Sunday Puzzle: Silent Letters

NPR | By Will Shortz

Published January 7, 2024 at 7:10 AM CST

On-air challenge: Every answer is a word that starts with a silent letter. Identify the words from their anagrams.

Ex. TANG --> GNAT

1. BONK

2. HANGS

3. LAMPS

4. NAKED

5. SHIRE

6. ETHNOS

7. DANGLER

8. CNN MIMEO

Last week's challenge: Last week's challenge comes from Sandy Weisz, of Chicago. Name a famous movie in 4 letters. Change one letter and anagram the result to name another movie that came out 20 years later. Then change one letter in that and anagram to name a third movie that came out 29 years after the second one. What movies are these?

Challenge answer: "Dr. No" --> "Tron" --> "Thor"

Winner: Tom Moosbrugger of Columbus, OH.

This week's challenge: This week's challenge comes from listener Steve Baggish, of Arlington, Mass. Name certain weapons. Remove the middle four letters. The remaining letters, spelled backward, describe what these weapons do.

Submit Your Answer

If you know the answer to the challenge, submit it here by Thursday, January 11 at 3 p.m. ET. Listeners whose answers are selected win a chance to play the on-air puzzle. Important: include a phone number where we can reach you.