August, 2003 Puzzle Contests

Click here to read the rules, to find other contests, or to learn how to participate in current puzzle contests.

8/29-9/2/03 Contest:

I play my roll as a cessation of life. Opposite sides always total 7, but that's more than any number I individually own. What am I?

Click here to see the answer & the winner for this contest (opens in a separate window)


8/28-8/29/03 Contest:

Red & black, I jest twice. I have 2 of 10, but at most 1 of 1. I encompass a girl's best friend, all trades, a gardening tool, and something that tells tales. What am I?

Click here to see the answer & the winner for this contest (opens in a separate window)


8/27-8/28/03 Contest:

Replace the dashes in the following analogy:

navy is to pier as soldier is to --e-d

Click here to see the answer & the winner for this contest (opens in a separate window)


8/26-8/27/03 Contest:

Each of the following puzzlers hints at 2 words. The second word is the same as the first word, but with one letter removed. Example:

A type of thief : Talk too much (6 & 5 letters)

The answers are PIRATE and PRATE. You must get the following 3 teasers right to be entered to win:

1. A type of bread : Having been taken without right or permission (7 & 6 letters)

2. Difficulty or complication : The mind or reason (5 & 4 letters)

3. An opening in the wall of a building : an evening meal (7 & 6 letters)

Click here to see the answer & the winner for this contest (opens in a separate window)


8/25-8/26/03 Contest:

Below is the 8/21-8/22 puzzle, which was not solved. It is now worth 2 puzzle pieces, which can get you some very nice prizes. Let's see if you can now MEASURE up to solving this one:

In the following series of equations, a letter should replace each x that is given. 3 different letters are used. And like all things, it starts with a little kiss (like this!). Rewrite the series as it should appear.

64x = 16x = 8x = 2x = 1x

Click here to see the answer & the winner for this contest (opens in a separate window)


8/22-8/25/03 Contest:

I am a word for a turnip (warning: I could not find this word, which is of foreign origin, on dictionary.com). Read backwards, I am part of a hammer. Change my first letter, and I am not shallow. What am I?

Click here to see the answer & the winner for this contest (opens in a separate window)


8/21-8/22/03 Contest:

You crazy kids didn't solve this one. I'll issue it again as the 8/25-26 puzzle, with a hint, and it will be worth TWO (count 'em!) puzzle pieces this time around. I'm FLOODED with answers to the 8/22-8/25 puzzle. Funny how some problems prove to be so much harder or easier than I would originally guess :-)


8/20-8/21/03 Contest:

7 of the following words have something very unusual in common, and it is not related to the number of letters that they have. Which word does not share the feature that the others share?

hop fort elm gimp pry envy army abhor

Click here to see the answer & the winner for this contest (opens in a separate window)


8/19-8/20/03 Contest:

The following 10 words become new words when the exact same thing is added to each of them. What are the 10 new words?

spire hale ion duce door vest tent fancy expert exact

Click here to see the answer & the winner for this contest (opens in a separate window)


8/18-8/19/03 Contest:

I am that which is hunted, and this panes me. Do you dig, Stone? What am I? (6 letters)

Answer: Quarry. Per dictionary.com (and other sources, of course) quarry is prey (something hunted), a pane of glass, and a place where stone is obtained by digging & other means.

Winner: Al Siller, Rockville, MD. We would have to have someone from ROCKville win on the quarry puzzle :-)


8/15-8/18/03 Contest:

Choose which of the 5 choices accurately completes the statement:

Yesterday evening we had pizza with our local Mensa group. A friend and I ordered a 16 inch pizza. If we had instead ordered the 10 inch, we would have had (less than a fourth / less than half, but more than a fourth / half / more than half, but less than three fourths / more than than three fourths) as much total pizza by comparison to the 16 inch.

Answer: Less than half, but more than a fourth. The way to determine this is with the formula Area = Pi x Radius squared. The radius is half of the diameter, so we are working with the numbers 8 and 5. 25 is less than half, but more than a fourth of 64, so you can immediately see the answer. Most of the people who submitted answers got this, but a number went with 10 being more than half of 16, and thereby came to the wrong conclusion.

Winner: Lynn Bushey, Klamath Falls, OR


8/14-8/15/03 Contest:

Decide what should replace the ? in the following analogy: Foul smelling, not loud (7 letters) is to NOISOME as Relating to a governor, not a peanut (13 letters) is to ?

Answer: gubernatorial (sounds like goober, meaning peanut)

Winner: Henry DeGraaf


8/13-8/14/03 Contest:

Here is the 8/11-12 puzzle, reissued. It was not solved the first time around. This puzzle is now worth TWO puzzle pieces. Also, here is a hint: it is a saying, and "Addams" and "family" do not appear in the saying. The name of an individual in the Addams family does appear in the saying, but the saying has nothing actually to do with that individual.

UPDATE: This STILL was not solved, even after being issued a second time. It was then posted here, until it was solved on 8/15. The problem was still worth 2 puzzle pieces.

What does the following mean?

30pointsgomezmorticiafesterpugsleyorless

Answer: "In the lurch" or "left in the lurch." Per dictionary.com, lurch is "the losing position of a cribbage player who scores 30 points or less to the winner's 61." "30 points or less" is wrapped around Gomez, Morticia, Fester, and Pugsley... almost like Lurch is giving them a big hug with his long arms :-) Those names appear "in the lurch" since lurch is in part on both sides of them. A hint (in addition to my one above) that lurch/Lurch might be in the saying was that Lurch was one of the few Addams Family names that did not appear in the puzzle. This was a tough one.

Winner: Nathan Glasser, Somerville, MA. Only Nathan got this one.


8/12-8/13/03 Contest:

What do you call an overbearing potato that belongs to a detective?

Answer: Dictator. Dick (detective) plus tater (potato). An overbearing person is sometimes called a dictator.

Winner: Marc Lessard


8/11-8/12/03 Contest:

We have another unsolved puzzle. It will be reissued for 8/13-14, is now worth 2 puzzle pieces, and a hint will be provided.


8/8-8/11/03 Contest:

Below is the 8/6-8/7 puzzle, reissued. No one solved this one. It is now worth 2 puzzle pieces! I'd give you more hints, but there are plenty of them in the paragraph. Somebody win this and get some great prizes, or by AnCatDi, you'll be sorry!

There is something freshly salted but fishy about ancatdi that may not immediately meet the eye. 3 words, all very much related. This could spawn a new way of looking at riddles altogether. What are the 3 words?

Answer (from the winner):

"anadromous
catadromous
diadromous

All words have to do with migrating from fresh water or sea water to the opposite in order to spawn (like freshly salted salmon)."

The "freshly salted" part was just a clue that salt (sea) water was involved as well as fresh water, but the essential answer is of course still correct. This proved to be a tough one.

Winner: Kevin Lombardo. Kevin was the only one to get this right.


8/7-8/8/03 Contest:

Given the following arrangement of letters, where do Y and Z belong?

AHJK

BCDEGPTV

FLMNSX

I

O

QU

R

W

Answer (from the winner):

"Y belongs in the group IY
Z belongs in the group BCDEGPTVZ

Letters are grouped according to the vowel sound heard when pronouncing each letter."

Winner: Mark Rahija, Kansas City


8/6-8/7/03 Contest:

This puzzle has not been solved, and is being reissued as the 8/8-8/11 contest. It will be worth 2 puzzle pieces.


8/5-8/6/03 Contest:

This puzzle has been removed, but is now part of our 10 Puzzle Logical & Lateral IQ Test


8/4-8/5/03 Contest:

The 6 sets of letters below represent 6 words that contain 6 letters, but with their vowels removed. What are the words?

mtl lqd rnc mrn njn smr

Answers (from the winner):

"Motley
Liquid
Arnica
Marine
Enjoin
Saumur"

I didn't find Saumur on dictionary.com, but but verified in my print dictionary and elsewhere online that Saumur is a commune in France. There are clearly many possible answers. Here is the original set I came up with:

mutual liquid irenic morion enjoin isomer

Winner: HsSrvnt


8/1-8/4/03 Contest:

The following 7 words may seem normal enough, but there is something very unusual that they all share. There are several other words that could go with them. Name one of them.

spout welcome hid stain rocky taco hide

Answer (from the winner):

"NOVA

spout welcome hid stain rocky taco hide

The last two letter of each word is the 2 letter abbreviation of a state (USA)

i.e.
spo ut = utah
welco me = maine
h id = idaho
sta in = indiana
roc ky = kentucky
ta co = colorado
hi de = delaware

and my answer: no va = virginia"

Winner: gustavo zardeneta