Correction: The on-air challenge included an incorrect anagram. Forest, which is the first name of actor Forest Whitaker, is not an anagram of Forster, which is the last name of novelist E.M. Forster.
On-air challenge: Every answer today consists of the names of two famous people. The last name of the first person is an anagram of the first name of the last person. Given the nonanagram parts of the names, you identify the people.
Example: Madeleine ________ Aaron.
Answer: Madeleine KAHN and HANK Aaron
Last week's challenge: Think of a word associated with Halloween. Add a letter in the second position to create a new word that does not rhyme with the first. Then add another letter in the third position of the word you just created to complete another word that does not rhyme with either of the first two. What words are these?
Answer: Treat. Add an H at the second position to get "threat," then add an E in the third position to get "thereat."
Winner: Barbara Lawrence of Lake Wales, Fla.
Next week's challenge from longtime listener Merl Reagle: The words "organic" and "natural" are both commonly seen at health food stores. What other seven-letter word, also commonly seen at health food stores, has five letters in common with organic and five letters in common with natural?
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. ET.
Copyright NPR. View this article on npr.org.