Lifestyle
Sunday Puzzle: A familiar word before H-O-T words
On-air challenge
This is a summertime puzzle. I’m going to give you three words starting with the letters H, O, and T. For each set you give me a word that can precede each of mine to complete a compound word or a familiar two-word phrase.
Example: Heat, Oven, Tank –> GAS (gas heat, gas oven, gas tank)
1. Hampshire, Orleans, Testament
2. Horse, Otter, Turtle
3. Hydrant, Opal, Truck
4. Hopes, Octane, Tide
5. Hard, Out, Torch
6. House, Onion, Thumb
7. Heavyweight, Opera, Touch
8. Hand, Order, Term
9. Hole, Olive, Tie
10. Hawk, Owl, Time
11. Havana, Ones, Toe
Last week’s challenge
Last week’s challenge comes from listener Bob Weisz. Take the name of a major film director. Drop the last six letters of his name, and rearrange what remains. You’ll get the name of a major film award — for which this director has been nominated six times. Who is he and what is the award?
Challenge answer
Pedro Almodóvar, Palme d’Or.
Winner
Elisabeth Larsen
This week’s challenge
This week’s challenge comes from Andrew Chaikin, of San Francisco. Think of a famous movie star (6 letters, 6 letters). The first name, when said out loud, sounds like a brand of a certain object. The last name is someone who uses this object. What movie star is this?
If you know the answer to the challenge, submit it below by Thursday, DATE DATE at 3 p.m. ET. Listeners whose answers are selected win a chance to play the on-air puzzle.
The American Library Association’s list of the most frequently challenged books of 2025 includes Sold by Patricia McCormick, The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky and Maia Kobabe’s Gender Queer: A Memoir.
American Library Association
hide caption
toggle caption
American Library Association
The American Library Association has released its annual list of the most commonly challenged books at libraries across the United States.
According to the ALA, the 11 most frequently targeted books include several tied titles. They are:
1. Sold by Patricia McCormick
2. The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
3. Gender Queer: A Memoir by Maia Kobabe
4. Empire of Storms by Sarah J. Maas
5. (tie) Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo
5. (tie) Tricks by Ellen Hopkins
7. A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas
8. (tie) A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
8. (tie) Identical by Ellen Hopkins
8. (tie) Looking for Alaska by John Green
8. (tie) Storm and Fury by Jennifer L. Armentrout
Many of these individual titles also appear on a 2024-25 report issued last October by PEN America, a separate group dedicated to free expression, which looked at book challenges and bans specifically within public schools.
The ALA says that it documented 4,235 unique titles being challenged in 2025 – the second-highest year on record for library challenges. (The highest ever was in 2023, with 4,240 challenges documented – only five more than in this most recent year.)
According to the ALA, 40% of the materials challenged in 2025 were representations of LGBTQ+ people and those of people of color.
In all, the ALA documented 713 attempts across the United States in 2025 to censor library materials and services; 487 of those challenges targeted books.
According to the ALA, 92% of all book challenges to libraries came from “pressure groups,” government officials and local decision makers. While 20.8% came from pressure groups such as Moms for Liberty (as the ALA cited in an email to NPR), 70.9% of challenges originated with government officials and other “decision makers,” such as local board officials or administrators.
In a more detailed breakdown, the ALA notes that 31% of challenges came from elected government officials and and 40% from board members or administrators. In its full report, the ALA states that only 2.7% of such challenges originated with parents, and 1.4% with individual library users.
Fifty-one percent of challenges were attempted at public libraries, and 37% involved school libraries. The remaining challenges of 2025 targeted school curriculums and higher education.
The ALA defines a book “ban” as the removal of materials, including books, from a library. A “challenge,” in this organization’s definition, is an attempt to have a library resource removed, or access to it restricted.
The ALA is a non-partisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to American libraries and librarians.
Promo image with Phil Pritchard, Alzo Slade, and Peter Sagal
Bruce Bennett, Arnold Turner, NPR/Getty Images, NPR
hide caption
toggle caption
Bruce Bennett, Arnold Turner, NPR/Getty Images, NPR
This week, Phil Pritchard, NHL’s Keeper of the Stanley Cup, joins us to about taking the cup jet-skiing and panelists Alonzo Bodden, Adam Burke, and Dulcé Sloan beef with the Pope and get misdiagnosed.
-
New York44 minutes agoHarvey Weinstein’s Third Trial on Rape Charge Opens in Manhattan
-
Detroit, MI1 hour agoMan jumps into action to save girlfriend in crash involving teen driver fleeing MSP
-
San Francisco, CA1 hour agoSanta Rosa: The 1906 earthquake almost lost to history
-
Dallas, TX2 hours agoJohnston scores twice, Stars hold off Wild in Game 2 to even West 1st Round | NHL.com
-
Boston, MA2 hours agoBetween Providence And Boston Is A Vibrant Massachusetts Town Bursting With Diverse Entertainment – Islands
-
Denver, CO2 hours agoMinnesota Timberwolves vs Denver Nuggets Apr 20, 2026 Game Summary
-
Seattle, WA2 hours agoAthletics Beat Mariners in Seattle 6-4
-
San Diego, CA2 hours agoEl Cajon crisis unit opens, bringing county’s total to eight