[Prof. Templeton]

Prof. Templeton had two cubes on his desk that displayed the days of the month when arranged properly. He liked them so much that he decided to expand his set of cubes to also display the month. Three cubes were added so that they showed the standard three letter abbreviations for all the months of the year (jan, feb, mar, ect.) Can you figure out what letters were on the three new cubes so that all the month’s abbreviations could be displayed?

[Guest]

Prof. Templeton had two cubes on his desk that displayed the days of the month when arranged properly. He liked them so much that he decided to expand his set of cubes to also display the month. Three cubes were added so that they showed the standard three letter abbreviations for all the months of the year (jan, feb, mar, ect.) Can you figure out what letters were on the three new cubes so that all the month’s abbreviations could be displayed?

Good one! It made me think a little bit.

a, b, c, d, e, f, g, j, l, m, n, o, p, r, s, t, u, v, y; but this would give you 19 letters and 3 cubes only have 18 faces/sides. So... you would either pick the d or the p and eliminate it, because you can use the other letter and turn it upside down. Also, remember to use lowercase letters.

[HoustonHokie]

I get that 19 letters are needed: a,b,c,d,e,f,g,j,l,m,n,o,p,r,s,t,u,v,y. Are cube faces limited to one letter? If so, I don't see how this can be done with three cubes (18 faces).

feeling dumb - now I see tchrdhh's post - good idea - now to figure out the specifics

Edited November 23, 2008 by HoustonHokie

[Izzy]

Didn't think of flipping the D to get a P. Stupid capitals. Use a 0 for the O. C's can be flipped sideways for U's.

JFMPGT

NERYLU

ABCSTV

[Izzy]

Oh wait.. I totally see why that wouldn't work now... Grah. I dunno then. We could just get rid of all month's with the letter "O"?

[HoustonHokie]

j m d/p g o f

a n/u s v b c

n/u r y l t e

[Izzy]

J F M G S O D/P

A E U/N/C V

N/U/C B/D/P R L T

[Prof. Templeton]

Good work everyone.

If you want to capitalize the first letter of the month, you can disregard the d/p combo, and just use the u/n combo.

[Prime]

Good work everyone.

If you want to capitalize the first letter of the month, you can disregard the d/p combo, and just use the u/n combo.

I don't see it.

If you reuse n/u, how do you spell Jun?

[Izzy]

I don't see it.

If you reuse n/u, how do you spell Jun?

You use n/u twice.

[Prime]

You use n/u twice.

I thought the whole idea was that you have only 3 cubes with the letters, which leave you no spare sides. Therefore, only one side with n/u. How can you use it twice? Place couple of mirrors next to it, perhaps?

[Prof. Templeton]

I thought the whole idea was that you have only 3 cubes with the letters, which leave you no spare sides. Therefore, only one side with n/u. How can you use it twice? Place couple of mirrors next to it, perhaps?

will have the n/u side, you would need this for jun anyway. You can capitalize the months if you want except for nov., but it will be uniform if you use all lowercase.

[Guest]

I think I have it??

die 1 = a, c, f, u/n, s, v

die 2 = b, dp, g, j, m, o

die 3 = e, l, n/u, r, t, y

[HoustonHokie]

will have the n/u side, you would need this for jun anyway. You can capitalize the months if you want except for nov., but it will be uniform if you use all lowercase.

the point is

have 2 n/u sides, you have to reduce the number of letters some other way, which is done by having one d/p. The d/p is the way that you reduce the 19 letters to fit on 18 faces. If you go with capitalized first letters, which you mentioned a few posts back, you'll end up with MAr, MAy,NOv and you won't have the d/p, so I'm not sure it can be done. There may be an all-caps solution using C/U, but I haven't found it yet.

[Prof. Templeton]

the point is

have 2 n/u sides, you have to reduce the number of letters some other way, which is done by having one d/p. The d/p is the way that you reduce the 19 letters to fit on 18 faces. If you go with capitalized first letters, which you mentioned a few posts back, you'll end up with MAr, MAy,NOv and you won't have the d/p, so I'm not sure it can be done. There may be an all-caps solution using C/U, but I haven't found it yet.

Your right, I don't think we can use capital letters at all after thinking about it some more.