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Sunday Puzzle: Initial fame

NPR

On-air challenge

I'm going to give you clues for some famous people past and present. The first two letters of each clue are the initials of the answer.

Ex. Fancy dancer --> Fred Astaire
1. Printer and patriot of colonial Boston
2. Annual prize creator in Physics, Chemistry, and Literature
3. Jogged to a gold medal at the 1936 Olympics
4. Assassinated Egyptian leader
5. Astronaut who was the first American in space
6. Writer of political commentary in the early 20th century
7. Madame Secretary of State under Bill Clinton
8. Oscar-winning director for "Platoon"
9. Emmy-winning "Saturday Night Live" comic
10. Early American patriot
11. Batman player in 2016
12. The star of "Philadelphia" and "Sully"
13. She was the mother of six of Thomas Jefferson's children
14. Two-time winner of the PGA Tour FedEx Cup
15. Swinger of a mean tennis racket

Last week's challenge

This week's challenge comes from Andrew Tuite, of Chicago. There are four countries whose names have one-syllable anagrams that rhyme with "Spain." What are they?

Challenge Answer

Iran (rain), China (chain), Nepal (plane), Niger (reign)

Winner

Tom Rymsza of Chambersburg, Penn.

This week's challenge

This week's challenge comes from Greg VanMechelen, of Berkeley, Calif. Name a famous singer past or present. Remove the first and last letter from the first name and the result will be a potential partner of the last name. What singer is this?

If you know the answer to the challenge, submit it below by Thursday, May 15th at 3 p.m. ET. Listeners whose answers are selected win a chance to play the on-air puzzle.

Copyright 2025 NPR

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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).