From Newsgroup: rec.puzzles



"James Dow Allen" wrote in message news:1755486095-4353@newsgrouper.org...


HenHanna@NewsGrouper <user4055@newsgrouper.org.invalid> posted:

Spike Lee remakes Kurosawa --- Which film?

James Joyce claimed that cuspidor is the most beautiful word in the
English language.
--------- I'm not familiar with this claim!

I am a five letter word namely
--------- 1 2 3 4 5 ... which is under you

If you put out 1, it's above you
If you put out 1 and 2, it's around you
What am I?

(A smart gambler) backs the team which tries.

Cheers,
James

"James Dow Allen" wrote in message
news:1755486095-4353@newsgrouper.org...

I am a five letter word namely
--------- 1 2 3 4 5 ... which is under you

If you put out 1, it's above you
If you put out 1 and 2, it's around you
What am I?

(A smart gambler) backs the team which tries.

I suppose this is a cryptic hint, a clue -
I know the answer, but I don't get the hint

--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: rec.puzzles


When I rejoined rec.puzzles ten months ago, I posted a puzzle with
hints given NOT via rot13 but via skip ciphers. Skip ciphers are a nifty
way to embed secrets in ordinary text; they were in common use 420 years
ago during the Golden Age of the London theater.

Here's a simple example with a secret word ("CHAIR") embedded in text using
a skip-4 cipher:

||| backs the team which tries.
||| *-- -*- --*- --*-- -*
||| C H A I R

I think (but ain't sure) that two rec.puzzlers MIGHT have solved one of
skip ciphers. But I'm doubtful: The thread "Famous half-siblings" was
never solved in its entirety and NEITHER of the hints (presented using
skip ciphers) was decoded. <disappointed>

I had a very specific reason for hoping that skip ciphers would be of interest: There is a VERY famous Dedication to a VERY famous book of poems which apparently presents "secrets" in skip cipher. The clear-text of the dedication and its formatting are rather mysterious but this text contains:
(1) a three-digit code which describes the (deceased) poet's name;
(2) a skip-word code, using those same three digits as the progressive
skip counts, which confirms that that poet did write all the poems;
(3) the 11-letter surname of "Mr. W.H.", the dedicatee using another skip code; (4) the 5-letter given name of that dedicatee.

I asked rec.puzzlers whether these messages were deliberate, or just the
sort of coincidental matches one might find by chance if one looks hard
enough. One can use ordinary probability estimations to guess at this.

Neither the skip codes, nor the authorship mystery attracted any attention.
and I lost interest before summarizing the puzzle or a probabilistic approach.

"gerson" <gerson@bigpond.net.au> posted:

"James Dow Allen" wrote in message news:1755486095-4353@newsgrouper.org...

I am a five letter word namely
--------- 1 2 3 4 5 ... which is under you

If you put out 1, it's above you
If you put out 1 and 2, it's around you
What am I?

(A smart gambler) backs the team which tries.

I suppose this is a cryptic hint, a clue -
I know the answer, but I don't get the hint

Sometimes I think I have a mild form of anterograde amnesia (cf. *Memento*)
and it a while for me to believe I'd even posted this ten months ago!

But then I did fid the answer to gerson's question:

backs the team which tries.
*-- -*- --*- --*-- -*
C H A I R

(Is this the answer you got, gerson? It wouldn't surprise me if there
were an alternative solution.)

Cheers, J

--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: rec.puzzles

James Dow Allen <user4353@newsgrouper.org.invalid> wrote or quoted:

Here's a simple example with a secret word ("CHAIR") embedded in text using
a skip-4 cipher:

I know someone (not me) who hid a sentences expressing his
intention to leave the field to never return in his diploma
thesis in a certain field in a similar way.

In 1605, Sir Francis Bacon described a code hidden in

ma++e-|-| te ++-+lo +U-+nec ++enero

. If you read this with a Unicode enabled system, you will
see a text like

manere te volo donec venero
(I want you to stay until I come.)

, but some letters are actually non-ASCII letters! (Francis
Bacon did not have Unicode, but used two different fonts.)

Now, let's look at the pattern of ASCII versus Unicode:

AAUAUU AA UUAA UUAAA UAAAAA

, in groups of five,

AAUAU UAAUU AAUUA AAUAA AAA

. This is a binary code, giving,

00101 10011 00110 00100

FVGE

, meaning "fuge", "Flee!".


--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: rec.puzzles

"James Dow Allen" wrote in message
news:1780999075-4353@newsgrouper.org...
(Is this the answer you got, gerson? It wouldn't surprise me if there
were an alternative solution.)

Yes, 'chair'. And I spent some time thinking up similar words while I wasn't going to sleep last night.

Here's a few.
'strip scowl broil drink spate' - It's not hard to find plenty more,
'cookie'

and there's
preach
plover
stripe
switch
stroll

but all of these dozen are '3' type examples. Is there a '4' type example?

When I rejoined rec.puzzles ten months ago, I posted a puzzle with
hints given NOT via rot13 but via skip ciphers. Skip ciphers are a nifty
way to embed secrets in ordinary text; they were in common use 420 years
ago during the Golden Age of the London theater.

Here's a simple example with a secret word ("CHAIR") embedded in text using
a skip-4 cipher:

||| backs the team which tries.
||| *-- -*- --*- --*-- -*
||| C H A I R

I think (but ain't sure) that two rec.puzzlers MIGHT have solved one of
skip ciphers. But I'm doubtful: The thread "Famous half-siblings" was
never solved in its entirety and NEITHER of the hints (presented using
skip ciphers) was decoded. <disappointed>

I had a very specific reason for hoping that skip ciphers would be of interest:
There is a VERY famous Dedication to a VERY famous book of poems which apparently presents "secrets" in skip cipher. The clear-text of the dedication
and its formatting are rather mysterious but this text contains:
(1) a three-digit code which describes the (deceased) poet's name;
(2) a skip-word code, using those same three digits as the progressive
skip counts, which confirms that that poet did write all the poems;
(3) the 11-letter surname of "Mr. W.H.", the dedicatee using another skip code;
(4) the 5-letter given name of that dedicatee.

I asked rec.puzzlers whether these messages were deliberate, or just the
sort of coincidental matches one might find by chance if one looks hard
enough. One can use ordinary probability estimations to guess at this.

Neither the skip codes, nor the authorship mystery attracted any attention.
and I lost interest before summarizing the puzzle or a probabilistic
approach.

"gerson" <gerson@bigpond.net.au> posted:

"James Dow Allen" wrote in message
news:1755486095-4353@newsgrouper.org...

I am a five letter word namely
--------- 1 2 3 4 5 ... which is under you

If you put out 1, it's above you
If you put out 1 and 2, it's around you
What am I?

(A smart gambler) backs the team which tries.

I suppose this is a cryptic hint, a clue -
I know the answer, but I don't get the hint

Sometimes I think I have a mild form of anterograde amnesia (cf. *Memento*)
and it a while for me to believe I'd even posted this ten months ago!

But then I did fid the answer to gerson's question:

backs the team which tries.
*-- -*- --*- --*-- -*
C H A I R

(Is this the answer you got, gerson? It wouldn't surprise me if there
were an alternative solution.)

Cheers, J

--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: rec.puzzles

On Tue, 09 Jun 2026 09:57:55 GMT, James Dow Allen wrote:

I think (but ain't sure) that two rec.puzzlers MIGHT have solved one of
skip ciphers. But I'm doubtful: The thread "Famous half-siblings" was
never solved in its entirety and NEITHER of the hints (presented using
skip ciphers) was decoded. <disappointed>

For anyone looking and struggling to find the question, it was:

James Dow Allen <user4353@newsgrouper.org.invalid> posted:

I'm thinking of two men, unrelated to each other.
Can you identify them from the clues?

(1) Each of the two men created a famous phrase that might be described
as a political prediction.
(2) Neither of the two men ever won a Nobel prize.
(3) Each of the two men had a half-sibling who *did* win a Nobel Prize.

Hints:
Here are the two "political predictions" in an encrypted form:

** Betray a sovereign? The newlywed overvalued is.rCi
rCi
** Appreciate cure; buffoonery conquer; rhetoric amuses.rCi

Answered, but not without some assistance.

Confirmation:

Did you say the output is balance?

Nice question.
--
David Entwistle
--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: rec.puzzles

'escape' is one, that a '4' type example. The word 'cookie' is meant to be a hint, for a little puzzle.

"gerson" wrote in message news:KmSdnWw7HLWaNLX3nZ2dnZfqn_WdnZ2d@giganews.com...

"James Dow Allen" wrote in message news:1780999075-4353@newsgrouper.org...
(Is this the answer you got, gerson? It wouldn't surprise me if there
were an alternative solution.)

Yes, 'chair'. And I spent some time thinking up similar words while I
wasn't going to sleep last night.

Here's a few.
'strip scowl broil drink spate' - It's not hard to find plenty more,
'cookie'

and there's
preach
plover
stripe
switch
stroll

but all of these dozen are '3' type examples. Is there a '4' type example?

When I rejoined rec.puzzles ten months ago, I posted a puzzle with
hints given NOT via rot13 but via skip ciphers. Skip ciphers are a nifty
way to embed secrets in ordinary text; they were in common use 420 years
ago during the Golden Age of the London theater.

Here's a simple example with a secret word ("CHAIR") embedded in text using
a skip-4 cipher:

||| backs the team which tries.
||| *-- -*- --*- --*-- -*
||| C H A I R

I think (but ain't sure) that two rec.puzzlers MIGHT have solved one of
skip ciphers. But I'm doubtful: The thread "Famous half-siblings" was
never solved in its entirety and NEITHER of the hints (presented using
skip ciphers) was decoded. <disappointed>

I had a very specific reason for hoping that skip ciphers would be of
interest:
There is a VERY famous Dedication to a VERY famous book of poems which apparently presents "secrets" in skip cipher. The clear-text of the
dedication
and its formatting are rather mysterious but this text contains:
(1) a three-digit code which describes the (deceased) poet's name;
(2) a skip-word code, using those same three digits as the progressive
skip counts, which confirms that that poet did write all the poems;
(3) the 11-letter surname of "Mr. W.H.", the dedicatee using another skip
code;
(4) the 5-letter given name of that dedicatee.

I asked rec.puzzlers whether these messages were deliberate, or just the
sort of coincidental matches one might find by chance if one looks hard
enough. One can use ordinary probability estimations to guess at this.

Neither the skip codes, nor the authorship mystery attracted any attention.
and I lost interest before summarizing the puzzle or a probabilistic
approach.

"gerson" <gerson@bigpond.net.au> posted:

"James Dow Allen" wrote in message
news:1755486095-4353@newsgrouper.org...

I am a five letter word namely
--------- 1 2 3 4 5 ... which is under you

If you put out 1, it's above you
If you put out 1 and 2, it's around you
What am I?

(A smart gambler) backs the team which tries.

I suppose this is a cryptic hint, a clue -
I know the answer, but I don't get the hint

Sometimes I think I have a mild form of anterograde amnesia (cf. *Memento*)
and it a while for me to believe I'd even posted this ten months ago!

But then I did fid the answer to gerson's question:

backs the team which tries.
*-- -*- --*- --*-- -*
C H A I R

(Is this the answer you got, gerson? It wouldn't surprise me if there
were an alternative solution.)

Cheers, J

--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: rec.puzzles

On Mon, 8 Jun 2026 17:32:54 +1000, gerson wrote:

I am a five letter word namely
--------- 1 2 3 4 5 ... which is under you

If you put out 1, it's above you If you put out 1 and 2, it's around
you What am I?

My word-power isn't great, but perhaps:

I am a five letter word namely 1 2 3 4 5, which is a pair.
If you put out 1, I'm a contest.
If you put out 1 and 2, I excel.
What am I?

I am a five letter word namely 1 2 3 4 5, which has magical powers.
If you put out 1, I cause damage.
If you put out 1 and 2, I can provide support.
What am I?
--
David Entwistle
--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: rec.puzzles


David Entwistle <qnivq.ragjvfgyr@ogvagrearg.pbz> posted:

I am a five letter word namely 1 2 3 4 5, which is a pair.
If you put out 1, I'm a contest.
If you put out 1 and 2, I excel.
What am I?

Vs lbh nqq va zvahf bar naq mreb, lbh zhfg ersenva gb qb zr fbzr
gvzrf, cre gur Obbx bs Rppyrfvnfgrf.

I am a five letter word namely 1 2 3 4 5, which has magical powers.
If you put out 1, I cause damage.
If you put out 1 and 2, I can provide support.
What am I?

Vs lbh nqq fvk, V nz gur svany jbeq bs na 1808 fbat gvgyr (gur fbat
frg gb na rira byqre Vevfu ghar).


-- J
--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: rec.puzzles


HenHanna@NewsGrouper <user4055@newsgrouper.org.invalid> posted:

I am a five letter word namely
--------- 1 2 3 4 5 ... which is under you

If you put out 1, it's above you
If you put out 1 and 2, it's around you
What am I?

I am an eight-letter word, 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8, a bad girl.
Rub out the 1 and make a sound.
Erase 1, 7, 8; I'll be a bad boy.
Eradicate the 2 as well as 1,7,8 and take me home for dinner.
Leave just the 3-4-5 and I'm a judge.
Put out one more; what will I be?
--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: rec.puzzles

On Sun, 14 Jun 2026 10:53:58 GMT, James Dow Allen wrote:

I am a five letter word namely

I am an eight-letter word, 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8 with no principles.
Remove 1 and I become the opposite.
Remove 1 and 2 and I speak to you.
Remove 1, 2 and 3 and we come together.
What do I become if we remove 1, 2, 3 and 4?
--
David Entwistle
--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: rec.puzzles


David Entwistle <qnivq.ragjvfgyr@ogvagrearg.pbz> posted:

On Sun, 14 Jun 2026 10:53:58 GMT, James Dow Allen wrote:

I am a five letter word namely

I am an eight-letter word, 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8 with no principles.
Remove 1 and I become the opposite.
Remove 1 and 2 and I speak to you.
Remove 1, 2 and 3 and we come together.
What do I become if we remove 1, 2, 3 and 4?

Guvf svany jbeq jnf va gur arjf avargl-sbhe lrnef ntb.
--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: rec.puzzles

On Sun, 14 Jun 2026 10:53:58 GMT, James Dow Allen wrote:

Put out one more; what will I be?

Jvgu yvzvgrq pbasvqrapr, V'q tb sbe ryrzrag 44, Ehguravhz.
--
David Entwistle
--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: rec.puzzles


David Entwistle <qnivq.ragjvfgyr@ogvagrearg.pbz> posted:

On Sun, 14 Jun 2026 10:53:58 GMT, James Dow Allen wrote:

I am an eight-letter word, 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8, a bad girl.
Rub out the 1 and make a sound.
Erase 1, 7, 8; I'll be a bad boy.
Eradicate the 2 as well as 1,7,8 and take me home for dinner.
Leave just the 3-4-5 and I'm a judge.
Put out one more; what will I be?

Sorry; this was unclear. I meant to leave just 4-5.

Put out one more; what will I be?

Jvgu yvzvgrq pbasvqrapr, V'q tb sbe ryrzrag 44, Ehguravhz.

Not my intended, though deserves credit given my ambiguous
specification.
--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2