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Anagrams and Artists

NPR's Puzzlemaster Will Shortz quizzes one of our listeners, and has a challenge for everyone at home.

Challenge from Aug. 21: Take a two-word phrase meaning "a difficult puzzle." Drop the first letter, read the remaining letters backward, and you'll get a word for part of Alaska. What is it?

Answer: Hard Nut/Tundra

Winner: Kate Davis of Bellingham, Wash.

Challenge from Aug. 28: From listener Frank Morgan, a mathematician at Williams College. (He also has a puzzle page at mathchat.org.) Think of a word whose meaning you can make plural by adding an A at the start. Start with a very common singular noun, add the letter A at the beginning, and you'll make the meaning plural. What word is it?

Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Will Shortz has been the puzzle master for NPR's Weekend Edition Sunday since the program's start in 1987.