columbus area mensa,col-m, puzzles, 2000 june

Check out Quest for more brain exercising.

The May cryptogram was:

ORIGINALITY IS UNDETECTED PLAGIARISM — WILLIAM [Ralph] INGE.

Inge (1860-1954) was an Anglican prelate and writer, and as Julia pointed out, Dean of St. Pauls. He is not to be confused with William Motter Inge (1913-1973), dramatist, Pulitzer Prize winner and author of Picnic, Bus Stop, and many others.

Correct answers came from Marjorie Breckenridge, Delmar Burkitt, Andrzej Derdzinski, Jeff Gerken, Alma Litten, Julia Minturn, Carla (Darnell) Nuenke, Dorothy Utendorf, and Sally Yocom.

In puzzle 2 the distance the swimmer swims is 18 meters, compared to her friend's 25 meters. Correct answers came from Andrzej and Jeff.

Puzzle 3 asked which of six boys visited the same park as Charlie. Again both Andrzej and Jeff had correct answers. Both of them pointed out that a key to solving the puzzle is to look for the number of triangles formed by the paths. For example, in Charlie's case HI, HJ, and IJ form a triangle. The correct answer is that Charlie, Marty, Keith and Ted all visit the park with only one triangle, whereas Steve and Peter visit the other park, which has three triangles.

This month's first puzzle is the cryptogram. Each letter stands for a different letter in the decoded message. Again, this one should be a real challenge.

A B C X D X E X F G H C H N Q A F X X P V X Q T M N C Z J F H S X J.

SPECIAL NOTE: I'm concerned that more persons are not working the non-cryptogram type puzzles, or at least aren't sending answers in. Since Charlie Bruce and Steve Herrick have stopped doing them, only Andrzej and Jeff seem to be working them. Steve, in fact, suggested that with the greater interest in cryptograms, it might be advisable to have two of them and only one of the other. So I will try to put in some modified cryptogram puzzles or cryptogram-like puzzles as the second puzzle for a while and we will see how it goes. Send me comments!

rnuekne@columbus.rr.com

This puzzle I created based on a puzzle type Carla found on the Internet, originating somewhere at Brainbashers.com. Below is a nonsense sentence in which 17 letters have been altered, at least one in each of the 15 words. What is the correct sentence?

I S I N G I N O W E W H Y H A T S E W S H I N E S S O B E S I D E A N Y Z A N Y T H I N K S D O R E A R.

This puzzle is adapted from the column Enigma by Richard England in the New Scientist by permission.

The Angels, Bears, Clippers, Rangers and United have resumed their annual tournament in which each team plays each of the other teams once. Two matches are taking place on each of five successive Saturdays, each of the five teams having one Saturday without a match. Three points are awarded for a win and one point for a draw.

After three of the five Saturdays, the five teams have each gained a different number of points. The Angels have gained most, followed in order by the Bears, Clippers, Rangers and United. But the Rangers know that if they win their two remaining matches, they are sure to end up with more points than any other team. There are two questions to answer:

1. Which of the matches played on the first three Saturdays (if any) ended in a draw?

2. Which match has been or will be played on the same day as the Angels play the Rangers?

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