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Sunday Puzzle: What goes around, comes around

Sunday Puzzle
NPR
Sunday Puzzle

On-air challenge: Every answer is a seven-letter compound word or familiar two-word phrase in which the first two letters are the same as the last two in reverse.

Ex. Part of a train --> RAILCAR
1. Product from Purina or Pedigree
2. Crimson, for example
3. Where a football player reaches to score a touchdown
4. Cheer on, as a team
5. Symbol with rainbow colors that might be displayed in a Pride parade
6. Number of people voting or attending an event
7. Male journalists
8. First position in a ranking
9. What you might say when patting Rover on the head

Last week's challenge: It comes from listener Paula Egan Wright. Name a well-known island. Move the first letter six spaces later in the alphabet. Read the result backward. You'll get where this island is located. What island is it?

Challenge answer: Malta --> atlas

Winner: David Kurman of The Villages, Florida

This week's challenge: This week's challenge comes from listener Michael Penn, of Durham, N.C. Name two countries, with a total of 12 letters, that when spelled one after the other form six consecutive state postal abbreviations.

Submit Your Answer

If you know the answer to the two-week challenge, submit it here by Thursday, September 8 at 3 p.m. ET. Listeners whose answers are selected win a chance to play the on-air puzzle. Important: Include a phone number where we can reach you.

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).