Thursday, October 16, 2025

Weaponizing words; A whole wordful of Hippocraticity; Superbly Superbad Yooper Grads! Cyber-thumbs up or down? Calendrical landscaping techniques; Lace-ups loafers sneakers sandals plimsolls pumps

 PUZZLERIA! SLICES: OVER 5πe2 SERVED

Schpuzzle of the Week:

A whole wordful of Hippocraticity

Take a multisyllabic word for certain diagnostic medical procedures. 

Its first five letters are also the first five letters of an eight-letter type of surgery. 

Letters five-through-ten spell a surgical
instrument. 

The remaining letters, if you change an “o” to an “a”, spell anatomical illustrations that appear in medical school instructional materials. 

What are these procedures, type of surgery, surgical instrument, and illustrations? 

Appetizer Menu

Econfusing Dozen-Puzzle Appetizer:

Weaponizing words

Like the recent NPR “Light Saber/ Blaster” puzzle, the subjects of this puzzle are rather bleak. Especially in light of current conditions we hesitated using them, and we fear things will only get worse. But humor is a form of resistance, and #10, #11 and  #12 might be politically controversial; indeed, the last is downright rude. We hope solvers are not offended.

1. 🪖Name two terms that might also be a soldier. 

Combine them and, metaphorically, the result
is a term of what they might fight. 

What are the two terms?

2. 🗡Name a word that describes how someone might die. 

Change the vowel sound and the result will phonetically be a modern weapon in the news that might kill. 

What are the two words?

3. 🔫Name what you might see in a certain type of fight. 

Remove the last letter, move the 5th letter one place earlier in the word and 15 places later in the circular alphabet, and the result will be something else you might see in another type of fight. 

What are the two things? 

In addition, when you change the first letter of the thing that is fought by the first word six places later in the alphabet the result is the target of the second thing. 

What are the two words?

4. 💣Name weapons found originally in a certain part of the world. 

Add a “T” at the end and the result will be a two-word phrase describing the fears of a certain age group. What are the weapons and what is the fear?

5. 👚Name two similar articles of clothing, one after the other, that are worn by soldiers in some countries. 

Remove the last letter of the second article and the result will be the brand name of a certain weapon, also used by soldiers. 

What are the clothing items and what is the weapon brand?

6. 🚁Name a material that can be used to attack buildings. 

Remove the second letter and the result will be a creature that can attack buildings. 

What are the material and the creature?

7. 👴Name a material that is used to make a modern weapon. 

Rotate the first letter 90° and the result will be part of the human body that is used to make a modern weapon. 

What is the material and what is the body part?

8. 🐭Name a brand of weapon that a Jerry (derogatory term!) used. 

The second letter is a vowel, changing it will
change a consonant sound (but not the vowel sound!) and the result will be a domestic weapon used on a Jerry. 

The two consonant sounds are spelled with the same letter. What are the weapons?

9. ⚔ Name a weapon that has been used in many wars. 

Change the last letter, and the result is a place where the US has fought a war, and those weapons were used.

In addition, each is linked to different fruits which start with the same letter as the other. 

What is the weapon, where is the place, and what are the fruits?

10. ⸸ Name a well-known person who often attacks others. 

Change the first letter of their last name one place later in the alphabet, and the result will
be another weapon of violence. 

Who is the person and what is the weapon?

11. 💥Name a historic weapon that was used to harm many American soldiers after it was fired. 

Remove the last two letters, and the result will
be a modern weapon that was used to harm many American civilians before it was fired. 

What are the two weapons?

12🪓 Name a weapon historically used by a mounted soldier. 

Move the first letter ten places later in the alphabet, and the result will be the name of a modern politician famous for his “mounting.” 

What are the two words?

MENU

World Wide Webfooted Hors d’Oeuvre:

Cyber-thumbs up or down?

Take a positive word associated with the Internet. 

Delete a letter, spell the result backward and add a space to spell two negative words. 

What are these three words?

Penny Loafer Shoestring Budget Slice:

Lace-ups loafers sneakers sandals plimsolls pumps

The woman was so particular about finding exactly the correct shoe size, style and  color that, after she left the store with her purchase, the salesman had to _____ twenty pairs of _______! 

What are the five-and-seven-letter sound-alike words that belong in the blanks?

Riffing Off Shortz And Moorhead Entrees:

Superbly Superbad Yooper Grads!

Will Shortz’s October 12th Weekend Edition Sunday puzzle challenge, created by Joel Moorhead of Downers Grove, Illinois, reads:

Think of a word that means exceptionally good. Add two letters at the end of to make a word that means the exact opposite. What words are these?

Puzzleria!s Riffing Off Shortz And Moorhead Entrees read:

ENTREE #1

Name a puzzle-maker whose surname is a city in Minnesota. 

Rearrange the letters of the Illinois city he hails from to spell a mourning bird, a bird that shares its name with an architect named Christopher, and the first syllable of a rose-breasted bird whose second syllable is “beak.”  

Who is this puzzle-maker and where does he live?

(Note: Entrees #2 through #7 are the handiwork of our good friend Nodd, author of “Nodd ready for prime time” on Puzzleria!)

ENTREE #2

Think of a word that means lively. 

Change the second letter to make a word that
means the opposite. 

What words are these?

ENTREE #3

Think of a word that means attractive. 

Change the fifth letter and add a letter between the third and fourth letters to make a word that means the opposite. 

What words are these?

ENTREE #4

Think of a word that means admirable. 

Change the first two letters to make a word that means cruel. 

What words are these?

ENTREE #5

Think of a word that means careful. Replace the first two letters with three different letters to make a word that means the opposite. What words are these?

ENTREE #6

Think of a word that means to make up. 

Replace the fifth letter with two different letters to make a word that means the opposite. 

What words are these?

ENTREE #7

Think of a word that means genuine. 

Replace the second letter with two different letters to make a word that means the opposite. 

What words are these?

ENTREE #8

A husband might show that he _____ by buying his wife a new dress, massaging her neck to relieve her stress, and giving her cheek a soft ______.

Add a letter to the end of the word in the first blank to spell the word in the second blank.

What are these missing words?

ENTREE #9

Take a string of seven consecutive letters from the circular alphabet. 

Take six of the seven. Arrange them to spell a
synonym of “daze.” 

Then rearrange them to spell a synonym of “bud.”

What are these consecutive letters?

What are the two synonyms?

ENTREE #10

Take the seven-letter string of letters from ENTREE #9. Remove two of the consonants and replace them with the letter “A”.

Take these six letters, using three of them
twice, to spell a two-word noun that means “the existing state of affairs.”

What is this two-word noun?

Dessert Menu

Anagramadjectival Dessert:

Calendrical landscaping techniques

The end of a word on a calendar can be rearranged to spell a landscaping term. 

The remaining letters of this calendar word are an anagram of an adjective that might describe
that landscaping term. 

What are this calendar word, landscaping term and adjective?

Hint: The landscaping term rhymes with a word that appears in the text of this puzzle.

Every Thursday at Joseph Young’s Puzzleria! we publish a new menu of fresh word puzzles, number puzzles, logic puzzles, puzzles of all varieties and flavors. We cater to cravers of scrumptious puzzles!

Our master chef, Grecian gourmet puzzle-creator Lego Lambda, blends and bakes up mysterious (and sometimes questionable) toppings and spices (such as alphabet soup, Mobius bacon strips, diced snake eyes, cubed radishes, “hominym” grits, anagraham crackers, rhyme thyme and sage sprinklings.)

Please post your comments below. Feel free also to post clever and subtle hints that do not give the puzzle answers away. Please wait until after 3 p.m. Eastern Time on Wednesdays to post your answers and explain your hints about the puzzles. We serve up at least one fresh puzzle every Thursday.

We invite you to make it a habit to “Meet at Joe’s!” If you enjoy our weekly puzzle party, please tell your friends about Joseph Young’s Puzzleria! Thank you.

Thursday, October 9, 2025

Exploring our national parks; Celebrity challenge; The dairy aisle; Add a letter, get a letter; Poetry Corner, with Anna Graham; “Nurse a triple shot of ‘branding’” Flowering, good... overflowing, bad! Eli & Sam visit 1600 Penn. Ave.; “Hubby vacuums the rugby so ruggedly!”

PUZZLERIA! SLICES: OVER 5πe2 SERVED

Schpuzzle of the Week:

“Nurse a triple shot of ‘branding’”

Name the brand of a Sport Utility Vehicle model with spark plugs under its hood. 

Removing its second and second-last letters results in a brand of a product that removes clogs from plugged-up pipes. The removed letters, in order, spell what sounds like a fashion brand that manufactures clogs. 

What are these three brands?  

Appetizer Menu

Noddingly-Approved Appetizer:

Exploring our national parks; Celebrity challenge; The dairy aisle; Add a letter, get a letter; Poetry Corner, with Anna Graham

1. 🏞 Exploring our national parks

a. What national park would offer support if you suffer from plantar fasciitis?

b. Switch the eighth and tenth letters and delete the seventh letter of the name of a national park to get a two-word description of the contents of an illustrated version of the Kama Sutra.

c. Rearrange the name of a national park to get a two-word description of a cop show other
than the one with Joe Friday. 

d. Rearrange the name of a national park to get an adjective describing some Christians in ancient Rome.

e. Rearrange the name of a national park to get a two-word phrase describing where you might see airborne primates.

f. Insert a space and a comma in the name of a national park to get a greeting to a person from the Middle East.

g. Rearrange the name of a national park to get a flavorful vegetable and where you might buy it.

2. 🎥Celebrity challenge

What past or present actor’s or actress’s name suggest he or she…

a. would do better after sundown?

b. is generous with decorative rock?

c. might get cold when performing?

d. would be helpful when making pancakes?

e. would support the use of Agent Orange?

f. would not be good to play cards with?

g. often gets angry?

h. is fond of jalapeños and Scotch bonnets?

3. 🥛The dairy aisle

Add one letter to the beginning of the former
(generic) name of a two-word low-fat dairy product to get a non-dairy product found in the dairy section of supermarkets. 

What are the two products?

4. 📏Add a letter, get a letter

Add a letter to a word for a unit of measurement to get another letter.

5. 🖆Poetry Corner, with Anna Graham

Insert five words that are anagrams of one another to complete the verse. (The first and third lines do not rhyme.)

The world _____ against the common petty thieves,

Who steal our hard-earned _____, _____, and dollars,

Yet celebrates the _____ in their _____,

Whose leveraged buyouts bring on ruin and squalor.

MENU

Root Rot Hors d’Oeuvre:

Flowering, good... overflowing, bad!

An anagram of an eight-letter flower is a precautionary measure gardeners use to prevent the flower’s root rot, yellowing leaves
and even death. 

What is this flower? 

What is the precautionary measure gardeners use?

Appliance Science Slice:

“Hubby vacuums the rugby so ruggedly!”

Rearrange the ten letters of a ubiquitous modern appliance to form a two-word term that describes rugby or football. 

What are this appliance and term?

Hint: the first word in the term is hyphenated.

Riffing Off Shortz And Reiss Entrees:

Eli & Sam visit 1600 Penn. Ave.

Will Shortz’s October 5th Weekend Edition Sunday puzzle challenge, created by Mike Reiss (a writer, and producer for “The Simpsons”) reads:

Think of a famous singer. Replace the last three letters of the first name with an E. Also replace the last three letters of the last name with an E. The result will be a world-famous location. What singer is this?

Puzzleria!s Riffing Off Shortz And Reiss Entrees read:

ENTREE #1

Think of a prolific puzzle-maker. Replace the last three letters of the first name with an AD. Also replace the last three letters of the last name with an AD. The result will be the name of a magazine and what those who purchase it then do with it.

If you instead replace the last three letters of
the first name with an ED and the last three letters of the last name with an ED, the result will be what active and retired military personnel may be given at a National facility in Washington D.C. and the surname of the U.S. Army physician who is the namesake of the facility.

Who is this puzzle-maker? 

What is the magazine and what its purchasers do with it?

What may military personnel be given at the D.C. facility, and the surname of the U.S. Army physician who is the namesake of the facility?

Note: The following Entrees, #2 through #7, were composed by our good friend Nodd.

ENTREE #2

Think of the stage name of a famous singer. 

Replace the last two letters of the first name with an S. 

Also replace the last two letters of the last name with an S. 

Then add two letters associated with WWII to the beginning of the last name. 

The result will be a world-famous city in the western U.S. Who is the singer and what is the city?

ENTREE #3

Think of a famous three-word singing group and discard the “The” at the beginning. 

Reverse the two remaining words. Remove from what is now the first word all but the third and fourth letters and follow those two letters with a period. 

The result will be a world-famous location in the world of sports. 

What are the singing group and the location?


ENTREE #4

Think of a famous singer. 

Remove the space between the first and last names. 

Replace an E with an S and rearrange the letters to name a world-famous religious location in Europe. 

Who is the singer and what is the location?

ENTREE #5

Think of a famous singer. 

Remove the last four letters of the first name and the first letter of the last name. 

Then remove the space between the first and last names. 

The result will be a colloquial term for a kind of location that is not particularly famous. 

Who is the singer and what is the term?

ENTREE #6

Think of a famous singer. 

Replace the first two letters of the last name with a T and remove the space between the first and last names. The result will be a famous historical location in the U.S. 

Who is the singer and what is the location?

ENTREE #7

Think of a famous singer.

Remove the first letter of the first name and replace the last three letters of the first name with an O. 

The result will be a U.S. location that has been the site of numerous controversial events in recent years. Who is the singer and what is the location?

Note: The following Entree #8 riff was composed by our good friend Plantsmith.


ENTREE #8

Take a famous singer. 

Drop the last two letters of first name
and of the surname. 

Do no more modifying of the first name. 

Add to the end of the altered surname, however, the remaining letters after you drop the first two letters of a common breakfast item. The result is a beautiful place on a large continent. 

Who is this singer.

What is the breakfast item?

What is the beautiful place?

ENTREE #9

The 1st, 2nd, 8th, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th and 9th letters in the name of a singer spell an automobile with an open body that seats two and has a folding, retractable, or removable top and often a luggage compartment or rumble seat in the rear.

What is this automobile?

Who is this singer?

ENTREE #10

Remove five consecutive palindromic letters from the name of a singer, leaving the name of a bovine mammal.

Who is this singer? 

What is the mammal?

ENTREE #11 

Remove three consecutive letters from the first name of a singer.

The result is a five-letter venue of a sport, and a word you might hear shouted at that venue.

What is this venue? 

Who is the singer?

ENTREE #12

Remove five consecutive letters from the name of a singer, leaving a word for a “Biff Tannen type.”

Who is the singer? 

What is the word for a “Biff Tannen type?”

ENTREE #13

Name a singer, first and last names. 

Remove the last letter from the first name and the last three letters from the last name. Rearrange these deleted letters to spell what sunk the  Titanic. The remaining letters, in order, spell a brand name of sound-system speakers.

Who is this singer? What sunk the Titanic? What is the speaker brand?

ENTREE #14

Name a singer, first and last names, in ten letters. Take:

~ Letters 5, 6, 3 & 10 (noun)

~ Letters 6 & 10 (preposition)

~ Letter 8 (article)

~ Letters 5, 6 & 7 (noun)

They spell a four-word delicious dish.

Who is this singer?

What is the dish?

Hint: A three-letter article is often substituted for the one-letter article. 

ENTREE #15

Name a singer, first and last names, in nine letters.

Move the third letter into the sixth position.

Letters 1, 2 & 9 now spell a young member of a family. The remaining letters, in order, spell a game piece that this family member may enjoy collecting, trading and playing with.

Who is this singer?

Who is the family member?

What is the game piece?

Dessert Menu

Constant Consonants Dessert (& Yet...):

Identical different vowels!

Two large US cities share the same consonants in the same order. Each city contains two identical vowels.










The identical vowels in one city do not appear in the other city. What cities are these?

Every Thursday at Joseph Young’s Puzzleria! we publish a new menu of fresh word puzzles, number puzzles, logic puzzles, puzzles of all varieties and flavors. We cater to cravers of scrumptious puzzles!

Our master chef, Grecian gourmet puzzle-creator Lego Lambda, blends and bakes up mysterious (and sometimes questionable) toppings and spices (such as alphabet soup, Mobius bacon strips, diced snake eyes, cubed radishes, “hominym” grits, anagraham crackers, rhyme thyme and sage sprinklings.)

Please post your comments below. Feel free also to post clever and subtle hints that do not give the puzzle answers away. Please wait until after 3 p.m. Eastern Time on Wednesdays to post your answers and explain your hints about the puzzles. We serve up at least one fresh puzzle every Thursday.

We invite you to make it a habit to “Meet at Joe’s!” If you enjoy our weekly puzzle party, please tell your friends about Joseph Young’s Puzzleria! Thank you.