Winter in Unalaska by Sam Zmolek
Your voice in the Aleutians.
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Sunday Puzzle: Replacement ID's

Sunday Puzzle
NPR
Sunday Puzzle

On-air challenge: This is a followup puzzle to last week's "Lost ID's." It's called "Replacement ID's." I'm going to give you some words. Each word contains the consecutive letters I-D somewhere in it. Change the I-D to two new letters to get a new familiar word.

Example: Stride --> Stroke or Strafe
1. Fidget
2. Ideate
3. Bridal
4. Rancid
5. Fiddle
6. Afraid (hyph.)
7. Collide
8. Provide
9. Humidity
10. Consider
11. Diffident
12. President

Last week's challenge: This challenge came from listener Chad Graham, of St. Louis. Name a well-known restaurant chain. Rearrange its letters to name a large area in the United States. This area has a two-word name. What is it?

Challenge answer: Taco Bell --> Coal Belt

Winner: Matt Mignone of Bethpage, N.Y.

This week's challenge: This week's challenge comes from listener Greg Van Mechelen of Berkeley, Calif. Think of a five-letter word. Change the first letter to the next letter of the alphabet, and you'll get a new word that doesn't share any sounds with the first one. Then change its first letter to the next letter of the alphabet, and you'll get a third word that doesn't share any sounds with either of the first two. What words are these?

Submit Your Answer

If you know the answer to next week's challenge, submit it here. Listeners who submit correct answers win a chance to play the on-air puzzle. Important: Include a phone number where we can reach you by Thursday, June 11th, at 3 p.m. ET.

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

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).