Culture

Sunday Puzzle: A test of WI-T

NPR's Ayesha Rascoe plays the puzzle along with Weekend Edition Puzzlemaster Will Shortz and WFDD listener John Dudley of Winston Salem, N.C.

Published July 19, 2026, 11:00 AM
Updated July 19, 2026, 1:11 PM3.3K
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Sunday Puzzle: A test of WI-T
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NPR

On-air challenge

Today's puzzle is a test of wit. Every answer is a familiar two-word phrase or name in which the first word starts WI- and the second word starts with T-. (Ex. Tricky puzzle --> WIT TWISTER)

1. Large plant with a "weeping" variety

2. Swiss hero who shot an arrow off his son's head

3. Event for visitors at a vineyard

4. Third molar

5. Narrow passageway with rushing air

6. Thanksgiving bird that's not grown on a farm

7. Part of a men's dress shoe

8. Thick, wide triangular knot with a royal name

9. Money sent from bank to bank

10. Illegal effort to influence testimony in court

11. 1690s events in Salem, Mass.

12. Late Shakespeare romance set in Sicily (with "A")

13. Curtains or blinds, for example

14. What a Lotto player hopes to hold

Last week's challenge

This week's challenge comes from Steve Baggish, of Arlington, Mass. Take the 10-letter name of a popular TV series for which most of its seasons have been filmed in a foreign country.  Remove the first and last letters, and the remaining letters can be rearranged to spell the name of a country.  What are the two names?

Challenge answer

Love Island, Slovenia

Winner

John Dudley of Winston Salem, N.C.

This week's challenge

This week's challenge comes from my New York Times colleague Sam Ezersky. Take the name of a popular 21st-century film with animals, in eight letters. Remove the first and last letters, then change one of the remaining six letters to a C, to spell a plural word for certain animals. What words are these?

If you know the answer to the challenge, submit it below by Thursday, July 23 at 3 p.m. ET. Listeners whose answers are selected win a chance to play the on-air puzzle.

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