On air challenge: Today's puzzle is called "Reversible Words." I'm going to give you clues for two compound words. Switch the order of the parts of one to get the other.
1. Bit of movie filming that ends up not being used / Dining option at a restaurant
2. Aching head on the morning after / Place for a gutter on a house
3. Breakfast item you put maple syrup on / Bakery container
4. $10 bill, in slang / Cutting tool that needs two hands
5. Decline in economic activity / Refusal
6. Distract from thinking about the immediate issue / Spectator area immediately next to where horses race
Last week's challenge: Last week's challenge came from listener Jim Francis, of Kirkland, Wash. Take this equation: 14 + 116 + 68 = 47. Clearly this doesn't work mathematically. But it does work in a nonmathematical way. Please explain.
Challenge answer: The atomic numbers 14, 116, and 68 represent the chemical elements silicon (Si), livermorium (Lv), and erbium (68), respectively. The symbols for these elements spell SiLvEr, which has the atomic number 47.
Winner: Sheri Bone of Big Flats, NY.
This week's challenge: This week's challenge comes from the screenwriter and comedian Mike Reiss. Name something scary in two words. Five of the letters are vowels, which are all the same. And the consonants are all Roman numerals. What scary thing is this?
If you know the answer to this week's challenge, submit it here by Thursday, 9th 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.
Produced by Lennon Sherburne contributed to this story
Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.
