DON GONYEA, HOST:
And it's time to play the Puzzle.
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GONYEA: The puzzle editor of The New York Times and puzzlemaster of WEEKEND EDITION, Will Shortz, is out this week, so we are joined by Greg Pliska. He's the chief puzzle officer of "The Puzzler" podcast with A.J. Jacobs and a former puzzle guru of NPR's Ask Me Another program. Hey there, Greg.
GREG PLISKA, BYLINE: Good morning, Don.
GONYEA: So, Greg, remind us, if you will, of last week's challenge.
PLISKA: Sure, Don. It came from our puzzler friend A.J. Jacobs. Start with the name of a blockbuster movie star. Remove the first letter of the first name and the last two letters of the last name to get the types of movies he almost never stars in. Who is this? And the answer is Vin Diesel. And if you remove those letters, you get the word indies, the kind of films he almost never stars in.
GONYEA: Well, there were about 1,200 correct entries. And this week's winner is David Govertsen of Park Ridge, Ill. Congratulations, David.
DAVID GOVERTSEN: Thanks so much. It's good to be on the show.
GONYEA: And how long have you been playing the Puzzle?
GOVERTSEN: Oh, I would say I've been playing for about two years, so not quite the postcard days.
GONYEA: OK, OK. And what do you do when you're not doing this Puzzle?
GOVERTSEN: I'm a classical singer and voice teacher in Chicago.
GONYEA: Fantastic, fantastic. Are you ready to go? Are you ready to play the Puzzle?
GOVERTSEN: Sure.
GONYEA: You may sing your answers or not (laughter).
GOVERTSEN: Probably will not.
GONYEA: OK. Greg, take it away.
PLISKA: This is not a singing puzzle. It is, in fact, a President's Day special. I'll give you a clue to a two-word phrase where the first word starts with P and the second is another word with that p removed. So, for example, if I said the people who live in the White House with Joe Biden, you would give the answer the president's residents. So the P word always comes first in the answer, but it isn't necessarily clued first. Are you ready to go?
GOVERTSEN: OK. Sure.
PLISKA: All right. Here we go. A Valentine's flower with a message that is not poetry.
GOVERTSEN: A prose rose.
PLISKA: Yes, exactly. Wizard Harry's playful semi-aquatic mammals.
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GOVERTSEN: That would be Potter otter.
PLISKA: Yes, or Potter's otters. Yes, very good.
GOVERTSEN: Potter's otters.
PLISKA: A bump in salary for worshipping in church.
GOVERTSEN: A praise raise.
PLISKA: (Laughter) Exactly. Good. The noblemen in charge of the jewels in a necklace.
GOVERTSEN: The pearl's earls?
PLISKA: You can just do it singular, the pearl earl.
GONYEA: Earl of Pearl sounds like a song cue.
GOVERTSEN: (Laughter).
PLISKA: This is the narrow part on the outside of your window where you make your donations to your local public radio station.
GOVERTSEN: Narrow part outside your window - not sure. Any clues on this one?
GONYEA: I'm thinking, like, sash or...
GOVERTSEN: Narrow part outside the window - the awning.
GONYEA: Shutter.
PLISKA: Think about when you make a donation to your local public radio station. It's part of a drive that happens.
GONYEA: Oh. Oh, I got this one.
GOVERTSEN: I'm not sure. Somebody help me out on this one.
GONYEA: A pledge.
GOVERTSEN: Ah, a pledge ledge, very good.
PLISKA: Exactly. It's the pledge ledge, your monthly or annual pledge drive. A rating of how good your April Fool's trick is.
GOVERTSEN: How good your April Fool's trick is - a prank rank.
PLISKA: Exactly, exactly.
GONYEA: Beautiful.
PLISKA: Here's your last one for today. Putting your coach out of work just as the team enters the postseason.
GOVERTSEN: Putting your coach out of work - your...
PLISKA: Obviously, you wouldn't actually do this 'cause if your team has entered the postseason, you wouldn't put the coach out of work.
GONYEA: What's another term for the postseason?
GOVERTSEN: The finals, the playoffs, the tournament - oh, the playoff. There we go. The playoff layoff.
PLISKA: Exactly, playoff layoff.
GONYEA: You did great, David. How do you feel about it?
GOVERTSEN: Very good. It was fun to do a rhyming puzzle on the Puzzle today.
PLISKA: Well, thank you for playing our Puzzle today. You will get a WEEKEND EDITION lapel pin, as well as puzzle books and games. You can read all about the Puzzle and its prizes at npr.org/puzzle. And, David, we always ask, what member station do you listen to?
GOVERTSEN: I listen to WBEZ in Chicago.
GONYEA: Excellent, excellent. And they have a pledge ledge there right downtown, as I understand (laughter).
GOVERTSEN: That's right.
PLISKA: We've been talking to David Govertsen of Park Ridge, Ill. Thank you so much for playing the Puzzle. You were great.
GOVERTSEN: Thanks so much.
GONYEA: OK, Greg, next week's challenge is?
PLISKA: Well, it comes to us from listener Andrew Chaikin of San Francisco, who is also known as the singer Kid Beyond. The challenge is this - think of a famous character in American literature. Change each letter in that character's name to its position in the alphabet - so A equals one, B equals two, and so on - to get a famous year in American history. Who is this person, and what is the year? So take a famous literary character, change each letter to its position in the alphabet, and get a famous year in American history.
GONYEA: And when you have the answer, go to our website, npr.org/puzzle, and click on the Submit Your Answer link. Remember, just one entry, please. Our deadline for entries this week is Thursday, February 22 at 3 p.m. Eastern Time. Don't forget to include a phone number where we can reach you. If you are the winner, we'll give you a call. And if you pick up the phone - that's important - you'll get to play the Puzzle on the air on WEEKEND EDITION. And, Greg, thank you for this week's Puzzle.
PLISKA: Thank you, Don.
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