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

Check out Quest for more brain exercising.

The April cryptogram was:

MOTHERS OF TEENAGERS KNOW WHY ANIMALS EAT THEIR YOUNG.

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

In puzzle 2 the answer was Norman's number is 2361. The others were David 1250, Flora 5000, and Sue 6111.

Puzzle 3 asked how Eric fit into the story and the sequence in which the participants died. Eric was the bald lawyer and the sequence of deaths was Boris the psychopathic psychiatrist, Charlie the blond neurosurgeon, Alvin the drug-smuggling baseball player, and Eric. Derek, the CIA man, was the lone survivor. Thanks to Andrzej for his nice summary of the puzzle and for pointing out that "solicitor" was used in one place and "lawyer" in another. That additional complication was mine, inadvertently. Since the New Scientist is a British publication I often translate names and terms to American terms. In this case I only got the job half done. Correct answers to both puzzles 2 and 3 came from Andrzej and Jeff.

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

Z I V H V O M S V X R V G A O N L X L D X L N C S M H V M I V G F.
— J V S S V M F V O H L

This puzzle is adapted from the column Enigma by Josie Hewson in the New Scientist by permission.

My friend and I go swimming at the local 25-meter pool. We both swim at our own steady speed and when she has completed one length I have swum a certain whole number of meters.

We start at one end of the pool together and she gradually gets ahead. After completing a length she turns, and when we meet, I turn around and swim with her again. Of course she soon gets ahead again and we repeat this procedure each time we meet after she has turned around at either end of the pool.

When she has completed four lengths and we meet when she is on her fifth length, I calculate that I have completed three lengths (to the nearest meter). How many meters do I swim when she swims one length?

This puzzle is adapted from the column Enigma by Keith Austin in the New Scientist by permission. This is probably a bit more challenging than the previous puzzle.

There are two parks in the town. Each park has 10 fountains and 15 paths; each path goes from one fountain to another. Recently 6 young boys each visited one of the parks. On each visit the boy would have 10 labels, A, B, C, ... J. The first boy would put a label on each of the fountains. Then he would make a list of the 15 paths by writing down the labels on the two fountains at the end of each path.

Charlie's list was AB, AD, AE, BC, BF, CD, CG, DI, EF, EJ, FG, GH, HI, HJ, IJ.
Marty's list was AD, AE, AI, BC, BE, BI, CF, CG, DH, DJ, EJ, FG, FJ, GH, HI.
Steve's list was AB, AC, AD, BC, BE, CD, DI, EF, EG, FH, FJ, GH, GI, HJ, IJ.
Keith's list was AC, AE, AI, BC, BD, BE, CG, DF, DH, EH, FG, FJ, GJ, HI, IJ.
Peter's list was AC, AD, AI, BE, BF, BH, CD, CG, DJ, EF, EH, FJ, GH, GI, IJ.
Ted's list was AB, AD, AE, BD, BJ, CD, CF, CG, EF, EI, FH, GH, GJ, HI, IJ.

Obviously they don't all put the same labels on the same fountains. Which boys visited the same park as Charlie?

Correct answers and puzzle solvers will appear next month. Send answers by May 15th 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