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Sunday Puzzle: Sound It Out

NPR

On-air Challenge: Every answer today is a word or name that sounds like it starts with two spoken letters of the alphabet.

Example: Wanting what other people have --> ENVIOUS (N-V-ous)


1. Place for camels to drink
2. Capital of Austria
3. Try to equal or excel
4. Boredom
5. 9 x 9
6. Activity of secret agents
7. One involved in trickery
[Each of the last answers starts with three spoken letters of the alphabet]
8. Following orders
9. Online travel agency that competes with Travelocity
10. [Fill in the blank:] "___, my dear Watson"

Last week's challenge: This challenge comes from listener Gerry Reynolds of Chicago. Name a national landmark (6,3). Add the name of a chemical element. Rearrange all the letters to name two states. What are they?

Challenge answer: Hoover Dam + tin --> Vermont + Idaho

Winner: Hannah Kummer of Arlington, Va.

This week's challenge: This week's challenge is a spinoff of my on-air puzzle, and it's a little tricky. Think of a hyphenated word you might use to describe a young child that sounds like three letters spoken one after the other.

Submit Your Answer

If you know the answer to next week's challenge, submit it here by Thursday, Jan. 28, at 3 p.m. ET. Listeners who submit correct answers win a chance to play the on-air puzzle. Important: Include a phone number where we can reach you.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

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).