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Reading Forward and Backward

Puzzle master Will Shortz quizzes one of our listeners, and has a challenge for everyone at home.

Challenge from Dec. 4: Name an animal in five letters. Switch the first and last letters, and you'll name a well-known company. As a hint, the company is more than 100 years old and has hundreds of stores around the United States and Canada. What is the animal and what is the company?

Answer: Panda + A & P

Winner: Bruce Bolter of New York City

Challenge from Dec. 11: (From listener John Duschatko of Arlington, Texas) Take the word "debunk," starting with the "b" inside, read the letters forward and you get "bunk." And starting with the "b" and reading backward, you get "bed." Together, these two words spell "bunk bed." Now, think of a word with an "m" inside, starting with the "m" and reading forward, you'll get one word, and starting with the "m" and reading backward, you get another word. And together these two words make a job title. What is it?

Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

NPR's Puzzlemaster Will Shortz has appeared on Weekend Edition Sunday since the program's start in 1987. He's also the crossword editor of The New York Times, the former editor of Games magazine, and the founder and director of the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament (since 1978).