Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Sunday Puzzle: H.R. You Ready to Play the Puzzle?

Sunday Puzzle
NPR
Sunday Puzzle

On-air challenge: Today's theme is "H.R." Every answer is a familiar two-word phrase with the initials H.R.

Ex. Corporate department --> HUMAN RESOURCES

1. Kentucky Derby or Preakness

2. Big baseball hit

3. Vehicle in a drag race

4. List of top students

5. Waterway past New York City

6. African American cultural movement of the 1920s-'30s

7. Weapon in H.G. Wells' "The War of the Worlds"

8. Unofficial modifications to a game

9. Hobby through which amateurs send messages around the world

10. Place to hang one's chapeau

11. Spa

Last week's challenge: Last week's challenge came from listener Mary Springhorn, of Bellingham, Wash. Think of a noun in six letters. It sounds like a two-word phrase (2,6). And the thing named by the noun can have a seriously bad effect on what's named by the phrase. What was it?

Challenge answer: Miasma --> my asthma

Winner: Alice Doolittle of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

This week's challenge: This week's challenge comes from listener Michael Schwartz, of Florence, Ore. Name certain musical instruments (plural). The first, third, fourth, and fifth letters spell something that holds the things named by the last five letters. What instruments are these?

Submit Your Answer

If you know the answer to the challenge, submit it here by Thursday, August 7th at 3 p.m. ET. Listeners whose answers are selected win a chance to play the on-air puzzle. Important: include a phone number where we can reach you.

Produced by Lennon Sherburne contributed to this story

Copyright 2023 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).