

She does it better than I do. You are irreplaceable for us. If we had to come up with a replacement², where would we have gotten it?

SHORTZ: Oh, man, I don't know. But I don't plan to go anywhere.

MARTINEZ: Good, good. Absolutely. All right. So Will, remind us of last week's challenge.

SHORTZ: Yes, it came from listener Tyler Lipscomb of Athens, Ga. I said, think of a common girl's name. Write it in all capital letters. Rotate one of the letters 90 degrees and another letter 180 degrees, and the result will name a make of car. What is it? Well, the name is Wanda. And you rotate the W and the N, and you get Mazda.

MARTINEZ: Now, this week, we got more than 1,900 responses. And our randomly³ selected winner is Joan Lysaght from Toledo, Ohio. Congratulations, Joan.

JOAN LYSAGHT: Thank you so much. It's an honor and a thrill to be here and be ready to play.

MARTINEZ: So Joan, how'd you figure it out?

LYSAGHT: Well, I'll tell you what. Usually, when there are two letters that, you know, are going to get switched 180, I always think that it's going to be M and W. I wrote out the whole alphabet. So I knew that we were dealing⁴ with an M and W. And then with a 90-degree rotation⁵, I figured it was N and a C or U, you know, that sort of thing. So once I put those five letters in front of me, it just kind of came to me. I usually keep a little notebook at my work and work on it throughout the day.

MARTINEZ: Will, it sounds as if Joan could be our replacement puzzlemaster if we're ever in a pinch.

(LAUGHTER)

SHORTZ: Jeez. No, that - she did the puzzle just right.

MARTINEZ: Yeah. Joan, what do you do in Toledo? I've always wanted to go out to Mud Hens baseball game, by the way.

LYSAGHT: Oh, it's so much fun. You should come and go. Mud Hens are absolutely the best thing in the world. We have a great stadium and a great team - you know, minor⁶ league to the Tigers. And it's a great thing.

I am a senior manager of client solutions at Opinion Research Corporation.

MARTINEZ: Nice. Joan, are you ready to play The Puzzle?

LYSAGHT: I am. I sure hope I am anyway. Wish me luck.

MARTINEZ: All right. Take it away, Will.

SHORTZ: All right, Joan and A, I'm going to give you clues for some five-letter words. Switch the second and fourth letters to make a new word that answers the second clue. For example, if I said wager⁷ and glide⁸ on ice, you would say, stake and skate, switching the T and K of stake to make skate. OK?

LYSAGHT: OK, I got it.

SHORTZ: Here we go. Number one - a Christmas song and reef material.

LYSAGHT: OK, carol.

SHORTZ: Uh-huh.

LYSAGHT: And did you say, Reese (ph)?

SHORTZ: Reef, uh-huh - material that's in a reef.

LYSAGHT: Oh, reef - coral.

SHORTZ: Coral is it. Good.

MARTINEZ: (Laughter) That's awesome⁹.

LYSAGHT: OK.

SHORTZ: Number two - versions in the testing stage and the motel in "Psycho."

LYSAGHT: Beta and Bates?

SHORTZ: And plural¹⁰ - Betas and Bates is right.

LYSAGHT: Bates.

MARTINEZ: You're fast, Joan. Wow.

SHORTZ: Good. Sheets, pillowcases, etc. and the first leader of the Soviet¹¹ Union.

LYSAGHT: Linen¹² and Stalin?

SHORTZ: Well, no...

LYSAGHT: No? Ok.

SHORTZ: ...Stalin was not first. But you're almost there.

LYSAGHT: Lenin, Lenin. OK, I'm sorry. Yes, Lenin. Oh, boy.

SHORTZ: Linen and Lenin is right. Trail left by a snail¹³ and grin.

LYSAGHT: Slime and smile?

SHORTZ: There you go. A male singing voice and cartridge¹⁴ contents.

LYSAGHT: Cartridge contents.

SHORTZ: And let's say you have a printer cartridge.

LYSAGHT: Ink? No. Let's see - a male singing voice...

SHORTZ: Uh-huh.

LYSAGHT: Alto, bass¹⁵, tenor¹⁶...

SHORTZ: What's the - tenor, there you go.

LYSAGHT: ...And toner.

SHORTZ: Tenor and toner is good. A marsh¹⁷ bird...

LYSAGHT: OK.

SHORTZ: ...And backbone¹⁸.

LYSAGHT: Spine¹⁹?

SHORTZ: Yes.

LYSAGHT: And snipe.

SHORTZ: That's it. And here's your last one. Your first clue is home, and your second clue is material for a Southwest home.

LYSAGHT: Adobe²⁰...

SHORTZ: Yes.

LYSAGHT: ...And abode²¹.

SHORTZ: There you go.

LYSAGHT: Wonderful.

SHORTZ: You did it.

LYSAGHT: That was fun (laughter).

MARTINEZ: Nicely done and thanks for playing our puzzle today. You're going to get a WEEKEND EDITION lapel pin as well as a - puzzle books and games. And you can read all about it at npr.org/puzzle. Joan, now what member station do you listen to?

LYSAGHT: I have been a longtime listener and a longtime supporter of WGTE 91.3 in Toledo.

MARTINEZ: All right. Joan Lysaght of Toledo, Ohio, once again, great job, and thanks for playing The Puzzle.

LYSAGHT: Thank you.

MARTINEZ: All right, Will, so what's the next challenge?

SHORTZ: Yeah, it comes from Martin Eiger of Montville, N.J. And he's a member of the National Puzzlers' League. He's here at the convention in Boston this weekend. Take a certain seven-letter word, remove the first letter and you get a six-letter synonym²² of that word. And the letter you removed is an abbreviation for the opposite of both words. What words are these? So again - certain seven-letter word, remove the first letter, and you get a six letter synonym of that word. And the letter you removed is an abbreviation for the opposite of both words.

What words are these?

MARTINEZ: All right. When you have the answer, go to our website to npr.org/puzzle and click on, Submit Your Answer link. Just one entry per person, please. Our deadline for entries is Thursday, July 13 at 3 p.m. Eastern. Leave a phone number where we can reach you at about that time. And if you're the winner, we're going to give you a call, and you'll get to play on the air with the puzzle editor of The New York Times and WEEKEND EDITION's puzzlemaster, Will Shortz. Will, thanks so much. Enjoy the convention.

SHORTZ: Thanks a lot, A.

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1 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

2 replacement   

n.取代，替换，交换；替代品，代用品

参考例句：

• We are hard put to find a replacement for our assistant.我们很难找到一个人来代替我们的助手。
• They put all the students through the replacement examination.他们让所有的学生参加分班考试。

3 randomly   

adv.随便地，未加计划地

参考例句：

• Within the hot gas chamber, molecules are moving randomly in all directions. 在灼热的气体燃烧室内，分子在各个方向上作无规运动。 来自辞典例句
• Transformed cells are loosely attached, rounded and randomly oriented. 转化细胞则不大贴壁、圆缩并呈杂乱分布。 来自辞典例句

4 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

5 rotation   

n.旋转；循环，轮流

参考例句：

• Crop rotation helps prevent soil erosion.农作物轮作有助于防止水土流失。
• The workers in this workshop do day and night shifts in weekly rotation.这个车间的工人上白班和上夜班每周轮换一次。

6 minor   

adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修

参考例句：

• The young actor was given a minor part in the new play.年轻的男演员在这出新戏里被分派担任一个小角色。
• I gave him a minor share of my wealth.我把小部分财产给了他。

7 wager   

n.赌注；vt.押注，打赌

参考例句：

• They laid a wager on the result of the race.他们以竞赛的结果打赌。
• I made a wager that our team would win.我打赌我们的队会赢。

8 glide   

n./v.溜，滑行；(时间)消逝

参考例句：

• We stood in silence watching the snake glide effortlessly.我们噤若寒蝉地站着，眼看那条蛇逍遥自在地游来游去。
• So graceful was the ballerina that she just seemed to glide.那芭蕾舞女演员翩跹起舞，宛如滑翔。

9 awesome   

adj.令人惊叹的，难得吓人的，很好的

参考例句：

• The church in Ireland has always exercised an awesome power.爱尔兰的教堂一直掌握着令人敬畏的权力。
• That new white convertible is totally awesome.那辆新的白色折篷汽车简直棒极了.

10 plural   

n.复数；复数形式；adj.复数的

参考例句：

• Most plural nouns in English end in's '.英语的复数名词多以s结尾。
• Here you should use plural pronoun.这里你应该用复数代词。

11 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

• Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
• Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。

12 linen   

n.亚麻布，亚麻线，亚麻制品；adj.亚麻布制的，亚麻的

参考例句：

• The worker is starching the linen.这名工人正在给亚麻布上浆。
• Fine linen and cotton fabrics were known as well as wool.精细的亚麻织品和棉织品像羊毛一样闻名遐迩。

13 snail   

n.蜗牛

参考例句：

• Snail is a small plant-eating creature with a soft body.蜗牛是一种软体草食动物。
• Time moved at a snail's pace before the holidays.放假前的时间过得很慢。

14 cartridge   

n.弹壳，弹药筒；(装磁带等的)盒子

参考例句：

• Unfortunately the 2G cartridge design is very difficult to set accurately.不幸地2G弹药筒设计非常难正确地设定。
• This rifle only holds one cartridge.这支来复枪只能装一发子弹。

15 bass   

n.男低音(歌手)；低音乐器；低音大提琴

参考例句：

• He answered my question in a surprisingly deep bass.他用一种低得出奇的声音回答我的问题。
• The bass was to give a concert in the park.那位男低音歌唱家将在公园中举行音乐会。

16 tenor   

n.男高音（歌手），次中音（乐器），要旨，大意

参考例句：

• The tenor of his speech was that war would come.他讲话的大意是战争将要发生。
• The four parts in singing are soprano,alto,tenor and bass.唱歌的四个声部是女高音、女低音、男高音和男低音。

17 marsh   

n.沼泽，湿地

参考例句：

• There are a lot of frogs in the marsh.沼泽里有许多青蛙。
• I made my way slowly out of the marsh.我缓慢地走出这片沼泽地。

18 backbone   

n.脊骨，脊柱，骨干；刚毅，骨气

参考例句：

• The Chinese people have backbone.中国人民有骨气。
• The backbone is an articulate structure.脊椎骨是一种关节相连的结构。

19 spine   

n.脊柱，脊椎；(动植物的)刺；书脊

参考例句：

• He broke his spine in a fall from a horse.他从马上跌下摔断了脊梁骨。
• His spine developed a slight curve.他的脊柱有点弯曲。

20 adobe   

n.泥砖，土坯，美国Adobe公司

参考例句：

• They live in an adobe house.他们住在一间土坯屋里。
• Adobe bricks must drived dried completely before are used.土坯砖块使用前一定要完全干燥。

21 abode   

n.住处，住所

参考例句：

• It was ten months before my father discovered his abode.父亲花了十个月的功夫，才好不容易打听到他的住处。
• Welcome to our humble abode!欢迎光临寒舍！

22 synonym   

n.同义词，换喻词

参考例句：

• Zhuge Liang is a synonym for wisdom in folklore.诸葛亮在民间传说中成了智慧的代名词。
• The term 'industrial democracy' is often used as a synonym for worker participation. “工业民主”这个词常被用作“工人参与”的同义词。