On-Air Challenge: The word "mother" has a surprising property. If you move the first two letters to the end, you get "thermo," the prefix for "heat." Every answer today is another six-letter word that, when you move the first two letters to the end, you get another word or phrase.
Last Week's Challenge from listener Gary Witkin of Newark, Del.: Using only the six letters of the name "Bronte," repeating them as often as necessary, spell a familiar six-word phrase. What is it?
Answer: "To be or not to be"
Winner: Charlotte Sky of Pebble Beach, Calif.
Next Week's Challenge: Name a state capital. Change one of the vowels to another vowel and say the result phonetically. You will name a revered profession. What is it?
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 at 3 p.m. Eastern.
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RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:
This is WEEKEND EDITION from NPR News. I'm Rachel Martin. Are you ready? Take a deep breath, do some stretches and turn up the volume because it is time for the puzzle.
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MARTIN: And in case you forgot last week's challenge, here's a refresher from the puzzle editor of The New York Times and WEEKEND EDITION's puzzle master Will Shortz.
WILL SHORTZ, BYLINE: Take the name Bronte, B-R-O-N-T-E. Use only these six letters but repeat them as often as necessary. Spell a familiar six-word phrase. What phrase is it?
MARTIN: Well, more than 3,400 of you figured out the answer. And our randomly selected winner this week is Charlotte Sky of Pebble Beach, California. Congratulations, Charlotte.
CHARLOTTE SKY: Thank you.
MARTIN: So, tell us what was the answer to last week's challenge.
SKY: The answer was: To be or not to be.
MARTIN: Lovely job. So, are you a big Shakespeare buff or did you use some kind of special strategy to figure this out?
SKY: Well, actually, I am a Shakespeare buff, and I usually, if I hear a word that I need to do something with, I put it in a circle and then sometimes the answers will come a little quicker.
MARTIN: There was also a Bronte sister who was named Charlotte, right?
SKY: Yes.
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MARTIN: So, maybe you had a secret advantage. OK. Well, before we continue, let's welcome the puzzle editor of The New York Times and WEEKEND EDITION's puzzle master Will Shortz. Good morning, Will.
SHORTZ: Good morning, Rachel. Happy Mother's Day. And congratulations, Charlotte.
SKY: Thank you.
MARTIN: OK. Charlotte, without further ado, are you ready to play the puzzle?
SKY: Oh, I think so.
MARTIN: Deep breath.
SKY: I'm glad you're there to help in case of brain freeze.
MARTIN: We will tackle it together. OK, Will. Bring it on.
SHORTZ: Yes. The word mother has a surprising property. If you move the first two letters to the end, you get thermo, which is the prefix for heat. Well, every answer today is another six-letter word that, when you move the first two letters to the end, you get another word or phrase.
MARTIN: OK. You got that, Charlotte?
SKY: I think so.
MARTIN: All right. Let's try it.
SHORTZ: Number one is join the armed forces. And the second word is pay attention.
SKY: Enlist...
SHORTZ: Yes. And move E-N to the end and what do you get?
SKY: OK. Let's see. Listen.
MARTIN: Yes.
SHORTZ: Listen is right. Very good. Feature on a zebra...
SKY: Stripes.
SHORTZ: ..and - yeah - and most ready to pick, as fruit.
SKY: Let's see, ripest.
SHORTZ: Ripest is it.
MARTIN: Good.
SHORTZ: To maintain as principles and armed robbery.
SKY: OK. To maintain...
SHORTZ: Maintain as principles. You blank your principles.
SKY: Stand by?
MARTIN: It has to be six letters?
SHORTZ: Right. Or go about it from the end. What's an armed robbery? Either on the street or in a business.
SKY: A burglary, an armed robbery.
MARTIN: Hold up?
SHORTZ: Yes.
MARTIN: OK.
SKY: Hold up. OK.
SHORTZ: Now move the last two letters to the start.
SKY: Uphold.
SHORTZ: Uphold is to maintain your principles, good.
MARTIN: OK.
SHORTZ: How about accompany to a party and Spanish conquistador whose expedition caused the downfall of the Aztecs.
SKY: Well, that's Cortes.
SHORTZ: Yes.
SKY: And E-Z...
SHORTZ: And he's often what was spelled E-S at the end.
SKY: Secord.
MARTIN: When someone takes you to a party...
SKY: Escort.
SHORTZ: Escort is it.
SKY: Yeah, escort.
MARTIN: Perfect.
SHORTZ: Your last one is a double answer. Start with a novelist Laurence. Move the first two letters to the end and you get novelist Hemingway. And move the first two letters of that to end and you get a bird, for example.
SKY: So, Hemingway would be Ernest.
SHORTZ: Ernest, yes.
SKY: And then the bird...
SHORTZ: Well, if you move the last two letters to the start, you'll get novelist Laurence.
SKY: OK.
SHORTZ: Last two letters of Ernest to the start.
SKY: Oh, Ernest to the start. S-T Sterne.
SHORTZ: There you got Sterne. That's novelist Laurence. He wrote "Tristram Shandy." And if you move the first two letters of Ernest to the end you get?
SKY: The first two letters of Ernest to the end...
MARTIN: To the end of which one?
SHORTZ: To the end of Ernest.
MARTIN: Oh, to the end of Ernest, OK.
SKY: OK.
MARTIN: Is that nester?
SHORTZ: Nester, there you go - a bird, for example.
SKY: Oh, nester, all right.
SHORTZ: You guys did it.
MARTIN: Congratulations, Charlotte. That was great.
SKY: Thank you. And to you, too.
MARTIN: So, for playing the puzzle today, you'll get a WEEKEND EDITION lapel pin as well as puzzle books and games, and you can read all about it at npr.org/Puzzle. And, Charlotte, before we let you go, tell us what public radio station you listen to.
SKY: KAZU.
MARTIN: KAZU in Seaside, California. Charlotte Sky of Pebble Beach, California. Thanks so much for playing the puzzle this week, Charlotte. It was fun.
SKY: Thank you very much.
MARTIN: OK. So, Will, I understand next week you're doing a little traveling, right? You're going to China?
SHORTZ: I'll be in Beijing for the Beijing International Sudoku Tournament.
MARTIN: Great.
SHORTZ: So, we'll be doing the program next week from Beijing.
MARTIN: Fabulous.
SHORTZ: Or I will, anyway.
MARTIN: I'll be here. You will be in Beijing. So tell what we have to look forward to. What's the challenge for next week?
SHORTZ: Yes. Name a state capital, change one of the vowels to another vowel and say the result phonetically. You will name a revered profession. What is it? So again, a state capital, change one of the vowels to another vowel, say the results phonetically, you will name a revered profession. What profession is it?
MARTIN: OK. When you have the answer, go to our website npr.org/puzzle and click on the Submit Your Answer link. Just one entry per person, please. And our deadline for entries is Thursday, May 17th at 3 P.M. Eastern Time. Please include a phone number where we can reach you at about that time. And if you are the winner, we will give you a call and you'll get to play on the air with the puzzle editor of The New York Times and Weekend Edition's puzzle-master, Will Shortz.
Thanks so much, Will.
SHORTZ: Thanks, Rachel. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.