Once again, I will be hosting your weekly puzzle seminar, in which I present a series of puzzles for your enjoyment. We have five leftover puzzles from last week that remain unsolved, plus one new one.
As usual, I will begin with a picture, another light drawing:
This one was created by using a pulsating color-changing light saber, moving it in circles while walking backwards and dragging a fiber optic light up wand behind me.
Another picture of an entirely different subject is after the fold.
All puzzles, unless otherwise noted, are my own creation.
To begin: a couple puzzle explanations.
CELEBRITY DISGUISES:
For "celebrity disguises," you have three clues as to the answer, which will always be someone well-known, either fictional or real:
Your clues can be any of the following, with examples for the name JOHN EDWARDS in brackets:
- an anagram; [HARD SNOW, JED]
- the same structure of consonants and vowels; [FINDING ARTS]
- the same number of letters in each word; [DARK CHARIOT]
- the same initial letters of each word; [JANE EYRE]
You will have to sort out which type of clue each answer is. Y's count as vowels and punctuation can be ignored.
CRYPTOGRAMS
Cryptograms are cypher puzzles: each letter for each puzzle is replaced with another. I.e., if you substitute the letter "A" with the letter "K," "K" will represent "A" throughout the entire puzzle. Each cryptogram uses its own letter key. Cryptograms are phrases and/or statements converted through such a key. The goal is to translate the statement. Cryptolists are lists of items with a common thread. Sometimes I include special cyphers, such as all the vowels replaced with an "*" or numbers included in the cryptogram. I will note when doing so.
And now... (drumroll...) the puzzles!
First, new puzzles:
Next, unsolved puzzles from last week
Puzzle #1: an anagram puzzle:
Take two words that, when combined, sound like an oxymoron. Add one letter and rearrange the letters and you will get the name of a very popular lefty blog. What are the two words and what is the blog?
Puzzle#2: A cryptolist. First, decode all the items in the list:
OMEJ KYCHUYA
OKUUS JHYGKU
PLV UMDDLJA
VLBEHKG KVKUAMJ
OMK ZHJPMGLHJM
BMGLJ XILJJ
HHALN VHJYRL
PMJS FMGYCSJ
KRHJ EHJYGKU
FLGDKUP FMPPNULKY
Then identify what it's a list of.
Puzzle #3: plf515 submitted the following puzzle, which I think is one of the better puzzles I've seen. He doesn't know where it originated and neither do I:
Into each of the following blanks, place the same letters in the same order. No doubling of letters, no letters from foreign languages, just the same letters in the same order. Make a sentence that is both grammatically correct and sensible:
The [ ] physician was [ ] to operate because he had [ ].
It took me a few hours to solve it, so those of you who solve it quickly can enjoy making me look bad.
UPDATE: PUZZLE #3 has been SOLVED by wayoutinthestix
Puzzle #4: Celebrity disguise:
ROWING WITHIN RIVERS
NORWEGIAN SOLAR LAND
HID IN THIS BAD SEASON
Puzzle #4 has been solved by by wayoutinthestix
Puzzle #5: Celebrity disguise:
"WHERE THE KANSAS
CORN WAR?" DECLARE
CONNECTICUT, DELAWARE
Puzzle #6: A geometry puzzle:
The shape shown is a series of overlapping squares. Each smaller square is formed by taking a line based on one side of the square, rotating it a certain distance (the same distance every time) and inscribing a new square based on where the line meets the boundaries of the larger square. Assuming that this continues on to infinity and that one side of the largest square is 100 centimeters long, what is the total area of all the squares (i.e., the area of the biggest blue square plus the area of the next largest square (the largest white one), etc.)?
Explain your work (if you want to). I will give partial credit for determining the angle of rotation of the square and the size ratio from each square to the smaller one.
Puzzle #6 has been SOLVED by Sharpner
The bird picture, by the way, is of a Cooper's Hawk which was very obliging towards me Saturday afternoon as it hung out on a tree while I took many, many, photos. Clicking on the photo or the link in this paragraph will get you to thumbnails of 11 of my favorite Cooper's photos.