Last Week's PPP (Vayishlach)

TT343PPP Vayishlach
[1] Upper-left. We've got the letter F and a rat (yes, with glasses - it was the best one I found) which makes EFRAT(A). Which is BEIT LECHEM, says the Torah, hence the store with Angel on the window. Get it? Bakery - A house of bread - BEIT LECHEM.

[2] Center-top is the letter L made of PENNIES, or PENI-EL, the place where Yaakov had his face-to-face encounter with a "divine being", which he therefore named P'NI'EL (or P'NU'EL, making this one of the few names we have in the Torah in both Litvak and Galitziyana pronunciation. Can you find another name that the samecan be said about?

[3] Upper-right - you either recognize him or you don't. It's a young Dennis Weaver in his role as Matt Dillon's sidekick, Chester, from Gunsmoke (which was the longest-running Western in TV history and possibly the longest-running show, except maybe for Meet the Press. I'm counting on some trivia buffs to verify or correctmy information). I'm assuming that anyone who identified Chester will also remember his prominent limp and therefore his association with (l'havdil) Yaakov's limp.

[4] Lower left. Again, you identify the rock group or you don't. If you do, chances are you make the right connection. The group is KISS, as in VAYISHAKEIHU, and he (Eisav) kissed him (Yaakov). x squared minus four is an example of a math expression known as the difference of two squares, or DOTS, for short. So we haveDOTS ABOVE the KISS.
[5] Which brings us to the lower right. Not easy to figure out (but I already know someone did it, even though I'm typing these words on Motza'ei Shabbat). The fish is a GAR (also known as needle fish, but it has to be gar for the PPP to work). The GAR is supporting a golf ball, so it is a GAR-TEE, as in the famous messageof Yaakov to Eisav. You can add (with a groan) that since golf balls are usually white, we have ...LAVAN GARTI.

THE PPP-SOLUTIONS REPORT...
Havdala Haratis phoned in a quick [1,2]. Chezi Dickman, a first-time solver, did the same, and saw Chester as someone turning, as in P'NU'EL. NTBNC for that one. Zvi Roth (with Efraim Lever) got [1,2,5] and the kiss part of [4]. ES hit [1,2], a nice try for [3] but had the wrong cowboy, got kiss but not dots, and had anice try for [5] based on the misidentification of the fish as a baccaruda (if I could say baccaruda, I'd say baccaruda!). RHM/BVG got [1,2] and a nice try on [4] and [5]. DM hit [1,2]. Linda D got [1,2] and a partial on [4]. Aryeh from KBY also had the popular partial ParshaPixPuzzle (PPPPP) of [1,2]. First-time solverJosh D and Shabbat guests - [1,2], nice try on [3] (they saw The Duke fighting it out with the guardian angel of Eisav), they got KISS and factored x^2-4 into x+2 and x-2 representing the dispute as to the sincerity of Eisav's kiss. And they had a very inventive attempt at the Gar-tee which they saw as a swordfish. A well-donefirst attempt. Benjietc hit [1,2] and sort of got [3] with guessing. Among 5 possibilities, they concluded that maybe the cowboy limped. BINGO.

The other guesses were inventive, to say the least. Partial for [4]. And they saw an eel on [5] and solved accordingly. Next we have the Mintz/Ganin gang. They too got [1,2]. Butthey identified [3] Chester and his limp. I feel vindicated. And [4] with KISS. They solved the expression as 24 squared minus four which is the G'matriya of 6 N'KUDOT. Not bad. Only their [5] was off. MM from Bklyn pointed out that it is dangerous to rat on the mafia. Figures that a Brooklynite would mention that. Hegot [1,2], partial [4], and a sorry but amusing try for [3]. Which brings us to the Ofra Shelnitzes. [1,2] of course, with a good [4], like Josh D's above. and they got [5]. M Ramach hit [1,2] and thought (as did a few other solvers) that the fellow in [3] was a young Barry Goldwater. I'm assuming this was another caseof finding an answer and trying to fit one of the puzzle elements to it. Sorry. Not this time.

Also factored to x+2 and x-2 and explained it as the birth of Binyamin and his twin sister on the one hand, and the deaths of Rachel and D'vora on the other. YBillig hit [1,2] and a partial [4]. Tanya & David [1,2] and partial[4]. YBKBY hit [1,2] a good [4] as above, and a correct [5] including Lavan as the white golf ball, but without realizing that the fish is a gar. It just had to be. That's it for this week. Not bad. Everything was solved except my D.O.T.S. GERMS, where are you when I need you?

Note: If you email or fax your PPP solutions, please include your address and phone number. Thank you.
Another note, especially for those who think these PPPs and the reports are overdone. There are people out there who have told me that the PPPs get them to go over the sedra each week. Maybe there should be motivation for that even without PPPs, but aside from being fun, one thing often leads to another...

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