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Sunday Puzzle: How It Started

Sunday Puzzle
NPR
Sunday Puzzle

On-air challenge

Answer each clue with a word that starts with the same first two letters as the clue.

Ex. Planetoid beyond Neptune --> PLUTO

1. Car at the end of a train
2. Early spring holiday
3. Windshield clearer
4. Bank amount
5. Boxing match
6. "Gilmore ___"
7. What crop North Dakota raises a lot of
8. Burger holder
9. Almighty one, to Muslims
10. Canada's current prime minister
11. Supporting straps for pants
12. Oranges are grown in it
13. Bales of hay are stored in it
14. City where the Reds play
15. Melodious amusement park ride

Last week's challenge

Last week's challenge came from my New York Times colleague Sam Ezersky. Take the name of a popular 21st-century film with animals, in eight letters. Remove the first and last letters, then change one of the remaining six letters to a C, to spell a plural word for certain animals. What words are these?

Answer

"Zootopia" --> octopi

Winner

Daniel Erenstein of Lafayette, California

This week's challenge

This week's challenge comes from Evan Kalish, of Bayside, N.Y. There is a set of five five-letter words that vary by just their middle letter. If the middle is any letter from K through O, it makes a common word. However, no other letter can go in the middle to complete a word. What words are these?

If you know the answer to the challenge, submit it here by Thursday, July 30 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.

Copyright 2026 NPR

Will Shortz
NPR's Puzzlemaster Will Shortz has appeared on Weekend Edition Sunday since the program's start in 1987. He's also the crossword editor of The New York Times, the former editor of Games magazine, and the founder and director of the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament (since 1978).
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