Dr. Shapiro's Question of the Day VI by ShapiroA

I'm thinking of two verbs which differ by a single letter. One is an injury to paper, the other to a cookie. What are they?

A former publication called Paideia helped middle schoolers prepare for what event? Opening my old copy at random to a military-themed page, I find words like "skirmish" (beginner), "camouflage" (intermediate), and "aiguillette" (advanced).

Name the two countries furthest from [the school where I teach]. Both are about 11,000 miles away (45% of Earth's circumference), and they start with the same two letters.

Note: Though arguably a correct answer, France does not count.

After coming back from the farmer's market one day, I showed my 2-year-old daughter one of my purchases and asked her "What are these?" She answered as if I had asked "Whose are these?" But her answer would also have been appropriate if I'd asked "¿Que son estos?"

What had I bought? Give your answer in English.

I was recently surprised to see a certain word in a 19^th century book. I think of the word as a modern device used for exercise, but it turns out it was once a human-powered device for grinding grain into flour. The monotonous effort it requires was even used as a 19^th century punishment. What is this device?

Numeric keypads in the left and middle forms shown here are common. At what type of recreational establishment did I see a keypad in the right form (the triangle)?

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"In recent weeks since the rise of the B.1.617.2 variant, all _____ employees who have been hospitalized with COVID were not fully vaccinated."

If the B.1.617.2 variant doesn't ring any bells, that's no accident. This sentence comes from an August 2021 memo issued within what company, which chose its nomenclature advisedly?

The French movie Visages/Villages was released in the US under another title. Technically, this wasn't necessary; "visage" and "village" have the same meanings in English as in French. But Visages/Villages doesn't exactly roll off the tongue in English, so the title was translated as "____s/_____s". This title rhymes, much like the original does in French. What is this English title?

I saw a clever bumpersticker: "________ help people out". What profession goes in the blank? I've had close contact with a member of this profession twice, in 1983 and 2019, though I don't remember the first time.

In the Māori language, most countries' names are borrowed directly and altered slightly to fit Māori sounds: e.g. Argentina is Āketina, Guatemala is Kuatamāra, Indonesia is Initonīhia, etc. But one country doesn't fit the pattern; instead of borrowing its name, the Māori call it Wīwī. What country? (As a hint, other Māori place names include Kiana o Wīwī and Porinīhia Wīwī.)

It's Thursday, which means today is the day BroomBear comes to me. A loud ruckus announces BroomBear's arrival, and everybody gets out of BroomBear's way -- but when BroomBear leaves, everything is a little better than before. BroomBear is not a nightmare nor an imaginary friend. Who or what is BroomBear?

Me: [Singing a nursery rhyme to my daughter]
My wife M: Ugh, that song is so morbid!
Me: It is?
M: Well, it's about a child at their sibling's funeral, isn't it?
Me: ??
M: And they think he's going to wake up?
Me: ???!! ... Welp, one of us is very wrong

Reader, she was the wrong one. In her defense, there are morbid nursery rhymes. And "morning" does sound like "mourning", which was the root of the misconception. What was the song?