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Feeling Puzzled? Just Take An Amble Down D St.

NPR

On-air challenge: Every answer is a familiar two-word phrase or name in which the first word ends in -D and the second word starts with ST-.

For example: Small red fruit on a vine in the woods --> WILD STRAWBERRY.

Last week's challenge, from listener Donna Bass of Lake Forest, Ill.: BAIL, NAIL and MAIL are three four-letter words that differ only by their first letters. And those first letters (B, N and M) happen to be adjacent on a computer keyboard.

Can you think of five four-letter words that have the same property — that is, they're identical except for their first letters, with those first letters being adjacent on the keyboard?

All five words must be ones that everyone knows. Capitalized words and plurals are not allowed. What words are they?

Answer:Dive, five, give, hive, jive.

Winner: Scott Peterson of Westminster, Colo.

Next week's challenge, from listener Mike Reiss, a former writer and producer for The Simpsons: Take the name of a well-known actress. Her first name starts wth the three-letter abbreviation for a month. Replace this with the three-letter abbreviaton of a different month, and you'll get the name of a famous poet. Who are these two people?

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, March 18, at 3 p.m. ET.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

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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).