bonanova

OK these subtractions do not work using letters. But make a number substitution, the same for both, and everything's fine. N I N E N I N E - T E N - O N E ======= ======= T W O A L L

The local Literary Society had just enough members to field two teams, and so they decided one Saturday in June to play a baseball game down at the park. After members were assigned to teams, aptly named the Prose and the Cons, they purposed to determine which team would be the home team in a sort-of literary manner. The 18 players formed a circle and began counting, clockwise, using the letters of the alphabet rather than numbers. It was decided that if the "count" ever got to "Z" the next player would continue by calling out "A" and so on. The process would continue until a player named the letter that was also his initial. That player would then gain the honor of having his team bat last. The captain of the Cons went first, calling out "A", the next player called "B", and so it went. Surprisingly, after 360 letters were called no player had called his initial. Well, said one, it was a nice thought, but hey let's just flip a coin, already. And thus the Prose were named home team. But by then it was dark, and the game was accordingly postponed until the following weekend. But when they gathered next to play, there was a disagreement about who was on which team, owing to the fact that no one had bothered to write the rosters down. No problem, though. All 18 members of the Lit Soc, Taylor, Brown, Jenkins, Miller, Gerson, Babcock, Adams, Randolph, Carver, Smith, Flynn, Sawyer, Timmons, Myers, Lucas, Morton, Young and Peters, were also long time members of BrainDen and thus had no difficulty at all in reconstructing the team rosters. And neither should you. Who played for each team?

Four men, Brown, Harris, Jones and Smith, were talking one day over drinks about their sons. Among the statements they made, some were true and others were false, owing to the fact the they didn't know their friends' sons all that well. The only thing we know for sure is that each statement in which the speaker mentions the name of his own son is reliably true. Brown: Al graduates from High School next month. Carl hasn't had a vacation since he started working two years ago. Bill's wife can't get him to take any kind of exercise. Harris: Bill is going to be married next spring. Dick has been dating my daughter. Al and Carl played on the freshman football team at college this year. Jones: Al will be nine tomorrow. Bill is younger than Al. Carl and Dick are returning from a hunting trip today. Smith: Bill and Jones won the Father and Son Handball Tournament. Dick told me yesterday that he hasn't seen Carl for a long time. Al and Carl were roommates at college last year. What is the full name of each boy?

You know the drill. Generally they tell the truth, but sometimes they lie. For Bill the lying days are Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. For his brother John, the lies are told on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Recently the three of us had a chat: Me: Hi, what’s your name? Older brother: I’m Bill. Me: What day is it? Older brother: Yesterday was Sunday. Younger brother: And tomorrow is Friday. Me: Wait. That doesn’t add up. Are you sure you’re telling me the truth? Younger brother: I always tell the truth on Wednesdays What day was it, and what is the name of each boy?

@Thalia and @MikeD, two good approaches, same right answer. Kudos.

Yes, we conquered it as a team effort. RDM, very nice puzzle.

One more try ...

Clue: Big clue:

A deck of cards is shuffled and dealt face up in a single row. A second deck is shuffled and dealt face up in a single row beneath the first row, making 52 coloumns each containing two cards. On average, how many pairs of cards will match?

Well done @Wilson! @Thalia apologies that checking @Wilson's answer inadvertantly unchecked your solution. A shortcoming of the site. But both posts have their upvotesl

Attorney General Barr was seen in Washington yesterday wearing a custom made cap with the initials M.A.G.A. For his cap they meant Make Allegations Go Away.

I'll accept it but I was thinking more like ....

With a tip of the hat to @BMAD for his interesting puzzle. For your amusement, here's an interesting spin on this genre: One night you encounter a two-hour traffic delay due to an accident (the tow truck had difficulty clearing the road.) So, for a time interval 13 of two hours you were constrained to travel at 0 mph. You called home and said, sorry dear, but I'll be two hours late getting home. The next night, for some unimaginable reason, you were also constrained to travel part of the way at 0 mph, this time for a distance of one inch. What do you say now when you call home?

I'll answer both in the clear. No. (although the words I have in mind, one plural, one singular, are closely related) No. It's the literal removal of an "s". Kudos. But not the words I had in mind. They are common words, and they are closely related.

@Jaspreet Singh greetings and welcome to the Den. 2007 really? Twelve years ago? This puzzle is a time capsule.

Appears to be ...

The solutions are Because Cute.

Not in every case. You could be kept alive from nourishment by other means. An intravenous tube, for example. So there is hope, and you can smile once again.

That's the one I had in mind.

Many singular English nouns are made plural by adding a trailing "s". Name a singular noun with a trailing "s" that becomes plural by removing it. Name a singular noun that is made plural by adding a "c".

A physicist, a biologist, and a mathematician are sitting on a bench across from a house. They watch as two people go into the house, and then a little later, three people walk out. The physicist says, "The initial measurement was incorrect." The biologist says, "They must have reproduced." And the mathematician says, "If exactly one person enters that house, it will be empty."

Heisenberg, Gödel and Chomsky walk into a bar. Heisenberg notes, “We seem to have stumbled into a joke. But I can't tell whether it's funny.” Gödel points out, “Since we are currently inside the joke, it is impossible to tell.” Chomsky says, “Quite clearly it's funny. You are just telling it wrong!”