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Archive-name: puzzles/archive/references
Last-modified: 17 Aug 1993 Version: 4 See reader questions & answers on this topic! - Help others by sharing your knowledge
==> references/books/bloopers.p <==
What are some errors made in puzzle books?
==> references/books/bloopers.s <==
geometry/fence.s
Charles W. Trigg, Mathematical Quickies, Dover, 1985, #93
logic/hundred.s
Angela Dunn, ed., Mathematical Bafflers, Dover, 1980, p. 112
David Wells, The Penguin Book of Curious and Interesting Puzzles, Penguin,
1992, #373 & #554
==> references/books/masquerade.p <==
What is the solution to _Masquerade_ by Kit Williams?
==> references/books/masquerade.s <==
The original book:
_Masquerade_ by Kit Williams, Jonathan Cape, London, 1979
The answer book:
_Masquerade The Complete Book with the Answer Explained_ by Kit Williams,
Jonathan Cape, London, 1982
The whole story:
_The Quest for the Golden Hare_ by Bamber Gascoigne, Jonathan Cape,
London, 1983
_Masquerade_ contains fifteen very detailed one- or two-page paintings
rendered in the fantastic style typical of a high quality children's
book, together with a dreamy story containing characters such as Jack
Hare, Tara Tree-tops and the Lady Moon. Most of the very lifelike
people in the paintings are actual friends of Mr. Williams. This book
set off a frenzy of solving activity unequalled by any subsequent book,
even though its imitators offered much higher prizes, culminating in
the $500,000 of the book _Treasure_ with puzzle by Paul Hoffman (a.k.a.
Dr. Crypton).
The solution to Masquerade is simplicity itself, and is fully in
keeping with the nature of the book: namely, a picture book. First of
all, the text has nothing to do with it; the pictures alone contain the
answer. Secondly, the answer is literally pointed to by the pictures.
Each picture is bordered by letters, which is a dead giveaway since the
letters have no reason for being there if they are not part of the
puzzle. By drawing a line from the eyes of the various creatures in
the pictures, through their longest fingers, biggest toes, etc., and
extending to the bordering letters, this message is found:
CATHERINES LONG FINGER OVER SHADOWS EARTH BURIED YELLOW AMULET MIDDAY
POINTS THE HOUR IN LIGHT OF EQUINOX LOOK YOU.
The first letter from each page spells:
CLOSE BY AMPTHILL
This method of solution is hinted to on the title page with the rhyme:
To solve the hidden riddle, you must use your eyes,
And find the hare in every picture that may point you to the prize.
Armed with this information, it is a simple matter to discover that
there is a statue of Catherine of Aragon in a public park near the
village of Ampthill. By doing a little amateur astronomy, the exact
spot pointed to by the statue's long finger can be determined without
waiting for the equinox. Beneath this spot was the treasure, a golden
hare. The book also contains a number of confirming clues.
_Quest_ chronicles some of the amazingly far-fetched approaches taken
by Masqueraders. Mr. Gascoigne, a respected author on the arts,
accompanied Mr. Williams the night he buried the treasure. He also
read the tens of thousands of letters received by Mr. Williams. The
hare was found three years after the book was published by a shadowy
figure with pseudonym Ken Thomas. Mr. "Thomas" found the hare by
researching Mr. Williams' life, going to places that he had lived, and
doing a lot of digging with the occasional help of some of the
confirming clues. Two British physicists did finally solve the puzzle
with the help of a hint published by Mr. Williams in the Sunday Times,
but they were a little too late.
After the announcement that the hare was unearthed, many fanatical
Masqueraders tried to prove that their approaches could lead to the
correct solution. For example, someone discovered that the word
"thill" means a fleck of paint (according to some obscure dictionary),
and he thought he saw an inexplicable fleck of paint in each painting.
He also thought he saw the word "amp" hidden in each painting. For
example, in one picture a girl is floating in the air above houses.
And a volt (vault) over an ohm (home) is an amp. Mr. Gascoigne
summarizes his observations thus:
Tens of thousands of letters from Masqueraders have convinced me that
the human mind has an equal capacity for pattern-matching and
self-deception. While some addicts were busy cooking the riddle,
others were more single-mindedly continuing their own pursuit of the
hare quite regardless of the news that it had been found. Their own
theories had come to seem so convincing that no exterior evidence could
refute them. These most determined of Masqueraders may grudgingly have
accepted that a hare of some sort was dug up at Ampthill, but they
believed there would be another hare, or a better solution, awaiting
them at their favourite spot. Kit would expect them to continue
undismayed by the much publicised diversion at Ampthill and would be
looking forward to the day when he would greet them as the real
discoverers of the real puzzle of Masquerade. Optimistic expeditions
were still setting out, with shovels and maps, throughout the summer of
1982.
==> references/books/maze.p <==
What is the solution to _Maze_ by Christopher Manson?
==> references/books/maze.s <==
In room 29, a door to room 17 is hidden to look like a table. Using this door
this 16-step tour exists: 1 26 30 42 4 29 17 45 23 8 12 39 4 15 37 20 1.
The riddle of room 45 remains to be solved.
==> references/books/treasure.p <==
What is the solution to _Treasure_ by Dr. Crypton?
==> references/books/treasure.s <==
"Treasure" was a puzzle by Dr. Crypton (Paul Hoffman) released
simultaneously in 1984 as a book, a videotape and a laserdisk. The book
and video versions include a number of mysterious pictures and images
connected by a loose plot involving the theft of a golden horse. The
1-kilo golden horse itself was buried, and the mysterious images were
supposed to give instructions on how to find it. The lucky winners would
get the golden horse and $500,000. The clues were interesting and
obscure; it was impossible to tell which of the puzzles were relevant to
the solution and which weren't. Enough of them were sort of solvable to
give people hope that they were on the right track. For example, some
clues written on an umbrella gave the birth and death years of Mary, Queen
of Scots; and a chess game turned out to be identifiable as Anderssen vs.
Kieseritzky, the "Shower of Gold" game. Evidently neither of these
observations was relevant to the solution in the end.
It was alleged that during the production of the video enough people
were let in on the secret that the location had to be changed... but
that very little of the puzzle was changed to reflect the new location.
Nobody solved the puzzle in time -- i.e. by midnight of 26 May 1989.
The horse was dug up by the promoters and the prize donated to a charity:
Big Brothers and Sisters of America. However, the promoters and Dr.
Crypton refused to make the solution public. Seven months later two
men, Nick Boone and Anthony Castaneda, went to Tennessee Pass in Colorado
and dug up a vial with congratulations inside. They wrote a description
of their thought processes that left other frustrated treasure-seekers
suspicious and annoyed: their "solution" appeared to be motivated very
little by anything in the puzzle itself, so that it seemed apparent to
many that they were virtually guided to that location by the promoters.
This suspicion has not been confirmed or denied.
--Jim Gillogly <uunet!rand.org!James_Gillogly>
==> references/books/unnamed.p <==
What is the solution to the unnamed book by Kit Williams?
==> references/books/unnamed.s <==
The title is "The Bee on the Comb."
In the first picture, there are two "hybrid" animals, one half-mouse,
half-horse, the other half-cat, half-toad. If you've read
"Masquerade", the drawings remind you of the circle of animals in one
of the pictures in that book, and there's even a footnote there
explaining the names of the animals in that picture. Using the same
reasoning, the two animals in "The Bee on the Comb" ought to be called
a "morse" and a "coad". So the obvious conclusion is that this is a
clue indicating that Morse code is involved. The Morse code is around
the frame of the gardening picture, and spells out "All animals are
equal in a tale of tail to tail, end to end to end." This is the same
message that is around the picture in "Masquerade."
Each picture in "The Bee on the Comb" contains a hidden animal. Ignore
all the naturalistic animals: you're looking just for one animal hidden
in some visually punning way. For example, in the first picture,
there's a parrot hidden in the young man's vest--turn the page upside
down and the leaves pictured on his vest become the parrot's feathers.
If you write down all fifteen hidden animals and take their last
letters, "end to end to end", it spells out "The Bee on the Comb". I
recall that we found the hidden animal in the picture on the kitchen
(the one with the box of Oxo cubes on the mantel) particularly
difficult to find, though I expect that'll vary from person to person.
The hidden animals are wonderfully cleverly hidden. Oh, and the animal
ending in C is rather obscure; I think we had to figure out its name
only after we'd figured out the title of the book and knew it ended in
C.
If you count the number of bees in each picture and convert it to
letters, using A = 1, B = 2, etc., you get "Bees Only Sting". By
looking at the honeycomb that obscures the title on the cover, you can
see how many letters the words in the title contain, and "Bees Only
Sting" does not work.
There's at least one other indication that the bees are a red herring. The
fourth line from the end of the text reads "the bees they are of little
consequence". I'm not positive that this isn't a coincidence, but it sure
looks like it might be a message to ignore the bees.
Scott Marley
hudu@well.sf.ca.us
==> references/faq.p <==
Where should I look if I can't find the answer here?
==> references/faq.s <==
FAQs are available via ftp from rtfm.mit.edu.
*******
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Sci.Physics is an unmoderated newsgroup dedicated to the discussion
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Index of Subjects
-----------------
1. An Introduction to Sci.Physics
2. Gravitational Radiation
3. Energy Conservation in Cosmology and Red Shift
4. Effects Due to the Finite Speed of Light
5. The Top Quark
6. Tachyons
7. Special Relativistic Paradoxes
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(b) The Twin Paradox
8. The Particle Zoo
9. Olbers' Paradox
10. What is Dark Matter?
11. Hot Water Freezes Faster than Cold!
12. Which Way Will my Bathtub Drain?
13. Why are Golf Balls Dimpled?
14. Why do Mirrors Reverse Left and Right?
15. What is the Mass of a Photon?
16. How to Change Nuclear Decay Rates
17. Baryogenesis - Why Are There More Protons Than Antiprotons?
18.*Time Travel - Fact or Fiction?
19.*The Nobel Prize for Physics
20. Open Questions
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The list of contributors to this FAQ list is to large to include here;
but thanks are due to all of them (you know who you are folks).
Table of Contents
-----------------
1Q.- Fermat's Last Theorem, status of ..
2Q.- Four Colour Theorem, proof of ..
3Q.- Values of Record Numbers
4Q.- General Netiquette
5Q.- Computer Algebra Systems, application of ..
6Q.- Computer Algebra Systems, references to ..
7Q.- Fields Medal, general info ..
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9Q.- 0.999... = 1. Properties of the real numbers ..
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13Q.- f(x)^f(x)=x, name of the function ..
14Q.- Projective plane of order 10 ..
15Q.- How to compute day of week of a given date ....
16Q.- Axiom of Choice and/or Continuum Hypothesis?
17Q.- Cutting a sphere into pieces of larger volume
18Q.- Pointers to Quaternions
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weird stuff
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This is the sci.skeptic FAQ. It is intended to provide a factual base
for most of the commonly discussed topics on sci.skeptic.
Unfortunately I don't have much time to do this in, and anyway a FAQ
should be the Distilled Wisdom of the Net rather than just My Arrogant
Opinion, so I invite submissions and let all the net experts out there
fill in the details. Submissions from any point of view and on any
sci.skeptic topic are welcomed, but please keep them short and to the
point. The ideal submission is a short summary with one or two
references to other literature. I have added comments in square
brackets where I think more information is particularly needed, but
don't let that stop you sending something else.
Background
----------
0.1: What is sci.skeptic for?
0.2: What is sci.skeptic not for?
0.3: What is CSICOP? Whats their address? +
0.4: What is "Prometheus"?
0.5: Who are some prominent skeptics? +
0.6: Aren't all skeptics just closed-minded bigots?
0.7: Aren't all paranormalists just woolly-minded fools?
0.8: What is a "conspiracy theory"?
The Scientific Method
---------------------
1.1: What is the scientific method?
1.2: What is the difference between a fact, a theory and a hypothesis?
1.3: Can science ever really prove anything?
1.4: If scientific theories keep changing, where is the Truth?
1.5: What evidence is needed for an extraordinary claim?
1.6: What is Occam's Razor?
1.7: Galileo was persecuted, just like researchers into <X> today.
1.8: What is the "Experimenter effect".
1.9: How much fraud is there in science? *
1.9.1: Did Mendel fudge his results? *
Psychic Powers
--------------
2.1: Is Uri Geller for real? *
2.2: I have had a psychic experience. +
2.3: What is "sensory leakage"?
2.4: Who are the main psi researchers? +
2.5: Does dowsing work? +
2.6: Could psi be inhibited by the presence of skeptics?
UFOs/Flying Saucers
-------------------
3.1 What are UFOs?
3.1.1: Are UFOs alien spacecraft?
3.1.2: Are UFOs natural phenomena?
3.1.3: But isn't it possible that aliens are visiting Earth?
3.2: Is it true that the US government has a crashed flying saucer?
(MJ-12)? +
3.3: What is "channeling"?
3.4: How can we test a channeller?
3.5: I am in telepathic contact with the aliens.
3.6: Some bozo has just posted a load of "teachings" from a UFO. What
should I do?
3.7: Are crop circles made by flying saucers?
3.7.1: Are crop circles made by "vortices"?
3.7.2: Are crop circles made by hoaxers?
3.7.3: Are crop circles radioactive?
3.7.4: What about cellular changes in plants within crop circles?
3.8: Have people been abducted by UFOs?
3.9: What is causing the strange cattle deaths? *
3.10: What is the face on Mars?
3.11: Did Ezekiel See a Flying Saucer?
Faith Healing and Alternative Therapies
---------------------------------------
4.1: Isn't western medicine reductionistic and alternatives holistic? +
4.2: What is a double-blind trial? What is a placebo?
4.3: Why should scientific criteria apply to alternative therapies?
4.4: What is homeopathy? +
4.5: What is aroma therapy?
4.6: What is reflexology? +
4.7: Does acupuncture work?
4.8: What about psychic surgery?
4.9: What is Crystal Healing?
4.10: Does religious healing work? +
4.11: What harm does it do anyway?
Creation versus Evolution
-------------------------
5.1: Is the Bible evidence of anything? +
5.2: Could the Universe have been created old?
5.3: What about Carbon-14 dating?
5.4: What is "dendrochronology"?
5.5: What is evolution? Where do I find out more?
5.6: The second law of thermodynamics says....
5.7: How could living organisms arise "by chance"?
5.8: But doesn't the human body seem to be well designed?
5.9: What about the thousands of scientists who have become Creationists?
Fire-walking
-----------
6.1: Is fire-walking possible?
6.2: Can science explain fire-walking?
New Age
-------
7.1: What do New Agers believe?
7.2: What is the Gaia hypothesis?
7.3: Was Nostradamus a prophet?
7.4: Does astrology work? *
7.4.1: Could astrology work by gravity? *
7.4.2: What is the `Mars Effect'? *
Strange Machines: Free Energy and Anti-Gravity
----------------------------------------------
8.1: Why don't electrical perpetul motion machines work?
8.2: Why don't magnetic perpetual motion machines work?
8.3: Why don't mechanical perpetual motion machines work?
8.4: Magnets can levitate. Where is the energy from?
8.5: But its been patented!
8.6: The oil companies are conspiring to suppress my invention
8.7: My machine gets its free energy from <X>
8.8: Can gyroscopes neutralise gravity?
8.9: My prototype gets lighter when I turn it on.
AIDS
----
9.1: What about these theories on AIDS?
9.1.1: The Mainstream Theory
9.1.2: Strecker's CIA Theory
9.1.3: Duesberg's Risk-Group Theory
==> references/magazines.p <==
What magazines and journals contain puzzles?
==> references/magazines.s <==
AMAYC Review, The
Algorithm
A. K. Dewdney's magazine devoted to recreational computing.
Quarterly
$19.95 per year US, $24.95 Canada, $23.95 elsewhere (all prices US)
Louis Magguilli
Algorithm
P.O. Box 29237
Westmount Postal Outlet
785 Wonderland Road S.
London, Ontario N6K 1M6
Canada
American Mathematical Monthly
Monthly
$32US/year for MAA members
Mathematical Association of America
1529 Eighteenth Street, N.W.
Washington, DC 20036-1385
Arbelos (full of problems)
Bent, The
BIT
Bulletin of the Institute of Mathematics and Its Applications
College Mathematics Journal
Five times per year
$20US/year for MAA members
Mathematical Association of America
1529 Eighteenth Street, N.W.
Washington, DC 20036-1385
Consortium
Crux Mathematicorum (formerly: EUREKA -- all problems)
$25C/year
Dr. Kenneth S. Williams
Canadian Mathematical Society
577 King Edward Avenue
Ottawa
Ontario
Canada K1N 6N5
Cubism For Fun
CFF is a newsletter published by the Nederlandse Kubus Club NKC (Dutch
Cubists Club). It appears a bit irregular, but a few times a year.
Yearly membership fee is now NLG 25.- (Dutch Guilders) which amounts to
approximately $ 15.-. Institutional membership is also possible.
Information is available from the editor:
Anton Hanegraaf
Heemskerkstraat 9
6662 AL Elst
The Netherlands
Delta (Waukesha)
Discrete Mathematics
EATCS Bulletin
Fibonacci Quarterly, The
Games
The best-known puzzle and game publication. A wide variety of puzzles
and articles in every issue.
Bimonthly
$17.97 per year US, $22.97 Canada, $27.97 elsewhere (all prices US)
Games
P.O. Box 605
Mt. Morris, IL 61054-0605
1-(800)-827-1256
James Cook Mathematical Notes
Journal of Algorithms
Journal of Automated Reasoning
Journal of Recreational Mathematics
A must for anyone interested in recreational mathematics.
Quarterly
$23.45 per year for US and Canada, $28.30 elsewhere
Baywood Publishing Company, Inc.
26 Austin Avenue
P.O. Box 337
Amityville, NY 11701
Mathematical Digest
Mathematical Gazette, The
Mathematical Intelligencer
Mathematical Spectrum
Mathematics and Computer Education (formerly: The AMATYC Journal)
Mathematics Magazine
Bimonthly
$16US/year for MAA members
Mathematical Association of America
1529 Eighteenth Street, N.W.
Washington, DC 20036-1385
Mathematics Teacher, The
Ontario Secondary School Mathematics Bulletin
Parabola
Pentagon, The
Pi Mu Epsilon
Problem Solver, The
PS News
PuzzleSIGns
Publication of the Mensa "Puzzle" SIG. This fledgling newsletter
contains a variety of puzzles in every issue. Sample issue $1.
Quarterly
$7 per year for Mensa members, $8 non-members, $10 foreign
Chuck Murphy
Puzzle SIGns Coordinator
11430 East Palomino Road
Scottsdale, AZ 85259
Real Analysis Exchange (only "queries")
REC (Recreational & Educational Computing)
Devoted to recreational computing.
8 issues per year
$27 per year US, $28 Canada, $36 elsewhere
Michael Ecker
909 Violet Terrace
Clarks Summit, PA 18411
Science of Computer Programming
School Science and Mathematics
SIAM Review
Technology Review
Word Fun
Publication of the Mensa "Fun with Word" SIG, but anyone may
subscribe. A variety of wordplay and puzzles; fantastic bargain.
Sample issue $.50 stamps per coin (no checks) + business-size SASE.
Bimonthly
$5 per year US and Canada, $10 elsewhere
Jill Conway
Rte. 6
3001 Johnson Lane
Columbia, MO 65202
Word Ways
An absolutely fantastic journal devoted to recreational linguistics;
a must for anyone who loves words or word puzzles.
Quarterly
$17 per year
Faith W. Eckler
Spring Valley Road
Morristown, NJ 07960
German language:
Berita Matematik
Elemente der Mathematik
Kvant
Matematicko - Fizicki Lijt
Mathematik in der Schule
Mathematika Tanitasa, A
Menemui Mathematik
Nieuw Archief voor Wiskunde
French language:
Nouvel Archimede, le
Revue des Mathematiques Speciales (mostly problems from entrance exams)
Dutch language:
Euclides
Italian language:
Matematiche, Le
Russian language:
Matematika v Shkole
Scandinavian language:
Normat (formerly Nordisk Matematisk Tidskrift)
Hungarian language:
Kozepiskolai Matematikai Lapok (koMaL)
Matematikai Lapok (but the problems are stated in English)
Ceased publication:
Graham Dial, The
Mathematics Student Journal, The
Nabla
==> references/organizations.p <==
What organizations exist for puzzle lovers?
==> references/organizations.s <==
American Cryptogram Association
Publication:
The Cryptogram
Bimonthly
Dues:
See below
Treasurer:
ACA Treasurer
18789 West Hickory St.
Mundelein, IL 60060
Comments:
Devoted to cryptography. Every issue of the journal contains
several thoughtful articles and a large number of puzzles, including
aristocrats, patristocrats, xenocrypts, cipher exchanges and
cryptarithms. Members have the option of picking a "nom" (nom de
plume), e.g. the president is Gizmo. As it is a specialized
organization, you should request a sample issue first (I don't
know the procedure for this, but $1 and a SASE should do it).
The National Puzzlers' League
Publication:
The Enigma
Monthly
Dues:
See below
Editor:
Judith E. Bagai
Box 82289
Portland, OR 97282
Comments:
Simply the best organization devoted to word puzzles. The _Enigma_
contains over 80 word puzzles per issue, ranging in difficulty from
easy to extremely difficult and in type from the familiar anagrams
and riddles to such obscure forms as spoonergrams and acrostical
enigmas. Each issue also includes a member-written cryptic. Members
get to pick a "nom" (nom de plume), e.g. I'm Cubist and Chris Cole
is Canon. The NPL is a somewhat specialized organization, so you
should send a SASE with a request for a mini-sample to the editor
to see if it's for you.
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