Tuesday, February 21, 2006

What's the next number in the sequence?

Here's a sequence puzzle that will make you think. It's an infinite sequence so be prepared to show the next 7 or 8 terms.
Q: Can you figure out the next few terms in the following sequence?
5, 15, 5, 18, 5, 24, 14, 20, 5, 14, 14, 5...
I'll post the answer later in the week.
Hint: Changing the sequence to the letters in the alphabet we have EOEREXNTENNE.
A: The sequence is now part of the Online Encyclopedia of Integer Sequences. 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...
Posted by Blaine at 11:05 PM
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2 comments:

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.

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