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Sunday Puzzle: My Only Friend The E-N-D

Editor's note on April 2, 2018: If you've listened to the audio, you may have figured it out quickly: Part of this broadcast was an April Fools' joke. We hope you enjoyed it.

On-air challenge: Considering the occasion, it seemed appropriate today to bring a puzzle about endings. I'm going to read you some sentences. Each sentence has two blanks. The word that goes in the first blank contains the consecutive letters E-N-D. Drop those letters, and the remaining letters in order will spell a new word that goes in the second blank to complete the sentence.

Example: Right now, dark lipstick is ______, so this is something hip people might ______. --> TRENDY, TRY

1. It could only ______ bad things when hundreds of enemy ships sailed into ______.

2. In the children's rhyme, I intended to buy ______ for a salad when I was going to St. ______.

3. The rap singer wore several ______ around his neck, and his ______ were held up by a large, shiny belt.

4. The stylist had a hard time ____ the client's minimalist asthetic with his need to wear some ____.

5. I didn't have enough money to order beer at the pub, so the ______ said I could resort to ______.

Last week's challenge: Name a small but well-known U.S. city, followed by its two-letter state postal abbreviation. This string of letters, reading from left to right, spells two consecutive words that name distinctive characteristics of bunnies. What city is it?

Answer: Hope, AR (hop + ear)

Winner: David Marx of Wexford, Pa.

Next week's challenge: This week's challenge comes from listener Eric Iverson of Eagan, Minn. Pick an even number between 1 and 10 that's 1 more than four and 2 more than 10.

Submit Your Answer

If you know the answer to next week's challenge, submit it here. Listeners who submit correct answers win a chance to play the on-air puzzle. Important: Include a phone number where we can reach you Thursday, April 5 at 3 p.m. ET.

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).