Thursday, April 26, 2012

The Shape of Things to Come

Q:


Take the phrase "Happy Goats in Cashmere".  Change one letter in "Happy Goats" and one letter in "in Cashmere".  Rearrange the letters in each smaller phrase to name a couple of really smart fellas.

Photo courtesy of 

A:

The title refers not to our future dietary habits, but to circles and triangles.  The men in question were great thinkers in the field of ancient mathematics.  The image, well...

Pythagoras           Archimedes





Thursday, April 19, 2012

Promising Stars

Q:


Think of a seven letter word for what you see on "American Idol".  Add one letter to name what you see on the campaign trail.

Photo courtesy of


A:

I thought the image was pretty cool as well as a hint.  It is an abstract of David and Goliath.  What you see on "American Idol" are singers.  Add an "L" and you get slingers, as in mud.    





Thursday, April 12, 2012

A Cute Puzzle for Word Geeks Like Us

Q:


Think of a synonym of the word prelude.  Think of a synonym of the word presuming.  Your answer should be a pair of homophones that are appropriately tied to the title of this puzzle.

Photo courtesy of

A:

The image refers to Lincoln's Gettysburg address, "Four score...".  A prelude can be a foreword and a presuming person may be forward.  A cute puzzle "for word" geeks like us. 



Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Say What?

Q:


In the quiz show "Jeopardy!", three contestants compete for the right to return and play the following day (and oodles of cash, of course).  The winner moves on and the losers are replaced with two fresh faces.  The winner occupies the leftmost lectern and let's say the returning champ from the previous week is named "Bob".  Consider these two scenarios:

A:  Bob continues his winning ways and remains champ Monday through Friday, retaining his spot at the first lectern.

B:  Bob loses on Monday and is replaced with a new champ (Mary) who will occupy the first lectern when returning on Tuesday.  Mary loses, and as it turns out no one is able to win two days in a row.  This results in the first lectern being home to five different contestants Monday through Friday.

With this in mind, what is the minimum and maximum number of contestants needed to field a game of "Jeopardy!" for one week?

Photo courtesy of


A:

After giving it some thought, the answer became obvious and indisputable.  At first I thought it was strange that regardless if Bob remains champ and faces two new challengers each day, or five different champs face two new challengers, the number is the same.  But that's the way life goes. It takes eleven players to field a game of "Jeopardy!" for one week.