[superprismatic]

The letters of a certain phrase are

numbered in alphabetical order. Then

each letter is advanced in the normal

alphabetical sequence an amount equal

to its number. (A follows Z.) By

means of this scheme "Be a sport"

is converted into DHBZUSXB, since the

sequence of numbers is 2 3 1 7 5 4 6 8.

How about UHFIZBBJFOJ?

[bushindo]

The letters of a certain phrase are

numbered in alphabetical order. Then

each letter is advanced in the normal

alphabetical sequence an amount equal

to its number. (A follows Z.) By

means of this scheme "Be a sport"

is converted into DHBZUSXB, since the

sequence of numbers is 2 3 1 7 5 4 6 8.

How about UHFIZBBJFOJ?

Good puzzle. This Walter Penney person is a genius.

Never Say Die

[bushindo]

Found tons more solutions

Here are some close to the `true solution'.

n e d e r s a y v i e

n e v e r a s y d i e

n e v e r a s e d i y

n e d e r a s e v i y

There are tons more of these. Here are some that are absolutely gibberish, but fits the original criteria.

o e d y s t a f w j y

p y x y t a u y d k g

Edited August 8, 2009 by bushindo

[Guest]

Dang! you beat me to posting!....I've been wasting the past hour putting together the solution in decipherable format

And yes, this guy is GOOD

I have iGoogle as my homepage and 'Puzzles & Riddles' is one of my gadgets. Usually, I will attempt to solve the featured teaser for a while (I rarely succeed, mind you) and then just give in and cheat or, even worse, just give up and don't even see the solution. Today, I almost gave up thrice and then finally decided to check the answer - guess what though! no answers!

So now, curious and grrrr (for want of a better adjective), I got to working out a solution.

It did take me a while. While I enjoy the mental tug-of-war in solving a puzzle whenever I come across one, I usually don't actively seek them out and consequently have not cared to join this forum. No offense is intended - I am merely portraying my own inertia. But after finding the solution to this teaser I am so excited, that I thought "well...whom do I tell?...why the forum of course!". So here I am - joined in at last!

I also have a question about the solution I used. The approach I used seemed the only possible one to me. There may be more but I didn't see any. My approach left an ambiguous outcome to which math could not be applied (IMO) - was this the intended outcome or methodology? Was the final decision to be made based on the original wording "letters of a certain phrase" thus invoking language rules/ prior knowledge of phrases or was it to be purely math with a solution alternate to or more elaborate than mine?

How I logicized the problem is in the attachment because I keep losing my formatting and the spacing.

This is my virgin post/reply!

Say What.doc

[bonanova]

Hi Brandt, and welcome to the Den!

Hope you enjoy your membership and take the time to post your favs as well.

There is a helpful "read before posting" link at the top of the page.

And a Search function to help determine if a puzzle has already been posted.

No need to Search your own puzzles, of course.

[Guest]

Hi Brandt, and welcome to the Den!

Hope you enjoy your membership and take the time to post your favs as well.

There is a helpful "read before posting" link at the top of the page.

And a Search function to help determine if a puzzle has already been posted.

No need to Search your own puzzles, of course.

Thanks Bonanova! See you around