October, 2002 Puzzle Contests
Click here to read the rules, to find other contests, or to learn how to participate in current contests.
10/31-11/1/02 Contest:
ware
e.g. The Great Wall of China
What does the above puzzle mean?
Answer: Long underwear. The Great Wall of China is long, and it is written under "ware," which sounds the same as the word wear. This one produced some interesting answers! 6 people got this one right.
Winner: "Taz." That is part of the person's email address. No other info was given.
10/30-10/31/02 Contest:
The superhero known as the Super Tough Untouchable Dude (aka STUD)
is at work again, saving humanity from itself. He lifts a 391 pound car
into the air, just a second before it runs a red light, and causes an
accident. He catches a thief, who has just robbed a convenience store
of $136. Later, our hero leaps into the ocean, diving 51 feet down to
save a drowning swimmer. When he emerges, he gives the beautiful woman
mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, and 85 seconds later, she is coughing, but
on her way to recovery. Which of the following is the number of people
who cheered STUD on as he saved the woman's life?
102 103 104 105 106 107
Answer: 102. All of the numbers given in the problem are multiples of 17.
If you answered this correctly, you too are a STUD(ette?)!
Winner: Al Siller, Rockville, MD. Only Al and Jim Mehring got this one.
10/29-10/30/02 Contest:
During a Bicentennial celebration in the United States, a man wrote
this cryptic, seemingly gibberish statement. It indicated which address,
known to the individual he gave it to, that he could later be located:
Run ants a keg.
Given the informaion provided, where could he most logically be found?
Sark Street
Gar Street
Ark Street
Keat's Run
Aunt's
Runt's Bar
Answer: Sark Street. This was a tough one. The clue was the "Bicentennial celebration in the United States," which occurred on July 4th, 1976. This generates a numeric date, which is the solution to the puzzle: 7/4/1976. Take the 7th, 4th, 1st, 9th, 7th, and 6th letters in "Run ants a keg," string them together, and you get SARK ST. St. is a well known abbreviation for street, so the best answer of the 6 provided is Sark Street. Kudos if you got this one!
10/28-10/29/02 Contest:
Cryptoquotes Galore
Decode ALL of these to be entered to win today's contest!
1. "Bwewzeoy ob ndlzl udl glclshklz ewssghxlb hwu udl uzllb, udlf
fyplb udl buzllub ytulz udlp."
- Eoss Cywadyf
2. "U jc j cjbwfqvpd avpdfyffefb. Fwfbt iucf U qfjwf j cjg U yffe aud
avpdf."
- Sdj Sdj Kjovb
3. "Tkxtle wn iqyn pj onjokn ji ljdf xtl do. Wnytden ljd xqkk gnnp psn
etgn onjokn ji psn xtl ujxi."
- Xqkeji Gqminf, Tgnfqyti uftgtpqep
4. "Ithq az erjuco? Erjuco az qtu hyq rm jhvadn furfgu ghxnt iaqtrxq
jhvadn qtuj fxvu."
- Zquwu Jhyqad
5. "Akivczjmg pnqq rjwjm mjvqeaj ztj pegzjdegxjz ptjr nz akijg zk
gzmjeiqnrnru kllnaj pkmx."
- Aqeszkr Jqpjqq
6. "Uisbs lbs uxj fndor jh csjcks, uijrs xij hndnri xilu uisa rulbu
ldo rj jd."
- Bjysbu Yabds
Answers:
1. "Suburbia is where the developer bulldozes out the trees, then names the streets after them."
- Bill Vaughan
2. "I am a marvelous housekeeper. Every time I leave a man I keep his
house."
- Zsa Zsa Gabor
3. "Always be nice to people on your way up. Because you will meet the same people on the way down."
- Wilson Mizner, American dramatist
4. "What is comedy? Comedy is the art of making people laugh without
making them puke."
- Steve Martin
5. "Computers will never replace the wastebasket when it comes to
streamlining office work."
- Clayton Elwell
6. "There are two kinds of people, those who finish what they start and so on."
- Robert Byrne
Winner: Unknown. I can tell you that the word "packrat" is part of the person's email address. Close to 20 people got all of these.
10/25-10/28/02 Contest:
Letter Removal Teasers (#2)
I'll give you hints at two words. The second word hinted at is the same as the first word, but with one letter removed. Two numbers are given after the hints. The first number is the number of letters in the first word, and the second number is the number of letters in the second word.
Example: They all taste great, but you like one more than the others. (6,5)
Answers: FLAVOR and FAVOR. You have to get all 3 of these to win today's contest:
They cremated the body, and placed the ashes in a vase. (4,3)
Thinking his firing was an inevitable outcome, he moved very slowly toward his supervisor's office. (5,4)
The sound gave the band just the right punch. (6,5)
Answers: burn and urn, cinch and inch, oompah and oomph.
Winner: Michele in Illinois. Only Michele and Diane Cizunas, also of Illinois, go this one right.
10/24-10/25/02 Contest:
Letter Removal Teasers
I'll give you hints at two words. The second word hinted at is the same as the first word, but with one letter removed. Two numbers are given after the hints. The first number is the number of letters in the first word, and the second number is the number of letters in the second word.
Example: They all taste great, but you like one more than the others. (6,5)
Answers: FLAVOR and FAVOR. You have to get all 3 of these to win today's contest:
She used fibers from the rope in sewing the edge of the coat. (4,3)
He tried to hold on to the mountain of spaghetti, but it felt like it weighed thousands of pounds.(4,3)
The small man swatted the tiny fly. (6,5)
Answers: hemp & hem, tong (as a verb, not a noun) & ton, midget and midge. Another answer I accepted for the third one was teensy and teeny.
Winner: Diane Cizunas, Illinois. We had so many responses for this one that it almost scared me :-) We'll try the same thing again, but perhaps a little tougher...
10/22-10/24/02 Contest:
former is to quondam as carriage is to ?
Answer: tandem. From the last newsletter: "I guess this one is a bit tough, so here are some hints. The answer has a 'dam' type of ending as in quondam. I hope that you can see what I'm driving at (not to be tangential)." A tandem is a cart (although the word has other, better known meanings), 'tangential' was a tip, since it has the same first 3 letters, and 'driving at' hinted at a cart, which can be driven. We received many answers, but this is the "best" one, as far as I can tell.
Winner: Donna Smock, Monmouth, IL. A few other people got this one once the hints were provided.
10/21-10/22/02 Contest:
scrape is to raspberry as mature is to ?
Answer: elderberry. A rasp is a scrape, and an elder is mature.
Winner: Shirley Wolf, Rockville, MD. A total of 5 people got this one.
10/16-10/17/02 Contest:
If you roll 10 regular 6-sided dice at one time, and add together the number of pips shown on their top sides, what chance is there that the total will come to 11? Give your answer as a ratio or fraction in lowest terms.
Answer: 5/30233088. Although she didn't win (due to a roll of the dice, no pun intended), thanks to Danielle of San Diego, CA for her excellent explanation:
"If you have ten six-sided dice and one roll, there are 60466176 different combinations that can occur. Ten of these rolls would produce a combination of pips that would total 11 when added together. So, the ratio (chance might be a better word - Ed.) would be 0.000000165 or 5/30233088."
Winner: Dave Simmonds, UK
10/15-10/16/02 Contest:
clgeky bctgac
What is written above?
Answer: Enigma device. This was a machine used during World War II to encipher messages. There are books written about it (and those who eventually "cracked" it), and at least one recent movie relating to it. To find the word, move each letter in the code I gave you two spaces up the alphabet. C becomes e, l becomes n, etc. As one heckler :-) noted when sending in his answer, the Allies had to crack much harder codes than this one.
Winner: Kazza in West Oztralia
10/14-10/15/02 Contest:
I wear a mask, and I like to eat. I'm no Wimp, but you have the right idea. 10 letters in my name. Who am I?
Answer: Hamburglar. The "Wimp" hint related to Wimpy from Popeye, who also likes hamburgers.
Winner: Cindy Eulitt, Charlotte, NC
10/9-10/14/02 Contest:
The bad news is that the contest that I've given to you all twice (and was worth 2 puzzle pieces the second time around) was never won. The good news is that I get to keep the prizes! Well, that's good news for me, anywho.
The Last Puzzle Contest:
A disguise, not a magician
Relates to word usage, not the IRS penalizing you for doing wrong
Like leather, and not related to Mr. Feldman
What 3 words am I talking about? You have to get all 3 words to win the contest.
Answers: Vizard (play on the word wizard, a synonym of magician), syntax (sin + tax), coriaceous (play on the name of actor Corey Feldman)
Winner: Me. I get to keep the goodies!
10/8-10/9/02 Contest:
the proper shape and size for = keep self busy in an aimless way
What well known saying is synonymously suggested by the above?
Answer: Fit as a fiddle.
Winner: Shirley Wolf, Rockville, Maryland. 13 people answered this one correctly.
10/7-10/8/02 Contest:
60 seconds and the term of one's existence is through what name related to a Shakespearean character? (answer contains 7 letters) Hint: Don't get bogged down by this one.
Answer: Othello. The game Othello's slogan was that it takes "a minute to learn... a lifetime to master." The hint was in reference to Shakespeare's character Othello being called "the Moor of Venice." A moor being an area with bogs.
Winner: Nikkole Jackson, Eagle CO. Only 4 people got this one.
10/4-10/7/02 Contest:
Author of the waterborne mature male is to X as waterborne battle at the half is to Y.
What are X and Y?
Answer (from the winner): "Author of the waterborne mature male = Ernest Hemingway ("The Old Man and the Sea")
Waterborne battle of the half = "Battle of Midway" (movie)
Therefore, X = Nobel Prize (Hemingway also won the Pulitzer Prize)
and Y = Academy Award (Oscar for Best Documentary, 1943)"
I actually was just playing off of the 'way' portion of Hemingway and Midway, but Shirley's answer is of course still correct. She definitely did her homework :-)
Winner: Shirley Wolf, Rockville, Maryland. Shirley was a regular winner back in the days of the old Puzz.com newsletter (weekly) and our other newsletters. She's had several correct submissions lately, but this is the first one she's won. Shirley was the only person to get this puzzle right.
10/3-10/4/02 Contest:
While Abcdefgh may in fact satisfy, a abcdefghijk is a cutting weapon. What 2 things am I talking about?
Answer: Snickers and snickersnee.
Winner: Colin McEwen. Only Colin, "Kate," and David Fontes got this one right.
10/2-10/3/02 Contest:
While not last, we're almost there. Be sure that you're not out of ink when you write my 11 letters. What am I?
Answer: penultimate. As in The Penultimate I.Q. Challenge (not that that title means anything, as one site visitor recently pointed out :-) This puzzle was too easy. Today's may be a little tougher.
Winner: SUNDAR.
10/1-10/2/02 Contest:
A small number of you may know me from your travels, although nearly all of you have seen me from afar. Rake or and crate or are words that have been associated with me. What am I?
Answer: moon. This one was way too easy, as it turned out. "Rake or and crate or" were references to raker (as in the word and movie title Moonraker) and crater.
Winner: Scott Archibald. 20 people answered this one correctly.
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