GAMES/World of Puzzles

April, 2025

Jennifer Orehowsky/Stephen Sniderman

 

[From JA] In this issue of GAMES/World of Puzzles, Editor in Chief Jennifer Orehowsky has written a tribute article about Stephen Sniderman. I was sad to learn that he passed away in October, 2023 at the age of 80. He was a brilliant constructor, with an amazing ability to take apart and re-assemble words. His 300+ puzzles and games in his long association with GAMES (1979-2023) featured original, consistently clever wordplay - often puzzles with 30, 40, and more examples. Many of his puzzles appear under his name in this blog. 

 

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The puzzle below features the names of some TV shows and movies, which I try to avoid. (Many of them are dated). But it was included in the article by Jennifer Orehowsky and gives a sense of Stephen Sniderman's gift for wordplay. 

GENERICA THE BEAUTIFUL

Stephen Sniderman

 

If companies could exclude others from using words that are in product names, many things would have very different names. For example, American school kids would say the "Furniture Polish of Allegiance" - because Pledge is the product name of a furniture polish.

Can you figure out the original titles of the genericized TV shows, movies, or other expressions below?

 

1. The White Bread Years 

2. Lois and Candy Bar

3. Leave It To Aquatic Mammal

4. The Women's Deodorant Garden

5. Red Laundry Detergent

6. Paper Towel Las Vegas

7. Puttin' on the Crackers

8. News Magazine After News Magazine

9. Car Rental Company Velvet

10. The Jazz Sewing Machine 

11. Satirical Magazine About You

12. Artificial Sweetener Justice 

Answers:

 

1. The Wonder Years

2. Lois and Clark

3. Leave It To Beaver

4. The Secret Garden

5. Red Tide

6. Viva Las Vegas!

7. Puttin' on the Ritz

8. Time after Time

9. National Velvet

10. The Jazz Singer

11. Mad About You

12. Equal Justice