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#1 2012-07-14 01:50:59

phrontister
Real Member
From: The Land of Tomorrow
Registered: 2009-07-12
Posts: 4,810

Challenging cross-number puzzle #1

Hi!

Here's a challenging puzzle that's great for passing the time on boring train or bus trips...or by the fire on a cold, rainy evening (of which we've had quite a few here lately sad ).

Have fun! smile

Last edited by phrontister (2012-07-14 03:29:37)


"The good news about computers is that they do what you tell them to do. The bad news is that they do what you tell them to do." - Ted Nelson

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#2 2012-07-14 01:56:20

bobbym
bumpkin
From: Bumpkinland
Registered: 2009-04-12
Posts: 109,606

Re: Challenging cross-number puzzle #1

Hi phrontister;

That will do!


In mathematics, you don't understand things. You just get used to them.
If it ain't broke, fix it until it is.
Always satisfy the Prime Directive of getting the right answer above all else.

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#3 2012-07-14 04:36:29

Bob
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Registered: 2010-06-20
Posts: 10,053

Re: Challenging cross-number puzzle #1

hi phro

Great ... I love these.  but it will set back the completion date on DOB / DOP.

Bob


Children are not defined by school ...........The Fonz
You cannot teach a man anything;  you can only help him find it within himself..........Galileo Galilei
Sometimes I deliberately make mistakes, just to test you!  …………….Bob smile

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#4 2012-07-14 04:59:15

phrontister
Real Member
From: The Land of Tomorrow
Registered: 2009-07-12
Posts: 4,810

Re: Challenging cross-number puzzle #1

Hi Bob,

Xlnt! Glad you'll like it! (in anticipation) smile

Pity about the DOB/DOP setback, though. Still, given the doability of this new puzzle it shouldn't add too many days at all, then, to the 12th of N__er for DOB/DOP's completion, wouldn't you say? wink

Last edited by phrontister (2012-07-14 05:10:31)


"The good news about computers is that they do what you tell them to do. The bad news is that they do what you tell them to do." - Ted Nelson

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#5 2012-07-14 05:13:38

Bob
Administrator
Registered: 2010-06-20
Posts: 10,053

Re: Challenging cross-number puzzle #1

Well I have an formula.

Trouble is "too many unknowns" !

I'll just get on with it.  smile

the 12th of N__er

Is this a Freudian slip type hint?

Bob


Children are not defined by school ...........The Fonz
You cannot teach a man anything;  you can only help him find it within himself..........Galileo Galilei
Sometimes I deliberately make mistakes, just to test you!  …………….Bob smile

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#6 2012-07-14 05:19:49

phrontister
Real Member
From: The Land of Tomorrow
Registered: 2009-07-12
Posts: 4,810

Re: Challenging cross-number puzzle #1

Yes. Application outweighs implication here.

12th of November? (this year, of course)

I didn't want to entertain that other missing-letters wet-blanket option.

Last edited by phrontister (2012-07-14 05:25:13)


"The good news about computers is that they do what you tell them to do. The bad news is that they do what you tell them to do." - Ted Nelson

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#7 2012-07-14 06:32:58

Bob
Administrator
Registered: 2010-06-20
Posts: 10,053

Re: Challenging cross-number puzzle #1

A time limit.

OK, I'll do my best.  smile

Bob


Children are not defined by school ...........The Fonz
You cannot teach a man anything;  you can only help him find it within himself..........Galileo Galilei
Sometimes I deliberately make mistakes, just to test you!  …………….Bob smile

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#8 2012-07-14 21:22:01

phrontister
Real Member
From: The Land of Tomorrow
Registered: 2009-07-12
Posts: 4,810

Re: Challenging cross-number puzzle #1

I'd better not note that date in my diary, because the impending excitement may become unbearable!!

I'm getting a dry throat already thinking about it...or maybe my next cuppa's overdue. smile


"The good news about computers is that they do what you tell them to do. The bad news is that they do what you tell them to do." - Ted Nelson

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#9 2012-07-14 22:26:58

Bob
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Registered: 2010-06-20
Posts: 10,053

Re: Challenging cross-number puzzle #1

Thinking of Around the World in 80 Days, maybe we'd better agree when that day ends.  smile

There's another story where travel around the World becomes a critical factor.  Have you watched the vid of Dave Gorman's Googlewhack Adventure ?  Great comedy; strongly recommend it.

     
Bob


Children are not defined by school ...........The Fonz
You cannot teach a man anything;  you can only help him find it within himself..........Galileo Galilei
Sometimes I deliberately make mistakes, just to test you!  …………….Bob smile

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#10 2012-07-14 23:30:23

phrontister
Real Member
From: The Land of Tomorrow
Registered: 2009-07-12
Posts: 4,810

Re: Challenging cross-number puzzle #1

No, we don't need to agree on anything like that: I'd just like you to make some progress with the solution and to enjoy it (after many hours of exasperation). smile 

I'm 25 minutes into that vid...it's terrific! He's a natural motormouth, that's for sure; and just as surely he wouldn't even know of the existence of the word "er". I thought I'd get a Googlewhack with "er" and "Gorman", but no such luck. Wouldn't have been legit, anyway, because both words have to be in the dictionary.

Got some paperwork to finish off now, but I'll return to the vid right after that. Thanks, Bob! smile


"The good news about computers is that they do what you tell them to do. The bad news is that they do what you tell them to do." - Ted Nelson

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#11 2012-07-20 21:16:17

Bob
Administrator
Registered: 2010-06-20
Posts: 10,053

Re: Challenging cross-number puzzle #1

hi phrontister,

Glad you are liking Dave Gorman.  If you want more,  his first DVD was made from a show/TV series called "Are you Dave Gorman?"  He travels the World seeking others named Dave Gorman; target one for every card in a pack including jokers.

At the end he throws a party for them all and makes them wear name badges!

He also did a radio then TV series called "Genius", in which he invites potential genius ideas and then gets them judged by a weekly guest genius.  Example:

A pedal operated toilet seat

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSW9x14uu8k

Anyway, back to the puzzle.  It's a bit more of a challenge than I had anticipated.  After a few false starts, I'm still pretty stuck.  The screen shot shows some of my progress.  I've shaded yellow the squares I've got an answer to.  And I've become stuck because I cannot fill in the first square of 4 down {1,4,6,9} all seem to be possible.  And down in the right bottom corner 47 down has me perplexed.  If 47 has just unique digits from 53 down that would seem to imply that 53 down has three distinct digits in which case why do you use the word unique at all? 

So I thought I'd ask for a check on these numbers.  Thanks in anticipation,

Bob


Children are not defined by school ...........The Fonz
You cannot teach a man anything;  you can only help him find it within himself..........Galileo Galilei
Sometimes I deliberately make mistakes, just to test you!  …………….Bob smile

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#12 2012-07-21 00:58:47

phrontister
Real Member
From: The Land of Tomorrow
Registered: 2009-07-12
Posts: 4,810

Re: Challenging cross-number puzzle #1

Hi Bob,

I very much enjoyed Googlewhack and am still feeling quite flabbergasted at his instant recall of the myriad of facts that he quotes without so much as a blink of hesitation!! His clarity of diction at such a pace also is astonishing!

Of course, being a Down-Under-ite I spotted the ending a mile off...but it was very well done!

He used far too many expletives for my viewing comfort, however, and I wish that he could have found a less coarse way to create the effect he was after. That aside, it was compelling viewing of an incredible storyteller in full flight - for nearly two hours. Amazing!:)

I'll check out Are you Dave Gorman? Ta.

The self-referential 'Genius Gallery' shot at the end of the Genius YouTube link reminds me of this puzzle I posted some time back. I think you'll like it! smile

And now to the puzzle...

9A: Have a closer look at its wording and check it against your answer. Either the clue is wrong or your answer is. wink

4D: There are two options here: a 1-digit square followed by a 2-digit square, or a 2-digit square followed by a 1-digit square. Your choice was probably influenced by your answer to 9A.

47D & 53D: As 47D is a 3-digit number and 53D a 4-digit number, 47D's wording implies that 53D has three distinct digits (as you say). If 53D is 1223, for example, there are three distinct digits: {1,2,3}. The word 'unique' in 47D determines its digits to be {1,2,3} (in some order), and not one of the two other combinations: {1,2,2} and {2,2,3}.

EDIT: Ignore my last paragraph (see posts #13, #14 & #15).

Last edited by phrontister (2012-07-21 02:19:58)


"The good news about computers is that they do what you tell them to do. The bad news is that they do what you tell them to do." - Ted Nelson

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#13 2012-07-21 01:22:13

Bob
Administrator
Registered: 2010-06-20
Posts: 10,053

Re: Challenging cross-number puzzle #1

hi Phrontister,

I'll review my answers in the top left.

47D & 53D: As 47D is a 3-digit number and 53D a 4-digit number

I've got a 4-digit space for 47D and a 3-digit space for 53D.

dizzy

Bob


Children are not defined by school ...........The Fonz
You cannot teach a man anything;  you can only help him find it within himself..........Galileo Galilei
Sometimes I deliberately make mistakes, just to test you!  …………….Bob smile

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#14 2012-07-21 01:28:56

anonimnystefy
Real Member
From: Harlan's World
Registered: 2011-05-23
Posts: 16,049

Re: Challenging cross-number puzzle #1

Hi Bob

Just switch all 47D's in his post with 53D's and vice versa.


“Here lies the reader who will never open this book. He is forever dead.
“Taking a new step, uttering a new word, is what people fear most.” ― Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Crime and Punishment
The knowledge of some things as a function of age is a delta function.

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#15 2012-07-21 02:16:02

phrontister
Real Member
From: The Land of Tomorrow
Registered: 2009-07-12
Posts: 4,810

Re: Challenging cross-number puzzle #1

Oops! >blush< Sorry about that! sad

My thoughts on 47D & 53D...

47D excludes digits not in 53D, and contains all the unique digits of 53D.

53D may contain one, two or three unique digits. Which option is true depends on the solution to 47D. dizzy

47D contains a repeat of at least one of 53D's digits, as 47D is a 4-digit number and 53D a 3-digit number.


"The good news about computers is that they do what you tell them to do. The bad news is that they do what you tell them to do." - Ted Nelson

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#16 2012-07-21 06:27:28

bobbym
bumpkin
From: Bumpkinland
Registered: 2009-04-12
Posts: 109,606

Re: Challenging cross-number puzzle #1

Hi phrontister;

Does the puzzle still stand as it is shown in post #1.


In mathematics, you don't understand things. You just get used to them.
If it ain't broke, fix it until it is.
Always satisfy the Prime Directive of getting the right answer above all else.

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#17 2012-07-21 06:28:34

anonimnystefy
Real Member
From: Harlan's World
Registered: 2011-05-23
Posts: 16,049

Re: Challenging cross-number puzzle #1

The puzzle is still the same, bobbym.


“Here lies the reader who will never open this book. He is forever dead.
“Taking a new step, uttering a new word, is what people fear most.” ― Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Crime and Punishment
The knowledge of some things as a function of age is a delta function.

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#18 2012-07-21 06:43:50

phrontister
Real Member
From: The Land of Tomorrow
Registered: 2009-07-12
Posts: 4,810

Re: Challenging cross-number puzzle #1

Yes, Bobby. No changes to it at all.

When Bob asked me for clarification in post #11 re 47D & 53D I didn't look at the clues properly and switched things around by mistake, giving him wrong advice. Must've been standing on my head again, I suppose...which Bob will understand.


"The good news about computers is that they do what you tell them to do. The bad news is that they do what you tell them to do." - Ted Nelson

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#19 2012-07-21 06:45:43

bobbym
bumpkin
From: Bumpkinland
Registered: 2009-04-12
Posts: 109,606

Re: Challenging cross-number puzzle #1

Hi phrontister;

I am glad. Thanks for replying.


In mathematics, you don't understand things. You just get used to them.
If it ain't broke, fix it until it is.
Always satisfy the Prime Directive of getting the right answer above all else.

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