Anatomy leads to antonymy; Translating algebra into English; Climate change of place; Men of (somewhat different) letters

PUZZLERIA! SLICES: OVER (876 + 54) SERVED

Welcome to our October 20th edition of Joseph Young’s Puzzleria!

We feature this week a ⇓⇓⇓⇓ four-part Riffing Off Shortz Slice. It asks the solver to shift some numbers around to equalize inequalities, then to translate numerical equations into English poetry.

Also on our menus are:

⇓ One anatomical Appetizer,

⇓ One  Best Seller Slice, and

⇓ One world map Dessert.

Please enjoy.

Appetizer Menu

Body Language Appetizer:

Anatomy leads to antonymy 

Place the names of two body parts, singular and plural, next to each other without a space. Inserting spaces in two different places results in three consecutive new words. The first and third new words are antonyms of one another. The second new word names what one of the body parts allows you to do. What are these body parts?

MENU

Best Seller Slice:

Men of (somewhat different) letters

Remove some consecutive letters from the full name (as it appears on dust jackets) of a best-selling author to form the full name (as it appears on dust jackets) of another best-selling author who has published about four times as many books as the first author, and in a different genre. Who are these authors?

Riffing Off Shortz And Guido Slices:

Translating algebra into English 

Will Shortz’s October 1st NPR Weekend Edition Sunday puzzle, created by Zack Guido, reads: 

Write down the equation 65 – 43 = 21. You’ll notice that this is not correct. 65 minus 43 equals 22, not 21. The object is to move exactly two of the digits to create a correct equation. There is no trick in the puzzle’s wording. In the answer, the minus and equal signs do not move.

Puzzleria’s! Riffing Off Shortz Slices read:

ONE:

Write down the equation 65 – 43 = 210. You’ll notice that this is not correct. 65 minus 43 equals 22, not 210. The object is to move exactly two of the digits to create a correct equation. 

There is no trick in the puzzle’s wording. In the answer, the minus and equal signs do not move. 

TWO:

Write down the equation 65 = 43 – 210. You’ll notice that this is not correct. The object is to delete exactly one digit and move exactly two of the remaining six digits to create a correct equation. There is no trick in the puzzle’s wording. In the answer, the minus and equal signs do not move.

THREE:

Translate the following equation into an English quatrain. The first and third lines are written in iambic tetrameter. The second and fourth lines are written in iambic trimeter with dangling unstressed syllables at their ends.

(13 + 20)  +  (30 + 4³)  =  97

    11

Here is an outline of what the quatrain will look like:

A _____’_  _____  ____  _  _____ 
Divided  __  ______
Plus  ______  ____  ___  ____  __  ____
Will  _____  ______-_____.

FOUR:

Translate the following equation into an English quatrain in iambic heptameter. 

($100)(12) – [($0.10)(7,000) + ($0.25)(1,200)  + ($0.05)(x)] = 0

The first couplet of the quatrain consists of two declarative sentences, each ending with a period. The second couplet of the quatrain includes a colon and a comma, in that order, and ends with a question mark.

The verse contains 45 words. 

Its first line contains 11 words, one of them a contraction; The second line contains 12 words; The third line contains 11 words; The fourth line contains 9 words.

There are no hyphenated words in the verse.

The final words of the four lines are, in order, “times,” “bill,”  [a word that rhymes with “times”] and [a word that rhymes with “bill”].

The initial words of the four lines are, in order,
“My,” 
“Per,” 
“This” and “Twelve.” 

Below, in alphabetical order, are 25 of the 35 remaininng (43 – 8) words that appear in the quatrain. The number in parentheses following each word indicates the line in which it appears:

a (1), a (2), and (3), blown (3), break (2), cash (1), crisp (2), dollar (2), each (2), how (4), I (2), in (1), income’s (1), is (3), many (4), me (1), meager (1), month (2), on (3), paid (1), slots (3), sum (3), to (1), vendors (3), year (2);

The remaining 10 words (35 – 25) are evident in the algebraic equation that is to be translated.

Here is an outline of what the quatrain will look like:

My ______  ______’_  ____  __  __  __  ____  _  _____  times

Per ____.  ____  _____  _  _____  _  _____  ___  _______  ______  bill.  

This  ___  __  _____  __  _____  ___  _______:  _____  ________  [“times” rhyme],

Twelve  _______  ________  ____  ___  ____  _______  ______  [“bill” rhyme]?

(Finally, solve for x.)

Dessert Menu

Global Dessert:

Climate change of place

Remove a two-letter abbreviation from a city on the world map, leaving two words in which all five vowels appear exactly once except for “a” (which not appear at all). 

Reverse the positions of the two words, remove the space, replace the “u” with an “a”  and eliminate the “e”. The result, spelled backward, names the climate of this city.

What is this city, and what is its climate?

Every Friday at Joseph Young’s Puzzleria! 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 Wednesdays to post your answers and explain your hints about the puzzles. We serve up at least one fresh puzzle every Friday.

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