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Sunday Puzzle: Switch It Up

Sunday Puzzle.
NPR
Sunday Puzzle.

On-air challenge:

I'm going to give you clues for some 5-letter words. Switch the 2nd and 4th letters to make a new word that answers the second clue.

Ex. Wager / Glide on ice --> STAKE, SKATE
1. Christmas song / Reef material
2. No longer fresh / Roof material
3. Versions in the testing stage / Motel in "Psycho"
4. Sheets, pillowcases, etc. / First leader of the Soviet Union
5. Song in the Bible / Blood component
6. Tree secretion / Up
7. Trail left by a snail / Grin
8. Male singing voice / Cartridge contents
9. Marsh bird / Backbone
10. Group of experts / Word before code or colony
11. Temperamental sorts / ___ Cup
12. Home / Material for a Southwest home

Last week's challenge: From listener Tyler Lipscomb of Athens, Georgia. Think of a common girl's name. Write it in all capital letters. Rotate one of these letters 90 degrees and another of the letters 180 degrees. The result will name a make of a car. What is it?

Answer: Wanda, Mazda

Winner: Joan Lysaght of Toledo, Ohio

Next week's challenge: This week's challenge comes from Martin Eiger of Montville, NJ. He's a member of the National Puzzlers' League, which is holding its 178th convention in Boston this weekend. Take a certain 7-letter word. Remove the first letter and you get a 6-letter synonym of that word. And the letter you removed is an abbreviation for the opposite of both words. 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 at 3 p.m., ET, on Thursday, July 13.

Copyright 2023 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).