Ben Bass and Beyond: Puzzles

I like puzzles. I like creating them, solving them, and flying across the country to spend entire weekends playing them:

NPR Sunday Puzzle
Will Shortz airs my classic TV puzzle

Will Shortz airs my capital letters puzzle

Will Shortz airs my "OK" puzzle

Will Shortz airs my "deep cleanse" puzzle

How Will edited the "deep cleanse" puzzle

Nations and cities

Spoonerisms

My TiVo puzzle

Events

Crosswords

And...

Guess my word!

NPR Sunday puzzle

This week:

Name a bird. Change its second letter to an E to get the first name of a famous actor. Then name the female of that bird, and double one of its letters. You'll get the last name of this actor. What are the birds, and who is the actor?

Enter here or email me for a hint.

Last week: The word "marten," as in the animal, consists of the beginning letters of "Mississippi," "Arkansas," "Texas," and "New Mexico"; you can actually drive from Mississippi to Arkansas to Texas to New Mexico in that order. What is the longest common English word you can spell by taking the beginning letters of consecutive states in order as you travel through them? Puzzlemaster Will Shortz's answer has eight letters, but maybe you can top that.

Highlight for answer: Puzzlemaster's Answer: "Millions," which consists of the beginning letters of Missouri, Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska and South Dakota.

Winning Answers: There are two acceptable answers. If you reenter states, the best answer is the 10-letter word "amalgamate," which consists of the beginning letters of states in the following order: Alabama or Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Alabama or Arkansas, Tennessee; or Alabama or Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, Texas. If you do not reenter states, the best answer is the nine-letter word "omissions," which consists of the beginning letters of Oklahoma, Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska and South Dakota.

Two weeks ago: From listener Kevin Roberts of Norcross, Ga.: Name two fictional characters — the first one good, the second one bad. Each is a one-word name. Drop the last letter of the name of the first character. Read the remaining letters in order from left to right. The result will be a world capital. What is it?

Highlight for answer: Santa, Iago, Santiago

Three weeks ago: Name an animal. Add the letters A and T, and rearrange the result to name another animal. These are both animals that might be found in a zoo, and the last letter of the first animal is the first letter of the last one.

Highlight for answer: Gorilla, alligator

Events

Mr. Rickey Calls a Meeting

Jackie Robinson, Branch Rickey, and baseball's color line

Jan. 4-Feb. 19, Lookingglass Theatre, Chicago

preview

Carrie Fisher: Wishful Drinking

Autobiographical one-princess show

Oct. 4-16, Bank of America Theatre, Chicago

preview

A Walk in the Woods

Aug. 21-Nov. 20, TimeLine Theatre Company, Chicago

Pulitzer-nominated dramatic take on Soviet-American nuclear disarmament talks

preview

South Side of Heaven

Open run, The Second City, Pipers Alley, Chicago

Sketch comedy revue

preview

The original Grease

Apr. 21-Aug. 21, American Theater Company, Chicago

Rarely seen R-rated version originally staged at Kingston Mines in Chicago in 1971, lovingly restored and presented by co-creator Jim Jacobs

backstory • info • tickets

A Girl With Sun in Her Eyes
Jun. 30-Aug. 7, The Second Stage, Chicago
World premiere of crime drama from Pine Box Theater Co.
preview

The Moth GrandSLAM II
Aug. 2, Park West, Chicago
Winners of recent

Moth StorySLAMS gather for a night of
live onstage
storytelling
themoth.org

The 2011 Southpaw Invitational
Aug. 1, Lincoln Park Tennis Club, Chicago
All-lefty doubles tennis

172nd National Puzzlers' League convention
Jul. 7-10, Providence, R.I.
puzzlers.org