tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57303912024-03-19T01:48:31.682-07:00Blaine's Puzzle BlogWeekly discussion on the NPR puzzler, brain teasers, math problems and more.Blainehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06379274325110866036noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5730391.post-74382792796960710362018-11-18T06:05:00.001-08:002018-11-25T06:32:42.940-08:00NPR Sunday Puzzle (Nov 18, 2018): Taking the Next Logical Step<a href="https://www.npr.org/2018/11/18/669007480/sunday-puzzle-name-a-category">NPR Sunday Puzzle (Nov 18, 2018): Taking the Next Logical Step</a>: <blockquote><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8-G7fb2Znai1FZkRQ3HeJVTnz9rCFMUZ4ENHPO-y0bF0JJYQbklirqFRaPm-puMcuNlB7HnL279IMmHg5cgfaLkm6_63ACMEOyaZGptWwd3v0YhltopnPDLgqSh9C4oQF5YUh/s1600/welcome+mat.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8-G7fb2Znai1FZkRQ3HeJVTnz9rCFMUZ4ENHPO-y0bF0JJYQbklirqFRaPm-puMcuNlB7HnL279IMmHg5cgfaLkm6_63ACMEOyaZGptWwd3v0YhltopnPDLgqSh9C4oQF5YUh/s200/welcome+mat.png" width="200" height="200" data-original-width="625" data-original-height="625" /></a></div><b>Q: </b>In my trip to Europe two weeks ago I visited a friend in Amsterdam who literally has a puzzle on his doormat. Before you walk into his apartment, there's an original puzzle for you to solve. I was able to do it. See if you can. What number comes next in this series: 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 23, 28?</blockquote>April 2nd, '07?<br/><br/><b>Edit: </b>In the OEIS (Online Encyclopedia of Integer Sequences), this is sequence <a href="http://oeis.org/A004207">A004207</a><blockquote>38 (Add the sum of the digits in the prior number, e.g. 16 + 1 + 6 = 23, 23 + 2 + 3 = 28, etc.)</blockquote>Blainehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06379274325110866036noreply@blogger.com118tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5730391.post-11806209853057245972012-10-25T14:15:00.000-07:002012-10-25T14:15:47.655-07:00NPR Sunday Puzzle (Oct 21, 2012): World Series of Letters<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwYK0XG5ClZlKfQ44gNqEpc23EeJIm2DFu-blcHbbH761_NcB2koZk3OX7VzHgO4n97Wef4LmbdGHTW9tEOaXiTVw0-KxEDYvHJVGt5B4u01WtOiSjrU5j3Re0CicENyHZXSZl/s1600/LetterWheel.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwYK0XG5ClZlKfQ44gNqEpc23EeJIm2DFu-blcHbbH761_NcB2koZk3OX7VzHgO4n97Wef4LmbdGHTW9tEOaXiTVw0-KxEDYvHJVGt5B4u01WtOiSjrU5j3Re0CicENyHZXSZl/s200/LetterWheel.png" width="200" /></a><a href="http://www.npr.org/2012/10/21/163313362/poked-and-tummy-become-poker-and-rummy">NPR Sunday Puzzle (Oct 21, 2012): World Series of Letters</a>: <br />
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<b>Q: </b>What letter comes next in this series: W, L, C, N, I, T?</blockquote>
I know I've seen this somewhere before.<br /><br /><b>Edit: </b>The series refers to itself... and the image with the alphabet looping back on itself was to imply this. The comment also should lead you to looking at the question itself.<blockquote><b>A: </b>S is the next letter in the series which consists of the initial letters of the original question (What, Letter, Comes, Next, In, This, Series)</blockquote>Blainehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06379274325110866036noreply@blogger.com86tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5730391.post-18556286189544043912011-11-17T12:00:00.000-08:002011-11-17T12:02:55.760-08:00NPR Sunday Puzzle (Nov 13, 2011): What Comes Next?<a href="http://www.npr.org/2011/11/13/142276105/a-four-letter-word-for-capital-city">NPR Sunday Puzzle (Nov 13, 2011): What Comes Next?</a>: <br />
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<b>Q: </b>What number comes next in the following series: 2, 4, 6, 9, 11, 15, 20, 40, <i>51*, 55*,</i> 60 and 90?</blockquote>
See, I thought I had the answer to this, but if so, there are a couple numbers missing.<br/><br/><b>*Update: </b>The consensus seems to be that Henry Hook and Will Shortz overlooked a couple terms in the sequence and it should be 2, 4, 6, 9, 11, 15, 20, 40, <b><i>51, 55, </i></b>60 and 90. Hopefully everyone is able to solve it now with the corrected wording. If anyone has direct access to Will's email, perhaps they could ask for a similar correction to the puzzle on the NPR website.<br/><br/>Will Shortz has confirmed (see <a href="http://puzzles.blainesville.com/2011/11/npr-sunday-puzzle-nov-13-2011-what.html?showComment=1321284406668#c3310607708672120974">his comment</a>) that he extended Henry Hook's original series (2, 4, 6, 9, 11, 15, 20) and in the process overlooked the numbers above. The NPR website has been updated as well. Thanks to everyone that helped clear this up.<br/><br/><b>Edit: </b>My hint was "See, I..." which sounds like CI which is 101 in Roman numerals<blockquote><b>A: </b>101 is next in <a href="http://oeis.org/A195526">the sequence</a>. When represented as Roman numerals, each number in the series requires exactly two letters (II, IV, VI, IX, XI, XV, XX, XL, LI, LV, LX, XC, CI...)</blockquote>Blainehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06379274325110866036noreply@blogger.com121tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5730391.post-69036262656348112472009-03-27T17:55:00.000-07:002009-03-27T17:55:00.281-07:00Friday Fun: What's the next number in the sequence?Can you figure out the next few terms in the following sequence?<blockquote><b>Q: </b>1, 3, 7, 12, 18, 26, 35, 45, 56, 69...</blockquote>I'll post the answer some time next week.Blainehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06379274325110866036noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5730391.post-1139264530687883162006-02-21T23:05:00.000-08:002008-02-15T16:17:49.422-08:00What's the next number in the sequence?Here's a <a href="http://seqpost2.notlong.com">sequence puzzle</a> that will make you think. It's an infinite sequence so be prepared to show the next 7 or 8 terms.<br /><blockquote><b>Q: </b>Can you figure out the next few terms in the following sequence? <br />5, 15, 5, 18, 5, 24, 14, 20, 5, 14, 14, 5...</blockquote>I'll post the answer later in the week.<br /><b>Hint:</b> Changing the sequence to the letters in the alphabet we have EOEREXNTENNE.<br /><blockquote><b>A:</b> The sequence is now part of the <a href="http://www.research.att.com/~njas/sequences/A114332">Online Encyclopedia of Integer Sequences</a>. Looking at onE, twO, threE, fouR, fivE, siX, seveN, eighT, it should be apparent that we are looking at the last letter of each number (in English) which is then converted to its position in the alphabet (E=5, O=15, etc.) following the pattern, the next few terms are ...14, 14, 14, 14, 14, 14, 14, 25...</blockquote>Blainehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06379274325110866036noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5730391.post-1127157522285492422005-10-29T15:14:00.000-07:002008-02-15T16:17:49.423-08:00A Sequence Puzzle of my Own DevisingI was just fiddling with numbers recently and came up with the following sequence:<br />4, 5, 5, 6, 14, 11, 8, 11, 8, 8, 13...<br />Can anyone tell me what the next few terms in the sequence might be? Here's a cryptic hint: 'geometry'<br /><b>Edit:</b> There's a free cherry pie for whomever can get their mind 'round this puzzle and come up with the answer...<br /><b>Edit:</b> Cherry <i>pi</i>? Since I posted this puzzle, my sequence has been accepted to the <a href="http://www.research.att.com/cgi-bin/access.cgi/as/njas/sequences/eisA.cgi?Anum=A110883">Encyclopedia of Integer Sequences</a>. To generate the sequence, take the digits of pi: 3. 1 4 1 5 9 2 6 5 3 5 8 9 7 9... If you take the sum of each consecutive digit (3+1), (1+4), (4+1), (1+5) etc. you get 4, 5, 5, 6, 14 and so forth. So the next few terms are 17, 16, 16... And did anyone notice the time on the posting?Blainehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06379274325110866036noreply@blogger.com0