Fall 2015 POTW #7: Emmanuel Fay Cult

Solutions due by midnight on Sunday, November 22, 2015.

Last week, the World Scrabble Championships happened in Australia. It just so happens that a few of my friends participated in the event and did very well! Specifically, congrats to Evan, John, Jesse, Dave, and Chris. They all placed in the Top 40 and deserve recognition; congratulations, all of you!

I used to play in Scrabble tournaments myself. The folks I met in that world have gone on to achieve marvelous things; in honor of them, this week's puzzle is based on anagrams.

Specifically, each answer here is the last name of a professor/lecturer at Emmanuel College. The names are clued by revealing a specific two word phrase which you must then anagram into someone's name. To help you, I have included the department in which the professor/lecturer works at EC, and I have tried to make the phrasal clues as transparent as possible (without being so revealing as to be uninteresting).

You may use the following website, which lists faculty at Emmanuel College, as a resource: http://www.emmanuel.edu/academics/our-faculty.html . Of course, you may use any other resource you wish, as well; part of the point of this puzzle is to get you to think and do some research. (Don't necessarily feel like you should be able to answer these questions off the top of your head!)

Keep in mind: Each clue reveals a two word phrase which then anagrams to the last name of someone on the list in the website link above; your answer should be the last name of the professor/lecturer clued.

For example, if the clue were, "This history professor has 2000 pounds of evergreens", the answer would be FORTIN since TON FIR anagrams to FORTIN.

I will award 2.5 points for each correct answer.

What is your name (or team name)?
(Please use the same name every week so that I can properly record your scores!)

(1) This math professor has caused TV and radio to report on a specific happening.


(2) This chemistry professor's rally cry might be translated as, "Huzzah, geek!"


(3) This education professor drinks a juniper liquor from a place where you pay for a nightly stay.


(4) This political science professor has a limb made from the element with atomic number 50.

Fall 2015 POTW #6: Ehhh, The Horror!

Solutions due by midnight on Sunday, November 1, 2015.

To celebrate this week's Hallowe'en Holiday, puzzle questions and answers are related to famous horror/thriller films. Every question/answer is based on a film on the American Film Institute's list of "The 100 Most Thrilling American Films". Feel free to use this list as a reference while solving these puzzles!

More specifically, the answer to each clue is a modified film title. Each title is obtained by taking the title of a well-known horror film (on that AFI list) and changing one of its vowels to a different vowel. (This is similar to a previous puzzle I posted.) I have provided clues in the form of brief synopses of the modified films.

For example, if the clue were "This war drama concerns young recruits and the steel outerwear they sport during October and November while the leaves change color", the solution would be Fall Metal Jacket. (Yes, Full Metal Jacket is #95 on AFI's "100 Years, 100 Thrills" list.)

Advice: look for references to both  the original and modified film titles in a clue.

Each correct answer earns 2.5 points. Happy spooky week(end)!

1. In this acclaimed film, a convicted killer (and former psychiatrist) helps an FBI trainee track a serial killer and keep his arms and legs quiet.
2. In this black-and-white thriller, a California town is mystified when Shakespeare, Chaucer, and other classic poets inexplicably rampage the citizens.
3. This Academy Award-winning film depicts mankind's relationship to the universe via apes, monoliths, an intelligent computer, as well as pepper, turmeric, cardamom, dill, cumin, and many more ...
4. A possessed child is the main antagonist in this 1970s horror classic, but in a climactic scene where his father drags him to an altar, the child only mutters a four-letter word signaling the end of a prayer.

What is your name (or team name)?
(Please use the same name every week so that I can properly record your scores!)


1.


2.


3.


4.

Solution to Fall 2015 POTW #5: Oh My Gourd!

See here for the original puzzle post.

Solution:

1. Pumpkin
2. Butternut (squash)
3. Acorn (squash)
4. Spaghetti (squash) ("Spa-Getty")

Fall 2015 POTW #5: Oh My Gourd!

Submissions due by midnight on Sunday 10/25.

To celebrate the autumnal spirit, this week's answers are all types of gourds and squashes. Each answer has been clued in a roundabout way, possibly involving a pun or wordplay and, at the least, involving an interpretational stretch. (In the parlance of crossword puzzles, these are "question mark-style" clues.)

Here's an example to help you: If the clue were, "Trigger that's pro-environment?", then the solution would be Green Button (which is a type of squash). (I promise the answers below are more well-known gourds and squashes...)

2.5 points will be awarded for each correct answer.

1. Relative of a particular kind of low-cut shoe?
2. Churning fanatic?
3. Maize doing well in school?
4. Place to get a mani-pedi owned by a particular American gas company?

What is your name (or team name)?
(Please use the same name every week so that I can properly record your scores!)


1. Relative of a particular kind of low-cut shoe?


2. Churning fanatic?


3. Maize doing well in school?


4. Place to get a mani-pedi owned by a particular American gas company?

Solution to Fall 2015 POTW #4: trivia with a theme

See here for the original puzzle post.

Solution:

1. Royale
2. The Middle East
3. Church
4. Great Scott

Theme: These are all live music venues in Boston.

Solution to POTW #3: MBTehhhhh

See this link for the original puzzle post.

Solution:

1. Haymarket
2. Government Centre
3. Braintree
4. Coolidge Corner
5. Cleveland Circle

Fall 2015 POTW #4: trivia with a theme

Submissions due by midnight on Sunday 10/18.

The questions below are straightforward trivia.

2 points will be awarded for each correct answer and 2 points will be awarded for identifying the unifying theme of the answers.

1.     According to Pulp Fiction, what you’d call a Big Mac (sans cheese) in France.

2.     A particular politically-contentious region of the world.

3.     A particular place of worship that has a pair of letters repeated twice (like the word mathematics does, with ma appearing twice).

4.     An old-timey way to say “OMG!”

What is your name (or team name)? *
(Please use the same name every week so that I can properly record your scores!)
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Submit your answers for POTW#4 here *
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Solution to POTW #2: mOvie vOwels

See this link for the original puzzle post.

Solution:

1. Johnny Depp gives a stellar performance in this true-life tale of mobsters, the FBI, and the search for a deadly, dark-colored fungus.
   Black Moss (from Black Mass)
   
2. This critically-acclaimed Oscar-winner depicts the mayhem and violence caused by corruption, organized crime, and double-agents at a big city’s department of Citizenship & Immigration Services.
   The Deported (from The Departed)
   
3. In this dark tale of entangled crimes and accusations, a softball team’s enigmatic extra infielder is murdered by his childhood pal.
   Mystic Rover (from Mystic River)

Theme: All of these movies are set in the city of Boston, MA. (More specifically, they're crime dramas set in Boston, but I accepted "set in Boston" as sufficiently correct.)

Fall 2015 POTW #3: MBTehhhhh

Submissions due by midnight on Sunday 10/11.

The answer to each clue below is an MBTA (Boston, MA) subway stop. (Bus stops do not count; this only refers to the Red, Green, Blue, Orange, and Silver lines.)

Each answer has been clued in a roundabout way, possibly involving a pun or wordplay and, at the least, involving an interpretational stretch. (In the parlance of crossword puzzles, these are "question mark-style" clues.)

Here's an example to help you: If the clue were, "Where Citizens and Santander treat their customers well?", the solution would be Fairbanks.

2 points will be awarded for each correct answer:

1. Where a farmer may purchase some feed for his horses?
2. Washington, D.C.?
3. An elm inside your helmet?
4. Where a former Mass. Governor and U.S. President grew up and hung out?
5. Ring around a major Midwestern American city?

Note about submissions:

• Please use the same name every week so that I will have a correct cumulative total at the end of the semester!
• Also, you do not  need to provide both a name and team name. If you are an individual, supply your name. If you are submitting on behalf of a group of people, supply your group's name.
• Also, please be unique. Don't use a name of, for instance, "Joe" because there will surely be more than one Joe. Full first and last names would be best.

What is your name / team name? *


This is a required question


Submit your answers for Fall 2015 POTW #3 here. *


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Solution to POTW #1: the broken pocketwatch

See this link for the original puzzle post.

Solution:

We know the watch was correct at 2:00am. Let’s make a table of times, showing both the actual time and the time that the watch shows:

Actual time	Watch time
2:00 am	2:00 AM
3:00 AM	3:36 AM
4:00 AM	5:12 AM
5:00 AM	6:48 AM
6:00 AM	8:24 AM

Voila! When the watch stopped, showing 8:24am, it was actually 6:00am. Since that was one hour ago, it must now be 7:00 am.

“Alternative” method: We can take an algebraic approach instead of making a table of values and hoping to get lucky. Let X denote the number of hours that have passed since 2:00 am, when the watch last showed the correct time. Then, we can set up an equation that represents the time that the watch shows:

The left-hand side says, “The watch shows 8:24am right now”. The right-hand side says, “It was 2, and every hour that passed, the watch gained 1 hour and 36 minutes.”

Solving for X yields X = 4. That is, 4 hours passed since 2:00am, so the actual time was 6:00am when the watch showed 8:24am. Again, since it’s now one hour later, the time must now be 7:00 am.

POTW #2: mOvie vOwels

Due by midnight on Sunday 10/04/2015

The answer to each clue below is a made-up movie title. Each title is obtained by taking the title of a well-known film and changing one of its vowels to an “O”. I have given a brief synopsis of each made-up movie based on its title.

For example, if the clue were, “A caped crusader roams Gotham City thwarting criminals in the late hours, but he can be found playing Dungeons & Dragons and getting bullied by jocks during the day,” the correct answer would be The Dork Knight.

General advice: look for references to both the original title and the modified title in the synopsis. Also, remember that each example changes one vowel (A, E, I, or U) to an O.

3 points will be awarded for each correct title, and 1 point will be awarded for identifying the common theme uniting the films.

1. Johnny Depp gives a stellar performance in this true-life tale of mobsters, the FBI, and the search for a deadly, dark-colored fungus.
2. This critically-acclaimed Oscar-winner depicts the mayhem and violence caused by corruption, organized crime, and double-agents at a big city’s department of Citizenship & Immigration Services.
3. In this dark tale of entangled crimes and accusations, a softball team’s enigmatic extra infielder is murdered by his childhood pal.

Submit your answer via the Google Form below (or the link here):

What is your name / team name? *


This is a required question


Submit your answers for POTW #2 here. *


This is a required question

POTW #1: due Sunday 09/27/2015

Your pocketwatch is broken. Every hour it gains 36 minutes.
Exactly one hour ago, it stopped, showing the time as 8:24am.
You know that the clock showed the correct time at 2:00am.

What time is it now?

---

Submissions are due by midnight on Sunday 09/27/2015. Use the submission form below:

(link to submission form on Google Drive)

What's your name / team name? *


This is a required question


Submit your answer for Fall 2015 POTW #1 *
See mathpotw.blogspot.com for puzzle statement. Deadline: 11:59pm Sunday 09/27/2015


This is a required question

Never submit passwords through Google Forms.

Fall 2015 Puzzle of the Week is coming soon!

The new school year is underway and that means it's time for Puzzle of the Week!

I will post POTW #1 on Sunday 09/20 and submissions will be due by midnight the following Sunday.

Three new ideas that I will implement this year:

• Solutions will be posted the day after they're due. So, every Monday morning, I will post the previous week's solution as well as a new puzzle.
• Your submissions can be sent through this blog! This is the most exciting part. In the past, I've made you email me your answers. From now on, you'll be able to submit here.
• There will be prizes both for frequent participation and for overall standings. At the end of each semester, small prizes will be awarded for the students who participate the most often. At the end of the year (in Spring 2016), larger prizes will be awarded based on standings.

So, be on the lookout for a new post on Sunday! I suggest subscribing to this blog's feed or following me on Twitter @professorbrenda to get updates.

2014-2015 POTW results

The results are in for the Emmanuel College Math Department's Puzzle of the Week contest for the 2014-2015 academic year! Congrats to the top three points-scorers:

1. Sarah Tubridy
2. Darren Parke
3. Paul Bleau

They won some excellent math books, picked out by yours truly:

• The Artist & the Mathematician, by Amir Aczel
• Proofiness, by Charles Seife
• The Man Who Loved Only Numbers, by Paul Hoffman

I recommend all three of these books!

Please spread the word about POTW for next year. We're always looking to get more regular participants!

If you have comments or suggestions about the POTW, leave a comment here or send an email to sullivanb@emmanuel.edu.

For instance, if you want to suggest a format change (bi-weekly, submit answers via blog, etc.) or have some puzzles you want to share, or anything like that ... just let me know.

Until the fall semester ... keep on puzzling.

Puzzle: Another encounter with Illogical Club

Submissions to this puzzle are due by 6:00pm on Thursday, April 16.
EC Math Club is hosting a games night at 6:30pm on Thursday. At that event, we will hand out prizes for the year-long standings in POTW. Come to claim your prize and play some games!
(See sidebar for submission rules: email sullivanb@emmanuel.edu)

To join Logic Club, you must decide to always tell the truth or always lie. Members of Logic Club know who among them are Liars and who are Truthers, and they always follow the rules according to their role. They also know who is not  a member of Logic Club (e.g. who is a member of Illogical Club).

Members of Illogical Club sometimes tell lies and sometimes tell truths. It depends on their mood! (However, members of Illogical Club do happen to know which members of Logic Club are Truthers and which are Liars; they may just choose to tell lies or truths about their knowledge.)

You attend a campus event and bump into three people. In general, you may have to determine which club someone belongs to, based on their statements. However, for this puzzle, you happen to know that there is exactly one Illogical Club member, exactly one Logical Truther, and exactly one Logical Liar in your midst.

• X says: "I am in Logic Club and I am a Truther."
• Y says: "I am in Logic Club and I am a Liar."
• Z says: "Y is in Illogical Club."

Who is the Logical Truther, who is the Logical Liar, and who is the Illogician?

Note: A correct answer is good, but an explanation is better.

Puzzle: First encounter with Illogical Club

Submissions to this puzzle are due by midnight on Sunday April 12.
(See sidebar for submission rules: email sullivanb@emmanuel.edu)

To join Logic Club, you must decide to always tell the truth or always lie. Members of Logic Club know who among them are Liars and who are Truthers, and they always follow the rules according to their role.

Members of Illogical Club sometimes tell lies and sometimes tell truths. It depends on their mood! (However, members of Illogical Club do happen to know which members of Logic Club are Truthers and which are Liars; they may just choose to tell lies or truths about their knowledge.)

(In this first encounter with Illogical Club, you know who belongs to which club. In the future, you may have to determine which club someone belongs to, based on their statements!)

You attend a campus-wide recruitment fair. There, you find a table for Logic Club attended to by two members thereof: Larry and Linda.

Next to them is a table for Illogical Club, attended to by a sole member thereof: Igor.

You approach the two tables and, unprovoked, the club members speak to you:

• Igor says: "Larry is a Truther."
• Larry says: "If what Igor just said is a truth, then Linda is a Liar."
• Linda says: "What Igor just said is a lie."

What are the roles of these Logic Club members, and why? Is Igor's statement a truth or a lie?

Note: A correct answer is good, but an explanation is better.

Puzzle: Logic Club and a "hire power"

Submissions to this puzzle are due by midnight on Monday April 6.
(See sidebar for submission rules: email sullivanb@emmanuel.edu)

To join Logic Club, you must decide to always tell the truth or always lie. Members of Logic Club know who among them are Liars and who are Truthers, and they always follow the rules according to their role.

You happen to be in attendance at a communal interview with three candidates for teaching positions at Emmanuel College, and the school needs your help! It is known that these three candidates (inventively named A, B, and C) are members of Logic Club, but it is not (yet!) known what their roles are. The school would only like to hire a Truther. Your goal is to figure out which of the three candidates is a Truther.

• A says: "If B is a Liar, then C is a Liar."
• B says: "If C is a Liar, then A is a Liar."
• C says: "A is a Liar and B is a Liar."

Who should be hired? Which candidate is a Truther, and why?
Note: A correct answer is good, but an explanation is better.

Puzzle: Another encounter with Logic Club

Submissions to this puzzle are due by midnight on Sunday March 29.

(See sidebar for submission rules: email sullivanb@emmanuel.edu)

To join Logic Club, you must decide to always tell the truth or always lie. Members of Logic Club know who among them are Liars and who are Truthers, and they always follow the rules according to their role.

It just so happens that the Math Department faculty are members of Logic Club! You're on your way to find Ben, and you bump into Todd and Patterson standing outside Ben's office.

• You ask them both: "Is Ben in his office now?"
• Todd replies: "Ben is here and Ben is a Liar."
• Patterson replies: "Ben isn't here and Ben is a Liar."
• At that moment, Ben pokes his head out of his office and says: "Hey, I heard you guys! Todd is a Liar!"
• Paterson chimes in again: "Yeah, that's right; Todd is a Liar."

What are the roles of Todd, Patterson, and Ben?

Which are Truthers and which are Liars?

Puzzle: An encounter with Logic Club

Submissions to this puzzle are due by midnight on Sunday March 22.

(See sidebar for submission rules: email sullivanb@emmanuel.edu)

To join Logic Club, you must decide to always tell the truth or always lie. Members of Logic Club know who among them are Liars and who are Truthers, and they always follow the rules according to their role.

It just so happens that the Math Department faculty are members of Logic Club! You meet three of them -- Yulia, Brendan, and Christine -- in the hallway one day and decide that you want to determine each of their roles, Truther or Liar.

• You ask Yulia: "What is your role in Logic Club?"
• She answers in Russian, so you cannot understand!
• You turn to Brendan and ask: "What did Yulia say?"
  Brendan replies: "Oh, she just said that she is a Liar."
• Yulia chimes in (in English) to say: "That's correct."
• But Christine jumps in to say: "Wait, don't believe them; they're both Liars!"

What are the roles of Yulia, Brendan, and Christine?

Which are Truthers and which are Liars?