Sunday Puzzle: That’s HOT!

Transcript:

AYESHA RASCOE, HOST:

Time to play the Puzzle.

(SOUNDBITE OF STEFAN SCAGGIARI & NED WHARTON’S “PUZZLEMASH THEME”)

RASCOE: Joining us is Will Shortz. He’s puzzle editor of The New York Times and puzzlemaster of WEEKEND EDITION. How’s it going, Will?

WILL SHORTZ: I’m doing great. How are you, Ayesha?

RASCOE: I am good. Will, please remind us of last week’s challenge.

SHORTZ: Yes, it came from Evan Kalish of Bayside, New York. I said take the name of a nocturnal creature in two words. The first word is a spooky sound. Move the last letter of the first word to the start of the second word, and you’ll get another nocturnal, spooky sound. What’s the creature, and what are the sounds? Well, the creature is a screech owl. Of course, it makes a screech at night. Move the H of screech to the start of owl, and you get howl.

RASCOE: OK. Well, a lot of y’all got this. There were more than 1,700 correct entries this week, and our lucky winner is Dan Sadoff of St. Paul, Minnesota. Congratulations, Dan.

DAN SADOFF: Oh, well, thank you.

RASCOE: How did you figure out this week’s answer? Now that I’ve heard the answer, it sounds obvious.

SADOFF: It actually did not take long, and it may have been helped by the fact that we have a lot of nocturnal creatures in our neighborhood. Owl and howl came to me pretty quickly.

RASCOE: OK. How long have you been playing the Puzzle?

SADOFF: I date back to the postcard era.

RASCOE: But this is your first time winning?

SADOFF: Oh, yes.

RASCOE: (Laughter) OK. What do you do for fun?

SADOFF: Well, recording audiobooks.

RASCOE: Oh.

SADOFF: And certainly, in Minnesota, enjoying the outdoors this time of year.

RASCOE: Oh. Well, that is wonderful. Well, I have to ask you, are you ready to play the Puzzle? But it sounds like you’re ready.

SADOFF: Oh, I hope I am.

RASCOE: (Laughter) Take it away, Will.

SHORTZ: All right, Dan, and Ayesha. Today’s puzzle is hot. Every answer is a familiar two-word phrase in which the first word starts H-O and the second word starts with T. For example, if I said a rowdy bar with country music in slang, you would say honky-tonk. Here’s No. 1 – a guided walkthrough of a property.

SADOFF: House tour.

SHORTZ: That’s it. Any member of the NHL.

SADOFF: Hockey…

SHORTZ: Yeah. Not the player itself, but who would be a member of the NHL.

SADOFF: Oh, hockey team.

SHORTZ: Hockey team is it. How about Lone Star State, metropolis, that’s the fourth largest city in the U.S.?

SADOFF: Houston, Texas.

SHORTZ: That’s it. Like an animal with its four legs bound.

SADOFF: Hog-tied.

SHORTZ: That’s it. An instruction manual.

SADOFF: How-to.

SHORTZ: That’s it. A little pompous and arrogant.

SADOFF: Hoity-toity.

SHORTZ: That’s it. Here’s a tough one. A punny greeting from a magician.

SADOFF: Oh. How’s tricks?

SHORTZ: Good job. I’m impressed. Someone who steals animals from a stable.

SADOFF: Oh, dear. Horse thief.

SHORTZ: That’s it. Congestion that drivers encounter around July Fourth.

SADOFF: Holiday traffic.

SHORTZ: That’s it. Acquisition of a company against its will.

SADOFF: Hostile takeover.

SHORTZ: Right. And here’s your last one. An exclamation for wow on TV’s “Batman.”

SADOFF: Holy almost anything. Holy Toledo?

SHORTZ: Holy Toledo is it. Good job – 100%.

RASCOE: Yeah. I told you. I knew you were going to take it away with this one (laughter). But you did a wonderful job. How do you feel?

SADOFF: Oh, I feel puzzlerific.

RASCOE: (Laughter) Puzzlerific. I love – that’s a first. I like that.

SHORTZ: That’s a new one.

RASCOE: (Laughter) For playing our Puzzle today, you’ll get a WEEKEND EDITION lapel pin, as well as puzzle books and games. You can read all about it at npr.org/puzzle. And, Dan, what member station do you listen to?

SADOFF: KNOW-FM, which is part of Minnesota Public Radio, and it is the news and information station.

RASCOE: That’s Dan Sadoff of St. Paul, Minnesota. Thank you so much for playing the Puzzle.

SADOFF: Thank you, Ayesha, and great to hear from you, Will.

SHORTZ: Thanks a lot.

RASCOE: All right, Will, what’s next week’s challenge?

SHORTZ: Yes, it comes from a Rawson Sheinberg of Plymouth, Michigan. Think of a U.S. city with a two-word name. Add a letter to the first word without rearranging letters to name a country. Then, without adding a letter, rearrange the letters of the second word to name another country. What places are these? So, again, a U.S. city with a two-word name, add a letter to the first word to get the name of a country, and then, without adding a letter, rearrange the letters of the second word to name another country. What places are these?

RASCOE: Dan, do you already know the answer to next week’s challenge?

SADOFF: (Laughter) I’m going to have to think a little longer about it, but it won’t stop me from entering.

RASCOE: Well, then you and everyone else, when you have the answer, go to our website npr.org/puzzle to submit your response. Just fill out the form on the Puzzle page. Remember, just one entry, please. Our deadline for entries this week is Thursday, July 2, at 3 p.m. Eastern. Don’t forget to include a phone number where we can reach you. If you’re the winner, we’ll give you a call. And if you pick up the phone, you’ll get to play on the air with the puzzle editor of The New York Times and puzzlemaster of WEEKEND EDITION, Will Shortz. Thank you, Will.

SHORTZ: Thanks a lot, Ayesha.

(SOUNDBITE OF STEFAN SCAGGIARI & NED WHARTON’S “PUZZLEMASH THEME”)