Sunday Puzzle: Artificially Confused
On-air challenge
The theme of today’s puzzle is A.I. every answer is a familiar two-word phrase or name in which the first word has a long -A vowel sound and the second word has a long-I vowel sound.
1. Numbers after six, seven
2. Shortest distance between two points
3. Fear of speaking before a large audience
4. Direct interaction with someone one on one
5. One of two things on the rear of a car
6. Two-wheeler you can pedal off-road
7. Injury that might come with venom
8. Have a short break
9. What cuts a porterhouse or T-bone
10. Increase in salary
11. Manicurist’s implement
12. Astronaut’s trip
13. Like cornstalks that reach halfway up the body
14. Fearsome shark
Last week’s challenge
Last week’s challenge comes from Eric Chaikin, of Westlake Village, Calif.
“I turned on the TV and saw anger, evil, slander, and ruin. It was all pleasant news. What channel was I watching and what specifically was on the screen?”
Challenge Answer:
The channel was ESPN, and NHL hockey standings were on screen. The words anger, evil, slander, and ruin can be found in the middle of Rangers, Devils, Islanders, and Bruins — all N.H.L. teams in the Northeast.
Winner
Bill Hoffman of Helena, Montana.
This week’s challenge
This week’s challenge comes from Peter Gwinn, who writes for “Wait Wait … Don’t Tell Me!” Name something many hospitals have, in 7 letters. Rearrange the letters to name two things you can get inside a hospital (4 and 3 letters each).
If you know the answer to the challenge, submit it here by Thursday, August 14th 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.
President announces TrumpRx website for drugs, and pricing deal with Pfizer
The Trump administration says it is making deals with drug companies to lower prices U.S. consumers pay for medicines. But key details are missing on how the initiative would work.
Trump administration uses taxpayer dollars to blame Democrats for government shutdown
Federal employees across the government reported seeing similar messages. Experts say the messages may violate ethics laws meant to keep partisan politics out of day-to-day governing.
A lawsuit tries to block the Trump administration’s efforts to merge personal data
A class action lawsuit argues that the administration's efforts to combine databases of personal information on Americans violates privacy laws and the Constitution.
Here’s what a shutdown means for Smithsonian museums, memorials and the zoo
History tells us visitors will likely find shuttered doors at major cultural institutions. But they will also find plenty of alternatives.
‘I can’t stop DJing,’ Mark Ronson says — never mind the back pain
Ronson's memoir, Night People, is a love letter to late-night 1990s New York City. Ronson would go on to produce music for Bruno Mars, Lady Gaga and other pop superstars.
Pasta meals from Trader Joe’s and Walmart may be linked to a deadly listeria outbreak
The USDA says the precooked pasta products, sold at Trader Joe's and Walmart, could be connected to a nationwide listeria outbreak that has killed four people and sickened at least 20 others.