You've Got An Ace In The Hole, If You Can Find The Right Words

By Will Shortz

Published January 15, 2017 at 8:02 AM EST

On-air challenge: Every answer today is a familiar phrase in the form "___ in the ___," in which the words that go in the blanks have been replaced by their sometimes complicated-sounding dictionary definitions. You identify the phrases.

For example: An extremely young child in the dense growth of trees --> BABE IN THE WOODS

Bipedal primate mammal related to the great apes in the Earth's only known natural satellite

Food consisting of fruit or meat baked under dough in the expanse of space surrounding the Earth

Sensation caused by a stimulus that injures the tissues in the constricted part of an animal that connects the head with the body

Insects having a complex social organization in the outer garment extending from the waist to the ankles

Implement consisting of a handle with a shank terminating with two or more prongs in the public passage for vehicles

A small, six-pointed metal object used for playing a game in the rigid rectangular receptacle with a lid used to hold something nonliquid

Large, stout-bodied two-winged insect in the semisolid medicinal preparation having a base of fatty or greasy material

Playing card marked at its center with one large pip in the unfilled or blank space

Phenomenon of combustion as manifested by light, flame, or heat in the part of the human body enclosing the abdominal viscera

Flying mammals of the order Chiroptera in the tower surmounting a building that contains a metallic device that gives forth a ringing sound when struck

Last week's challenge:

Think of a two-word phrase you might see on a clothing label. Add two letters to the end of the first word, and one letter to the end of the second word. The result is the name of a famous writer. Who is it?

Answer: Virgin wool --> Virginia Woolf

Puzzle winner: Mark Palmere of Sacramento, Calif.

Next week's challenge: This challenge comes from listener Peter Collins of Ann Arbor, Mich. Take the first and last names of a famous comedian. The first three letters of the first name and the first letter of the last name, in order, spell the name of a god in mythology. The fourth letter of the first name and the second through fourth letters of the last name, in order, spell the name of another god. Who's the comedian, and what gods are these?

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, Jan. 19 at 3 p.m. ET.