Sunday, February 28, 2016

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Feb 28, 2016): Graphing is Where I Draw the Line

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Feb 28, 2016): Graphing is Where I Draw the Line:
Q: What two eight-letter terms in math are anagrams of each other, one from geometry, one from calculus?
I'm just going to say initially you may be confused, but you'll get it.

Edit: The initial letters of the two words are I and T.
A: INTEGRAL and TRIANGLE

105 comments:

  1. Here's my standard reminder... don't post the answer or any hints that could lead directly to the answer (e.g. via a chain of thought, or an internet search) before the deadline of Thursday at 3pm ET. If you know the answer, click the link and submit it to NPR, but don't give it away here.

    You may provide indirect hints to the answer to show you know it, but make sure they don't give the answer away. You can openly discuss your hints and the answer after the Thursday deadline. Thank you.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. There were "over 170" entries last week, so ecoarchitect had the winning range of 151-175.

      If you want to pick a range for this week, reply here with your pick as to the number of correct answers that will be submitted. Only one range per person and only one person per range.
      0 - 25
      26 - 50
      51 - 75
      76 - 100
      101 - 125
      126 - 150
      151 - 175
      176 - 200
      201 - 225
      226 - 250

      251 - 275
      276 - 300
      301 - 325
      326 - 350
      351 - 375
      376 - 400
      401 - 425
      426 - 450
      451 - 475
      476 - 500

      501 - 550
      551 - 600
      601 - 650
      651 - 700
      701 - 750
      751 - 800
      801 - 850
      851 - 900
      901 - 950
      951 - 1,000

      1,001 - 1,050
      1,051 - 1,100
      1,101 - 1,150
      1,151 - 1,200
      1,201 - 1,250
      1,251 - 1,300
      1,301 - 1,350
      1,351 - 1,400
      1,401 - 1,450
      1,451 - 1,500

      1,501 - 1,550
      1,551 - 1,600
      1,601 - 1,650
      1,651 - 1,700
      1,701 - 1,750
      1,751 - 1,800
      1,801 - 1,850
      1,851 - 1,900
      1,901 - 1,950
      1,951 - 2,000

      2,001 - 2,250
      2,251 - 2,500
      2,501 - 2,750
      2,751 - 3,000
      3,001 - 3,500
      3,501 - 4,000
      4,001 - 4,500
      4,501 - 5,000

      More than 5,000

      Delete
    2. It's also possible that Lego was the winner, he had the 176-200 range, but don't tell him until I get the award money - I'll take it as a lump sum payment.

      Delete
    3. This comment has been removed by the author.

      Delete
    4. No, ecoarchitect, you were the winner. "More than 170" correct entries" = 171, 172, 173, 174 or 175. Congratualtions. (I hope you choke on the wads of billion dollar bills Blaine sends you!)

      Seriously, though, congratulations to on-air player and Blainesvillian Barbara H., who comported herself very well in a very, very tough anagram category.

      LegoModestInVictoryGraciousInDefeat...SoreLoserBehindClosedDoors

      Delete
    5. 176, 177, 178 and 179 are also more than 170.

      It doesn't matter though, I plan to donate all the funds to the Society To Repudiate Anagram Puzzles. Please give cash for STRAP.

      Delete
    6. But, eco, beware of PARTS of TRAPS.

      Delete
    7. eco - would those making donations be cash strapped?

      Delete
    8. SDB: do make sure you have TARPS over your PRATS (British slang defn).

      SZ: all check donations will be STRAP cashed.

      Delete
    9. eco:

      I have always understood PRAT to be British slang for an incompetent, stupid, or foolish person or an idiot like UNCLE Clarence ThOMas and his incredibly stupid wife. Of course I would be remiss were I to leave out anyone who is supporting Donald Trump.

      Delete
    10. Prat is also slang for buttocks, maybe that's not from the Brits. Isn't it great to have this forum from which we can learn SO much?!

      Years ago in Lyon I became friends with some university students with varying amounts of English knowledge. With the opportunity to learn from a native speaker what did they want? To learn how to curse in English....

      Delete
    11. I knew about the buttocks slang, but it is not used much or even understood by most people. Most Americans don't even understand that BUGGER has nothing at all to do with noses.

      As to those cursed Frenchies wanting to learn our swear words, I have always heard that it is exactly those words that most people tend to pick up first in a new (to them) language. Not that I would ever do that, of curse.

      Delete
    12. Well, usually BUGGER has nothing to to with noses (vs. BOOGER).

      Americans may be more familiar with PRAT in the combined form of PRATFALL.

      Delete
    13. Exactly! They confuse booger with bugger. I was thinking of mentioning Chevy Chase as an example of prat-falling, but I didn't want to prattle on too much. Not that I would ever do that, of course.

      Delete
    14. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

      Delete
    15. I think this topic has run its course.

      Delete
  2. The calculus term was the first one I tried to scramble, and voila; took about 11 seconds. ---Rob

    ReplyDelete
  3. I missed the broadcast (but not this week's answer). How many correct answers were there?

    I'll go with 1501-1550 this week, please.

    ReplyDelete
  4. My comment from last week's puzzle blog: Anyone who graduated from high school should get this one.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes. Most high school earthlings should come up with the solution.

      Delete
    2. Thanks for letting us know. No getting along with this puzzle, it brought up many years of repressed memories.

      Delete
  5. Besides anagramming into each other, they also anagram into 3 other common words and 1 uncommon word.

    ReplyDelete
  6. It's pretty cool that you can create two words both relating to math without altering any of the letters.

    Reminds me of the set of three 8-letter anagrams all having to do with the rearing of children...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Nick,
      You refer, I am sure, to SPANKING, which leads to SKIN-PANG and SANG-PINK (as the French may or may not say).

      Easy Will Shortz offering this week. But the word “calculus” will scare many off. I’ll guess 651-700.

      LegoSaysNick’sSubtleUseOfTheWord”Rearing”TippedHimOff

      Delete
    2. parental>>>paternal>>>pre-natal???

      Delete
  7. 351-375 please.

    How recently should one have graduated from that high school? I never took calculus,; smoke is coming out of my ears, my brain is thinking so hard.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. 10th Grade geometry should be sufficient. Take a close look at Blaine's diagram for the word.

      Delete
  8. Replies
    1. If you look closely at Blaine's diagram, you will find the correct answer!

      Delete
  9. After searching and searching, I finally had to give up.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Blaine's diagram is too alerting.

      Delete
    2. That's the third post of yours claiming that Blaine's diagram has the answer. I've found quite a few examples of one of the words, but no example whatsoever of the other word.

      Let me just simply say that if you've learned the Pythagorean Theorem, then you've definitely learned the first word; and if you've learned the Fundamental Theorem of Calculus, then you've definitely learned the 2nd word.

      BTW, I've found a form of the 2nd word on this blog!

      Delete
    3. Find a JOB instead, or at least the FORM of a job!

      Delete
  10. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  11. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  12. At the end of last week's blog I asked for 2501-2750. I probably should have gone lower and accounted for all the math courses I took in college and grad school which may have given me an edge. Go figure.

    Since I seem to be going off on a tangent, I'll sine off here.

    ReplyDelete
  13. In an effort to sound more friendly than in my earlier post...

    I should point out that in my high school if you were assumed to be going into – or had actually stated that you were thinking about going into – a STEM field (they weren’t called STEM then, but you know what I mean), you were required to take 4 years of math: algebra, geometry, trig and calculus. Of course, your high school experience may be entirely different than mine so the answer to this puzzle may be a lot more challenging for you than for me.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sounds like we were in similar, "Post Sputnik/ missile gap fear," programs. Mine included the math courses you mentioned, with Calculus being a 10 credit college level course. Plus we could complete General Science in the 8th grade, take Earth Science as Freshmen, double up Biology and Chemistry as Sophomores, take Physics as Juniors and take an Advanced Placement science in our Senior year. Depending on how you did - and your college - you could enter with 18 credits towards your degree..

      Delete
  14. I always thought calculus was why we go to the dentist, but I got the answer anyway.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think we have to remove your plaque.

      Delete
    2. Calculus is rather hard. Yes, that kind. . .

      Delete
    3. If you want something more filling, I would suggest heading over to Puzzleria! where Lego is running 2 of my puzzles. The second one should be fun to solve.

      Delete
    4. How can you live in this world without knowing integration by parts?

      Delete
  15. Will didn't seem to have spent much time or effort on this week's on-air and off anagrams.
    I wish Barbara had asked him how much we pay him for such as he does.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Had they been 9-letter words, the answer could have been logarithm and algorithm.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. ... had they not been from geometry and calculus.

      Delete
  17. Some say this puzzle is too easy. Some say math is too hard. But there are more than two sides to this situation.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Here's an interesting Oscar-themed anagram to think about: The name KATE WINSLET can be rearranged to spell TINKLE and SWEAT(or WASTE).

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. ....or also SWEET TALKIN, which are the first two words to the popular 1960's song SWEET TALKIN GUY. These two words were used as the clue to being an anagram of the actress' name

      Delete
  19. 1401-1450 please.
    Easy as Pi.

    ReplyDelete
  20. I normally refuse to watch the Oscars. I despise Hollywood and all their crappy films. I enjoy realism and a real story, and if that story is supposed to be true, then, please forgive me, but I want it based on the facts, not on some hack writer and his imagination.

    That being said I just turned on my TV and watched the first fifteen minutes of the Oscars just so I could enjoy what the host, Chris Rock would say. What a disappointment! They began the show with a collage of movie bits that showed closeups of actor's faces. The second actor's face was black. That caught my attention instantly as I have been hearing all the nonstop reporting about the lack of any black actors even being nominated. Well it continued with almost as many black actor's faces as white faces. I knew right away they had rushed to put this disingenuous garbage together in their pathetic attempt to deny they are racist.

    Then Chris Rock came out and talked about nothing but the controversy. It was anything but funny. What a waste of my time. But the real funny thing I noticed is that they didn't show even one Asian actor, or Native American Indian actor, or Muslim actor, or, well you get the picture. It was just another Hollywood lie, like all their movies that lie about history and everything else. Here is an example. Most Hollywood movies about a typical American family have them living in a house, in a neighborhood, most of us only can dream of. Almost all these houses have a fairly grand staircase leading to the imaginary second floor. How is your staircase doing these days?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I thought I'd flip and just see what was going on, and instead I saw and just flipped. I turned it on just as some woman screamed "Happy Black History Month!" I now see her name is Stacey Dash, had to look it up. I couldn't watch any more, it reminded me of folks who unknowingly say Happy Yom Kippur. But that's usually out of ignorance, I would have thought a news correspondent should know better, but wait, she works for Fox.

      I do like good movies, and fiction can do a wonderful job bringing forth important issues. But they'd rather just make money, I blame the viewers as much as the producers. I can't stand any of the awards shows, wretched celebrity culture makes me retch.

      There's a future thesis paper to be written about how movies (and even more so TV) have changed over time addressing the lives of different economic strata. "Good Times" vs say, "The Cosby Show".

      Delete
    2. This comment has been removed by the author.

      Delete
  21. Hey, SDB, I'll bet you didn't even bother with Jimmy Kimmel's aftershow party. What's with him and Matt Damon having some "feud"? You talk about anything but funny. I just turned it off after Ben Affleck smuggled Matt onto the show, and Jimmy had him removed. I've never cared about this stupid bit Jimmy insists on doing. Why should I care now? I actually found myself yelling at the screen as this shit was taking place. That was far worse than anything happening on the actual Oscars telecast. You can say whatever you want about the Oscars, SDB, but I say if anything good came out of this evening, it was that Leo finally got his Oscar. Let that be the only good we can take away from it all. Let's forget about Jimmy Kimmel and his crappy show for now.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The Oscars won't be a topic for discussion for long because tomorrow is Super Tuesday. God Bless America! VK0EK is coming soon.

      Delete
  22. Seems like I either don't get it (last week), or get it before Will finished repeating the challenge (this week). Sigh.

    ReplyDelete
  23. Going to the gym to get in shape was essential to being able to solve this week's challenge.

    ReplyDelete
  24. A few weeks ago, I presented the challenge of anagramming college names. From the four anagrams, the first two were major universities, and the latter two each used words that make for good anagrams as a result of their "balance" between the "right" number of vowels and consonants.

    A poster to this blog got all four right, so here they are:

    I HATE SOOT--OHIO STATE
    GONE TO STARE--OREGON STATE
    I THEN SLICE A BRAIN--ABILENE CHRISTIAN--"CHRISTIAN" has 3 vowels and 6 oft-used consonants which make for many anagrams
    A WISE HOLY ONE--OHIO WESLEYAN--like "CHRISTIAN", "WESLEYAN" has the same vowel-consonant balance.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I, a wily enchantress, shall found an institution of higher learning named Wesleyan Christian.

      LegoWhoIsActuallyMoreOfAWileE.CoyoteThanWilyEnchantress

      Delete
    2. Den dars mah cuzzin Becky Sue creek. She's crazy bout dem Buckeyes.

      Delete
  25. B R E A K I N G N E W S !

    It was just announced on NPR News that today Supreme Court Injustice Clarence Thomas asked his first question on the court since 2006. They did not indicate what the question was.

    My unnamed sources have informed me his question was:

    "Where is Tony?"

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. My wife informs me his friends called him "Nino".

      Delete
    2. The stench from the bench is making me clench!

      Delete
    3. jan,
      I too had some rather endearing terms for the SOB.

      Delete
  26. I'll say 451-475. All winnings go to STRAP.

    ReplyDelete
  27. Binomial means, I prefer Pepsi. From where I sit I predict 500

    ReplyDelete
  28. I saw some leaves, but not the trees this week.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. INTEGRAL, TRIANGLE

      "Hardly had to give this one a go." >>> Hardly had to TRY.

      "Just use your DNA." >>> DNA TRIANGLES

      Hold on to your double helixes ;-)!

      Delete
    2. My hint, I saw some leaves (isosceles) a type of triangle.

      Delete
  29. TRIANGLE/INTEGRAL
    There isn't much to say about this ten second puzzle, especially when I used five of the seconds to check the number of letters.
    Coming up with an appropriate clue/comment was far more difficult. As I saw things:
    - References to Pythagoras were too pithy, and,
    - Differential word play offered only limited traction.
    So I rattled on about being halfway between too hot and too cold (aka, triangulation). Fearing I had gone off on too much of a Tangent, I opted to Sine off.

    ReplyDelete
  30. This weeks fantastic tiein with Johnny Cash was the Riemann integral and Ryman Auditorium.

    ReplyDelete
  31. INTEGRAL, TRIANGLE

    > Some say this puzzle is too easy. Some say math is too hard. But there are more than two sides to this situation.

    Three sides, in fact.

    ReplyDelete
  32. Musical clue: Just about half the love songs ever written (The Eternal Triangle) -- yeah, I know, that covers a lot of ground! Since finding areas beneath the curve is a reason for performing integration.)

    ReplyDelete
  33. triangle, integral

    In the puzzling world, sometimes little pointy things are an inherent part of the larger picture.

    ReplyDelete
  34. I wrote: "The calculus term was the first one I tried to scramble, and voila; took about 11 seconds." 11 is three, in base two, for a link to the triangle. ---Rob

    ReplyDelete
  35. Geometry: TRIANGLE Δ
    Calculus: INTEGRAL

    “EARTHLINGS” -HS (High School) anagrams to TRIANGLE/INTEGRAL.

    Other anagrams of TRIANGLE/INTEGRAL>>>ALERTING (Tom W.), ALTERING, RELATING (Nick), TANGLIER (more entangled), GRAINLET...

    ReplyDelete
  36. TRIANGLE and INTEGRAL
    BTW anyone interested in cryptic crosswords can check out tomorrow's Puzzleria! for one I created!

    ReplyDelete
  37. At the Oscars Sunday night, Cate Blanchett used the word ``integral.'' Dead give away! Must have given Will a fit! Or, maybe not.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. FloridaGuy,

      "Fitting indeed that Ms. Blanchett spilled the beans in Will's "bean-counter" puzzle... She has been the answer in countless NPR puzzles, or so it seems.

      LegoWhoAdmitsHisPuzzlesOnPuzzleria!AreSomewhatDerivative

      Delete
  38. Yes, patjberry is too modest to say so, but his cryptic crossword over on Puzzleria! is an amazing piece of puzzlemaking.

    There is also a "piggyback" of Will's triangle/integral puzzle (our "Ripping Off Shortz Slice") in which a math term anagrams to food. Food for fun thought!

    Yes, and there are four other original puzzles to boot.

    LegoComeAndGiveUsAVisit,WeShallNotBootYouOut(ThatWasLastWeekWhenWeKickedTheCansDownTheRoad)

    ReplyDelete
  39. I suppose skydiveboy will gripe that the new CarTalk puzzle is too easy, but I found it amusing, anyway.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I guess I could have provided a link. That would have been nice of me, wouldn't it?

      Delete
    2. No gripe from me on this one even though it was easy for me to solve. I tend to enjoy the majority of CarTalk Puzzlers, whereas I dislike most NPR puzzles.

      I did not know where the gas cap location is on a 1956 Chevrolet, not being a Chevy guy, but as I listened to the puzzler while still in bed this morning, I figured the location was either behind the license plate, as I have seen them on some cars, or in the location it is on a Peugeot 403. My first car was a 1959 Peugeot 403 4 door sedan. It also has the fuel cap in this location. I still love that car!

      Delete
  40. Here's what I'd thought I'd have posted last Thursday:

    TRIANGLE
    ─────────────────────────────────────────
    ─T────R────I────A────N────G────L────E─┬──
    ═╪════╪════╪════╪════╪════╪════╪════╪═╪══
    ─┼────┼────I────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼─┼─I
    ─┼────┼─────────┼────N────┼────┼────┼─┼─N
    ─T────┼─────────┼─────────┼────┼────┼─┼─T
    ──────┼─────────┼─────────┼────┼────E─┼─E
    ──────┼─────────┼─────────G────┼──────┼─G
    ──────R─────────┼──────────────┼──────┼─R
    ────────────────A──────────────┼──────┼─A
    ───────────────────────────────L──────┴─L
    ─────────────────────────────────────────
    ─────────────────────────────────────────
    INTEGRAL


    Blaine,
    If I had posted the following before Thursday:
    ─────────────────────────────────────────
    ─┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬─┬──
    ═╪════╪════╪════╪════╪════╪════╪════╪═╪══
    ─┼────┼────┴────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼─┼──
    ─┼────┼─────────┼────┴────┼────┼────┼─┼──
    ─┴────┼─────────┼─────────┼────┼────┼─┼──
    ──────┼─────────┼─────────┼────┼────┴─┼──
    ──────┼─────────┼─────────┴────┼──────┼──
    ──────┴─────────┼──────────────┼──────┼──
    ────────────────┴──────────────┼──────┼──
    ───────────────────────────────┴──────┴──
    ─────────────────────────────────────────
    ─────────────────────────────────────────
    Would you have let it stand, or would you have deleted it?

    ReplyDelete
  41. Next week's challenge: Bail, Nail, and Mail are three four-letter words that differ only by their first letters. And those first letters (B, N, and M) happen to be adjacent on a computer keyboard. Can you think of five four-letter words that have the same property — that is, they're identical except for their first letters, with those first letters being adjacent on the keyboard? All five words must be ones that everyone knows. Capitalized words and plurals are not allowed. What words are they?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I wish he'd be a bit more specific. Must all five first letters be on the same row?

      I can think of NINE 4-letter words all the same except for their first letters, which are 3 adjacent keys on the top row, the 4 adjacent keys immediately below and adjacent to them, and the key immediately below and adjacent to the last two of those and the key immediately adjacent to the right of that.

      Delete
    2. EaWAf-My original solution was all in one row. After seeing your description of a three row set I took another look and have a three row set of ten words - three in the top row, five in the middle row and two in the bottom. (If you count homographs, there are eleven words). Nine of these rhyme.

      Delete
    3. in multi rows I've got 11 different first letters, + 1 homograph. 3 top row, 5 middle, 2 bottom.

      Methinks the puzzle was not fully thought through

      Delete
    4. After 10 minutes of thinking (9 more than needed) I've got (5) combinations of 5 words in one row, and (3) with 4 in one row. Glad I don't have to think about this any more.

      Delete
    5. Best to take care before venturing into confusing, gloomy investigation of overlapping entities (9).

      Delete
  42. In my solution, only four of the words rhyme.

    ReplyDelete
  43. I've got two answers already (5 four-letter words using adjacent keys on the same row), and I suspect there are many more answers. --Margaret G.

    ReplyDelete
  44. I have an answer that is self-referential, in part.

    ReplyDelete
  45. I have 5 4-letters words using adjacent keys on the same row. It can stretch to 8 words, if one variant spelling of a word is included. I suppose that variant spelling doesn't fit the "ones that everyone knows" parameter, though.

    So, we're ok here.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. So do you think that 'adjacent' means on the same row only? Probably, because otherwise there are too many answers.

      Delete
  46. *SIGH* AFTER I submitted my answer I found SIX 4-letter words whose first letters are all adjacent in one row on the keyboard; AND THEY ALL RHYME!!!

    ReplyDelete
  47. Funny, the Minnow should have been back 60 minutes ago.
    Bon jour!

    ReplyDelete

For NPR puzzle posts, don't post the answer or any hints that could lead to the answer before the deadline (usually Thursday at 3pm ET). If you know the answer, submit it to NPR, but don't give it away here.

You may provide indirect hints to the answer to show you know it, but make sure they don't assist with solving. You can openly discuss your hints and the answer after the deadline. Thank you.