Culture

Sunday Puzzle: It's all German to me

NPR's Ayesha Rascoe plays the puzzle with WPNE listener Cheryl Haupt and Weekend Edition Puzzlemaster Will Shortz.

Published May 3, 2026, 11:00 AM
Updated May 8, 2026, 5:38 PM3.6K
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Sunday Puzzle: It's all German to me
Sunday Puzzle

Sunday Puzzle NPR hide caption

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Sunday Puzzle

Sunday Puzzle

NPR

On-air challenge

Every answer today is a word that comes from German, but that's also commonly used in English. See if you can identify them from their anagrams.

Ex. REGAL / Beer brewed slowly at low temperature --> LAGER

1. GNATS / Feeling of anxiety or dread
2. PILES / Fast-paced sales talk
3. MUTUAL / Diacritical mark made with two dots
4, ELIDES / Kind of engine or the fuel that powers it
5. WE'RE IN / Sausage
6. GET LAST / Something that's more than the sum of its parts
7. POSTAGE / Brutal secret police
8. BENT OVER / Forbidden
9. ADULT WRENS / Innate desire to travel

Last week's challenge

This week's challenge comes from Gordon Legge, of South Minneapolis, Minn. Name an animal whose first five letters in order spell a religious figure. And if you change the animal's next-to-last letter, its last five letters in order will spell another religious figure. What animal is this?

Answer

Rabbit --> rabbi, abbot

This week's challenge

This week's challenge comes from Chad Graham, of Philadelphia. Name a well-known comic actor (4,5) whose name is an anagram of two terms in golf (4 and 5 letters, respectively). Who is it?

If you know the answer to the challenge, submit it here by Thursday, May 7 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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