On-air challenge
Every answer today is the name of a world capital followed by its country. I'm going to give you some words. The starting letter or letters of the word will be the start of the capital's name. The rest of the word will be the start of the country's name. The dividing point in the word is up to you to determine.
Ex. MANIC --> Managua, Nicaragua
1. AGREE
2. BARGE
3. BRATS
4. CARVE
5. STOCKS
6. TALLEST
Last week's challenge
I've been at the 185th convention of the National Puzzlers' League, which has been taking place in Minneapolis. I've brought a puzzle by someone else who was there -- Ben Bass, of Chicago. Take two different articles of clothing and place them one after the other. The result will spell something seen at a baseball game. What is it?
Challenge answer
Shorts + top = shortstop
Winner
Sarah Baldwin of Clayton, New York.
This week's challenge
This is a two-week creative challenge, and it's a tough one. Most people are familiar with palindromes, which read backward and forward the same. For example:
• Madam, I'm Adam.
• Do geese see God?
• Sit on a potato pan, Otis.
The object is to write a palindrome that contains the letter Q. Entries will be judged on sense, naturalness of syntax, and overall elegance. The person who submits what I consider to be the best palindrome containing the letter Q will play the puzzle on the air with me in two weeks.
If you know the answer to the challenge, submit it below by Thursday, July 31 at 3 p.m. ET. Listeners whose answers are selected win a chance to play the on-air puzzle.
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