Culture

Sunday Puzzle: B to the B to the B

NPR's Ayesha Rascoe plays the puzzle with WYSO listener John Blakelock of Yellow Springs, Ohio along with Weekend Edition Puzzlemaster Will Shortz.

Published June 21, 2026, 12:23 PM
Updated June 21, 2026, 1:11 PM2.5K
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Sunday Puzzle: B to the B to the B
Sunday Puzzle

Sunday Puzzle NPR hide caption

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NPR

Sunday Puzzle

Sunday Puzzle

NPR

On-air challenge

I'm going to give you two words starting with the letter B. You give me another word starting with B that can follow my first one and precede my second one, in each case to complete a compound word for a familiar two-word phrase.

Ex. Boot Box --> BLACK (bootblack, black box)

1. Beer Button
2. Blue Binder
3. Bounce Burner
4. Billiard Bearing
5. Busy Builder
6. Bar Bottoms
7. Baby Brothers
8. Bird Buster
9. Brick Boy

Last week's challenge

Last week's challenge came from listener Michael Pickard. Name something in 10 letters that's found in a kitchen. Drop its sixth letter to name something on a keyboard. Then drop the new word's fifth letter to name something no one wants to get. What words are these?

Answer: Backsplash --> backslash --> backlash

Winner

John Blakelock of Yellow Springs, Ohio

This week's challenge

This week's challenge comes from Evan Kalish, of Bayside, N.Y. Take the name of a nocturnal creature, in two words. The first word is a spooky sound. Move the last letter of the first word to the start of the second word and you'll get another spooky, nocturnal sound. What is the creature and what are the sounds?

If you know the answer to the challenge, submit it here by Thursday, June 25 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.

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