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Expanding Words from the Center

NPR's Puzzlemaster Will Shortz quizzes one of our listeners, and has a challenge for everyone at home.

Challenge from Aug. 14: From listener Dale Sugar of Brooklyn, N.Y.: Name two familiar products you might find in a drug store or supermarket. These are well known national brands that compete with each other. Each name has five letters. Put them together, one after the other, and you'll get a well known geographical name, also five-five. What is it?

Answer: Ivory-Coast.

Winner: Mary Alice Kohs from New York City.

Challenge from Aug. 21: Take a two-word phrase meaning "a difficult puzzle." Drop the first letter, read the remaining letters backward, and you'll get a word for part of Alaska. What is it?

Copyright 2022 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).