Hello, puzzlers. Wayoutinthestix, here. I am guest hosting today for Julie, that multi-talented Renaissance woman, who is currently on vacation. Ah, vacations! It’s been a while for me, but in keeping with Julie’s tradition of starting off with a picture that says it in lights, here’s one of mine. I can take no credit for the display, I just happened to walk by and there it was. Unlike Julie, I only push the button and hope for the best. Sometimes it works!
As usual, don't put spoilers or solutions in the subject line. Identify the puzzle in the subject line and put the rest in the comment. If you don’t want to see a solution before you have solved a puzzle, switch ‘expand’ to ‘shrink’ before you read the comments. Personally, I like to engage in a communal effort for large or difficult puzzles, but to each his/her own.
Puzzles start after the break...
Puzzle #1 - Geography
In what city was the picture taken? Major bonus points if you can name the street on which the building is located.
Update: sny has identified the city.
Update: sidnora has identified the street.
I’ll tell you more about that vacation in the comments, but please feel free to mention one on your memorable vacations. Presently I have a bee in my bonnet to visit Istanbul but my efforts so far to find a traveling companion have been met only with bewildered looks.
Puzzle #2 - Word
What word starts as singular, becomes plural by adding an S, and becomes singular again by adding another S?
Update: pucklady and sny have both found different but correct answers.
Too easy, you say? Perhaps mathematics will be more challenging. I’ll credit the following math puzzle after somebody solves it.
Puzzle #3 - Math
Combine 1, 3, 4 and 6 using only addition, subtraction, multiplication and division and using each number only once, so the result is 24. You may use any amount of brackets and you may use any arithmetic operation more than once or not at all. The only restriction is you may not push two numbers together without using arithmetic, like putting 4 and 6 together to make 46.
For example: [ 4 x ( 6 +1 ) ] – 3 = 25 Except you want to get 24. Got it?
Update: No, you may not use exponents.
Update: OkieByAccident has solved the math puzzle.
The math puzzle came from Nick Hobson.
The next puzzle is a cryptogram using the usual cryptogram rules. Replace each letter in the puzzle with another letter. For example, make all the z’s in the entire puzzle e’s, then make all the a’s into m’s, etc. until you have decoded the encrypted jumble into English words and phrases.
I always look at small words, double letters, repetitive letters or overall frequency. I write out two alphabets a-z. I use one as a master list of letter substitution and scribble out letters used on the second leaving a list of available letters.
I helped you out a bit. The only two three-letter words in the solution are the same word and are not 'the', so I purposefully made them spell 'the' in the encrypted puzzle to prevent you from taking a frustrating dead end.
Puzzle #4 - Cryptogram
The five items compose a list. After you solve the cryptogram, the items on the list can be related in two ways—one obvious, one less so.
ANYLXUGTLN, MHGH L AUCH
KHUGKLN UT CB CLTW
THE BUGS, THE BUGS
USYNMUCN
DEHHI MUCH NYNONCN
Update: sidnora has solved the cryptogram.
Update: OkieByAccident has found the second relationship of the list.
The following was recently sent to me via mass-forwarded email from a person who never bothers to delete the hundreds of visible addresses, which means my address is probably visible to future thousands. That could explain how I win ten lotteries every day that I have never entered. At least this one came without the dire warning that horrible things would happen if I didn’t immediately forward it to ten (soon to be ex-) friends.
Puzzle #5 - Riddle
You are riding a beautiful white horse. On your left side is a drop-off. On your right side several ostriches are being chased by a lion. In front of you are four large impalas that won’t get out of the way and you are unable to overtake them. Behind you is a stampede of horses. What must you do to get out of this situation safely?
Solve the dilemma given, or if you are very clever, guess the country where the email originated and why.
Update: OkieByAccident has solved Puzzle #5.
Update: See Final Spoiler comment for country of origin information.
The following is (supposed to be) a 5-6-7 acrostic. I’ll use Julie’s explanation.
The rules for an acrostic are simple: for each row, the answer (to the corresponding clue) is a word of increasing length, such as a five-letter word, a six-letter word and a seven-letter word. Each next size word is formed by adding a letter to the previous letter word and scrambling.
In the box in-between each word, put the extra letter. I.e., if your answers were:
ITEMS, MISTER and RED MIST
You'd place an "R" in the box between ITEMS and MISTER and a "D" between MISTER and RED MIST.
When you solve the whole puzzle, you will get two related words in the down columns.
I don’t possess Julie’s ability to portray a grid. I won’t bore you with all my attempts that didn’t work. I wanted to try something a little different with the usual numbering that I hope will make posting partial solutions and spoilers a bit less confusing. You'll love it or hate it, let me know. The two key down solutions are now X and Y. The clues and answers are labeled by numbered rows and lettered columns. For instance, the fifth row answers can be identified as 5A, 5B and 5C or 5(ABC), and letters needed for the down columns are 5X and 5Y.
The X and Y down answers are related in a general way but also in a very specific way.
Puzzle #6 – Acrostic
^^^^^^^^^^A^^^^^^^^^X^^^^^^^^^B^^^^^^^^^Y^^^^^^^^^^C^^^^^^^^^^^^
1 [ ][ ][ ][ ][ ] ( ) [ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ] ( ) [ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ]
2 [ ][ ][ ][ ][ ] ( ) [ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ] ( ) [ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ]
3 [ ][ ][ ][ ][ ] ( ) [ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ] ( ) [ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ]
4 [ ][ ][ ][ ][ ] ( ) [ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ] ( ) [ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ]
5 [ ][ ][ ][ ][ ] ( ) [ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ] ( ) [ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ]
6 [ ][ ][ ][ ][ ] ( ) [ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ] ( ) [ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ]
7 [ ][ ][ ][ ][ ] ( ) [ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ] ( ) [ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ]
8 [ ][ ][ ][ ][ ] ( ) [ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ] ( ) [ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ]
9 [ ][ ][ ][ ][ ] ( ) [ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ] ( ) [ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ]
Update: I'm declaring nonnie9999 and OkieByAccident co-winners for solving Puzzle #6. nonnie was first to post the down answers (although I think Okie knew and was waiting for me to return), and Okie solved the very specific connection. Still no answers for row 5, however.
Update: See Final Spoiler comment for row 5 answers.
acrostic clues (ignore the space below, I can't seem to make it go away)
Column A | Column B | Column C |
1-A) stone | B) lustrous materials | C) wails |
2-A) crown | B) date | C) simple vehicle |
3-A) pothead | B) hiker’s decision | C) interconnected group |
4-A) had an inclination | B) arranged balls | C) proceeded slowly |
5-A) drives in with force | B) pulls the plug | C) turned oak to ash |
6-A) organ | B) truly | C) shiny |
7-A) special set of words | B) mischievous spirit | C) mean |
8-A) aromatic herb | B) soundness | C) very good |
9-A) woody | B) yellowish brown | C) works of art |
Major snags with posting, especially the acrostic. I tried, big emphasis on 'tried.' It looks okay in preview, but an unbelievable mess in the box where you type the stuff. I thought it would be clearer to present the acrostic clues for each row horizontally and viewable in one screen without scrolling. If it's undecipherable, hang on, I'll come back and at least post the clues vertically.
Good luck with the puzzles. I'll post some hints in a while, if needed.