Puzzles

by Dick Nuenke

 

 

 
Check out  Quest  for more brain exercising.

 

 

 

 
The first November cryptogram was: 
HE'S  NOT  DEAD,  HE'S  ELECTRO-ENCEPHALOGRAPHICALLY  CHALLENGED.

The correct second cryptogram should have been:

IF  THE  WORLD  DIDN'T  SUCK  WE  WOULD  ALL  FALL  OFF   —   MARK  RUSSELL
— from his most recent TV special.  As numerous respondents pointed out, the author came out as MRAK RUSSEL (one L).  I originally coded the quote with my BASIC program, then realized that SUCK couldn't be decoded because of its three unique letters.  So I added the author, coding by hand, and, voilą — a mess!  Sorry about the mixup.  Still there were many correct answers to both cryptograms:  Delmar BurkittAndrzej DerdzinskiEarl Gadd (and wife)Tom GouletSteve HerrickJohn JacksonAlma LittenRick MagnusJulia MinturnCarla NuenkeCarole PerlmanNancy TappendorfBill Tippery,  and  Sally Yocom

The last puzzle asked for the nationality of three out of four doctors.  The match up is that Dr. Livingstone is the Irishman, Dr. Malinkowski is the Englishman, and Dr. Neandertal is the Scotsman.  Correct answers were submitted by  Andrzej DerdzinskiEarl Gadd,  and  Tom Goulet.  Tom is a new member (11/01) from Columbus; Earl is from Zanesville and joined us in June.  So these are their first submissions of puzzle answers.


 
 

 

 

 
 
This month's first puzzle is the cryptogram.  Each letter stands for a different letter in the decoded message.  Believe it or not, this one is a book title.

S E A        M E        T X Y D H        A Y D F        E R M        E L        L Y C S        S F U T C        A S Y K F        V E E H Y D Z        K E G C M F X        Y D        U        J E K H C A U Z F D        S R G        V U W


 

 
 

 

 
 
The second puzzle is by Susan Denham from the column Enigma in the New Scientist by permission. 

I have written down ten positive integers less than one hundred in increasing order.  One interesting thing about the list is that you can take any two adjacent numbers in it and their difference is also one of the numbers in the list.

The other interesting thing about the list is that if you write out the numbers in words rather than in numerals each number in the list would use more letters than the previous one.

What is my list?


 

 

 

 
This puzzle is by Keith Austin from the same source.

The Brrm Brmm Motor Company is testing its new C car, which does 10 miles to the gallon.  Unfortunately, the C is slowed down by the weight of the gas it is carrying.  So its maximum speed, in mph, at any point, is 50 minus the amount of gas, measured in gallons, in the tank at that point.

The car begins its test run of 400 miles with 40 gallons in the tank.  The driver keeps to C's maximum speed throughout the journey.  Thus he travels initially at 10 mph and finishes the test going at 50 mph.

How long does the test take, to the nearest hour?


 

 

 

 
Correct answers and puzzle solvers will appear next month.  Send answers by  December 12th  to Dick Nuenke;  1460 Kingsgate Rd.;  Columbus, OH 43221 or call in (recording 24 hours) to 614-326-0452;  fax to 614-292-4118;  or e-mail to rnuenke@columbus.rr.com (best bet).

 

 

 

 

 
 

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