International Puzzle Hunt Game

You’re listening to A Way with Words. I’m Grant Barrett.

And I’m Martha Barnette, and we’re joined once again by our very own personal quiz guy, John Chaneski.

Hello, Martha. Hello, Grant.

Hiya, John. What’s up?

I am the puzzle guy on retainer for A Way with Words.

I’m your own very personal puzzle guy.

I’ve got a problem with the traffic ticket. Can you take care of that?

I’ll do what I can.

And the Sunday puzzle has been giving some problems. Can you look into that for me?

I’ll just do it for you. That’s how it works with my mom. I just do it for us.

Yeah, this is actually the crossword, and you’ll send it back filled out?

Yeah, there you go.

So the retainer really does work.

There you go, sure.

Wow, great.

Now, do you guys remember when I took you on a USA puzzle hunt one time?

I gave you a clue, and that led to a city, and there you found another puzzle, and that answer led to another city, and we went all over the country.

That was a great road trip, yeah.

I think it’s time for the Martha and Grant World Tour.

Wow.

Yeah.

How about that?

So here’s an international puzzle hunt.

The answer to each clue will be the name of a country.

And once you’re there, I’ll give you another clue, and we’ll race around the world to find, I don’t know, something.

Okay.

A special prize.

Okay.

Oh, I know.

Okay.

A solid gold MacGuffin.

How’s that?

All right.

Good.

Wow.

Do you have your passports?

Yes.

Yes.

Good.

You don’t have any liquids on you, do you?

Because that’ll be a problem.

Only three ounces or less.

You’re right.

That’s fine.

Good, good.

Here we go.

You’re going to start your puzzle hunt in a North American country whose name becomes that of a three-dimensional shape when its last letter is changed.

Whoa.

A North American country.

Yeah, there are only three.

Think again.

Oh, well, if you count all the Caribbean islands.

Wait, say this again, John.

North American country.

Whose name becomes that of a three-dimensional shape.

Cuba.

That’s it.

Right, you change the last letter to an E, and you get…

Cube.

Cube, right.

Yes, we will start from Havana.

Havana.

Right.

Oh, gracious, okay.

Now there, you’re handed an envelope, and inside is the following clue.

Go to a South American country whose name is Spanish for a well-known feature of the Earth.

Ecuador.

Ecuador is correct.

Ooh, grand.

The country is located right on this terrestrial feature.

You’re on your way to Quito, Ecuador.

The second you arrive there, you see a huge banner at the airport announcing,

Welcome Radio Hosts!

It also says the following.

Your next stop is a European country whose name is a perfect anagram of Meg Ryan.

Meg Ryan.

Meg Ryan.

Germany.

Germany is right.

Oh, good.

Very good, Grant.

Let’s go to Berlin.

When you arrive, you see two creepy little twin girls who robotically chant the following clue.

Head for an African nation consisting of many islands.

The country’s name, if the first vowel sound is changed, answers the question,

What does she sell at the seashore?

Oh, the Seychelles.

S-E-Y-C-H-E-L-L-E-S, right?

Right.

You didn’t have to spell it, but you did.

Very good.

Well, it’s radio.

It helps to spell things.

Extra credit.

Seashells, Seychelles.

It’s off to Victoria in the Seychelles.

There you are greeted by the country’s cultural attache.

Appropriately, he’s carrying an attache case containing this clue.

The two of you must split up.

Go to two island nations.

Both are in the North Atlantic.

Both of their names are seven letters long, yet the names differ by only one letter.

They do?

Yeah.

North Atlantic.

North Atlantic.

Oh, Ireland and Iceland.

That is correct.

Oh, my gosh.

Grant left me in an airport restroom about four countries ago.

No, Martha said, I’m not going to north ship.

She bailed.

She’s in Bermuda.

She’s got a cold drink, and she’s like, see ya.

No, no, she’s still with us.

She gets the frequent flyer miles still.

Okay, now who wants to go where?

Who wants to go to Dublin and who wants to go to Reykjavik?

I’ll go to Reykjavik.

That’s good, okay.

When you arrive, your feelings begin picking up radio transmissions that say,

Head for another island nation, this one in Oceania.

Its name has three dotted letters in a row.

Well, how about that?

Yeah.

How many of those are there?

Dotted letters?

Yes.

You mean like with a double diarosis over them?

No.

I think he’s talking about letter I’s.

Oh.

Or J’s, J’s and I’s.

Sorry, I’ve been reading too many New Yorkers.

J’s and I’s?

Oh, like Fiji, you mean?

Fiji is correct.

Fiji is correct, yes.

You are in the capital of Suva.

Of course, in the New Yorker, the word coordinate has dots.

Yeah, exactly.

Okay, you’re getting tired.

So luckily when you arrive there.

Sleep, sleep.

Your final clue is delivered by Pidgin.

It reads,

Travel to a small African nation whose name, if split into two words,

Might be commonly found scrawled on a restaurant order.

Wow.

It’s only four letters long.

Four letters.

Togo.

Togo.

Togo is right.

You end up in Lome, the capital of Togo,

Which is appropriate since you got to go to so many wonderful places.

Don’t forget to pick up your MacGuffin at the duty-free shop.

Thank you very much, guys.

Yay!

That was good.

That was great.

I think I had a really low-may score.

Yeah, I’m applauding because I was nailing them, but that’s all right.

John, that was great.

I think I have jet lag.

Thanks very much.

That was fun.

Like I said, take a rest.

You guys earned it.

You were terrific.

Okay.

Thanks a lot.

Thank you.

Bye-bye.

Grant, do you have any melatonin on you?

No, I got suntan lotion.

Well, if you’d like to try to puzzle us with a question about language, give us a call.

The number’s 1-877-929-9673.

That’s 1-877-929-WORD.

Or send us an email to words@waywordradio.org.