Puzzle Hunt Word Game

You’re listening to A Way with Words, the show about language and how we use it.

I’m Martha Barnette.

And I’m Grant Barrett.

And hey, there he is, the sexy man, John Chaneski.

Hello.

Hey, here I am.

How are you doing there?

Good to be here, guys.

Looking buff, looking good.

What’s going on?

Thank you very much.

I have a puzzle for you guys.

Do you remember a couple of times I’ve taken you on a puzzle hunt around the world?

Oh, love those.

Yeah, good.

You going to do it again?

We’re going to do another one.

Yeah.

I’m so glad you got it because here we go.

I’ll give you a clue to a place name and you’ll quote unquote go there and then you’ll get another clue.

It’s just like a puzzle hunt, sort of virtual.

Here we go.

You begin your incredible journey in a world capital that is a homophone for a word describing a type of music or a type of food.

Yeah.

A type of food.

I’ll say it’s an Asian capital.

Asian capital.

It’s rather a famous homophone for a type of music or a type of food.

Famous.

Now you’re making me feel guilty.

Soul.

Soul is right.

Very good.

Soul music, soul food.

Okay.

When you get there, you are approached by a mysterious woman in a red fedora who whispers to you,

There’s an island named for Christmas.

There’s an island named for Easter.

But your next stop is an island nation merely named for a day of the week.

Oh, for some reason, I guess that’s the tip of my brain.

Yeah.

Sunday?

No.

Monday?

Well, what island is named for Sunday?

Oh, Domingo.

Santa Domingo?

Dominica?

Dominica.

Dominica is correct.

Yeah, the nation of Dominica.

Very nice.

When you get there, a trained pigeon lands on your shoulder.

There’s a message on its leg.

Your next stop is a lake.

This lake seems to have some sort of psychological complex, perhaps because it’s often considered the second largest lake in the world.

Is it one of the Great Lakes?

It is.

Oh.

So, Holmes.

Yeah.

I’ll just list them.

Huron, Ontario.

What’s the M?

Michigan.

Michigan, Erie, Superior.

I don’t know.

I don’t know which one it is.

Superior, maybe.

Superior is correct.

It has a complex, a superiority complex.

Oh, I see that.

Even though it is second to the Caspian Sea, which is often considered.

No one needed words.

There’s a clue in everything.

I’ve got to remember that with you.

Thank you.

Now, when you arrive there, yet another trained pigeon lands on your shoulder because new recruits are hard to find.

This message reads,

Your next stop is an unincorporated community in the southeastern U.S.

You can find its name if you remove the first letter of its state.

First letter of its state.

Unincorporated city.

That is, you probably don’t know this place.

Alabama.

I was going to say, Florida.

Say again, Grant?

Florida.

Florida, Florida is correct.

No.

Yes, Florida, Florida.

That’s got to be a quiz maker’s dream, that place.

Oh, my gosh.

I figured you probably wouldn’t be intimately familiar with this place, but I think you’d be very interested to find out it exists.

Yeah.

Put that on my list of places to go.

There you go.

When you get there, the locals throw a parade in your honor.

The marching band holds a banner with this clue.

Go to a world capital that shares its name with a mythological prince who started a war.

World capitals.

Paris.

Paris is correct.

Nicely done.

He started the Trojan.

When you arrive, you immediately grab a sandwich because you’re starving from all the traveling.

Your receipt bears the following message.

Your exciting tour ends in a national park whose name, in one word, contains all the vowels exactly once.

A national park.

Just blanking on…

No, it’s not Sequoia.

Why wouldn’t it be Sequoia?

I don’t know.

Nice.

There we go.

Oh, boy, yes.

Well done.

You’ve made your way around the world, Puzzle Hunt.

You’ve done it.

John, I love these.

Thanks, John.

Really appreciate it.

Thanks for entertaining us.

Thank you, guys.

All right, bye-bye.

Take care.

This is a show about language and how we use it.

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