Doctor Dot, the daily 5-minute skill to show. For everyone who simply dotting it out, Alexa. Hello, welcome to the Doctor Dot podcast, my name is Sean, and in today's episode, we're gonna get our puzzler on. Yep, that's right, if you're a fan of riddles and puzzles, this is the skill for you.
We last looked at this skill way back in episode 662, but as ever, this is my first time playing this skill. Let's do it. Alexa, open NPR puzzle fan. Okay, here's NPR puzzle fan.
Would you like to play the current or the previous NPR puzzle? Current. It's time to play the puzzle. Don't jazzy.
Joining us is Will Shorts. He's puzzle editor of the New York Times and puzzle master of Weekend Edition. Always good to talk to you, Will. Same, Don.
So remind us, please, of last week's challenge. Yes, it came from listener Hannah Wilson of Chicago. I said, think of a common boy's name and a common girl's name that are pronounced the same, even though they have only two letters in common. And I said, if you reverse the boy's name phonetically, you'll get another common girl's name.
What names are these? Well, the first two names are Aaron, A-A-R-O-N, and Aaron, E-R-I-N. And I apologize to anyone to whom those names are not pronounced the same. To me, they both have a short E sound as a vowel.
And if you reverse Aaron, the boy's name Aaron, you get Nora, N-O-R-A. Excellent. Well, we received over 3,000 correct responses. And the winner is Kat Dickey from New Orleans, Louisiana.
Congratulations, Kat, and welcome to the show. Thank you for having me. Okay, tell us how you figured this one out. I have several very good friends that are named Aaron that spell it in each of those ways.
So it didn't take much. And tell us what you do when you're not playing the puzzle. I'm a grad student at Tulane University. Excellent.
Okay, Kat, are you ready to play the puzzle? I am. So, Will, take it away. All right, Kat, today's puzzle involves a kind of wordplay called consonants.
I'm going to give you a word or phrase. You name a world capital whose name has the same consonants in the same order with no other consonants. For example, if I said Berate, B-E-R-A-T-E, you would say Beirut, as in the capital of Lebanon. Because both Berate and Beirut have the consonants B-R-N-T in that order.
Okay. Here we go. Number one is Porus, P-O-R-O-U-S. Sorry.
You got it. Number two is Leaned In, L-E-A-N-E-D-I-N. London? You got it.
The Loom, D-O-U-B. Oh, so fast. The Nose, T-H-E-N-O-S-E. Thanos.
You want to put a vowel before the T. Athens. Athens, Greece. You got it.
Circus, C-I-R-C-U-S. Oh. All right, here's your hint. South America.
Oh, I'm not going to be good at that. It's a capital you know, I think. It's a rhythmic name. Caracas.
A rhythmic name. It's the one value insert three times. Oh. I'm absolutely blanking.
Come on, love. Caracas. I'll tell you, Venezuela. Caracas.
You got it, Caracas. Heaven, H-E-A-V-E-N. Havana. It does start with an H.
Havana. Havana, Cuba, yeah. Lesbian, L-E-S-B-I-A-N. Lesbian.
You got it. Sontag, S-O-N-T-A-G. Santiago. Singapore, Seoul, Sontag.
Starts with an S. Yeah. Can I get a region? Yeah, you're the dreaded South America.
It's been a while since I've had that class. Santiago? There you go. Santiago.
Santiago, Chile, correct? Oh, okay. How about pierogi? P-I-E-R-O-G-I.
Prague. So you're working with P-R-E-G. Prague. Czech Republic is right.
And your last one is beleaguered. B-E-L-E-A-G-U-E-R-E-D. Belgrade. And your consonants are B-L-G-R-E-D.
Does it begin with a B? Yes. Belgrade? Belgrade.
You've got it. Not bad at all. You did extremely well. And may I say, this is a hard puzzle.
So congratulations. How do you feel? I'm impressed with myself. Well, for playing the puzzle today, you'll get a weekend edition of the Peloton as well as puzzle books and games.
You can read all about it at npr.org slash puzzle. And Kat, which member station do you listen to in New Orleans? WWNO. Of course.
Of course. Kat Dickey from New Orleans. Thank you so much for playing the puzzle today. Thank you for having me.
Okay, Will. What is next week's challenge? Yes, it comes from listener Alan Hochbaum of Duluth, Georgia. Name part of the human body.
Insert the name of another part of the human body inside that first word. And you'll get a brand name found at the supermarket. What is it? So again, part of the human body.
Insert that inside the name of another part of the human body. And you'll get a brand name found at the supermarket. What brand is it? And when you have the answer, go to our website, npr.org slash puzzle, and click on the submit your answer link.
Remember, just one entry, please. Our deadline for entries is Thursday, February 24th at 3 p.m. Eastern. And don't forget to include a phone number where we can reach you.
If you're the winner, we'll give you a call. And if you pick up the phone, you'll get to play the puzzle on the air with the puzzle editor of the New York Times and Puzzle Master's weekend edition, Will Shorts. Will, thank you. Thank you, Dan.
Thank you very much. So there you go. If you like the sound of that, why not try it out? NPR Puzzle Fan.
Thank you. See you next time. Oh, before you go, there's another podcast. It's called The Echo Show.
Please check it out. Myself and Sean Preece bring you loads more echo goodness. The Echo Show, wherever you get your podcasts. Recast.fm