On-air challenge: This puzzle is a President's Day special. I'll give you a clue to a two-word phrase, where the first word starts with P and the second is a new word with that P removed.
For example, if I said "The people who live in the White House with Joe Biden" you would give the answer PRESIDENT'S RESIDENTS.
The P-word always comes first, but it isn't necessarily clued first.
1.) A Valentine's flower with a message that is NOT poetry
2.) Wizard Harry's playful semiaquatic mammals
3.) A bump in salary for worshiping in church
4.) The nobleman in charge of the jewels in a necklace
5.) The narrow part on the outside your window where you make your donations to your local public radio station
6.) A rating of how good your April Fool's trick is
7.) Putting your coach out of work just as the team makes the postseason
Last week's challenge: Was from our puzzler friend A.J. Jacobs. Start with the name of a blockbuster movie star. Remove the first letter of the first name and last two letters of the last name to get the types of movies he almost never stars in. Who is this?
Challenge answer: Vin Diesel, Indies
Winner: Dave Govertsen of Park Ridge, Illinois
This week's challenge: It comes to us from listener Andrew Chaikin of San Francisco, also known as the singer Kid Beyond. Think of a famous character in American literature. Change each letter in that character's name to its position in the alphabet — A=1, B=2, etc. — to get a famous year in American history. Who is this person and what is the year?
If you know the answer to the challenge, submit it here by Thursday, February 22nd 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.
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