Earlier today I set a puzzle about scrambled numbers and set a competition for ‘unscrambleable’ sentences.
The puzzle is as follows: for each of the four numbers in the following addition, the first and last digits are correct, but the intermediate digits have been scrambled. Restore the original addition.
Solution: 36414 + 58726 + 75248 = 170388. (Full workings when you scroll down.)
The competition was to invent a piece of text in which every word is ‘unscrambleable’ in the sense that it is left unchanged when scrambled in the following way: the first and last letter stay in the same place but all intermediate letters are scrambled. (The wrods in tihs sntneace are srcamlebd in this way.) All one-, two- and three-letter words are thus permissible, as are four letter words in which letters 2 and 3 are the same, such as moon, ammo, and deep.
The prize for the best piece of text (as judged by me) is a copy of my new book, The Language Lover’s Puzzle Book.
I almost awarded it to the poet Harry Baker (a maths graduate known for his brilliant wordplay) for this wonderful effort:
A cow can go moo, a dog can go woof, a ewe or ram can go baaaa, an Ant can go... “why aye man!”
— Harry Baker (@harrybakerpoet) November 16, 2020
However, I decided against giving it to Harry because I know for a fact his mum got him a copy last week.
What follows is a list of highly commended entries, with my reasons, concluding with the winner.
Matt Salisbury (for flattery, and effective use of a seven-letter word):
Ooooooh, a new book? How cool! I bet it is good.
Ros Pomeroy (for rewriting the day’s top story):
Fab, a new jab and soon no need to meet on Zoom!
Barbara Jones (for referring to the picture of the egg at the top of the column):
Egg is seen as a good food for man to eat and one any of us can cook, so go now and do the deed: mix one or two, add leek and fry, or look in a cook book, but do it soon!
Of the many stories that came in about a cat, often in repose on a mat, my favourite was this one in verse, by Kristin Barrett:
Who ate my new hat?
I saw it was not the cat
But may it be..
You do not fool me!
My dog, you look a bit fat!
The subject was frequently US or UK politics:
Ooh, look! I say! Ex-Veep Joe has won! Poor Don soon to be in deep doo-doo. Cool!
— Cormac (@cormac90) November 16, 2020
Dom and Lee took the hit for the bad deed of the fool who we all feel is the one to go.
— Charles Fletcher (@carlosmackerel) November 16, 2020
Phil Fenerty (for self-reference):
I saw no need to mix it up to win a book, but I had a go: how did I do?
You did great, Phil, but not as well as the winner, Sarah Campbell Ledger, who united three seventies pop icons in an unforgettable short story.
Abba and a Bee Gee (Baz) meet in an inn. The beer is good but the food is off.
— Sarah Campbell Ledger (@thiswordcan) November 16, 2020
'We feel iffy' Abba weep
'Oh no' Baz coos
'Look, the loos! Go and see if you can poo!'
'OK' say Abba.
(Abba go to the loos)
'Do you feel ok now?'
'I do!' 'I do!' 'I do!' 'I do!'
'We do! Pool Baz?'
1/2
2/2 'Yes, why not. But I need an ally. Look! Iggy Pop! Iggy, pool?'
— Sarah Campbell Ledger (@thiswordcan) November 16, 2020
'Cool, man'
Abba and Baz Bee Gee and Iggy feel cool in the pool room.
Abba pot a good few.
'You win' Baz and Iggy weep."
CIONUATATROGLNS SRAAH!
Now back to the number puzzle. Here’s how I solved it. We start with the sum below left: only the initial and last digits are known. The sum 3 + 5 + 7 + [the carry] must equal either 10, 13, 17 or 18, since the only digits available in the answer as 0, 3, 7 and 8. We can eliminate 10 and 13 since even without the carry the sum is 15. The carry cannot be 3 because, from looking at the digits available to us, it is impossible for the hundreds column to add to more than 30. So the carry must be 2 and we can fill in the 7.
The sum of the digits in the thousands column must add up to 20, 23 or 28. (The 2 is what is carried, and the 0,3 and 8 are the remaining options left.) The highest possible sum from the numbers we have available is 6 + 8 + 5 + [the carry] = 19 + [the carry]. The carry cannot possibly be 4 or 9, so the sum of the digits must add up to 20, and we can add the 0 in the sum. The three digits in thousands column plus the carry must be 20. So either the carry is 1, and they sum to 19, or the carry is 2, and they sum to 18. However, we can eliminate the chance of the carry being 2, since there aren’t enough high digits left among the options to get the ‘thousands’ digits to sum to 18, and the hundreds digits to sum to 20 or more. Thus the carry is 1, and the ‘thousands’ digits are 6, 8 and 5.
We repeat the process. The three ‘hundreds’ digits must plus a possible carry must add up to either 13 or 18. Of the numbers still available, it is impossible to add to 18 (since it would require a carry of at least 3, which cannot be achieved.). Thus we can now add the final digits of the sum, 3 and 8. To finish off, let’s go to the units column. These digits add up to 18, which means a carry of 1. There is only way for three ‘tens’ digits to add up to 7 (which plus the 1 will equal 8) from the numbers available, which completes the grid.
I hope you enjoyed today’s puzzle, I’ll be back in two weeks.
Thanks again to Bernardo Recamán, who devised the number puzzle. His new book The Bogotá Puzzles is out now.
My new book is The Language Lover’s Puzzle Book. It includes puzzles about wordplay, languages, alphabets, numerals, animal noises and silent monks. David Crystal described it as “A cornucopia of ingenious and insightful challenges, each with a bonus commentary about the fascinating diversity of the world’s languages, all presented in a friendly and engaging style. The title is exactly right. It’s the perfect companion for anyone who loves puzzles and languages.” To buy a copy at the Guardian Bookshop click here.
