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Sunday Puzzle: May the odds be in your favor

Sunday Puzzle
NPR
Sunday Puzzle

On-air challenge: Every answer today is a word or name with the syllable "may," in any spelling, somewhere inside it.

Ex. Judgment or opinion of something --> ESTIMATION

1. The "T" of B.L.T.
2. Spotted dog
3. Love of setting fires
4. Specialty of Disney Studios
5. Country whose capital is Bucharest
6. Island state of Australia
7. Facts and figures
8. Use of machinery in place of human labor
9. Alternative to burial
10. Language that Jesus is believe to have spoken
11. Astounding
12. Demand that might end "... or else!"

Last week's challenge: This week's challenge comes from listener Alan Hochbaum, of Duluth, Ga. Name a famous actor — first and last names. Remove the last letter of each name. You'll be left with an animal and an adjective that describes that animal, respectively. Who is the actor?

Challenge answer: Rami Malek (ram, male)

Winner: David Kirkpatrick of Beaumont, Tex.

This week's challenge: This week's challenge comes from listener Ward Hartenstein, of Rochester, N.Y. Words starting with a "kw-" sound usually start with the letters QU-, as in question, or "KW-," as in Kwanzaa. What common, uncapitalized English word starting with a "kw-" sound contains none of the letters Q, U, K, or W?

Submit Your Answer

If you know the answer to next week's challenge, submit it here by Thursday, March 10, at 3 p.m. ET. Listeners who submit correct answers win a chance to play the on-air puzzle. Important: Include a phone number where we can reach you.

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).