2013 Challenge Questions

2013 ChallengeSean A. Irvine

Answers should be emailed [email protected] with the wordChallenge in thesubject line. Only give the answers, I do not want to see your working. The numbers in squarebrackets are the points for the question and might have some correlation with difficulty. Thelast day for entries is Friday 5 July 2013 NZST. After scoring, a list of scores will be sentout, using the names selected in Question 1. Use of the Internet, library, and brain-power isencouraged. Team work is permitted (but at most one entry perteam). Don’t be alarmed if youfind these questions difficult. Have fun.

1. What name do you want to use? [0]

2. What symbol is half of a large intestine? [1]

3. What odd number becomes even when beheaded? [1]

4. What is the only number with its letters in alphabetical order? [1]

5. What is the next even number in this sequence of even lengthnumbers? [2]

0, 4, 5, 9, 11, 12, 13, 14, 18

6. What is the only five digit number to occur in the following sequence? [2]

12, 23, 34, 45, 56, 67, 78, 89, 910, 1011, 1112, 1213, ...

7. Name the two letters, from which it is possible to remove four letters apiece, leavingthe original letters? [2]

8. Sally prefers pineapple pizza to a banana sundae; she would rather watch soccerthan golf; likes toothpaste better than mouth wash; and married Todd rather than John.Which of these Julia Roberts movies would Sally like the best: Conspiracy Theory,Duplicity, Flatliners, Notting Hill, Ocean’s Eleven, The Pelican Brief, Pretty Woman,Stepmom? [2]

9. Most people know that a broken clock shows the correct timetwice a day. But,my broken clock occasionally shows the correct time three times a day. How is thispossible? [2]

10. The pretty woman saw a blue angel crying in dreams. How wasshe running? [2]

11. I confess, the foreign correspondent looked out the rearwindow at the birds andthe young and innocent Rebecca. The wrong man took the rope and went north bynorthwest through the notorious torn curtain chasing the saboteur. How many steps isit to catch a thief beyond a shadow of a doubt? [2]

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12. Kno·wing Jo·hn bemo·ans ro·tten so·les, Jo·e nego·tiates clo·th sho·es o·r lo·cal bo·ots.Co·mplex po·etry cho·sen abo·ard o·fficial Sco·ttish cano·es befo·re scho·ol o·? [1]

13. What the Dickens is missing now? [1]

14. Six authors gave me eight title words apiece, but one wordfrom each author wasdamaged. What heavy food results when you correct and put thedamaged words inauthor order, and read off their first letters? [9]

55, ARCTIC, ATLANTIS, BILLYCOCK, BOTTOM, BUNNY, CARAVAN, CHARLIE,

COLONY, CROCODILE, EDWARD, ETERNITY, FANTASTIC, FINNISTON, FISH,

FIX, FLOPSY, GALLANT, GLEVUM, GORDON, GREMLINS, GUARDIAN, HAT,

HENRY, HORTON, JEMIMA, KIRRIN, LORAX, MATILDA, MOOR, MOPPET,

NANNY, NUTKIN, OVOIDS, PARADOX, PEACH, PERCY, POTCH, RABBIT,

SNEETCHES, SOCKS, SUPERNATURALIST, THOMAS, TITTLEMOUSE, TOBY,

TWITS, WONDERFUL, YERTLE.

15. Where and what name can be inserted to harmonize theStatus Quo? [10]

FERNANDO, DENIS, JOLENE, GENO, STAN, SARA, IRIS, GEORGE, GALILEO,

SUZANNE, BETH, EMMA, KYRIE, POLLY, JUSTINE, JEREMY, MUSTAPHA,

MARIA, GLORIA, GRACE, JOSEPHINA, MAGDALENE, SOPHIA, BILLY,

FRANCINE.

16. Long withe could the firsts of my rearrangements? [4]

-43.510262 172.706658 URANIA

-36.787929 175.081227 NEGATION

-35.681249 174.436853 HEREAT

-39.43046 174.299343 HAMLET

-37.03214 174.979378 ARMORED

-39.327434 173.803679 AUTHOR

-36.96251 174.871794 AORTA

-45.509956 168.574562 LOATH

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17. . . . ch. . . ss. . . nd. . . te. . . at. . . is. . . ss. . . ob. . . me. . .is. . . ed. . . mp. . . ? [8]�MÆO�CÆR�BÆT�CÆHÆI�EÆO�BÆD�CÆO�A�RÆE�SÆH�BÆE�EÆHÆT�HÆI�CÆS�EÆE�T�UÆS�OÆA�SÆY�AÆGÆW�MÆI�SÆI�SÆT�K�PÆN�NÆN�SÆP�RÆMÆD�ÆA�DÆA�PÆS�U18. This might be a giant question. Can you help David, Marc, and George, nail thesurname of the missing woman? [24]

You will meet a tall dark strangerwith cruel intentions during the burn-ing season on the river through theValley of the Dolls.

Meanwhile, the artist and teenagecavegirl were flirting with disasteron Wall Street like a psycho termi-nator or starman lost in space.

I guessgentlemenpreferblondesoverromancingthe stone!

The luckyones dreamno more forsingin’ inthe rain orthe sound ofmusic.

The artist and teenage cavegirl wereflirting with disaster on Wall Streetlike a psycho terminator or starmanlost in space.

The good boy with the tin drum will meet me inSt. Louis with the bucket list after a spellboundHanna seeks communion, serenity and atonementduring a tornado on the road to Avonlea.

The gunslingers chased the ragingbull seeking true blood but found ashallow grave where Angela’s asheshad been laid to rest.

Then we bought a zoo with a titanic piranhacondain autumn in New York where the Goo Girls 5thdynasty put grease on the beastmaster.

19. Given,HOME + MOBILE = TELEPHONE = 45,

it is doubly obvious that

43 = THIRTEEN = FOUR + NINE = 24 + 19.

Now, solve the same number with fruit:

THIRTEEN = TANGERINE = FEIJOA + ? [4]

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20. Which letter occurs twice inevery day, four times inevery week, but only once ina year? [1]

21. In each case, what is a possible next item in the sequence?

(a)GEORGE, JOHN, THOMAS, JAMES, JAMES, JOHN, ANDREW, MARTIN,

WILLIAM, JOHN, JAMES, ZACHARY [1]

(b) ALTAIR, ARCTURUS, DENEB, SUALOCIN, ACHERNAR, DALIM, CASTOR,

ALPHARD, PE SZE, -, - [1]

(c) SIRIUS, ELNATH, ALAMAK, SKAT, AVIOR, SADATONI, MIRAM, ACAMAR,

EDASICH [1]

(d) AND, ANT, BOO, CAM, CAP, CAR, CEP, COL, CRU, DEL, DOR, FOR, GEM,

HER, LAC, MEN, MUS, NOR, PEG, PER, PUP [2]

(e) BUT, G, AREA, H, BLACK, HISTORIAN, AS, HIGHER, BLACK, HOW,

DEATH, ECONOMIC [3]

(f) KIWI, WAXWING, ROOK, EMU, GALAH, PUFFIN, WEKA, STILT, PURPLETUFT

[2]

(g) SPAT, C’HWEC’H, NA’NOHTO, VIJF, SEVEN, SIX, SECHS, KILENC,

SEPULUH, YATTSU, SOCH [2]

(h) EPICONDYLE, SYNANON, OMICRON, VERMILLION, INCENTIVE, UNDECIDED,

UNDECAYED, SYMPATHECTOMY, POIKILOCYTE, ACROMEGALY, GIGANTIC,

LATERAL, CENTRIPETAL, VEXATIOUS [3]

( ) 3005, 3004, 3622, 3010, -, 3009, -, 3006, - [2]

(π) CH, ALLOWED, D, ANYTHING, EM, INTEREST, B, FAMILIAR, EM,

CHILDREN, EVEN, HAPPY [1]

22. What should? be in the following list? [2]

?, APHRODITE, GAIA, ARES, ZEUS, CRONUS, CAELUS, POSEIDON, HADES.

23. A transfer of letters increases the sympathy of concordance and yields a melodioussymphony? [7]

CHORD TREAD

PALATE TRY

PIERCE POTION

ADIT MALLOW

BOARD PET

SPAN SPRIG

DELIVER READYING

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24. Mr Muscat luckily had a misprint from his own country in his stamp collection.Even so, he made an error with the capital value of another country.

(a) Which country has the misprint? [3]

(b) Which country has the wrong value? [7]

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25. An alchemist systematically calculated the number of protons in some rather im-probable molecules and wrote down his findings. What is the next line in the list?[5]

Formula∑

p

CARBON 44, 72

NEON 25

SILICON 38, 51, 93, 106

PHOSPHORUS 124, 176, 182, 182, 234, 240

IRON 92

COPPER 112, 125

ARSENIC 86, 188

KRYPTON 168

SILVER 198, 253

TIN 29

XENON 76, 163

BISMUTH 302, 327

26. Can you help Kathy Bates find her missing rung? [3]

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27. Solve these equations:

(a) moon + poles = charges [2]

(b) 150 + tree = conceal [2]

(c) 6.6738 × 10−11 + ancient = metal [2]

(d) Buzzy + Hedwig = container [2]

(e) container + tree = KOH [2]

28. A 3 × 2 grid contains eighteen rectangles6 + 4 + 2 + 3 + 2 + 1 = 18.

What size rectangular grid contains exactly 90 rectangles?[8]

29. What seven letters do not appear in this crossword? [3]

(a)

(c)

1 2 3 4 5

6

7

8

9

(b)

(d)

Across 1 (a) 6 (b) 7 (c) 8 Whale carcass9Frothy

Down 1 . . . come give me thy fiddle2 (d) 3

Low spirits, blues4 Electronic signals intelli-gence5 Overgrown with grass

30. What transformation is applicable to the following sequence? [4]

AIR, BEE, CUE, DAY, EEN, FIX, GUN, HEX, ION, JAW,

KEA, LAD, MUM, NAP, OOH, PIT, QAT, RHY, THE, UEY,

VET, WIN, XIS, YOW, ZAG.

31. What is the missing word? All pairs are generated according to the same rule. [6]

AXMAN WAKA SHAGGIER HEREIN ENNAGE CARATE

CEDE EBB JINNI MINE FEEL

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32. I was a parasitic flatworm of the genusDibothriorhynchus who lost an eye toMonticelli in 1893. In 1921 MacCallum crossed the Dee while rearranging my face. Ilost a leg in 1849 to van Beneden and now I was fourteen. I was stung by a bee andbecame a weevil. In 1998, Magnano took another leg and rearranged my body butI remained a weevil. After crossing the Wye, I became a bird and flew to Patagoniawhere Darwin later found me. Agassiz stole another leg and mixed me up in 1846leaving me a beetle in Asia. I crossed the sea, took a tumble, and became a moth. Ohno, another tumble and I became an eight-legged millipede. Arrrgh, in a moment ofconfusion I was described as a spider by Lehitnen in 1981 but my name was alreadytaken by Lacordaire who knew me to be a pleasant fungus beetle. When another legwas removed I was left a depressed but notable stink bug with just six-legs. Navas hitme off the tee. Without you, I was a sea snail. Now three, I was asurfing sardine.Losing my plurality I became a snail again. So ends my life story. In a parallel life, Iwas made a cow by my lover. Who was my lover? [8]

33. When you have eliminated the ninety-nine suspects a question still remains. [14]

R E S I W M A S O R N Y A V A N N A D S F R O D OI L U M G C G A N D A L F E M L E A H M N D T BD D E L A L O M O R G O T H E R D E A A A U H EL K G M F L B B O L E H S N O R I N R D B M R R OA U O O A A E S G A L D O R E I N G O O L U I A WH L L R C D R R A T A V U L I A O A N W U R N I YI G A I E R E A I U E L E R D G B A F N A H N NS U S H L I N W M U R N L W A O N R Z A G S D F RI E A E E E O O I D O E D G C I O O X U R O B AL A L R B L D R B I R N N R B Y F G G D O L O E GD R U A O F O M L C F I N A R F I N G N C R G W NU E T B R I E T I I M I M E A T D U A W O L O N UR N H A N L H O B R D B S B N U L E I M D E L I RE D I N G I T N L D N O A E D O F N I O E I L F UL I E I I L G R A O M K E I R E R R W D V U V AR L N R M O D U O N R B L R R B I N Y N U M O LO E A O L G L E N E L A U T A R G A H S U N T R GS O R L I N I S E G E D T G R M N N R G I S O UY M A O I T H I A O I X O T S A I U A T A N AG E G R O H T E N E D L L M A R T I O B R T G W DO R O E A T B E O R N D I L L O H L L M A U A E DM U R M O R W E N B R I A D R E E G O B R D R OH R N E A R E D H E L U N O N H O M S B T I A O RT E H A L E T H R D I R F O T D H U R I N R S BO D N U M O E R H N L G I L I K R P E R E G R I NG G E L E B Y E I A N I R O H T E G U A M S E TG W A I H I R F B A R U F O B N D A M K A H T F U

34. In the year when Princess Helene of Orleans died, my first won the CaulfieldGuineas. My second is a Red Martian imperial city-state on Barsoom. Nevermind thatmy third reached Nirvana. In what position is California? [3]

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35. Who is? in this list? [2]

Lee Hui-ho, Titi Alakija,?, Javad Tavassolian, Mwangi Mathai, AidaEl-Kachef, Vera Forostenko, Tipper Aitcheson, Eeva Hyvarinen, MichelleRobinson, Liu Xia, Mohammed al-Nahmi.

36. Read the following article and tell me what monster was found? [10]

Napier recently played host to a multicultural deep pool diving competi-tion. Local champion Mathew Hamilton was up against Yuri Markov of Arrow-town and Ernesto Rutherford of Manurewa. Tauranga was represented by bothShigeru Akita and Rita Hill. Simon Olson and Andrew Hitun, both of Otoro-hanga, rounded out the field. Yesterday, the results of the competition were calledinto doubt after certain irregularities in the names of the contestants were discov-ered. It seems that not only were all the contestants the sameiwi, but the orderof placing had been determined before the competition even started! Today, MrDiago Nal, found a further irregularity when he listed the hometowns of the con-testants in their winning order. “There has clearly been a deception, there is noother way to explain the notorious monster,” he said.

37. A riddle, perhaps not.

(a) Resort with Miss I. X. a question isat last found? [5]

(b) What rule determines the reading order of the images as given? [3]

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