Puzzle Master

My husband is not the easiest person to buy gifts for. He's very particular and after a while, I get tired of going the safe route...socks and sweaters. This year, St. Nick and I stumbled upon a gift that surprisingly hit the mark.

While wandering through Restoration Hardware, I was intrigued by their display of stocking stuffers and retro gifts. One box caught my eye when I saw the name Will Shortz on it. I remembered riding in the car coming back from a weekend in Chicago and we were listening to NPR. Will Shortz was on with his weekly puzzle. I'm pretty sure I didn't have a clue, but I knew my husband was listening intently and trying to figure it out.

So I took a chance and bought it for his St. Nick stocking. When he opened it at first, I didn't think he liked. I don't think he thought he liked it either. But we sat down and looked at the first puzzle. My son was with us and the three of us tried to figure it out. It was my 10 year old son who got the answer first.

Think of a common boy's name starting with "J".
Change the "J" to "SH" and you'll get a common girl's name.
What names are these?*

Since then, my son wants to do a couple each night after dinner. What's been great is that sometimes we individually solve them, and sometimes we work together. Sometimes we cheat and look at the answers. Isn't it funny how once you hear the answer, it all of a sudden seems so obvious?

*Answer revealed in next post.