Filed by KOSU News in Art & Life.
July 24, 2011

On-Air Challenge: Every answer is the name of a state capital. You are given a word. The first letters in the word are the first letters in the name of the capital. The last letters in the word are the last letters in the name of that capital’s state. For example, given the word “main,” the answer would be “Madison,” the state capital of Wisconsin. Madison starts with M-A and Wisconsin ends with I-N.

Last Week’s Challenge: From listener Ben Bass of Chicago: Think of an adjective that might describe a child before a summer vacation. Change the second letter to the next letter of the alphabet, and you’ll name someone you might see in a hospital. Who is it?

Answer: Inpatient

Winner: Benjamin Collinsworth of Tucson, Ariz.

Next Week’s Challenge: Name the female of a certain animal, add the name of a bird, say these two words out loud one after the other, and phonetically you’ll name a country. What country is it?

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 2011 National Public Radio]