Puzzles R Us

(Danix/16989) // hehe ... why download the decoder if I can do it?

Danix@rss.iscabbs.com — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 13:16:00 -0500

// hehe ... why download the decoder if I can do it?

#include <stdio.h>

int main(int argc, char **argv) {
        char mensaje[1024];
        printf("Dime tu frase: ");
        fflush(0);
        fgets(mensaje, 1024, stdin);
        int leidos = strlen(mensaje);
        int i = 0;
        for (i = 0; i < leidos; i++) {
                if ((mensaje[i] >= 'a' && mensaje[i] <= 'z') || (mensaje[i] >=
'A' && mensaje[i] <= 'Z')) {
                        mensaje[i] -= 1;
                }
        }
        printf("Decrypted is %s\n", mensaje);
        return(0);
}

(Danix/16988) Heh. I was doing the Caesar shift by hand. I tried ROT13 at firs...

Danix@rss.iscabbs.com — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 12:55:00 -0500

Heh. I was doing the Caesar shift by hand. I tried ROT13 at first, till the
lonely J tipped me off ;)

(Kena/16987) http://www.schneierfacts.com/fact/152

Kena@rss.iscabbs.com — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 04:30:00 -0500

http://www.schneierfacts.com/fact/152

(JuggernautXL/16986) http://www.secretcodebreaker.com/caesar-cipher.html

JuggernautXL@rss.iscabbs.com — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 20:38:00 -0500

http://www.secretcodebreaker.com/caesar-cipher.html

(Steppenwolf/16985) UIBOLT GPS UIF IFMS, FHSFHJPVT!

Steppenwolf@rss.iscabbs.com — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 09:41:00 -0500

UIBOLT GPS UIF IFMS, FHSFHJPVT!

Though now that I'm writing a message, I'm sort of embarrassed that I needed
it.

(Kena/16984) Oh, I already have it figured out. It just makes ya' have to, y...

Kena@rss.iscabbs.com — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 09:06:00 -0500

Oh, I already have it figured out.  It just makes ya' have to, y'know, *think*.
And I was sure that /usr/games/rot13 would have a parameter for altering the
rotation -- which the manpage says it does.  It just doesn't work.  So now I'm
spending w-a-y more time than would be required to figure it out to figure out,
instead, the easiest way to do it in Perl.  For example, for a simple one-off
ASCII shift, you can do
$foo = "a"; print ++$foo;
and you'll get "b".  But try that with a $foo+=13 (say), and not so much. 
Stupid Perl!  Etc.

(Egregious/16983) Given that "J" is probably a word, it should narrow down your se...

Egregious@rss.iscabbs.com — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 08:51:00 -0500

Given that "J" is probably a word, it should narrow down your search
space considerably.

(Giraffe/16982) There are also lots of shift cypher coder/decoders online.

Giraffe@rss.iscabbs.com — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 08:48:00 -0500

There are also lots of shift cypher coder/decoders online.

(Kena/16981) whines My rot13 program isn't accepting the optional numeric ...

Kena@rss.iscabbs.com — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 08:43:00 -0500

*whines*  My rot13 program isn't accepting the optional numeric [rotation]
parameter.  I have to *think* when I "decode" those damn things.

Or, I suppose, I could write an incredibly complex and difficult Perl script. 
But I've got work to do, alas.

(DesCartes/16980) http://fold.it/portal/

DesCartes@rss.iscabbs.com — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 08:05:00 -0500

http://fold.it/portal/

Solve puzzles for science!

(Egregious/16979) IB IB!

Egregious@rss.iscabbs.com — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 06:03:00 -0500

IB IB!
J MPWF UIBU POF!

(Giraffe/16978) EJE ZPV IFBS BCPVU UIF TJDL DSZQUPHSBQIFS?

Giraffe@rss.iscabbs.com — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 05:42:00 -0500

EJE ZPV IFBS BCPVU UIF TJDL DSZQUPHSBQIFS?
TIF IBE B DPEF JO IFS OPTF.

(Mama K/16977 Forum Moderator) JuggernautXL will be watching the forum while I'm moving this we...

Mama K@rss.iscabbs.com — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 10:14:00 -0500

JuggernautXL will be watching the forum while I'm moving this weekend.

Y'all post some puzzles, give him something to read!

(Eternal Messenger/16976) Okay, here are the answers to the two puzzles:

Eternal Messenger@rss.iscabbs.com — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 03:37:00 -0500

Okay, here are the answers to the two puzzles:

Which letter comes next in this series? The answer is neither "I" nor "X".

I, X, X, X, I, X, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I

Answer: They are the letters on a clock face featuring Roman numerals, starting
at 9 o'clock and moving clockwise, therefore the answer is V. Although some
clocks do rather erroneously represent 4 as IIII, rather than IV...

What is the value of X in this series:

0, 1, 0, 1, 1, 0, 1, 0, 1, 1, X, 1

Answer: It is the number of days difference in a month from 30 (or, to put it
in another way, the number of days you have to add to 30 to get the correct
number of days in the month), using the fiscal year format, which starts in
April, and ends in March. The month represented by "X" is February, and as
February can have a leap year every 4 years, X is either -2 or -1.

Having just checked the fiscal year format for individual countries, it's only
really applicable to a few countries (April-March, I means), including the UK
where I'm from. If you're in the USA, the puzzle would've made more sense if it
started in October. Sorry!

(Danix/16975) Heh, The letters? I think I know the answer to that one.

Danix@rss.iscabbs.com — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 14:17:00 -0500

Heh, The letters? I think I know the answer to that one.

(Eternal Messenger/16974) At the risk of causing another fish-frenzy... grins Here's two...

Eternal Messenger@rss.iscabbs.com — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 07:51:00 -0500

At the risk of causing another fish-frenzy... *grins* Here's two puzzles that I
thought were quite interesting from Richard Wiseman's site - one is a puzzle
made by him (or found by him, whatever), and another from one of the comments
in his blog.

Which letter comes next in this series? The answer is neither "I" nor "X".

I, X, X, X, I, X, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I

What is the value of X in this series:

0, 1, 0, 1, 1, 0, 1, 0, 1, 1, X, 1

Hint: X is neither 0 nor 1, and it will have two values.

Don't worry about sending me the answers, I'll post them at the end of the
week.

(Dr Rocks/16973 Forum Moderator) Big thanks to Xenos for casting the line, Egregious for taking t...

Dr Rocks@rss.iscabbs.com — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 19:12:00 -0500

Big thanks to Xenos for casting the line, Egregious for taking the bait, and
the rest of you for participating in the ensuing fish-frenzy. That was fun.

I have not been attending to my log-in duties as often as befits a Forum
Moderator, so I will be offering up the duty. Mama K has kindly offer to mind
the pond while the official paperwork is done. If you would like to take over
officially, please make your interest known to the relevant authorities.
Cheers!

(Yorick/16972) The Monty Hall puzzle only has one point of controversy worth di...

Yorick@rss.iscabbs.com — Sun, 22 May 2011 23:53:00 -0500

The Monty Hall puzzle only has one point of controversy worth discussing, which
is the distinction between an omniscient Monty Hall (he chooses knowing where
the prize is) and one who might not.  At least, once that distinction is clear,
it both goes back to being a fairly simple probability question and seems to
make more inuitive sense to people.

(Eternal Messenger/16971) Giraffe: Like I said, from what I've seen elsewhere online, this...

Eternal Messenger@rss.iscabbs.com — Thu, 12 May 2011 07:40:00 -0500

Giraffe: Like I said, from what I've seen elsewhere online, this puzzle appears
to be reaching Monty Hall-levels of controversy. I think I'm glad I didn't
bother putting that maths puzzle which was also getting people hot under the
collar. *heh*

Danix: Doesn't really matter with this puzzle. Besides which, if this was a
real-world scenario, I don't think you'd find many people that'd be willing to
accept this position... I means... $100 per year to start off with? *grins*

(Danix/16970) Pay raises/salaries are negotiated in $/month over here.

Danix@rss.iscabbs.com — Thu, 12 May 2011 06:47:00 -0500

Pay raises/salaries are negotiated in $/month over here.

(Giraffe/16969) This sounds like a really stupid puzzle.

Giraffe@rss.iscabbs.com — Thu, 12 May 2011 06:01:00 -0500

This sounds like a really stupid puzzle.

(John Public/16968) Nope. The OP clearly stated that the units of salary were in dol...

John Public@rss.iscabbs.com — Thu, 12 May 2011 05:55:00 -0500

Nope. The OP clearly stated that the units of salary were in dollars per YEAR,
and, in the same sentence, referred "pay rises" without specifying units. A
reasonable person would assume that the units of "pay" did not change in the
same sentence.

So that's the trick of the question.

(Egregious/16967) Even if you discuss it in terms of a raise per pay-period, then,

Egregious@rss.iscabbs.com — Thu, 12 May 2011 05:53:00 -0500


Even if you discuss it in terms of a raise per pay-period, then,
* a pay rise of $20 means your pay each pay-period goes up by $20, and
* a pay rise of $5 means your pay each pay-period goes up by $5.

And for both pay schemes, the pay-period was six months.

(John Public/16966) Standard where? I've never heard pay rates discussed in terms of...

John Public@rss.iscabbs.com — Thu, 12 May 2011 05:42:00 -0500

Standard where? I've never heard pay rates discussed in terms of periods other
than years or hours.

(Smoke Eater/16965) Um, no. Standard procedure for a pay rise of X$ is that from th...

Smoke Eater@rss.iscabbs.com — Wed, 11 May 2011 14:43:00 -0500

Um, no.  Standard procedure for a pay rise of X$ is that from the moment you
receive it forward, your pay rate increases by X$ per stated pay period.  Let's
not be intentionally obtuse.  That's the way 90% of the working world does pay
raises...at least.

(John Public/16964) Or DO you??????? Ah, it's a MySteeeeerIouS PuzZlE!

John Public@rss.iscabbs.com — Wed, 11 May 2011 13:04:00 -0500

Or *DO* you??????? Ah, it's a MySteeeeerIouS PuzZlE!

(Egregious/16963) To figure out the actual payments, you need to decide what "a pa...

Egregious@rss.iscabbs.com — Wed, 11 May 2011 12:36:00 -0500


To figure out the actual payments, you need to decide what "a pay
rise of $20" means.  Does it mean your annual salary goes up by $20
(because we talk of "a starting salary of $100 per year"), or does
it mean that your pay per period goes up by $20.

In either case, though, you apply that meaning to both schemes.

(Smoke Eater/16962) No. A pay raise means you get an increase of the RATE at which ...

Smoke Eater@rss.iscabbs.com — Wed, 11 May 2011 11:29:00 -0500

No.  A pay raise means you get an increase of the RATE at which you get paid.

Both options start out at a rate of $50 per six months

If you get a pay raise of $20, you're getting that pay raise off the rate of
$50 per six months... you just had to wait twelve months to get it, and you
start earning $50+$20 from that point forward.

(Eternal Messenger/16961) Ah... Forget it. I've just found Richard Wiseman's post and the ...

Eternal Messenger@rss.iscabbs.com — Wed, 11 May 2011 11:15:00 -0500

Ah... Forget it. I've just found Richard Wiseman's post and the discussion in
it (about this same puzzle). From what one poster said, it's been discussed by
a lot of puzzlers over the year, and is reaching the same level of controversy
as the infamous Monty Hall puzzle.

(Eternal Messenger/16960) No, the rise is added to your total for the whole year. Your sal...

Eternal Messenger@rss.iscabbs.com — Wed, 11 May 2011 11:12:00 -0500

No, the rise is added to your total for the whole year. Your salary is for the
whole year, and you get a rise for that whole year. You still get paid every 6
months, however. Basically, at 12 months, your overall year salary has gone up
by $20. You're just getting paid every 6 months.

(Smoke Eater/16959) Um, no. A pay raise is an increase in the RATE you get paid. Y...

Smoke Eater@rss.iscabbs.com — Wed, 11 May 2011 11:03:00 -0500

Um, no.  A pay raise is an increase in the RATE you get paid.  Your rate is $50
per six months.  Just because you only get the raises every 12 months doesn't
mean they apply across the entire year.

At 12 months, your pay rate rises from $50/six months to $70/six months.  There
is no averaging over a year.

(Eternal Messenger/16958) Actually, right. You get $100 total in your first year. You get ...

Eternal Messenger@rss.iscabbs.com — Wed, 11 May 2011 11:00:00 -0500

Actually, right. You get $100 total in your first year. You get a pay rise of
$20 in your second year. Making it $120 for the whole year. You get another pay
rise of $20 in your third year, making that $140 for the whole year.

You get paid every 6 months. Half of 100 is 50, you get that in your first two
paypackets. 50 + 50 = 100. Next year, you get 60 in your two paypackets for
that month. 60 + 60 = 120.

(Smoke Eater/16957) Wrong:

Smoke Eater@rss.iscabbs.com — Wed, 11 May 2011 10:56:00 -0500

Wrong:

You start out with a pay RATE of $50/year
After six months, you've earned $50 so far.  Your RATE does not increase
After twelve months, you've earned an additional $50, and your RATE goes up.
You earn at the new rate from that point forward.

After eighteen months, you've earned an additional $70

50+50+70 = 170.

(Eternal Messenger/16956) Not quite. You earn $20 per year, but you're still getting paid ...

Eternal Messenger@rss.iscabbs.com — Wed, 11 May 2011 10:50:00 -0500

Not quite. You earn $20 per year, but you're still getting paid every 6
months. So instead of "after 18 months, you've earned $170..." it should say
"after 18 months, you've earned $160..." (Half of $20 extra over the whole year
is $10 over that first 6 months of the second year, with the other $10 extra
coming in the other 6 months)

(Smoke Eater/16955) Ok, for the original problem:

Smoke Eater@rss.iscabbs.com — Wed, 11 May 2011 10:33:00 -0500

Ok, for the original problem:

You start off with a pay rate of $50/six months on both options

With option 1, you get a pay raise of $5, which means AT THAT POINT, your pay
rate increases....

That means after 6 months, you've earned $50, and your pay rate goes to $55
          after 12 months, you've earned $105, and your pay rate goes to $60
          after 18 months, you've earned $165, and your pay rte goes to $65

With option 2, you get a pay raise of $20, which means AT THAT POINT each year,
your pay rate increases once per year.

That means after 6 months, you've earned $50, and your pay rate doesn't go up
          after 12 months, you've earned $100, and your pay rate goes to $70
          after 18 months, you've earned $170 and your pay rate doesn't go up.

After 18 months, with option 2 ($20 pay raise per year), you start having
earned more than with option 1, and it goes up from there.  I extrapolated out
to 132 months, and the difference is slightly more than $1000 in favor of
option 2.

(Xenos/16954) It's like 10 posts back in the scroll.

Xenos@rss.iscabbs.com — Wed, 11 May 2011 10:28:00 -0500

It's like 10 posts back in the scroll.

(Smoke Eater/16953) Xenos, could you post the original problem one more time please?

Smoke Eater@rss.iscabbs.com — Wed, 11 May 2011 08:01:00 -0500

Xenos, could you post the original problem one more time please?

(Egregious/16952) No you're wrong.

Egregious@rss.iscabbs.com — Wed, 11 May 2011 07:41:00 -0500

No you're wrong.

(Xenos/16951) The second scheme says "you get a starting salary of $50 per six...

Xenos@rss.iscabbs.com — Wed, 11 May 2011 07:31:00 -0500

The second scheme says "you get a starting salary of $50 per six months, and a
$5 pay rise every six months."

It really couldn't be more explicit.

(Egregious/16950) No, probably not going to let it go. I might have before the "y...

Egregious@rss.iscabbs.com — Mon, 09 May 2011 16:01:00 -0500


No, probably not going to let it go.  I might have before the "you
only need to read it carefully," and "you hate being wrong because you
feel stupid."  It will totally Puffergoose this forum, but oh well.

Oh.  And.  Putting.  One.  Word.  In.  A.  Sentence.  Doesn't.  Make.
Anything.  True.  At.  All.  It.  Just.  Makes.  You.  Look.  Like.
You.  Are.  Trying.  To.  Capitalize.  Kirk's.  Speeches.

> In scheme 1,
>
>              =  140 - 100  = $20 per year per year
>                -----------
>                  2 years
>
> In scheme 2,
>
>              =  145 - 105  = $20 per year per year
>                ----------
>                  2 years

This doesn't follow at all.  I mean, that math is right, but it's
not what you "clearly stated" in your problem.

Imagine your boss takes you into his office and says "you are getting
a pay rise of $5."  What does that mean?  It means if you were getting
paid $50 per year before, you are getting paid $55 per year now.  If
he said "you are getting a pay rise of $20," it would mean you are
getting paid $70 per year if you started from $50.

Now instead imagine your boss calls you in every six months and says
"you are getting a pay rise of $5."  So after six months you are
getting $55 per year, and after 1 year you are getting $60 per year.
After 2 years you are getting $70 per year.

Now instead imagine your boss calls you in every year and says "you
are getting a pay rise of $20."  Which would take a $50/year salary
to $70.  After 1 year you are getting $90 per year.

This all reminds me of http://verizonmath.com/, where according to
Verizon $0.01 = 1 cent, but $0.001 = 0.001 cent.

(Danix/16949) So basically, the answer I put on Phys Math> With the trains exa...

Danix@rss.iscabbs.com — Mon, 09 May 2011 13:24:00 -0500

So basically, the answer I put on Phys Math> With the trains example? You'll
pass S2 in the fifth year. :)

(Xenos/16948) Right, ok, let's run (haha) with this strange acceleration/veloc...

Xenos@rss.iscabbs.com — Mon, 09 May 2011 13:04:00 -0500

Right, ok, let's run (haha) with this strange acceleration/velocity obsession
you have.

Your hourly pay rate is like speed.  Fine.  You are paid, let's say, $10 per
hour.  It's a constant rate.

In the puzzle you're initially paid $50 per year.  Ok, fine, like speed.

In both schemes, the word INCREASE is used.  Yes, this is like acceleration,
where you have a change in speed over time.

In scheme 1, you get a $20 pay rise per year.  If I recall my physics,

Acceleration = final speed - original speed
               ----------------------------
                       total time

We have a problem applying this, in what to use as an original 'speed'.
Technically it's zero, because you don't get paid until the end of the first
pay period.  But that would generate non-representative numbers, because the
zero to $50 bit is a big leap.

So instead we need to measure a portion of time in the middle.  So let's start
at 1 year and go on for two years (ending at 3 years).

In scheme 1,

             =  140 - 100  = $20 per year per year
               -----------
                 2 years

In scheme 2,

             =  145 - 105  = $20 per year per year
               ----------
                 2 years


So, the same rate of acceleration AVERAGED over two years is constant.
Absolutely.

    6 months   12 months    18 months      24 months     36 months
S1     50          55           60             65           70
S2     50          50           60             60           70

Scheme 2 is 'catching up' at regular intervals.

But, and here's the key, YOU WERE NOT ASKED WHICH ONE ACCELERATED FASTER.

You were asked which one is BETTER.

Money is not like distance.  It's BETTER to have money sooner, because then
it's in YOUR bank account and you can earn interest on it or spend it, or
whatever.  So whilst it's true they're increasing at the same RATE on average,
scheme 2 is BETTER because you get the increase sooner.

Like I said, they key is in the time interval before you're paid, not the rate
of pay.

(Egregious/16947) You keep on saying "because you get the payraise early" but that...

Egregious@rss.iscabbs.com — Mon, 09 May 2011 07:01:00 -0500


You keep on saying "because you get the payraise early" but that's
not the trick at all.  The trick is that you say "$20 pay rise per
year" to mean "increase $20 per year per year" and "$5 pay rise
every six months" to mean "increase $5 per six months per six
months."

NASA has lost orbiters over less trickly things.

(Xenos/16946) It might if it wasn't VERY clearly and explicitly spelled out in...

Xenos@rss.iscabbs.com — Sat, 30 Apr 2011 06:49:00 -0500

It might if it wasn't VERY clearly and explicitly spelled out in the puzzle.
But it is.  You only need to read it carefully.

(Grover/16945) What I'm bewildered and confounded by is your insistence that de...

Grover@rss.iscabbs.com — Sat, 30 Apr 2011 06:22:00 -0500

What I'm bewildered and confounded by is your insistence that denominating the
pay rises in different values doesn't constitute a trick.

(Xenos/16944) The word 'puzzle' comes from 'pusle', which means to "bewilder o...

Xenos@rss.iscabbs.com — Sat, 30 Apr 2011 03:56:00 -0500

The word 'puzzle' comes from 'pusle', which means to "bewilder or confound".
Reading puzzles carefully and checking your assumptions is important.  It's
ALWAYS important, otherwise you're either (a) asking a simple maths problem or
(b) asking a trivia question.  Neither of these things is a puzzle.

There are literally thousands of examples where the wording is key to solving
the problem, and where your 'gut answer' is wrong.  Just to name one, there's
that 'frog in the well' puzzle, where you have to realise that the frog WON'T
slip back on its last jump, even though that's not explicity stated in the
puzzle.  Or that puzzle about childrens' ages, where one of the statements is
"and my oldest loves bears" (or whatever), and the important clue is the fact
that there's one single oldest child, not that they love bears.  It's a
deliberate distraction, but the information is all there.

In this case if you read the puzzle briefly and don't THINK about it, it does
initially appear that you have a choice between a $10 a year pay rise and a $20
a year pay rise.  But that would be a stupidly trivial puzzle.  So just that
fact should make you think twice, since we all know that's never how puzzles
work anyway (remember, bewilder or confound).

When you read it PROPERLY and check you assumptions, you realise your
assumption isn't quite correct.  In one case, because you get the payrise
early, you make a consistent profit.

Here it is again, just for reference:

---

You're offered one of two possible pay schemes.

Scheme 1) You get a starting salary of $50 per six months, and then a $20 pay
rise per year.

Scheme 2) You get a starting salary of $50 per six months, and a $5 pay rise
every six months.

Which scheme is better?

---

Now Grover (and others), I know you're upset because the puzzle bewildered and
confounded you, and you got it wrong, and you hate being wrong because you feel
stupid, so you want to prove that you're right and have everyone agree that the
puzzle is stupid.  But you need to realise that's exactly what a puzzle is
meant to do, accept you're not reading it properly, and get over it :-)

(Grover/16943) Well, I'm glad to hear that you concede that most people underst...

Grover@rss.iscabbs.com — Sat, 30 Apr 2011 03:15:00 -0500

Well, I'm glad to hear that you concede that most people understand that
5+5+5+5=20.  I'm a bit confused by why you think that phrasing the problem in
such a way that most people don't understand that's what's being asked doesn't
constitute a trick.

(Xenos/16942) No, there are a quite a few people who don't read it properly.

Xenos@rss.iscabbs.com — Sat, 30 Apr 2011 01:30:00 -0500

No, there are a quite a few people who don't read it properly.

(Grover/16941) If it's not a trick, there's quite a few people with an inabilit...

Grover@rss.iscabbs.com — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 15:01:00 -0500

If it's not a trick, there's quite a few people with an inability to do basic
math.

(Xenos/16940) It's. Not. A. Trick.

Xenos@rss.iscabbs.com — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 12:52:00 -0500

It's. Not. A. Trick.
You just have to read it properly.
It works because in one case you get the pay rise early, which puts that scheme
consistently ahead.

(Grover/16939) No, there are 12 months. A 5$ per 6months raise is the same as ...

Grover@rss.iscabbs.com — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 10:20:00 -0500

No, there are 12 months.  A 5$ per 6months raise is the same as a 10$ per year
raise.  If you receive a 5$ per 6months raise every 6 months, then you're
getting a 10$ a year raise twice a year, so it's equivalent to receiving a
20$/year raise once a year.  The whole point of the trick is to use different
denominators for the raises - people never do that, so they're thrown off.

(Kena/16938) My 24 months are in several years. ducks

Kena@rss.iscabbs.com — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 03:20:00 -0500

*My* 24 months are in several years.  *ducks*

(Xenos/16937) Could be?

Xenos@rss.iscabbs.com — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 02:44:00 -0500

Could be?

(Lammam P Yrruf/16936) Are their 24 months in a year?

Lammam P Yrruf@rss.iscabbs.com — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 02:07:00 -0500

Are their 24 months in a year?

(Grover/16935) Scheme 2 should be $5 per six months, every six months. That wa...

Grover@rss.iscabbs.com — Mon, 25 Apr 2011 07:01:00 -0500

Scheme 2 should be $5 per six months, every six months.  That way both schemes
give you a 20$/year raise every year, but scheme 2 gives you your money
earlier.

(Egregious/16934) > If you can find another way to word it which makes the fact th...

Egregious@rss.iscabbs.com — Mon, 25 Apr 2011 06:50:00 -0500


> If you can find another way to word it which makes the fact that
> one is per six months, and one is per year, EVEN MORE blatently
> obvious than I think I have made it, then please, go ahead.

Scheme 1 increases your salary by $20 per year, every year.

Scheme 2 increases your salary by $10 per six months, every six months.

(Steppenwolf/16933) I'm torn. On the one hand, I understood what her words meant, so...

Steppenwolf@rss.iscabbs.com — Sat, 23 Apr 2011 08:01:00 -0500

I'm torn. On the one hand, I understood what her words meant, so I can't say
that it was obfuscatory to me--I assumed that the $20 was prorated. On the
other hand, it's pretty reasonable to make other assumptions instead.

So I think that the words unfortunately get in the way of the puzzle. They're
not bad, but could be clearer. I agree that there's no trick, and that the
non-intuitive nature of the answer comes from the math, not the words.

(John Public/16932) The trick was that some people will assume the phrase "pay rise"...

John Public@rss.iscabbs.com — Sat, 23 Apr 2011 07:51:00 -0500

The trick was that some people will assume the phrase "pay rise" means the
same thing both places it is used in the puzzle. But "pay rise" actually can
mean anything, so it's an open-ended puzzle.  It could mean a "pay rise" per
paycheck, per year, per six months. Just because you get the "pay rise",
doesn't mean you actual get the money. And if you do get the money, it could
be delayed for some time. The "pay rise" could even be retroactive!  It's
Xenos's puzzle, so without other information, we have to figure out what Xenos
intended, and go by that rule.

(Xenos/16931) No, there is no such assumption. $5 per six months is very clea...

Xenos@rss.iscabbs.com — Sat, 23 Apr 2011 07:28:00 -0500

No, there is no such assumption.  $5 per six months is very clearly a different
unit to $20 per year.  That is blatently obvious to anyone who actually reads
it.  Once again, THERE IS NO TRICK in that puzzle.

(Grover/16930) Ah - I get it - it's confusing because you don't make it clear t...

Grover@rss.iscabbs.com — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 11:19:00 -0500

Ah - I get it - it's confusing because you don't make it clear that the pay
raises come in different units.
So scheme 1 is a $20/year pay raise, received every year, and scheme 2 is a
5$/6 months pay raise, received every 6 months.
Instead of saying a 5$/6 month pay raise, received every 6 months, you just say
a 5$ pay raise every 6 months, and let people assume that the units of the pay
raise for scheme 1 and scheme 2 are the same.

(Xenos/16929) Answer to this puzzle:

Xenos@rss.iscabbs.com — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 03:19:00 -0500

Answer to this puzzle:
Can you cross out the unnecessary letters to leave a common phrase?

ATCHEOUNMNE

MCESOSNAPRH

YRLEATTSEERS

Answer follows...






























Yes you can ;-)

ATCHEOUNMNE
 - -- -- --

MCESOSNAPRH
 --- - - -

YRLEATTSEERS
- -- --  ---

The underlined letters (sorry can't cross out on here) spell "THE UNNECESSARY
LETTERS", and the remaining letters spell "A COMMON PHRASE".

(Xenos/16928) No, it very clearly and explicity says "20$ per year" in scheme ...

Xenos@rss.iscabbs.com — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 12:20:00 -0500

No, it very clearly and explicity says "20$ per year" in scheme 1.  As I
suspect you're well aware.  Therefore:

      Scheme 1    Scheme 2
1       50          50
2       50          55
3       60          60
4       60          65
5       70          70
6       70          75

The point of the puzzle is to highlight the difference between a smaller "per 6
month" pay rise vs. an apparently considerably larger "per year" pay rise.  If
you can find another way to word it which makes the fact that one is per six
months, and one is per year, EVEN MORE blatently obvious than I think I have
made it, then please, go ahead.

This is not meant to be a trick IN ANY WAY.  It IS NOT intended to be a
language trick.

It's just about numbers.

(Grover/16927) So - in the rephrased pay-raise scheme...

Grover@rss.iscabbs.com — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 12:17:00 -0500

So - in the rephrased pay-raise scheme...
      Scheme 1    Scheme 2
1       50          50
2       50          55
3       70          60
4       70          65
5       90          70
6       90          75
Is this right?

(Eternal Messenger/16926) Xenos: Did you get that from Richard Wiseman's blog (I meant to ...

Eternal Messenger@rss.iscabbs.com — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 06:43:00 -0500

Xenos: Did you get that from Richard Wiseman's blog (I meant to ask earlier...
*heh*) Mind you, I'm pretty sure he got it from somewhere else. I seems to
recall seeing that sort of question when I was a child. Maybe not quite the
same words, but certainly phrased in that way.

(Xenos/16925) The first one I wrote isn't mine, but I'm sure the rewritten ver...

Xenos@rss.iscabbs.com — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 02:58:00 -0500

The first one I wrote isn't mine, but I'm sure the rewritten version is
sufficiently different that you could use it.

(Ahto/16924) Xenos, is the salary question your original? If so, may I use it...

Ahto@rss.iscabbs.com — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 02:21:00 -0500

Xenos, is the salary question your original? If so, may I use it in a quiz for
children? It's an IT quiz, but involves also informaton comprehension and
process modeling, not just use of computers. If not, where did you get it from?

(Xenos/16923) Let's have something different to argue about ;-)

Xenos@rss.iscabbs.com — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 14:10:00 -0500

Let's have something different to argue about ;-)

Can you cross out the unnecessary letters to leave a common phrase?

ATCHEOUNMNE

MCESOSNAPRH

YRLEATTSEERS

Answer in a few days...

(Xenos/16922) Personally, I don't see the wording as even slightly ambigous. ...

Xenos@rss.iscabbs.com — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 13:46:00 -0500

Personally, I don't see the wording as even slightly ambigous.  The puzzle
clearly stated, "in either case, you are paid every 6 months."  If you read the
wording literally then it's entirely obvious.

But if you MUST get your knickers in a twist about it, you can rewrite the
puzzle as follows and it's still the same:

---------
You're offered one of two possible pay schemes.

Scheme 1) You get a starting salary of $50 per six months, and then a $20 pay
rise per year.

Scheme 2) You get a starting salary of $50 per six months, and a $5 pay rise
every six months.

Which scheme is better?
---------

The key to the puzzle is that the pay rise applies AFTER the time period.
Everything else is irrelevant.

(Steppenwolf/16921) Here's the thing: I understood what Xenos was trying to get at, ...

Steppenwolf@rss.iscabbs.com — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 08:18:00 -0500

Here's the thing: I understood what Xenos was trying to get at, but that
doesn't mean it's not clumsily phrased, and that it capitalizes on that
confusion to make the answer seem like something it's not.

After all, the clearest way to phrase it would be "You can have your paycheck
go up $5 every six months, or $10 every year." Instead, it uses an obfuscating
phrase to make it seem trickier.

That's not what good puzzles do, contrary to Xenos' statement.

(Giraffe/16920) It's certainly an important distinction in all the places I've w...

Giraffe@rss.iscabbs.com — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 07:48:00 -0500

It's certainly an important distinction in all the places I've worked.

(Xenos/16919) And bosses that think that salary is in any way connected to vel...

Xenos@rss.iscabbs.com — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 07:47:00 -0500

And bosses that think that salary is in any way connected to velocity and
acceleration go into the "people you don't want to work for" pile.

(Egregious/16918) If "5 miles per hour" means "5 miles per hour per hour", then ye...

Egregious@rss.iscabbs.com — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 07:42:00 -0500


If "5 miles per hour" means "5 miles per hour per hour", then yes.

I'm going to start giving this puzzle to people I interview.
People who think that velocities equal accelerations go in the
"no hire" pile.

(Xenos/16917) There really is no trick to this. It's not at all like the tric...

Xenos@rss.iscabbs.com — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 14:06:00 -0500

There really is no trick to this.  It's not at all like the trick in the 'gry'
puzzle.  It just requires you to READ the puzzle and then apply what it says
exactly, rather than assuming it works like some other model that you know.
Lots of puzzles work like this; it's no fun if everything is just a case of
obvious maths.  The puzzle very clearly implies that the second scheme is
different to the first, IF you read it properly.

(Egregious/16916) Oh I see. You use velocity units and apply them to acceleration...

Egregious@rss.iscabbs.com — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 13:05:00 -0500


Oh I see.  You use velocity units and apply them to accelerations.
Like saying "the car speeds up by 5 miles every hour" to say "the
car accelerated at 5 miles per hour^2."

http://xkcd.com/169/

(Xenos/16915) No that's the point, it applies as it's written in the puzzle.

Xenos@rss.iscabbs.com — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 12:14:00 -0500

No that's the point, it applies as it's written in the puzzle.

In scheme 1 you start with $100 per year and get a $20 pay rise EACH YEAR (so
think of it as your pay going up after 12 months and one day, then 24 months
and one day, and so on).

In scheme 2 you start with $100 per year and get a $5 pay rise EVERY SIX MONTHS
(so your pay goes up after 6 months and one day, then 12 months and one day,
then 18 months and one day, and so on).  It says $5 every six months; not $5
PER YEAR every 6 months (it would still pay better than scheme 1 mind you).

Like this:

SCHEME 1
Year 1 = $100
Year 2 = $120
Year 3 = $140 etc

SCHEME 2
Year 1 = $50 + $55 = $105
Year 2 = $60 + $65 = $125
Year 3 = $70 + $75 = $145 etc

The fact that they are NOT following the same rules is the whole point of the
puzzle.  Puzzles are all about wording :-)  Scheme one appears, at first
glance, to have double the annual pay rise of scheme two.  But it actually
doesn't, because the 6-month schedule and earlier increase puts, and keeps, it
ahead.

(Egregious/16913) Well, whichever it is, it needs to apply to both schemes.

Egregious@rss.iscabbs.com — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 09:15:00 -0500


Well, whichever it is, it needs to apply to both schemes.

> Scheme 1) You get a starting salary of $100 per year, and then a
> $20 pay rise each year.

> Scheme 2) You get a starting salary of $100 per year, and then a
> $5 pay rise every six months.

If "pay rise" means you annual salary goes up by that amount, then
you receive

    Year 1    Year 2   Total

1)  50  50    60  60   220
2)  50  52.5  55  57.5 215

If "pay rise" means your six month check goes up by that amount,
then you receive

    Year 1    Year 2   Total

1)  50  50    70  70   240
2)  50  55    60  65   230

(Eternal Messenger/16911) It's $20 increase per year. You get paid every six month. So 50+...

Eternal Messenger@rss.iscabbs.com — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 09:01:00 -0500

It's $20 increase per year. You get paid every six month. So 50+50 = 100 in
first year, 60+60 = 120 in the second year.

(Egregious/16910) That doesn't make sense. If your paycheck goes up by $20, then ...

Egregious@rss.iscabbs.com — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 08:55:00 -0500


That doesn't make sense.  If your paycheck goes up by $20, then in
year 1 your would get $50 + $50, and in year 2 you would get $70 +
$70.

(John Public/16909) I see. My bad. I had assumed that "raise" refers to annual incom...

John Public@rss.iscabbs.com — Sun, 17 Apr 2011 09:28:00 -0500

I see. My bad. I had assumed that "raise" refers to annual income.

(Xenos/16908) No, I disagree (reason follows):

Xenos@rss.iscabbs.com — Sun, 17 Apr 2011 08:48:00 -0500

No, I disagree (reason follows):






























The pay rise applies to the next paycheck after the time period.

In scheme 1 you get the pay rise every 12 months.
In scheme 2 you get it every 6 months.

Therefore in scheme 1, your first pay increase comes after your first 12
months.  Call it 12 months and one day.  So you get paid $100 the first year,
$120 the second, and so on.

In scheme 2, your first pay rise comes after your first six months.  Call it
six months and one day.  Therefore you get $50 for the first 6 months, but $55
for the second because at that point your pay has increased.

That's why the second scheme is better; the ealier pay rise (even though
smaller) puts you consistently ahead.

(John Public/16907) Xenos> I think that solution is a little goofy.

John Public@rss.iscabbs.com — Sun, 17 Apr 2011 06:50:00 -0500

Xenos> I think that solution is a little goofy.

In scheme 1, you applied a raise of $20 per YEAR to the NEXT paycheck.
In scheme 2, you applied a raise of $5 per CHECK to the CURRENT paycheck.

So the raise date is skewed and the raise itself has different units between
the two schemes. Was that the trick?

(Xenos/16906) The answer to the puzzle I posted the other day follows...

Xenos@rss.iscabbs.com — Sun, 17 Apr 2011 06:15:00 -0500

The answer to the puzzle I posted the other day follows...



























In Scheme 1...

In the first year you get $50 + $50 = $100

And in the second year you get $60 + $60 = $120

In Scheme 2...

In the first year you get $50 + $55 = $105

And in the second year you get $60 + $65 = $125

So Scheme 2 will always be better than Scheme 1.

(Egregious/16905) I got it. Mostly because, as part of asking my wife to

Egregious@rss.iscabbs.com — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 07:44:00 -0500


I got it.  Mostly because, as part of asking my wife to
double-check the constraints I had already worked out, she
accidentally told me what (P,Q) was.

After that, I could eliminate most possibilities in my head
(although it took a while), and then iterate out the last
cases.

I'd be amazed if someone could solve this in less than 2
hours.  One big hint would be "iterate all the (S,U) comb-
inations you can first."

(Egregious/16904) Sorry, yes, I was using "abcdef" as my own notation on the carry

Egregious@rss.iscabbs.com — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 09:28:00 -0500


Sorry, yes, I was using "abcdef" as my own notation on the carry
digits.  They aren't distinct -- in fact, they can't be, since
most of them are limited to 0, 1, or 2.

This problem is starting to haunt me.  I can see the equation in
my head and just lie in bed and run through combinations.

One trick I found was to try iterating on U.  I found a few things
that U cannot be.  Now, I'm trying to seeif P can be 6.

(Xenos/16903) Imagine that you accept a new job and are offered one of two pos...

Xenos@rss.iscabbs.com — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 07:28:00 -0500

Imagine that you accept a new job and are offered one of two possible pay
schemes.

Scheme 1) You get a starting salary of $100 per year, and then a $20 pay rise
each year.

Scheme 2) You get a starting salary of $100 per year, and then a $5 pay rise
every six months.

In either case, you are paid every 6 months. Which scheme is better?



Don't Mail> me answers, I'll post the solution shortly :-)

(DesCartes/16902) The digits that are carried. (I don't know if this suggests that...

DesCartes@rss.iscabbs.com — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 04:30:00 -0500

The digits that are carried. (I don't know if this suggests that all of the
carried digits are distinct.)

(Kena/16901) Ummm... feels stupid What's the "f e d c b a" at the top?

Kena@rss.iscabbs.com — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 04:12:00 -0500

Ummm... *feels stupid*  What's the "f e d c b a" at the top?

(Egregious/16900) I've been getting better at these. I had one I thought I couldn...

Egregious@rss.iscabbs.com — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 06:33:00 -0500


I've been getting better at these.  I had one I thought I couldn't
do any would need to ask you guys for help, but got it.  But here's
another one I'm stuck on.

    f e d c b a
    P U Z Z L E S
    Q U I Z Z E S
  +     I S S U E
 -----------------
    S P E C I A L

So all ten digits are represented: P U Z L E S Q I C A.

0 is not P, Q, S, I.  (start digits)
9 is not P, Q.        (P + Q <= 9)
5 is not       S.     (Else E = L)

S >=3.

I went through this list:

  S   f   P,Q  (some order)          E,L  2S+E = aL                           U
  3 | 0 | 1,2                      |
  4 | 1 | 1,2                      |
  4 | 0 | 1,3                      |
  6 | 1 | 1,4                      | 0,2 --- --- 3,5 --- 5,7 --- 7,9 8,0 --- |?
  6 | 1 |        2,3               | --- --- --- --- --- 5,7 --- 7,9 8,0 9,1 |?
  6 | 0 | 1,5                      | 0,2 --- 2,4 --- --- --- --- 7,9 8,0 --- |?
  6 | 0 |        2,4               | --- 1,3 --- 3,5 --- 5,7 --- 7,9 8,0 9,1 |?
  7 | 1 | 1,5 or 2,4               |
  7 | 0 | 1,6 or 2,5 or 3,4        |
  8 | 1 | 1,6 or 2,5 or 3,4        |
  8 | 0 | 1,7 or 2,6 or 3,5        |
  9 | 1 | 1,7 or 2,6 or 3,5        |
  9 | 0 | 1,8 or 2,7 or 3,6 or 4,5 |

I ruled out S=3 and S=4 by calculating the values of E,L.  For S=3
this took a few minutes, about twice as long for S=4 plus some more
branches.  It looks like S=6 would be at least 4 times as hairy.  I
calculated these pairs:

S=6. E,L can be 0,2 1,3 2,4 3,5 4,6 5,7 6,8 7,9 8,0 9,1
S=7. E,L can be 0,4 1,5 2,6 3,7 4,8 5,9 6,0 7,1 8,2 9,3
S=8. E,L can be 0,6 1,7 2,8 3,9 4,0 5,1 6,2 7,3 8,4 9,5
S=9. E,L can be 0,8 1,9 2,0 3,1 4,2 5,3 6,4 7,5 8,6 9,7

and then crossed out the ones that can't fit (as you can see on the
chart above).  It looks like a heck of a lot of branches to explore,
and since U won't be just 1 value, the a + 2E + U = bA case will
itself have a lot more branches.

This can't be the right way to proceed.

(Egregious/16899) Wow. I need to go through all that. Here was as far as I got

Egregious@rss.iscabbs.com — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 08:18:00 -0500

Wow.  I need to go through all that.  Here was as far as I got
before I got concerned I was on a wild goose chase:

I was able to figure out that:

 - E was trivially found to be 0.
 - L must be even.
 - I must be >= 2, since 4*I + a > 10.
 - P must be 1, 2, or 3.

With a little more thought, I found out:

 - the carry digit at the top of the hundres, thousands, and ten
   thousands column is the same.  (I called it "a," being careful
   to remember it could have the same value as another letter.)
 - "a" must be from 0 to 3, based on simple addition.

I have the following algebraic equations:

 4U     = 10a + L
 4S + a = 10a + Z
 4I + a = 10P + U

"a" cannot be 0, because that means that {U,S} is {1,2}, and
trying both those cases

1.
 U is 1, L is 4
 S is 2, Z is 8
 I * 4 = even, while 10P + U is odd, so this fails.
2.
 U is 2, L is 8
 S is 1, Z is 4
 I * 4 has to end in 2, so it could be 12 or 32.
 2a. It can't be 12, because P cannot be 1.
 2b. And it can't be 32, because I = 8, but L is 8.


Realizing that U and S have to be within 2 of each other is
obvious now that I look at it.

(DesCartes/16898) Looking at this, I can tell a couple things right away.

DesCartes@rss.iscabbs.com — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 08:15:00 -0500

Looking at this, I can tell a couple things right away.
There are only 8 digits, so 2 are unrepresented.

E has to be 0. There's no other digit such that 4* that digit also ends in that
digit.
L has to be even, since 4*U ends in L. So L is either 2, 4, 6 or 8.









(Spoiler)








P must be either 1, 2 or 3. (Those are the only three numbers in the tens digit
when multiplying a single digit by 4.)

And then I can do some trial and error.

  ISSU0
  ISSU0
  ISSU0
+ ISSU0
--------
 PUZZL0

I
S
U
E 0
P 1,2,3
Z
L 2,4,6,8

I also know that U and S are probably consecutive numbers, since 4*U and 4*S
both give the same tens digit (in order for the sum to be Z). If U is 1, S can
be 2 (and vice versa). Other sets of digits would be {3,4}, {5,6,7}, {8,9}.
Also, I>1 in order to get the extra digit. (I can be 2, if S is either 8 or 9.)

After this, I'd probably just do trial and error. If U = 2, then L = 8, S = 1,
P = 3, Z = 4. But then I would have to be 9, which does not give a 2 for U in
that column. Likewise, U can't be 3 (there would be no carrying, so the U under
the I column would have to be even.)

If U = 3, L = 2 (so P = 1). S = 4, so Z = 7. Since 4*I +1 (from carrying) must
be 3, and P must be 1, that means I must be 4, which is taken. Likewise, U
can't be 4 (because if we carry 1, the U under the I column must be odd.)

If U = 5, then L = 0.  If U = 6, then L = 4, and S must be either 5 (giving Z
to be 2) or 7 (giving Z to be 0, which can't be). U = 6, L = 4, S = 5, Z = 2
(so P = 1 or 3). 4*I + 2 must give 6, so 4*I is 4, which works for 1 (too
small) and 6 (taken).  The last in this group is U = 7. U = 7, L = 8. If S = 5,
then Z is 2 (and P is 1 or 3). Actually, U = 7 doesn't work, because the I
column needs to be even (since 4*I + the 2 we'd carry is even.)

This leaves 2 more possibilities for S and U. (In these cases, we carry 3, so
4*I + 3 would be U, and U would have to be odd.) Thus, U is 9 and S is 8.  And
L is 6 and Z is 5. That gives:

  I8890
  I8890
  I8890
+ I8890
--------
 P95560

I
S 8
U 9
E 0
P 1,2,3
Z 5
L 6

With 1, 2, 3, 4, 7 unclaimed.
4*I+3 = 9, so 4*I = 6, which works for I = 4. And P = 1.

(John Public/16897) Egregious> It's a constraint-satisfaction problem. To be a fun p...

John Public@rss.iscabbs.com — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 07:34:00 -0500

Egregious> It's a constraint-satisfaction problem. To be a fun puzzle, there's
probably a small amount of informed guesswork. For that particular problem,
one might notice that the E in the 1's column multiplied by 4 has as a result,
the same digit in its one's column. E*4 == E mod 10, which is simple to solve.
From that result, take the "carry" to the 10's column, etc. One might also
notice from the start that 5-digit number multiplied by 4 is a 6-digit number.
That narrows down the possibilities as well.  At least that's how I approach
those problems.

(Egregious/16896) A while back the New York Times had a puzzle section, and some o...

Egregious@rss.iscabbs.com — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 07:24:00 -0500


A while back the New York Times had a puzzle section, and some of
them were "cryto-math" puzzles like this:


  ISSUE
  ISSUE
  ISSUE
+ ISSUE
--------
 PUZZLE

where each letter represents 1 and exactly 1 digit.

I may not be remembering that one exactly.  I can dig it up later,
along with the others, but this one looked the easiest because you
could at least solve for E.

How does one go about solving these?  I went through some basic
logic and even some algebra and could rule out many possibilities,
but I hit a brick wall pretty fast.

(Steppenwolf/16895) A friend and I invented a numbering system the other day. In thi...

Steppenwolf@rss.iscabbs.com — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 07:14:00 -0500

A friend and I invented a numbering system the other day. In this system, 100 +
2 = 20, but 100 + 3 = 1,000,000.  What is the rule for this numbering system?

For extra credit, in what mathematical context could this system be very handy?

Hint below:






















20 = 9 in normal, base-10 notation; 1,000,000 = 17.

(Kena/16894) Okay, not -- I don't think -- strictly on-topic, but puzzles the...

Kena@rss.iscabbs.com — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 09:30:00 -0600

Okay, not -- I don't think -- strictly on-topic, but puzzles they are, and
mighty cool ones:
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/bruce.viney/gallery%20page%201.html

(Vlad Tepes/16893) Ghostman was the only one to answer correctly. the next 2 number...

Vlad Tepes@rss.iscabbs.com — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 14:03:00 -0600

Ghostman was the only one to answer correctly. the next 2 numbers in the
sequence are 47 and 309. the sequence is based on the increasing sum of the
digits in the numbers.

(Vlad Tepes/16892) so far i've received one correct answer and one incorrect answer...

Vlad Tepes@rss.iscabbs.com — Mon, 17 Jan 2011 23:14:00 -0600

so far i've received one correct answer and one incorrect answer.  i'll let it
run a little while longer to others a chance.

(Vlad Tepes/16891) 100, 11, 21, 13, 302, 105, 43, 71, 252, 82, ....

Vlad Tepes@rss.iscabbs.com — Sat, 15 Jan 2011 12:50:00 -0600

100, 11, 21, 13, 302, 105, 43, 71, 252, 82, ....

there are no typos. which of the following numbers are the next 2 in the above
sequence?

43, 47, 134, 86, 309, 88
aim

(Shag/16890) Eternal Messenger sent me the right answer in Mail>

Shag@rss.iscabbs.com — Tue, 12 Oct 2010 16:50:00 -0500

Eternal Messenger sent me the right answer in Mail>
"Senselessness"

And the weaponmaker with the cremnophobic understudy, as answered in Mail>
by Lammam P Yrruf, used words containing the only 4-letter sequences from
the alphabet (forward or backward) that appear in English words:
weaPONMaker, creMNOPhobic and undeRSTUdy.

(Fafaf/16889) Hmm... Five letters gets me the twelve-letter 'fiddledeedee' - i...

Fafaf@rss.iscabbs.com — Tue, 12 Oct 2010 11:20:00 -0500

Hmm... Five letters gets me the twelve-letter 'fiddledeedee' - is that one
word?

(DesCartes/16887) I came up with "sassafrass" (which may or may not be spelled cor...

DesCartes@rss.iscabbs.com — Tue, 12 Oct 2010 09:47:00 -0500

I came up with "sassafrass" (which may or may not be spelled correctly), which
has 4 letters and is 10 letters long.

(Lochner/16886) Closest I came is "re-engineering" which is 13 letters long with...

Lochner@rss.iscabbs.com — Tue, 12 Oct 2010 09:10:00 -0500

Closest I came is "re-engineering" which is 13 letters long with only 5
different letters.

(Shag/16885) I had a couple good guesses in Mail> but I meant a word that lit...

Shag@rss.iscabbs.com — Tue, 12 Oct 2010 04:26:00 -0500

I had a couple good guesses in Mail> but I meant a word that literally has
four, and thirteen, letters.  Id est, a word thirteen letters long that uses
only four letters of the alphabet.  It's a common English word, and not a
"four-letter word" in the swearing sense.

(Mathematically, each letter appears an average of 3.25 times in the word,
second only to the average 3.5 times each letter in the much shorter
"deedeed" appears.  And "deedeed" is a euphemism anyway.)

(Shag/16884) I already got a correct answer to that one in my Mail> so here's...

Shag@rss.iscabbs.com — Sun, 10 Oct 2010 23:54:00 -0500

I already got a correct answer to that one in my Mail> so here's another:

What four-letter word has thirteen letters?

(Shag/16883) I once knew a weaponmaker with a cremnophobic understudy.

Shag@rss.iscabbs.com — Sun, 10 Oct 2010 23:19:00 -0500

I once knew a weaponmaker with a cremnophobic understudy.

What did I just do in that sentence?

(Steppenwolf/16882) I ran across a curious two-word phrase in a headline about a sto...

Steppenwolf@rss.iscabbs.com — Sat, 25 Sep 2010 05:46:00 -0500

I ran across a curious two-word phrase in a headline about a store the other
day: adding a letter to the first word changed the pronunciation of the second,
not the first!

There are probably a number that fit this criteria, but I couldn't think of any
others. Can you work it out?

AIM.

(Dr Rocks/16881) For those of you on Facebook, I can offer a qualified endorsemen...

Dr Rocks@rss.iscabbs.com — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 10:00:00 -0500

For those of you on Facebook, I can offer a qualified endorsement of
Wordscraper, a Scrabble-like game. It supports unlimited games of two to four
players, which can be filled from your Friends list or from the general pool of
players. It shares the rules and attributes of Scrabble, with a few
differences:
- 8 tiles instead of 7, with some small differences in tile frequency and
value.
- Different default distribution of colored squares on the board.
- Customizable:  You can design your own board with colored squares
representing letter and word multipliers ranging from 2x to 5x, and can also
mess with the tiles.
- Choice of "challenge" or "regular" game--in the latter, the Wordscraper
software rejects words not in its dictionary, rather than waiting for a
challenge.

The software keeps track of your cumulative win history, and a score based on
that history. There are a few minor annoyances, but in general it works well
and provides some nice entertainment while within the Facebook environment
(i.e., you can still do Facebook IM and see when FB mail arrives).

(Kena/16880) And, an FYI, most of the set-in-some-Arabic-country ones come fr...

Kena@rss.iscabbs.com — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 06:44:00 -0500

And, an FYI, most of the set-in-some-Arabic-country ones come from a book
called Puzzle Math, from back in the 60's or so.  A lot of fun.

(Eternal Messenger/16879) Oh, I forgot... Here's the website where I found these. There ar...

Eternal Messenger@rss.iscabbs.com — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 15:20:00 -0500

Oh, I forgot... Here's the website where I found these. There are 60 on this
page, and there are other pages, like riddles, and lateral puzzles.
Unfortunately, the lateral puzzles doesn't have a "Solution" link.

http://dan.hersam.com/brain-teasers.html

This site does have solutions for lateral puzzles, if you're wondering what the
answers to some of those might be:

http://www.rinkworks.com/brainfood/p/lattrick1.shtml

Enjoy!

(I should mention... Just because I posted these links doesn't means we
shouldn't stop posting puzzles like these... I'm sure some of the puzzles on
there are well worth posting again.)

(Eternal Messenger/16878) Okay, as promised, here are the answers:

Eternal Messenger@rss.iscabbs.com — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 15:04:00 -0500

Okay, as promised, here are the answers:

S

P

O

I

L

E

R

S

P

A

C

E

1) 2^6 - 63 = 1 (2 to the power of 6)

2) The numbers are in alphabetical order.

3) The eye colour of the reader of this problem - you are the bus driver!

4) The wiseman tells them to switch camels.

5) 1113213211, the rule to create the next number is to simply describe the
previous number using only numbers. So the first line is one "one", making the
second line 11. That is described as two "ones" - making 21, and so on.

6) Turn one light switch on, wait a few minutes, then turn it off and turn
another one on. Go into the room and feel the off bulbs. The one that's still
warm is connected to the switch you first turned on, the bulb that's on is
connected to the second switch, and the last bulb is connected to the switch
you didn't touch.
I also accepted answers saying "turn two light switches on, wait a few minutes,
then turn one off", as it leads to the same conclusion.

7) She walked on the bridge towards Switzerland for 3 minutes and just as the
guard was about to come out, she turned around walking back to Germany. The
guard saw her and asked for her pass but she didn't have one and was sent back
(or what the guard thought was back) to Switzerland. In her case it was the
very country she wanted to go to.

8) "You will hang me".
I also accepted answer like "I will be hanged", or variations thereof.

9) The one labelled both. Since you know it's labelled incorrectly, it must
have all black marbles or all white marbles. After you determine what it
contains, you can identify the other two boxes by process of elimination.

10) Place 1 white marble in one bowl, and place the rest of the marbles in the
other bowl (49 whites and 50 blacks).
This way you begin with a 50/50 chance of choosing the bowl with just one white
marble and living. But even if you choose the other bowl, you still have an
almost 50% chance of picking one of the 49 white marbles. There are no
guarantees in life, but this is your best bet at surviving.

The following people answered all correctly: Lammam P Yrruf, Jaques, Zamboni.
Egregious and Steppenwolf answered all but one or two of them.Well done to you
all!

(Fafaf/16877) Ah! Quite. Carry on.

Fafaf@rss.iscabbs.com — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 15:02:00 -0500

Ah! Quite. Carry on.

(Eternal Messenger/16876) That's what the website said... I agree, it could have been bett...

Eternal Messenger@rss.iscabbs.com — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 10:41:00 -0500

That's what the website said... I agree, it could have been better rephrased,
but what it means is that the Emperor will mix the bowls and mix up the marbles
in that particular bowl. So, for example, if you put in 25 white and 25 black
marbles in one bowl, he would mix up the marbles so that (for example) you
couldn't have all the black marbles at the bottom of the bowl and the white
marbles resting on top.

(Fafaf/16875) I think you need to rephrase 10: you actually mean that the Empe...

Fafaf@rss.iscabbs.com — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 10:53:00 -0500

I think you need to rephrase 10: you actually mean that the Emperor will mix
the bowls, while keeping your marble ratio intact, right?

(Eternal Messenger/16874) Here's some puzzles that I've found on a website - I'll give the...

Eternal Messenger@rss.iscabbs.com — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 16:11:00 -0500

Here's some puzzles that I've found on a website - I'll give the website at a
later date, I'm just picking out a few of the ones that really made me think
for a while.

1) By moving one of the following digits, make the equation correct:

62 - 63 = 1

2) What is special about the following sequence of numbers?

8 5 4 9 1 7 6 10 3 2 0

3) You are the bus driver. At your first stop, you pick up 29 people. On your
second stop, 18 of those 29 people get off, and at the same time 10 new
passengers arrive. At your next stop, 3 of those 10 passengers get off, and 13
new passengers come on. On your fourth stop 4 of the remaining 10 passengers
get off, 6 of those new 13 passengers get off as well, then 17 new passengers
get on. What is the colour of the bus driver's eyes?

4) An Arab sheikh tells his two sons to race their camels to a distant city to
see who will inherit his fortune. The one whose camel is slower will win. The
brothers, after wandering aimlessly for days, ask a wise man for advise. After
hearing the advice, they jump on the camels and race as fast as they can to the
city. What did the wise man say?

5) Here is a series of numbers. What is the next number in the sequence?

1
11
21
1211
111221
312211
13112221

6) You are standing outside a closed door. On the other side of the door is a
room that has three light bulbs in it. The room is completely sealed off from
the outside. It has no windows and nothing can get in or out except through the
door. On the outside of the room there are three light switches that control
each of the respective light bulbs on the other side of the door.

Your assignment is to determine which light switch controls which light bulb.
You are allowed to enter the room only once, and once you come out, you must be
able to state with 100% certainty which light switch controls which light bulb.
How?

7) During WWII, there was a bridge connecting Germany and Switzerland, and on
the German side, there was a sentry tower with a guard in it. He would come out
every three minutes to check on the bridge, and he had orders to turn back
anyone who tried to get into Germany, and shoot anyone trying to escape without
a pass. There was a woman who desperately needed to get into Switzerland, and
she knew she didn't have time to get a pass. It would take her at least six
minutes to cross the bridge, but she managed to do it. How?

8) A prisoner is told, "If you tell a lie, we will hang you; if you tell the
truth, we will shoot you." What can he say to save himself?

9) Three closed boxes have either white marbles, black marbles, or both, and
they are labelled white, black, and both. However, you're told that each of the
labels are wrong. You may reach into one of the boxes and pull out only one
marble. Which box should you remove a marble from to determine the content of
all three boxes?

And one more...

10) You are a prisoner sentenced to death. The Emperor offers you a chance to
live by playing a simple game. He gives you 50 black marbles, 50 white marbles
and 2 empty bowls. He then says, "Divide these 100 marbles into these two
bowls. You can divide them any way you like as long as you use all the marbles.
Then I will blindfold you and mix the bowls and marbles up. You can then choose
one bowl and remove _one_ marble. If the marble is white, you live, but if the
marble is black... you die.

How do you divide the marbles up so that you have the greatest probability of
choosing a white marble?

Usual stuff apply... AIM, and I'll post the solutions and the website address
on Friday or whenever.

(Eternal Messenger/16873) Here's an interesting online Flash puzzle game called Closure. B...

Eternal Messenger@rss.iscabbs.com — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 10:12:00 -0600

Here's an interesting online Flash puzzle game called Closure. Basically,
you're in darkness, and you have to have bright light to avoid falling into
darkness, and these bright lights are normally in light orbs - but some of the
orbs are dark orbs in that they do provide light, but when you comes close to
them they darken up.

From what I hear, there are 30 levels in total, and I'm currently about
half-way through.

http://www.closuregame.com

(Click on "Flash Version" to play)

(Bumpkin/16872) but your brain thinks "oh i'm moving my right hand but it's show...

Bumpkin@rss.iscabbs.com — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 15:05:00 -0600

but your brain thinks "oh i'm moving my right hand but it's showng my left
move, weird!"

same thing when I combed my hair to the side when I was in high school, it
totally bugged me that my hair was the *exact opposite* of what I wnated it to
be!

(Angus Young/16871) Well technically a mirror doesn't really make left->right and ri...

Angus Young@rss.iscabbs.com — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 15:02:00 -0600

Well technically a mirror doesn't really make left->right and right->left.. it
inverts your image along the z-axis.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6tuxLY94LXw

But, I guess that's a _little_ too techincal for these purposes. hehehe

(Bumpkin/16870) I figure for a 12 year old (or even mid-teen), it's not too hard...

Bumpkin@rss.iscabbs.com — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 15:03:00 -0600

I figure for a 12 year old (or even mid-teen), it's not too hard, yet not
totally simple (at least I don't think it is)

(Lochner/16869) That's pretty solid, I may use that.

Lochner@rss.iscabbs.com — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 14:50:00 -0600

That's pretty solid, I may use that.

(Bumpkin/16868) for a mirror, how about:

Bumpkin@rss.iscabbs.com — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 14:27:00 -0600

for a mirror, how about:

"You look at me, and I look at you. What's left is now right, this is true.
Up is still up, down is still down.  The next clue will remove your frown"

(er, I should have put something in like, "look behind me blah blah"

(Lochner/16867) He's 12, but he's a little advanced for his age. He's been play...

Lochner@rss.iscabbs.com — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 11:26:00 -0600


He's 12, but he's a little advanced for his age.  He's been playing Settlers of
Catan since he was 8, for example.  I've got it mostly puzzled out now, I'll
show the finished product once I'm done with it, it's a neat treasure map.

(Angus Young/16866) Lochner>

Angus Young@rss.iscabbs.com — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 11:24:00 -0600

Lochner>
How old is your kid?  (i.e. how cryptic do you want it to be)?

(Lochner/16865) I'm working on a treasure hunt for my son for Christmas. Every ...

Lochner@rss.iscabbs.com — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 19:34:00 -0600


I'm working on a treasure hunt for my son for Christmas.  Every year I put
together a treasure hunt for him and it gets more complex every year.

This year we're stepping it up a notch and he's getting a map with hidden
messages and a folding technique he has to learn to discover the message.

Anyway, I need some riddles for him to solve that direct him to household
items.  For example, he sleeps with a fan on full blast for white noise, so I'm
going to hide a clue under the fan and the riddle to find the clue is "With
whirling blades, I scream while you sleep."

Looking for ideas for other riddles about household items - mirrors, tables,
desks, whatever.

Google turned up really stupid stuff, any ideas?

(Eternal Messenger/16864) Who, me? innocent look (Yeah, I did...)

Eternal Messenger@rss.iscabbs.com — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 17:31:00 -0600

Who, me? *innocent look* (Yeah, I did...)

(Xenos/16863) Have you been watching QI Eternal Messenger? ;-)

Xenos@rss.iscabbs.com — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 17:25:00 -0600

Have you been watching QI Eternal Messenger? ;-)

(Fafaf/16862) Meow!

Fafaf@rss.iscabbs.com — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 13:25:00 -0600

Meow!

(Bumpkin/16861) yeah I'm sorry, but no pussy is worth being shot at, I don't car...

Bumpkin@rss.iscabbs.com — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 12:34:00 -0600

yeah I'm sorry, but no pussy is worth being shot at, I don't care how good it
is

(Eternal Messenger/16860) Yes, the best thing for Alan is to deliberately miss, shoot up t...

Eternal Messenger@rss.iscabbs.com — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 15:37:00 -0600

Yes, the best thing for Alan is to deliberately miss, shoot up the air, or
something like that, as Barry will always shoot at Chris, because Chris has a
high chance of hitting some when (if) he shoot.

The person that I've heard this from said it's based on "game theory", as in
calculating the chances of what's the best option for that individual person
(in this case, Alan). I understand that the usual given example is the
"Prisoner's Dilemma" problem, and when I heard this, I thought it was quite
interesting.

Obviously, as quite a few people have pointed out, this puzzle doesn't
exactly makes sense, as there's likely to be still two, if not three people
left alive after the first round of shooting, and Alan pretty much has no
chance of winning.

There's been quite a few who've got this correct, so congratulations to you
all!

(Fafaf/16859) And poor Deborah! Being sought after by three such short-sighted...

Fafaf@rss.iscabbs.com — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 08:03:00 -0600

And poor Deborah! Being sought after by three such short-sighted, violent men!

(Knightshade/16858) He should fire into the air.

Knightshade@rss.iscabbs.com — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 07:07:00 -0600


He should fire into the air.

Killing either opponent leaves him a 60 or 90 percent chance to get shot, and a
0% chance to "win".  At best he'd be one of two left.


If he fires into the air however then neither other guy has a chance to win
either, and thus also no good reason to fire at him (unless simply narrowing
from 3 to 2 would be worthwhile, in which case he should STILL fire into the
air, because in the absence of other info it means Barry will ALWAYS fire at
Chris, and even if he misses he stands only a 45% chance of being shot by Chris
(90% to hit, 50/50 who he shoots... whereas on the off chance he does hit Chris
he would then stand a 60% chance of Barry shooting him, or on the off chance he
hits Barry he'd stand a 90% chance of Chris doing so).

Thus, firing into the air is always his best shot at not being, err, shot.


He's of course an idiot for agreeing to this as it's impossible for him to
"win"

(Eternal Messenger/16857) It means the gun will definitely fire, it just may or may not hi...

Eternal Messenger@rss.iscabbs.com — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 16:22:00 -0600

It means the gun will definitely fire, it just may or may not hit another
gunman. Bear in mind that they each only have the one bullet in their
respective guns.

(Angus Young/16856) A couple clarifications...

Angus Young@rss.iscabbs.com — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 16:17:00 -0600

A couple clarifications...
on the 'chance of hitting someone'.  Does this mean the gun will definitely
fire, but they just may or may not hit.

If it means that it doesn't always fire, is the idea that they will keep
shooting until only one man is standing?

(Fafaf/16855) Alan should 'wing' himself and hope he gets Deborah's sympathy. ...

Fafaf@rss.iscabbs.com — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 16:03:00 -0600

Alan should 'wing' himself and hope he gets Deborah's sympathy. Barry will
shoot Chris, and Chris, if he can shoot, will shoot the uninjured Barry. ;)

(Eternal Messenger/16854) Sorry, trying again... Alan goes first, then Barry, followed by ...

Eternal Messenger@rss.iscabbs.com — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 15:58:00 -0600

Sorry, trying again... Alan goes first, then Barry, followed by Chris. They
shoot one after the other.

(Egregious/16852) Are they taking turns shooting one at a time? If so, is the ord...

Egregious@rss.iscabbs.com — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 15:55:00 -0600

Are they taking turns shooting one at a time?  If so, is the order of
shooting pre-determined?

(Eternal Messenger/16851) This might be a very easy puzzle for this, and most of you, if n...

Eternal Messenger@rss.iscabbs.com — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 15:39:00 -0600

This might be a very easy puzzle for this, and most of you, if not all,
probably knows the answer, but I've just heard this, and thought I should post
it here...

There are these three gunmen, Alan, Barry, and Chris, all of who loves the same
lady, Deborah. In order to decides who gets to be with Deborah, they decides to
have a "truel" (triple-duel).

Each gunman has only one bullet in their gun. Alan has a 10% chance of hitting
someone, Barry has a 60% chance of hitting someone, and Chris has a 90% chance
of hitting someone.

Alan has the first shot. What should he do?

(Japhy/16850) Well, you have to distract the owls and move them out of the way...

Japhy@rss.iscabbs.com — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 12:12:00 -0600

Well, you have to distract the owls and move them out of the way - I think
that's where they were going.

(Fafaf/16849) The bunny game uses owls - funny, since owls eat bunnies! Cute, ...

Fafaf@rss.iscabbs.com — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 12:08:00 -0600

The bunny game uses owls - funny, since owls eat bunnies! Cute, though. Mayeb 
I
will show some kids that one. Thanks!

(Egregious/16848) I think we were debating this puzzle in here a while back:

Egregious@rss.iscabbs.com — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 10:27:00 -0600

I think we were debating this puzzle in here a while back:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boy_or_Girl_paradox

(Amaranth/16846) Aahhhhhhhhh!!!!!

Amaranth@rss.iscabbs.com — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 18:23:00 -0600

Aahhhhhhhhh!!!!!

(Eternal Messenger/16845) heh Yeah, I've just completed the whole game myself, as soon a...

Eternal Messenger@rss.iscabbs.com — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 13:04:00 -0600

*heh* Yeah, I've just completed the whole game myself, as soon as I figured it
out, the rest was quite easy for me. Still, quite a nice game. *nods*

(Xenos/16844) Eternal Messenger:

Xenos@rss.iscabbs.com — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 13:03:00 -0600

Eternal Messenger:
Spoiler space before hint...
























It's simply a question of doing things in the right sequence...

(Eternal Messenger/16843) Sorry for the double, but I've been given this link to an online...

Eternal Messenger@rss.iscabbs.com — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 12:47:00 -0600

Sorry for the double, but I've been given this link to an online Flash game,
where you try to feed the rabbit under the full moon. It starts off very easy,
but gets trickier over time. Thought some of you might like trying to work out
what you have to do to feed the rabbit.

As for me, I'm currently trying to figure out what to do with the owls on the
lights...

http://www.bartbonte.com/fullmoon

(Eternal Messenger/16842) And with that, I've worked out Steppenwolf's puzzle. heh Thank...

Eternal Messenger@rss.iscabbs.com — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 12:41:00 -0600

And with that, I've worked out Steppenwolf's puzzle. *heh* Thanks for the hint,
I knew I was missing something simple. (I was like Amaranth, I was staring at
it for ages, trying to see what it was saying, until the letter were swimming
around going "HA-HA" at me... *grins*)

(Fafaf/16841) Amaranth: hint to follow:

Fafaf@rss.iscabbs.com — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 12:27:00 -0600

Amaranth: hint to follow:
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
SPOILER SPACE
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*

Your last post decodes as 
 
IF

(Amaranth/16840) Okay, I am thinking too hard on Stepp's puzzle. Time to step awa...

Amaranth@rss.iscabbs.com — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 11:21:00 -0600

Okay, I am thinking too hard on Stepp's puzzle. Time to step away from it.

(Amaranth/16839) It took some thinking, but if you know how puzzles work, the fir...

Amaranth@rss.iscabbs.com — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 11:05:00 -0600

It took some thinking, but if you know how puzzles work, the first thing to do
is work "outside the box."

(Mama K/16838) It's one that's been around for a while.

Mama K@rss.iscabbs.com — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 11:05:00 -0600

It's one that's been around for a while.

(Lochner/16837) Apparently it's an easy puzzle since about 10 people have x'd me...

Lochner@rss.iscabbs.com — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 11:04:00 -0600

Apparently it's an easy puzzle since about 10 people have x'd me the solution.

(Japhy/16836) It only took me two letters to figure out the message, Step.

Japhy@rss.iscabbs.com — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 10:57:00 -0600

It only took me two letters to figure out the message, Step.

Lochner, I know your answer, but I figured you didn't want me to spoil it here
with it only being up an hour.