December, 2002 Puzzle Contests

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12/31/02-1/2/03 Contest:

You must get all of the following right to be entered to win:

1. I am the muse of love poetry, and my first 3 letters are a period of time. Who am I?

2. I am a plant with pale yellow flowers. Add a letter to the end of me, and remove my first 3 letters, and you have a padded bed cover. What am I?

3. I am the author of an opera that rhymes with the word roust. Cut me in half and read my last half backward, and you have a word meaning 'put on.' Who am I?

Answers:

1. Erato

2. jonquil. The padded bed cover referred to is a quilt.

3. Gounod. The opera was Faust.

Winner: Carl Kirkland, Moncton, NB Canada

12/30-12/31/02 Contest:

ODD ONE OUT PUZZLERS

Decide what word or name does not belong with the others in each set. Always look for the BEST answer. You must get all of the following right to be entered to win:

1. penurious clarion shrill

2. parfait chow poodle boxer briard maltese

3. wyvern cockatrice komodo basilisk

4. Dewar Tesla snake rope

5. repute Finnish ego Brown iron munch

Answers:

1. penurious. The other 2 words relate to a high pitched sound.

2. parfait. The others are breeds of dogs.

3. komodo. The other creatures are mythological, or are named after a creature from mythology.

4. Dewar. The other 3 items relate to the word "coil." A snake can be coiled, rope can be in a coil, and a Tesla coil.

5. repute. This is the only word/name given that cannot make a new word when a letter is removed from it. All of the others can (e.g. Finnish = finish, ego = go, Brown = brow, iron = ion, munch = much).

Winner: Deborah Cox, Memphis, TN. Deborah's name came up after I had chosen several other people who had missed one or more problems, and had to be excluded. Problems 4 and (especially) 5 were clearly the toughest of the bunch.

12/23-12/30/02 Contest:

You must get all of the following right to be entered to win:

1. I am a criminal. Remove my first letter, and I will embrace you. What am I?

2. You can score 1-3 points with me. Read backward you have an expression of contempt & a mammal from children's literature.

3. I am a type of bridge. Change my first letter, and you have something that you may have to do with this puzzle to solve it.

4. I created "expanse of scenery with Hinomaru". I was a postimpressionist painter, and you've probably heard of me.

5. I form part of the upper atmosphere of the earth. My first 2 letters are the name of a female in Greek mythology who was turned into a heifer by Zeus. What am I?

Answers:

1. thug

2. hoop

3. trestle. The other word was wrestle.

4. Vincent Van Gogh. The actual painting was "Landscape with Rising Sun".

5. ionosphere

Winner: Shirley Wolf, Rockville, MD

12/20-12/23/02 Contest:

These 5 problems conceal the names of movies. Look for synonyms & miscellaneous word play to find the distorted titles. You must get all of the following right to be entered to win:

Example: Sidereal Battles

The answer is STAR WARS.

1. Mother Most Dear

2. Tangos With Large Carnivorous Canines

3. Soiled Joseph

4. Wild Ox '99

5. Room Barrier Avenue

Answers:

1. MOMMIE DEAREST

2. DANCES WITH WOLVES

3. JOE DIRT

4. BUFFALO '66

5. WALL STREET

Winner: Kate DeMello, Brooklyn, NY

12/19-12/20/02 Contest:

You must get both of the following right to be entered to win:

1. I am a female's first name, and have 5 letters, the first being toward the end of the alphabet, and the last being at the beginning. TV characters with my name have had last names relating to pebbles, and to deer. What am I?

2. Remove my first letter, and you have a famous dog's name. I mean "modish." What am I?

Answers:

1. WILMA. The references were to Wilma Flintstone and Wilma Deering (from Buck Rogers).

2. CLASSY. Update 12/23/02: Al Siller dropped a note over the weekend pointing out that the dog is actually LASSIE, not LASSY. I gave Al a puzzle piece for catching this. This is an error I didn't catch a year ago when I wrote the problem, and was in a hurry this time around, and didn't research it (likely excuse, right? :-) This problem is technically invalid, but we still keep our winner:

Winner: Pamela J. Thompson, Midfield, AL

12/18-12/19/02 Contest:

You must get all of the following right to be entered to win:

1. My first 3 letters are (formerly) a community of Russian peasants. I rhyme with the name of our planet. What am I?

2. I am a type of storm. My last 5 letters are what was done to create an ewe named Dolly. What am I?

3. Replace my 5th letter with my last letter, and you have a word meaning "silent." I mean "tranquil." What am I?

Answers:

1. MIRTH

2. CYCLONE

3. QUIESCENT

Winner: Rick Blaine (per e-mail address)

12/17-12/18/02 Contest:

Open-Ended Analogies #2 - Decide what word or name should replace the ? in each problem. Always look for the BEST answer. You must get both of the following right to be entered to win:

1. Plants is to Horticulture as Grapes is to ?

2. Enlightenment is to Illuminati as Fame is to ?

Answers:

1. Viticulture. Horticulture is a science associated with plants, and viticulture is a science associated with grapes (for wine making).

2. Glitterati. Illuminati are people who are enlightened, and glitterati are celebrities, and thus possess fame.

Winner: Rob. What up, Rob?

12/16-12/17/02 Contest:

Open-Ended Analogies - Decide what word or name should replace the ? in each problem. Always look for the BEST answer. You must get all of the following right to be entered to win:

1. Engine That Could is to Little as Monkey Trial is to ?

2. Coconut is to Pecan as Cake is to ?

3. Gehrig is to Lou as Ferrigno is to ?

4. Zhivago is to Sharif as Detroit is to ?

5. Wireless Radio is to Barbed Wire as Marconi is to ?

Answers:

1. Scopes. The Little Engine that Could is a well known children's story, and the Scopes Monkey Trial was an event that took place.

2. Pie. Coconut cake and pecan pie are common desserts.

3. Lou. Lou Gehrig and Lou Ferrigno are both well known people.

4. Aykroyd. Omar Sharif played Dr. Zhivago in the movie by that name, and Dan Aykroyd played Doctor Detroit in the movie by that name. This proved to be the toughest problem in this set.

5. Glidden. Marconi invented the wireless radio, and Glidden invented barbed wire.

Winner: Andrew Silikovitz from West Orange, NJ

12/13-12/16/02 Contest:

Odd One Out Teasers - Choose the item that does not belong with the others, and guess if you are not sure. Always look for the BEST answer. You must get all of the following right to be entered to win:

1. ROSH HASHANAH   YOM KIPPUR   HANUKKAH   RAMADAN

2. Olympus   Euphrates   Nile   Missouri

3. Douglas   Jackson   Jordan   Donahue

4. Square   Tetrahedron   Quadrilateral   Rectangle

5. 6D   4B   23V   25W

Answers:

1. ROSH HASHANAH YOM KIPPUR HANUKKAH RAMADAN = RAMADAN. This is an Islamic holiday, and the others are Jewish holidays.

2. Olympus Euphrates Nile Missouri = Olympus. This is a mountain, while the others are the names of rivers.

3. Douglas Jackson Jordan Donahue = Donahue. The other 3 are very famous people with the first name of Michael.

4. Square Tetrahedron Quadrilateral Rectangle = Tetrahedron. The others are 2 dimensional, 4 sided shapes, while a tetrahedron is a 3 dimensional, 4 sided shape.

5. 6D 4B 23V 25W = 23V. The number of each item is 2 above the number representing the order of each letter in the alphabet. D is 4th in the alphabet, so it has a 6 before it, B is 2nd in the alphabet, and has a 4 before it; V is 22nd in the alphabet, and should have a 24 before it.

Winner: Kim Calderon

12/12-12/13/02 Contest:

Determine what term or saying is suggested by each of the following problems, and look for the BEST answers. You must get both of the following right to be entered to win:

1. goal goal goal goal goal goal goal goal goal goal


2. 			(you are here)
   the call of duty

Answers:

1. goal line

2. Above and beyond the call of duty

Winner: Deborah Cox, Memphis TN.

12/11-12/12/02 Contest:

1. If you have fastened your shoe, closed the door, and picked up some sticks, what would you do next?

Break them
Use them to start a fire, and cook dinner over it
Use them to start a fire, and use the smoke of the fire to send messages
Store them for later use
Arrange them so that they are parallel to each other
Sell them as kindling

2. Which of the following does not belong with the others?

Teddy
George
Abe
John
Thomas

Answers:

1. If you have fastened your shoe, closed the door, and picked up some sticks, what would you do next?

Arrange them so that they are parallel to each other. This is from the childhood rhyme "One, Two, Buckle My Shoe," which goes:

One, two, buckle my shoe;
Three, four, shut the door;
Five, six, pick up sticks;
Seven, eight, lay them straight...(and so on :0)

2. John. The other four are former Presidents who have their faces carved on Mount Rushmore.

Winner: Carl Kirkland. 50 people sent in answers for this one. Every submission I looked at had the first problem right, but answered "Thomas" to the second one, until I selected Carl's answers.

12/10-12/11/02 Contest:

You must get both of the following right to be entered to win. In each of the following problems 4 items are given that are each related to a word or thing not listed. The 5th item listed has no such relationship. Decide which item does not belong with the others:

1. horse polish tie gum thread

2. barber force chief donut car

Answers:

1. thread. The others are related to the word "shoe."

2. barber. The others are related to the word "police." And don't think that I'm being derogatory by throwing in the "donut" item. Law enforcement personnel are grossly underpaid for the dangerous and extremely necessary work they do for us. Having said that, I have noted many police officers at donut shops over the years, although I think it is mostly because of the fact that many of the places are open late at night vs. other establishments that they would otherwise take breaks at.

Winner: Deborah Cox, Memphis, TN. Doborah got lucky, this time, as she was picked at random from a large number of respondents!

12/9-12/10/02 Contest:

You must get both of the following right to be entered to win. In each of the following puzzlers, decide which item in each group does not belong with the others:

1. ski dead off shoot face

2. xmj btz lhq fps cwm xhr

Answers:

1. shoot. The others become a new word or term when the word "lift" is placed before or after them.

2. cwm. This is a real word (believe it or not!), while the others are not.

Winner: Deborah Cox, Memphis, TN

12/6-12/9/02 Contest:

I am a type of punch. Read backward, my last 3 letters are what you are breathing. Add a letter after my first letter, and another letter before my last letter, and you have an imaginary paradise. What am I?

Answer: sangria. The other words were air and shangrila.

Winner: diosdado borlongan, manila, phil. 46 people submitted answers for this one, most or all of which were correct, making this a new record.

12/5-12/6/02 Contest:

You must get both of the following right to be entered to win:

1. I am a musical pipe. Read me backward, and the name of one type of me was once involved in a famous court case that is still controversial. What am I?

2. B.F. is (in?)famous for me, and if you remove my first letter, you have an animal. What am I?

Answers:

1. Reed. A roe is a type of deer, and Roe vs. Wade is a famous supreme court case that affected the legality of abortion in the US. Michelle Ferri came up with the same answer through "marsh deer," noting that there are several controversial court cases involving a "Marsh":

Marsh v. Alabama - distribution of religious materials
Marsh v. Chambers - opening state legislative sessions with prayer
Marsh v. Bellanca - home schooling

2. Box. I was told in college that B.F. Skinner actually had his daughter in a Skinner Box, but the information at http://www.urbanlegends.com/medical/skinner_box.html debunks this.

Winner: Shirley Wolf, Rockville, MD. Only Shirley and Michelle Ferri got these right. Puzz.com analysis of the situation: smart chicks are cool.

12/4-12/5/02 Contest:

You must get both of the following right to be entered to win:

Decide what word or name does not belong with the others in each set. Always look for the BEST answer:

1. Knife Revolver Wrench Pipe Axe Rope

2. Charles Dorian Henry Claudius Guatemotzín Montezuma

Answers:

1. Axe. The others are weapons in a game of Clue.

2. Dorian. All of the other names have belonged to emperors.

Winner: Michelle Khong

12/2-12/3/02 Contest:

I explode. Change my first letter, and I will slow you down. My last 4 letters, when read backward, are something relatively clean you might exclaim if something bad happens. What am I?

Answer: petard. From the winner: "A petard is a small bomb used to blow down a door or wall. Change the first letter p to r and you get retard which will slow you down. The last 4 letters backward spell drat which is something relatively clean you might exclaim if something bad happens."

Winner: Ashok