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Sunday Puzzle: The Big IF

Sunday Puzzle
NPR
Sunday Puzzle

On-air challenge: Today's puzzle is called "The Big If." Every answer is a familiar two-word phrase with the initials I- F-.

Ex. Seasonal stomach ailment --> INTESTINAL FLU
1. Digit that's next to the thumb

2. Father, mother, sister, and brother, but not aunts, uncles, and cousins

3. Movie that doesn't originate in Hollywood

4. Metaphor for the ruthless exercise of authority

5. Substitute for breast milk in a baby bottle

6. Frozen block on the ocean

7. Writer who created James Bond

8. In math, what cosine is to sine

9. What a JPEG is

10. In basketball the penalty for this is two free throws plus continued possession of the ball

11. What's often cooked with curry

Last week's challenge: Name two well-known commercial products in five letters whose names are anagrams of each other. One product is something you'd probably see in your bathroom. The second is more likely to be in your refrigerator. What products are these?

Challenge answer: Nivea, Évian

Winner: Elie Dolgin of Somerville, MA.

This week's challenge: This week's challenge comes from listener Katherine Keniston, of Beaverton, Ore. Name two brands of household products, each in three syllables. All of the syllables in the two brands rhyme with each other. That is, the first syllable in the first brand rhymes with the first syllable in the second brand, the second syllables in the two brands rhyme, and the third syllables rhyme. What brand names are these?

Submit Your Answer

If you know the answer to this week's challenge, submit it here by Thursday, March 30th 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).