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Sunday Puzzle: Capital Letters

Sunday Puzzle.
NPR
Sunday Puzzle.

On-air challenge: I'm going to give you some words and phrases. Each one conceals the name of a world capital in left to right order, although not in consecutive letters. Every answer has exactly 5 letters.

Example: STOCK SYMBOL --> TOKYO
1. SERIOUSLY
2. PARTISAN
3. COCK-AND-BULL
4. HUMANOID
5. MINISKIRT
6. SOUTH AFRICA

Last week's challenge: The name of what vehicle, spelled backward, becomes phonetically a four-word phrase identifying another vehicle?

Answer: Subaru --> U R a bus!

Winner: Kathy McDonough of Clarksville, Tenn.

Next week's challenge: This week's challenge comes from listener Neville Fogarty of Newport News, Va. Think of a convenience introduced in the 19th century that is still around today. Its name has two words. Take the first three letters of the first word and the first letter of its second word, in order, to get a convenience introduced in the 21st century that serves a similar purpose. Their names are otherwise unrelated. What two conveniences 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 Thursday, Dec. 21 at 3 p.m. ET.

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).