HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: iad@cogsci.ed.ac.uk (Ivan A Derzhanski)
Newsgroups: rec.puzzles
Subject: Re: Solitaire games
Date: 3 Sep 92 11:53:19 GMT
Organization: Centre for Cognitive Science, Edinburgh, UK

In article <1992Sep3.085736.10546@waikato.ac.nz> bill@waikato.ac.nz writes:
>In article <1992Sep2.171001.14517@meaddata.com>, timk@meaddata.com (Tim Klein) writes:
>> In article <1992Aug28.063728.20792@dde.dk>, ct@dde.dk (Claus Tondering) writes:
>> |> What do you do when you are bored? You are sitting at the doctor's or at
>> |> the airport waiting, waiting, waiting. You've read all the newspapers
>> |> twice. There is absolutely nothing you can do. But you have a pencil
>> |> and a pad of paper...

<description of solitaire word game deleted>

>You can make these games even more interesting if when it is your turn

When it is your turn ... to be seen by the doctor?  to board your 'plane?

>you also have to say out loud all the previous words before you can
>say the next one.

Er, I'm afraid you may frighten the other passengers if you do that in
the airport.  It might be a good idea at the doctor's, though -- the
other patients may take the hint and let you in without waiting.

(Yes, I know that you meant the game to be played by several people,
not as a time-killing solitaire as intended by the original poster.
Standard "Sorry, couldn't resist" disclaimer applies.)

-- 
 `If ye hiv ears oan yer heid - then use them tae lissen.' (The Glasgow Gospel)
Ivan A Derzhanski   (iad@cogsci.ed.ac.uk;  iad@chaos.cs.brandeis.edu)
* Centre for Cognitive Science,  2 Buccleuch Place,  Edinburgh EH8 9LW,  UK
* Cowan House, Pollock Halls, 18 Holyrood Park Road, Edinburgh EH16 5BD, UK
Newsgroups: rec.puzzles
From: stevena@cory.Berkeley.EDU (Steven Alexander)
Subject: Re: Scrabble score 1669
Organization: University of California, at Berkeley
Date: Thu, 27 Aug 1992 03:39:19 GMT

In article <mannj.714849065@acf9> mannj@acf9.nyu.edu (Jordan Mann) writes:
>grue@cs.uq.oz.au (Pauli) writes:
>
>>Is this a new record for the highest scrabble score
>>in a single turn (in a legal position)?
>

According to the Scrabble Players Newspaper (since renamed to 
Scrabble Players News) issue 44, p13, the highest score for one
turn yet discovered, using the Official Scrabble Players
Dictionary, 1st ed. (the 2nd edition is now in use in club and
tournament play) and the Websters 9th New Collegiate Dictionary,
was the following:

d i s e q u i l i b r a t e D
. . . . . . . e . . . . . . e
. . . . . . . e . . . . . o m
r a d i o a u t o g r a p(h)Y
. . . . . . . . . . . w a s T
. . . . . . . . . . b e . . h
. . . . . . . . . . a . . g o
. . . c o n j u n c t i v a L 
. . . . . . . . . . . . . n o
. . . . . . . f i n i k i n G
. . . . . . . a . . . (l) e i
. . . . . . . d . s p e l t Z
. . . . . . w e . . . . . . e
. . . . . . r . . . . . . o r
m e t h o x y f l u r a n e S

for 1682 points.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Steven Alexander
Comp Sci grad student                           stevena@cs.berkeley.edu
& non-practicing lawyer extraordinaire
{I'm really wonderful at not practicing}
From: dsbb@ns1.cc.lehigh.edu (D. SPENCER BEECHER)
Newsgroups: rec.puzzles
Subject: Re: Audible Puzzles or Nonsense Questions
Date: 3 Sep 92 21:33:55 GMT
Organization: Lehigh University
B: "How, high are you?"
A: "Good morning."

This article was probably generated by a buggy news reader.
-- 
                   _ _     _ _     _ _
  -Spence         [O.O]   )x.x(   )O.O(
                    O       O      -*-
Newsgroups: rec.puzzles
From: jonboy@nadia.stgt.sub.org (Jonathan Welton)
Subject: Puzzles with everyday objects
Date: Sun, 30 Aug 1992 20:41:16 GMT
Organization: Stuttgart Net Systems, FRG


Here are four puzzles based, more or less, on everyday objects.
They all contain slight twists, one perhaps more than the rest.

1.Imagine a clock, with dots instead of numerals, which you can see
reflected in a mirror. Each hour, on the hour, the reflected clock hands
show a time, not necessarily the correct time, but one which would be
plausible if the clock were not reflected.
How many other times during a twelve hour period does this happen ?

2.The professor was spooning sugar into his tea. I pointed out that
each spoonful was less than it should be because the spoon was wet,
and some sugar was stuck to it. 'No problem' said the professor,
'I will also use the spoon to stir the tea.' 'But then there is too
much sugar because some is also stuck to the bottom of the spoon.'
'Ah' he repied, 'but with the number of spoonfuls I take, it works out
just right.'
How many spoonfuls of sugar did he take ?

3.You have an ordinary record and record player. If the record is cut
in two along a diameter and the two halves are shifted one groove
relative to one another before being glued back together, what happens
to the record's spiral ? Is it still possible to play the record ?

4.Between Bad Canstatt and Zuffenhausen, two straight road segments
meet in a corner with twice the angle that a car turns through when
taking the corner. What is the angle at the corner ?

Sources:
1. Tim Sole, The Ticket to Heaven and Other Superior Puzzles
2. Stephen Barr, Mathematical Brain Benders
3. Unknown - circa 1984 ? (I posted this before, but only saw one 100%
   correct solution, in email.)

-- 
   Jonathan Welton             
   jonboy@nadia.stgt.sub.org
From: brad@q.ma30.bull.com
Newsgroups: rec.puzzles
Subject: Could someone please repost the answers to the Number/Letter Riddles
Date: 26 Aug 92 18:57:56 GMT
Reply-To: brad@q.ma30.bull.com ()
Organization: Bull Worldwide Information Systems


 Could someone please repost the answers to the Number/Letter Riddles? 
Our news server has been having problems and we lost some articles. Here
are the riddles:

	48 S in the C U S
	100 Y in a C
	7 C in a R
	29 D in F (in a L Y)
	2 E in W [If you get that, you're doubleplusgood]
	4 T Z in the U S
	7 R S on the A F
	12 N on an A C
	3 C on a T L
	7 D in a L T N (A)
	8 L on a S
	200 S of P in a R
	88 K on a P
	88 Chords in the Scale 
	9 D in an A Z C (with the S C)

Thanx in advance,
		Brad
From: moon@mozart.llnl.gov (Steven Moon)
Newsgroups: rec.puzzles
Subject: Re: Penny in a bottle
Date: 27 Aug 92 18:29:21 GMT
Organization: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

In article <2406@tymix.Tymnet.COM>, filfeit@rael.Tymnet.COM (Fil Feit) writes:
|> You have a wine bottle with a penny inside and it is closed with a cork.
|> 
|> How can you get the penny without removing the cork (or breaking the bottle)?
|> 
|> --f2

Another idea.  Lets just place the bottle, penny and all, in a very hot oven with 
a temp above the melting point of glass, but below the melting point of Cu.  We can 
then just wait for the glass bottle to melt away and with tongs remove the penny.
This still damages the bottle, but we got that valuable penny.  Which probably almost 
coveres the PG&E bill.

.steve
Newsgroups: rec.puzzles
From: cab@col.hp.com (Chris Best)
Subject: Re: Audible Puzzles or Nonsense Questions
Date: Thu, 27 Aug 1992 17:04:58 GMT
Organization: your service

> OK, Jeff <snicker, snicker>, how about the capital of Kentucky:
> Lew-ee-ville, or Lew-is-ville.

----------

To be frank, I'm not sure either one is correct...
Newsgroups: rec.puzzles
From: sb102760@ntuvax.ntu.ac.sg
Subject: Re: Penny in a bottle
Organization: Nanyang Technological University - Singapore
Date: Fri, 28 Aug 1992 05:28:23 GMT

In article <2406@tymix.Tymnet.COM>, filfeit@rael.Tymnet.COM (Fil Feit) writes:
> You have a wine bottle with a penny inside and it is closed with a cork.
> 
> How can you get the penny without removing the cork (or breaking the bottle)?
> 
> --f2
> 
Simple,	push the cork in and get the penny out. If the penny can get in without
breaking the bottle, it should be able to get out without damaging it too.

And whadya know, the cork is still there !

ET.
Newsgroups: rec.puzzles
From: keith@cco.caltech.edu (Keith Allan Schneider)
Subject: Re: 30 questions
Organization: California Institute of Technology, Pasadena
Date: Wed, 26 Aug 1992 08:27:33 GMT

moon@mozart.llnl.gov (Steven Moon) writes:

>Sorry, but the answer to this has already been given.  It was also mentioned that
>Games magazine is having a contest of these types of puzzles.  I think that this is 
>also in FAQ, but since I have not seen FAQ I can not be sure.  

>Here is a 30 question puzzle I have not seen here.  Don't flame me if its in FAQ.

>    John walks into his house and sees Jill dead on the floor.
>    The house is empty except for Bill.
>    Bill is sitting on the couch near Jill.
>    John does not call the police.  Why? 

Is this the same "Bill is John and Jill's newborn baby" puzzle that someone
posted before (different situation, but same idea)?

keith
From: sf20+@andrew.cmu.edu (Stuart Finkelstein)
Newsgroups: rec.puzzles
Subject: Re: Virtual reality puzzle
Date: 28 Aug 92 19:03:54 GMT
	<BtoJp0.2oL@usenet.ucs.indiana.edu>
Organization: Doctoral student, Engineering and Public Policy, Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, PA

>How can one tell if their VR machine is still going or not (despite the
>thought that you unplugged your machine)?
> 
>Continue life as normal for approx. three months without paying your electric
>bill.  The electricity will in TRUE reality be eventually disconnected
for you.
> 
>Notice that in this sort of solution you only NOT do something for a
set amount
>of time.  There is a presumption about a comparison of time (real vs. virtual)
>made here, i.e. that the perceptions of both are the same.  I believe this to
>be a fairly safe conclusion. 
> 
>Note also that VR will attempt to convince you after a couple of months
or so t
>hat
>the electricity has been shut off.  Don't be fooled!  Wait until the
full three
>months have passed!!!  (or whatever it takes in your area--I assume you
have an
>idea)
> 
>RStimets

Of course, by that time you will have starved to death... WAITAMINUTE,
MAYBE THAT'S IT!!!  DO continue to live life as if nothing was wrong,
including eating regularly. If you find yourself experiencing hunger
pains after a while, then you're still in virtual reality. 

Although this assumes that the VR can't (and has a reason to) convince
you that you're not hungry...

                                                the FINK
Newsgroups: rec.puzzles
Subject: Re: Audible Puzzles or Nonsense Questions was  Re
From: wft@math.canterbury.ac.nz (Bill Taylor)
Date: 31 Aug 92 14:27:34 +1200
Distribution: world
Organization: Department of Mathematics, University of Canterbury
Keywords: puzzle

|> In addition to the obvious problem, you will discover that
|> natives tend to pronounce it Norlins.

Actually the way I'd heard it, complete foreigners called it New Orleans,
Americans called it Norlins, and locals called it Orlins.

I'd also heard that, in the days of easy divorces in Looziana, judges could
get a quick fix on residence requirements by asking the applicant how long
he'd been resident in the town. If the reply was "I've been a resident of
Norlins for..." as opposed to "I've been a resident of Orlins for...", the
judge would know that the residence had *not* been long enough.
Newsgroups: rec.puzzles
Subject: Re: Blacksmith code
From: PANDERSON@OAVAX.CSUCHICO.EDU
Date: Fri, 28 Aug 1992 19:22:05 GMT
Organization: California State University, Chico

copywriter
blackthorn

Peter Anderson
panderson@oavax.csuchico.edu
From: ncramer@bbn.com (Nichael Cramer)
Newsgroups: rec.puzzles
Subject: Reflections [was: word permutations and rotations]
Date: 4 Sep 1992 11:38:43 GMT
Organization: Bolt Beranek and Newman Inc., Interzone Office
Reply-To: ncramer@labs-n.bbn.com (Nichael Cramer)
NNTP-Posting-Host: bbn.com
Keywords: word permutat rotat

Likewise, what is the longest pair of words which are reflections of each
other:

e.g.    Desserts <--> Stressed

which is 8 letters, but there must be longer ones.

(This was the basis of a neat t-shirt-joke I saw yesterday ;).

How about if we exclude palindromic words?

NICHAEL  
nichael@bbn.com  --                Bush/Gorbachev: One Down, One to Go


Newsgroups: rec.puzzles
From: bodom@silver.ucs.indiana.edu (Brian Odom)
Subject: Logic Problem: Playful Kittens (SOLUTION)
Organization: Indiana University
Date: Thu, 3 Sep 1992 16:44:18 GMT

Parentheses refer to the premise numbers in the problem.

In (1) all five kittens are mentioned.  By (1), Felix is not the cuddly nor
the cautious kitten.  By (3) Felix is the shy one, and by (5) he's not the 
brave one; he's the frisky kitten, while Rags is the brave one.  Moppet isn't
the cautious or cuddly one either (1), nor is the the frisky (Felix) or brave
(Rags) one; he's the shy kitten.  In (1), all five kittens are mentioned which
means that the one that hid a toy behind the drapes is the brave kitten (Rags)
by elimination.  Bumbles hid a toy under the table, and Horace hid a toy in
the closet (4), and Rags hid a toy behind the drapes (1), so that leaves Felix
and Moppet.  By (2), the frisky kitten (Felix) did not hide the toy ball under
the armchair, so he hid it (the mouse) under the sofa, and by elimination 
Moppet hid the ball under the armchair.  Bumbles and Horace didn't hide a bird
(4), Moppet hid the ball, and Felix hid the mouse, so Rags hid the toy bird.
Horace is the cuddly kitten (6), because he hid his toy in the closet.  That 
toy isn't the ball (Moppet), the bird (Rags), the mouse (Felix), nor the fish
(6), so Horace hid a bunny.  And by elimination, Bumbles is cautious.

In summary,

Bumbles, cautious, fish, table
Felix, frisky, mouse, sofa
Horace, cuddly, bunny, closet
Moppet, shy, ball, armchair
Rags, brave, bird, drapes
-- 
Brian T Odom
From: grue@cs.uq.oz.au (Pauli Dale)
Newsgroups: rec.puzzles
Subject: Word puzzle
Date: 2 Sep 92 05:49:54 GMT
Reply-To: grue@cs.uq.oz.au

hi,
	I'd like to suggest a new word puzzle (or at least I think
it is a new one).

	It is based upon those ones of the form given a start word and
a finish word, change one letter at a time until you've changed the start
into the finish (and naturally everything in the middle must also be words).

	The slight change I propose makes the problem quite different.  At
each stage you are allowed to rearrange the letters of the new word
you are forming but you must still create a word each time.

e.g. to change lead into gold you could use the sequence:

	lead -> glad -> gold

the traditional puzzle requires a sequence more like:

	lead -> load -> goad -> gold



Can anybody solve these?  My best efforts are in brackets.

devil -> angel		(3 steps)
epees -> bevvy		(8 steps)
axiom -> lemma		(3 steps)
begins -> qwerty	(5 steps)
chasing -> robbers	(6 steps)


Also, what is the longest sequence that is also the shortest sequence
between the two words? [e.g. vainest -> infulae is very very long in
the original problem (length 60 or so) and in the modified version it
is much shorter ]


        						Pauli

Paul Dale                       | grue@cs.uq.oz.au
Department of Computer Science  | +61 7 365 2445
University of Queensland        |
Australia, 4072                 | Did you know that there are 41 two letter
                                |     words containing the letter 'a'?
--
From: ftbtl@acad3.alaska.edu (Brian T. Lamb (University of Alaska Fairbanks))
Newsgroups: rec.puzzles
Subject: Visual Puzzle
Date: 4 Sep 92 04:23:30 GMT
Organization: University of Alaska Fairbanks

Greetings (My first Post to this group):

There are two puzzles here for you enjoyment...enjoy!

1.	Given this pattern:

	a   ef hi klmn     t vwxy
	--------------------------
	 bcd  g  j    opqrs u


On which side does the z belong, and why?

2.	What are the next five letters in the following pattern:

	o-t-t-f-f-s-s-e-n-t-

	
Answers will be posted next week.  My apologies if this is rehash.

They call me Lambchops...	| How are you today? . . . What's that you say?
   and I don't know why!	| Why I'm finer than a frog hair split four ways
ftbtl@acad3.uafcs.alaska.edu	| on a frosty Fairbanks morning. . . 
I Dunno, that's how God made me.|     --da da da da deep in the heart of Alaska.
Newsgroups: rec.puzzles
From: rogerj@aix.rpi.edu (Jeffrey C. Rogers)
Subject: Re: penny hex symmetry <Solution/Spoiler?> - OOps!
Date: Tue, 1 Sep 1992 19:38:30 GMT

rogerj@aix.rpi.edu (Jeffrey C. Rogers) writes:

>Well, for sufficiently large numbers of pennies there is the trivial
>solution:
>      o           o
>	 o o { ... } o o
>	  o           o

Oops, here folks. vi tricked me into thinking they were aligned, but alas,
no.
The picture should properly look like:

	  o           o
	 o o { ... } o o
	  o           o

Sorry for any confusion caused.

Diversion
From: ajtd@honey.st-and.ac.uk (Tony Davie)
Newsgroups: rec.puzzles
Subject: Re: Audible Puzzles or Nonsense Questions was  Re: Slaughter of the Innocents
Date: 28 Aug 92 08:53:03 GMT
Organization: St.Andrews University

In article <1992Aug27.080821.12826@nntp.nta.no>, stein@hal.nta.no (Stein Kulseth FBA) writes:
> 
> This one works well in Norway:
> 
> "How do you pronounce the capital of USA, 'Nu York' or 'Nju york'?"
> 

and by the way is it 'oo-es-eh' or 'yoo-es-eh'?
From: grue@cs.uq.oz.au (Pauli)
Newsgroups: rec.puzzles
Subject: Scrabble score 1669
Date: 26 Aug 92 00:59:08 GMT
Reply-To: grue@cs.uq.oz.au
Organization: Computer Science Department, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia

Is this a new record for the highest scrabble score
in a single turn (in a legal position)?


The board is:

    P s y C h o A N a l Y Z i n G 
    r e . r . e x o n . w i t . r 
    e . . o . . . o . . . n . . a 
    j . . q u i d s . . . k . . t 
    u . . u . . . p . . . i m p i 
    d . . e . . . h . . . e . . f 
    g o a t . . . e . . . r . . i 
    i . . e . . .<r>. . . . . . c 
    n . . d . . . e . . . . . . a 
    g . . . . . . s w i f t l e t 
    . . . . . . . . . . . . . . i 
    . . . . . . . . . . . . . . o 
    . . . . . . . . . . . . . . n 
    . . . . . . . . . . . . . . s 
    . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 


And the capital letters in the top row are our suggested
play.  The P, the N and the G are on triple word score
squares and the C and the Z are on double letter score
ones.


The scoring (capital letters are double value):

psyChoanalyZing 51*3*3*3
prejudging      22*3
noospheres      15*3
gratifications  20*3
Zinkier         30
Croqueted       24
ax              9
yw              8

7 letter bonus  50
--------------------
Total:          1669




Pauli & Warwick Allison
grue@cs.uq.oz.au & warwick@cs.uq.oz.au

--
Newsgroups: rec.puzzles
Subject: Dog's Mead
From: jcschinker@miavx1.acs.muohio.edu (|/.)
Date: 30 Aug 92 11:41:34 -0500
Organization: Miami University

I received this puzzle last spring from Dr. Joseph Kennedy at Miami 
University, Oxford Ohio. I have been assured that there is a unique 
solution, and that all of the numbers in the puzzle are positive 
integers.  I have not yet found a solution.

                          Dog's Mead
                          ----- ----

A famous old English puzzle is called Dog's Mead. It involves
a farmer, his family, and the land. The problem is to find
the age of Mrs. Grooby, Farmer Dunk's mother-in-law. Do not
assume the puzzle was invented this year.

It helps to know that 20 shillings make a pound sterling,
that an acre is 4840 square yards, and that a rood is a
quarter of an acre. Also, these hints help: One number is the
area of Dog's Mead in roods, but it relates to something in
the puzzle which is quite different from that area. And, one
of the numbers across is the same as one of the numbers down.


_____________________________      Clues Across
|1  |   |2  |3  |   |XXX|4  |
|___|___|___|___|___|XXX|___|    1.  Area of Dog's Mead in
|   |XXX|5  |   |XXX|6  |   |        square yards.
|___|XXX|___|___|XXX|___|___|    5.  Age of Farmer Dunk's
|   |XXX|   |XXX|7  |   |   |        daughter, Martha.
|___|XXX|___|XXX|___|___|___|    6.  The difference between
|XXX|8  |   |9  |   |XXX|XXX|        the length and breadth
|XXX|___|___|___|___|XXX|XXX|        in yards of Dog's Mead.
|10 |   |XXX|11 |   |12 |13 |    7.  Number of roods in Dog's
|___|___|XXX|___|___|___|___|        Mead times number nine
|   |XXX|XXX|XXX|14 |   |   |        down.
|___|XXX|XXX|XXX|___|___|___|    8.  The year when Little
|15 |   |XXX|16 |   |XXX|   |        Piggly came into occupa-
|___|___|XXX|___|___|XXX|___|        tion by the Dunk family.

10. Farmer Dunk's age.
11. The year Farmer Dunk's youngest child, Mary, was born.
14. Perimeter of Dog's Mead in yards.
15. The cube of Farmer's walking speed in miles per hour.
16. Number 15 across times number nine down.

Clues Down

1.  The value of Dog's Mead in shillings/acre.
2.  Square of Mrs. Grooby's age.
3.  Age of Mary.
4.  Value of Dog's Mead in pounds sterling.
6.  The age of Farmer Dunk's first born, Edward, who will be
    twice as old as Mary next year.
7.  The square, in yards, of the breadth of Dog's Mead.
8.  The number of minutes Farmer Dunk needs to walk one and
    one third times around Dog's Mead.
9.  See number 10 down.
10. Ten across times nine down.
12. One more than the sum of the digits in the second column
    down.
13. Length of tenure, in years, of Little Piggly in the Dunk
    family.
From: bultman@dgw.rws.nl (G.W.Bultman)
Newsgroups: rec.puzzles
Subject: Make 1-25 with only 5's
Date: 2 Sep 1992 01:35:54 -0500
Organization: UTexas Mail-to-News Gateway
NNTP-Posting-Host: cs.utexas.edu

Hi, 

A simple, but surprisingly challenging puzzle:

N.B. PLEASE E-MAIL YOUR ANSWERS TO ME DIRECTLY, AS I CANNOT READ THE 
     NEWS. I WILL POST A SUMMARY. (bultman@dgw.rws.nl)

Make the numbers 1 through 25 using only 5's and the standard operators
(+,-,*,/,exponentiation and !). 
The catch, of course, is to use a few 5's as possible.

Examples: 
5   :    5
10  :    5+5
24  :    5!/5

Not allowed are 
     - the mod(ulo) operator, 
     - the decimal point without a leading digit (5.5 is allowed, 
       but .5 is not; 20 = ( 5 + 5 ) / .5 is _not_ allowed
     - the Entier function, e.g. :  [55/(5x5)]=2.

It is allowed to use numbers like 55 (55/5 makes 11).

Less than 90 fives is easily achieved. But the 8, 13, and 21 are
especially challenging.

I originally 'created' this puzzle for a friend's 25th birthday, and it
has since been passed on to several people on their 25th. They all seemed
to enjoy it, and I hope you do as well.

--

    o                                                                o   
  / | \    Gert Bultman <bultman@dgw.rws.nl>   Koningskade 4       / | \  
 o--o--o   Tidal Waters Division               2596 AA The Hague  o--o--o 
  \ | /    Rijkswaterstaat                     The Netherlands     \ | /  
    o                                                                o
From: wapembe@afterlife.ncsc.mil (William Pemberton)
Newsgroups: rec.puzzles
Subject: Re: Dog's Mead
Date: 30 Aug 92 23:48:45 GMT
Organization: The Great Beyond

This puzzle is in Fixx's book, "Games For The Superintelligent".
There are two ways to solve this puzzle.  My first attempt was to
exhaust over the possibilites of some of the clues.  It worked,
but the real solution is much more elegent.  Enjoy.
-- 
wapembe@afterlife.ncsc.mil      "Wrong word. FACT!"  John Wayne
73 de ka3yyr cul