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If You Cut In The Middle, Go To The End Of The Line

On-air challenge: Two clues will be given for two five-letter answers. Move the middle letter of the first answer to the end of the word to get the second answer. Example: A weapon that's thrown; a tire in the trunk. Answer: spear/spare

Last week's challenge: The challenge came from Steve Baggish of Arlington, Mass., the father of the 11-year-old boy who created a previous challenge. Name a boy's name and a girl's name, each in four letters. The names start with the same letter of the alphabet. The boy's name contains the letter R. Drop that R from the boy's name and insert it into the girl's name. Phonetically, the result will be a familiar two-word phrase for something no one wants to have. What is it?

Answer: Brad, Beth/bad breath

Winner: Matthew Leal of San Francisco, Calif.

Next week's challenge: Name a famous actress of the past whose last name has 5 letters. Move the middle letter to the end to name another famous actress of the past. Who are these actresses?

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 at 3 p.m. Eastern.

Copyright 2021 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).