Greetings, puzzlers.
As promised by Nova Land last week, I will be your host today. I've got a few special treats for you:
A crossword puzzle, constructed by yours truly.
A Sudoku puzzle.
A cryptogram.
A set of math riddles.
A mini-crostic.
You may use this diary as a forum for discussing the answers, asking for hints, and critiquing the puzzles. However, please adhere to the following rules:
- If you would like to ask for hints, please put the word HINT, followed by the entry name and a question mark, in the subject line (i.e. HINT 1-Across? or HINT Sudoku 3rd row?).
- If you would like to give an answer, please put the word SPOILER, followed by the entry name, in the subject line (i.e. SPOILER 1-Across or SPOILER Sudoku). Place your answer in the comment area.
- DO NOT GIVE OUT THE ANSWERS TO ANY PUZZLE IN THE SUBJECT LINE.
See PRINTING HELP for assistance on printing the crossword. The Sudoku puzzle can be solved online at its link below.
Special thanks to Nova Land and plf515 for their assistance.
May 17, 2009 Crossword Puzzle
by SuperBowlXX
PRINTING HELP:
Click on the crossword puzzle above, it'll take you to Photobucket. Then, roll over the Photobucket image with the mouse, click on the Full Size tab above, and print.
DIARIST'S NOTE:
The crossword puzzle was constructed by the diarist. Clues were gathered from www.xwordinfo.com (a New York Times puzzle database) and the diarist's own imagination. This puzzle may not be re-copied or re-transmitted without the diarist's permission.
Sudoku Puzzle
(Medium difficulty)
Medium Puzzle 2,838,508,454 from www.websudoku.com
Cryptogram
"KI XKYX FU WAAZ TAE BYRFDW IGVPUIU FU UICZAB WAAZ TAE YDQXKFDW ICUI." -- JIDMYBFD TEYDRCFD
The cryptogram was generated by the Brain Food Cryptogram Maker.
Math Puzzle #1
John is going to play 3 sets of tennis with 2 different people: Joe and Carol. Carol is better than Joe. The three of them bet that if John wins 2 or more sets in a row, Joe and Carol will each give him $10. But if he does not win 2 in a row, he will give each of them $10. He has to alternate opponents, but he can choose the order. Should he play Joe-Carol-Joe, or Carol-Joe-Carol?
Math Puzzle #2
If 8 boys and 7 girls are randomly seated in a long row, what are the chances that the seating will alternate boys and girls?
Math Puzzles #1 and #2 are borrowed from a book of problems by Fred Mosteller.
Math Puzzle #3
Arrange the numbers from 1 to 15 in a triangle so that each number is the difference of the two above it. For example, with 3 numbers:
3 2
1
is one solution, because 3 - 2 = 1. There are multiple solutions for 3, 6 and 10 numbers; the solution for 15 is unique, and there are no solutions for 21, 28 etc.
Math Puzzle #3 is borrowed from an old Martin Gardner column in Scientific American.
Math Puzzle #4
Two ferry boats start moving at the same instant from opposite sides of the Hudson River, one boat going from New York to Jersey City and the other going from Jersey City to New York. One boat is faster than the other, so they meet at a point 720 yards from the nearest shore.
After arriving at their destinations, each boat remains ten minutes in the slip to change passengers; then it starts on its return trip. The boats again meet at a point 400 yards from the other shore. What is the exact width of the river?
Math Puzzle #4 is by Sam Loyd (copied from Martin Gardner's 2007 "Classic Mind-Bending Puzzles" calendar).
Mini-Crostic
by Nova Land, edited by SuperBowlXX
Row 1:
1-a. "Giant" star.
1-b. Like some lions.
1-c. Fate of those who do and those who don't?
Row 2:
2-a. Baby location.
2-b. South American native.
2-c. Type of gum.
Row 3:
3-a. Viscount's superior.
3-b. Proverbial bedtime.
3-c. Like a birthday.
For assistance on acrostic puzzles, please see the following guidelines:
In an Acrostic, you are given a set of clues. The answers to these clues need to be entered (in order) into a grid. In the example pictured below, there are 21 answers which go into a 7 x 3 grid (7 rows, 3 answers per row).
Each word in a row has all the letters of the previous word in the row, plus one new letter. For instance, in the first row the first word has the letters H-E-A-R-D. The second word has all those letters, plus a C -- which, re-arranged, make A-R-C-H-E-D. And the third word in the row has all those letters, plus an S -- making C-R-A-S-H-E-D.
In the space between the answers, you need to write in the letters which were added. Thus a C is written between HEARD and ARCHED, and an S is written between ARCHED and CRASHED. These letters make two new vertical columns which, when properly filled in, will spell out related theme words. In this case, one column spells COLBERT and the other spells STEWART.