Friday, December 26, 2014

Sweetheart of Sigma Chiasmus; When the mirror ball drops...; Ars (font) Poetica; The Name Game; Sun, moon, stars... fireworks!


Welcome to Joseph Young’s Puzzle –ria! Happy New Year and Happy Puzzling! Here’s hoping your sprinkles, dashes and dollops of tangy, sage and piquant holiday seasoning linger well into this new year.

We resolve to see you all again in 2015, on January 2.

For some reason, this week’s puzzle slices seem to possess a somewhat romantic flavor, a full six months-plus before St. Valentine’s Day. (Sic! That should be six-weeks-plus... see Word Womans December 26, 7:15 AM comment/correction below, in the Comments Section) 

Hope you “love” ’em. Here they are:


Menu

Specialty Of The House Slice:
Ars (Font) Poetica

Take the first word of a well-known and beloved poem. Print it in all-lowercase letters, and in a font such as Ar Cena, pictured at the right, or Ar Darling, pictured below it. (Or, use a font such as Segoe Print, Century Gothic or Levernim.)
 
Rotate the word’s second letter 180-degrees clockwise and its first letter 45 degrees counterclockwise to create a shorthand form of a nine-letter word.

The shorter word is often misunderstood and controversial, but unjustifiably so because it is a perfectly legitimate form of the longer word. This nine-letter word (or its shorthand counterpart) is the subject of the beloved poem.

What are the two forms of the word and what is the poem?

Waiter, I Didn’t Order This Slice:
The Name Game



The following four names are in the wrong order:

Bobby, Malcolm, Rog and Mick 

Put them in the correct order and explain what they signify.





Reflexive Rotational Slice:
When the mirror ball drops…


Name something that is commonplace every December 31 at the midnight hour. Change the last two letters to their mirror reflections, replace their rounded corners and curves with acute angles and straight lines, and move these two new letters to the left of the others.
 
Replace each letter with the one that appears 13 places after it (or before it) in the alphabet (ROT13). The result is timely. What is it?




Spoon-fed Slice:
The Sweetheart of Sigma Chiasmus

It is January 31, 1879. Oxford University dean the Rev. William Archibald Spooner has just returned from a fortnight away from home as a visiting guest-lecturer (lecturing on “Christmas, Chiasmus and the Cross”) at the University of London. He is now back at his Oxford home spending a quiet romantic New Year’s Eve evening alone with his wife Frances, billing, cooing, spooning, canoodling and, at the stroke of midnight, kissing.

After their smooch, Frances coos to William:
“I’m happy having you near.”
William coos back a six-word response which adds the letters in the word “awe” to his wife’s five-word declaration, but also subtracts from it two vowels that do not appear in “awe.”

What was the Rev. Spooner’s response?



One-Hundred-Eighty-Degree Slice:
Sun, moon, stars… fireworks!

A lad and a gal in North or South America have a yen for one another. They kiss beneath the moon and stars.

On an island half a world away there is sun (not rising, already risen) and a lad and gal who have yen in their pockets and a yen for one another. A half-a-day before the American couple kissed, this couple also kissed beneath the moon and stars.

Take the three letters in “sun” and add one each to the words “lad,” “gal” and “yen.” 

Now rearrange each group of letters to form three new four-letter words that form a song title. What is this song title?








Every Friday at Joseph Young’s Puzzle -ria! we publish a new menu of fresh word puzzles, number puzzles, logic puzzles, puzzles of all varieties and flavors. We cater to cravers of scrumptious puzzles!

Our master chef, Grecian gourmet puzzle-creator Lego Lambda, blends and bakes up mysterious (and sometimes questionable) toppings and spices (such as alphabet soup, Mobius bacon strips, diced snake eyes, cubed radishes, “hominym” grits, anagraham crackers, rhyme thyme and sage sprinklings.)

 
Please post your comments below. Feel free also to post clever and subtle hints that do not give the puzzle answers away. Please wait until after 3 p.m. Eastern Time on Tuesdays to post your answers and explain your hints about the puzzles. We serve up at least one fresh puzzle every Friday.


We invite you to make it a habit to “Meet at Joe’s!” If you enjoy our weekly puzzle party, please tell your friends about Joseph Young’s Puzzle -ria! Thank you.

Friday, December 19, 2014

"May a pax be upon your manger!"; O Little Noun of Bethlehem; Christmas Quiz Mastery; All naughty, none nice; O, Miss Kris Tree; Just a piece in our game just, as served, two became

Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukah from Joseph Young’s Puzzle –ria! This week’s blog will be a tad less intense and a mite more mellow than usual.


Oh sure, we will still serve up a merry menu of puzzle slices, but some will be ones you may want to share with family members, especially precocious youngsters, if you encounter any leisurely down-time over the holidays.

We baked these puzzles in hopes that they’ll melt in your mouth, not melt down your brain.

But first, here are a few of our favorite Yuletide things, things that lift us up into the spirit of Christmas:
The evangelist Luke’s nativity narrative;



And, movies galore:
“Bells of St.Mary’s”; “It’s a Wonderful Life”; “Miracle on 34th Street” (NatalieWood’s 1947 version); “A Christmas Story” (master storyteller Jean Shepherd’s magna opus); “The Apartment”; “Stalag 17” (kinda hokey but a nice plot); “The Nativity Story” (a nice narrative of what the Nativity might have been like)…

And, our sleeper pick, “We’re No Angels” (1955 version, a bit hokey but great plot and performances by Bogart, Ustinov and Aldo Ray. See screen shots, above)

Now here is this week’s merry menu of pine-fresh Puzzleria! slices. Hop aboard and join us on our Magical Mystical Yuletide Tour, on our SantaNantucket Sleighride to the snowy peaks of Puzzledom:

Menu

Evergreen Slice:
O, Miss Kris Tree…

Miss Kris Tree stands in the family room by the picture window, skirted and all decked out with shiny, sparkly “adornaments,” with a ribbony rainbow of gaily wrapped presents at her feet… er, her foot. Also at her foot are her pet shrubs, Puppytree and Kittentree. Solve the following riddles regarding Miss Kris Tree:

What does Miss Kris Tree do when people applaud her?
After a few too many Christmas cookies, where does she keep her “spare tire”?
What does she prefer having her Christmas day turkey dinner with?
How does Miss Kris Tree describe someone who is in a jittery state of anticipation?
What does Miss Kris put scoops of ice cream into?
When Kris wears a hooded parka how does she accessorize it?
What nickname does Miss Kris Tree use when referring to Hollywood?
Besides her hooded parka, what does Miss Kris Tree wear to keep warm?
What type of salad dressing does Miss Kris Tree pour onto her chef salad?
What are her two favorite math subjects at school?
What does Miss Kris tell nervous strangers about her pet puppy, “Puppytree”?
What does Puppytree say when he observes a particularly well-decorated limb of his mistress, Miss Kris?
What does Miss Kris Tree’s pet kitten, “Kittentree” call the spherical ornaments worn by her mistress?
What does a sun-deprived Miss Kris Tree apply to her trunk when she notices it is becoming a bit too “birchbarkish”?
What is Miss Kris Tree’s favorite soft drink/soda?
Who is Miss Kris Tree’s favorite pro golfer?
What is her favorite Tom Hanks movie?
When in an alliterative mood, who is her favorite New Jersey rock star?

Scrabbley Slice:
Christmas Quiz Mastery


Using 18 Scrabble tiles, place the words “Christmas,” “Quiz” and “Mastery” simultaneously on a standard Scrabble board so that the three words are connected and score the maximum point total possible.

Note #1: If you use the starred center square, treat it as a double-word score.
Note #2: Words may be “stacked” one atop another horizontally, or set adjacent to one another vertically, but only if all the two-letter words formed are official Scrabble words, in either the TWL or SOWPODS lists. For example, “tq,” “eu” and “yz” are not official Scrabble words. 


Yule Tied In a Bow Slice:
All naughty, none nice
Santa is making a list (below) and checking it for consistencies. The words and phrases in his list all have something in common. All are “naughty.” None are nice. Exactly what is it they have in common that makes them “naughty?”

Nativity; Christmas Eve; Away in a manger; Our Savior is born; The Gift of the Magi; Wise men; We three kings of Orient are bearing gifts, we traverse afar; Shepherds; Cherubim; Seraphim; Saint Nick; Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer; Joy; Christmas Time Is Here; I’m dreaming of a white Christmas; Fruitcake; Quince or mincemeat pies; Christmas quizzes; Frosty the Snowman; Happy Xmas (War Is Over); Creche scenes; Red and green decorations; A star set atop the evergreen tree; Frosted cookies; Candy canes; Popcorn strings; Bright, shiny ornaments; Do They Know It’s Christmas?; Tiny Tim; Ebenezer Scrooge; the Grinch; Eggnog; Nutmeg; Ribbons, bows and wrapping paper covering boxed-up presents; Ave Maria; Up On The Housetop; Chestnuts roasting on an open fire, Jack Frost nipping at your nose; Santa’s workshop; Earth Today Rejoices; the Nutcracker Suite; The Chipmunk Song; O Tannenbaum; Poinsettias; Yorkshire pudding; Advent wreaths; Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree... but not that other “Rock Around...” song that was a smash hit in the same decade; A partridge in a pear tree; The stockings were hung by the chimney with care; Do You Hear What I Hear?; December twenty-fifth... or twenty-five... or twenty-five-or-six to four (or three-thirty-five-or-four) if youre in Chicago; I Saw Three Ships; Unto Us A Boy Is Born; Peace on Earth;  “Go near, see him, my pax”; Frankincense, myrrh... and whatever that third gift was that the other magus (what was his name? Gaspar? Caspar?) brought to Jesus... I can never quite remember the type of treasure he had borne and bestowed on the newborn babe... wait, now it is somewhat coming back to me... and so, on second thought, maybe not, never mind; Gonna find out who’s naughty or nice;
 
Hint: There is only one acceptable answer, and it is a short one. But the short answer (ironically, like O. Henry’s “The Gift of the Magi”) is nice, not naughty, so Santa would have to keep it off his above list. (The title of this slice, “All naughty, none nice,” is similarly ironic.)



Easy As Shepherds Pie Slice:
O Little Noun of Bethlehem

Think of a singular noun associated with the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem. Remove three of its letters and add a common personal pronoun to the end to form a plural noun associated with the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem. 

Replace the pronoun you added with a different personal pronoun to create the singular form of the plural noun you previously created.

What are these three nouns?



 Wise Women Seek Him Still Slice:
“May a pax be upon your manger!”

Wise men from the East followed the Star of Bethlehem to the site of Christ’s Nativity. But let’s say a trio of wise women from the West also paid a Nativity visit – Germanic wise women, three proto-English-speaking, not-so-obtuse Angles, Saxons or Jutes who picked up a smattering of Latin along the way on their eastward trek toward Bethlehem.

Let’s also say that one of the women, upon beholding the babe in the manger, in a hybrid “Latinglish” tongue suggests to her companions: 
“Go near, see him, my pax.”

Rearrange the letters of those six words to form four words Рthree of them plural Рthat often appear in cr̬che scenes. What are they?




Plurality Slice:
just, as served, two became

Take a singular word that can be a synonym for “justice of the peace.” Change the last letter to a different letter and divide the result to form two plural words. What are they?
 









Every Friday at Joseph Young’s Puzzle -ria! we publish a new menu of fresh word puzzles, number puzzles, logic puzzles, puzzles of all varieties and flavors. We cater to cravers of scrumptious puzzles!


Our master chef, Grecian gourmet puzzle-creator Lego Lambda, blends and bakes up mysterious (and sometimes questionable) toppings and spices (such as alphabet soup, Mobius bacon strips, diced snake eyes, cubed radishes, “hominym” grits, anagraham crackers, rhyme thyme and sage sprinklings.)

Please post your comments below. Feel free also to post clever and subtle hints that do not give the puzzle answers away. Please wait until after 3 p.m. Eastern Time on Tuesdays to post your answers and explain your hints about the puzzles. We serve up at least one fresh puzzle every Friday.


We invite you to make it a habit to “Meet at Joe’s!” If you enjoy our weekly puzzle party, please tell your friends about Joseph Young’s Puzzle -ria! Thank you.

Friday, December 12, 2014

Jazz Guzzlers; Hippo Triple-Team; Police and Politicos


Welcome to Joseph Young’s Puzzle –ria!



It is Friday, December 12. Let us begin this week's festivities with a timely mathematics puzzle. 

Some of the numbers will be familiar to number theorists and other number nuts (Please note, that i“number with an -er” at the end!)


Bonus Timely Slice:
Groundhog Day-after

Name the final number in this sequence:
6, 24, 60, 120, 210, 336, 504, 720, 990, 1320, 1716, ____
(There is no significance in my omission of commas from the four-digit integers. With the commas between the integers, it just seemed too confusing to place commas also within some integers.)

Besides naming the final number, explain the significance of the sequence. Your explanation will likely account for why is there no Nth number in the sequence for N > 12, at least not in the world we live in. Mathematically, however, the sequence of course extends infinitely (as do most things mathy, either infinitely or infinitesimally).

Express the value of the Nth integer in the sequence as a ratio in terms of N.

Hints:
One number pertains to the day after Groundhog Day (the day that Phil Connors {portrayed by Bill Murray} was seemingly in danger of never waking up to) in a year that was one in a seven-consecutive-year streak in which Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow.

One number pertains to the eve of the tenth anniversary of 9/11.

One number pertains to the day Three Studies of Lucian Freud, a series of portraits of Lucian Freud by the British painter Francis Bacon, sold for $142.4 million in a New York City auction, setting a new world record for an auctioned work of art (see illustrations above… for free!).

One number (not shown) pertains to tomorrow.

Two weeks ago Dr. Will Shortz, National Public Radio Weekend Edition Sunday puzzle master, laid some “amazing wordplay on us. ... 


But now for something completely amazing in a different kind of way. (Thanks to Rose, my friend, former co-worker and design whiz, for tipping me off to the buzz about this labyrinthinazi” wrapping paper pattern.)

Okay, thats a wrap. Now here is this week’s trio of fresh Puzzleria! slices:

 Menu

Sporty Easy As Pie Slice:
Hippo Triple-Team

Name an event – in two words, one of them an initialism – that takes place on a field. Three teams share the field, all uniformed and all with equine nicknames. Each team’s uniform reflects its nickname.

At any one time, the number of team members on the field for any one team rhymes with the other two team-member numbers. Two of the teams, whose nicknames are official, consist of backs, linebackers and linemen. 

The third team, with fewer members and a nickname that is unofficial,  jocular (and perhaps mildly derisive), consists of a head linesman and others.

Reverse the fourth and fifth letters of the event and move its first letter to the end, resulting in a second possible, but less jocular and derisive, nickname for members of the third team. (Hint: No, it’s not “scrubs!”)

What are the event and the second nickname of the “third team”?
Extra credit: What are the nicknames of the two larger teams and the other, more jocular, nickname of the third team?    

Superfluous hint: A member of one team participated in league championship games for both of the larger teams.

 (Un)conventional Slice:
Police and Politicos


Think of a word associated with “conventional” politicians who are not the silent type. 

Rearrange all but the first three letters to form a word associated with unconventional policemen who are the silent type.

What are these two words?

Big Band Slice:
Jazz Guzzlers



Take an adjective associated with a particular jazz band popular in the mid-20th century. 

Remove the fourth letter and divide the result into two words that each can mean “to drink or take in sustenance.” 

What are these three words? What is the popular jazz band?






Every Friday at Joseph Young’s Puzzle -ria! we publish a new menu of fresh word puzzles, number puzzles, logic puzzles, puzzles of all varieties and flavors. We cater to cravers of scrumptious puzzles!

Our master chef, Grecian gourmet puzzle-creator Lego Lambda, blends and bakes up mysterious (and sometimes questionable) toppings and spices (such as alphabet soup, Mobius bacon strips, diced snake eyes, cubed radishes, “hominym” grits, anagraham crackers, rhyme thyme and sage sprinklings.)
 
Please post your comments below. Feel free also to post clever and subtle hints that do not give the puzzle answers away. Please wait until after 3 p.m. Eastern Time on Tuesdays to post your answers and explain your hints about the puzzles. We serve up at least one fresh puzzle every Friday.

We invite you to make it a habit to “Meet at Joe’s!” If you enjoy our weekly puzzle party, please tell your friends about Joseph Young’s Puzzle -ria! Thank you.