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Problematics | Movie jumble

Dec 23, 2024 01:41 PM IST

Before the mathematical puzzle, have some fun with words by unscrambling anagrams of 10 movie titles.

Being a setter of cryptic crosswords means creating a lot of anagrams. And being interested in cinema means including a lot of movie titles in your crosswords. This goes beyond the movie crossword I compile every Sunday for the HT website. These jumbo-sized crosswords (21 x 21) have quick clues and therefore include no anagrams. The anagrams come in my cryptic crosswords, and many of them are of movie titles.

Representational image.(Pixabay)
Representational image.(Pixabay)

Below is a selection of anagrams that have appeared in my published crosswords, mostly in HT. I am not reproducing the entire clues because the abstract thinking of cryptic clues should ideally remain outside of the realm of Problematics, where our tools are hard calculation and logical reasoning. I have stuck to the anagram letters alone, but have tweaked a few of them after selecting them from my published crosswords. For those who might not be deeply interested in cinema, I have provided additional information about each film, so that you can consult Google if you feel the need to.

#Puzzle 122.1

1. NOTE HT HEADLINE

(4 words; 5 + 2 + 3 + 4 letters). This film is based on an Agatha Christie novel with the same title.

2. GO THERE AND RENT…

(3 words; 5 + 3 + 5 letters) Rent what? Rent this movie, or perhaps even buy it. It’s a kung-fu classic worth keeping.

3. HELP COLPORTEUR

(3 words; 3 + 5 + 6 letters). A Steven Spielberg film.

4. TIGER OF BARODA

(4 words; 1 + 6 + 3 + 3 letters). War film with Sean Connery.

5. A HISTORIC OFFER

(3 words; 8 + 2 + 4 letters). Based on true events, this sports film won the Oscar for Best Picture.

6. BRANDO IN ARMANI

(3 words; 5 + 3 + 6 letters). Romantic adventure with Audrey Hepburn.

7. BY AR ROSS, MAYBE?

(2 words, 9 + 4 letters. The first word includes an apostrophe between the 8th and 9th letters). A horror film by Roman Polanski.

8. HIPPER THAN KENT

(3 words; 3, 4, 7 letters). A Peter Sellers comedy.

9. A TIN CAMERA, A PIC

(2 words, 7 + 7 letters). A Marvel movie.

10. WE READ SEGAL HERE

(3 words; 5 + 6 + 4 letters). Film based on an Alistair MacLean novel; same title.

Try and unscramble all 10 anagrams if possible. In case you get some and miss some, do send me your results all the same.

Puzzle #122.2

This puzzle comes straight from the late Martin Gardner. You are shown 100 1 coins in 10 stacks of 10 coins each. All of them look identical to you, but you are told that one of the stacks consists of 10 fake coins. Each fake coin in this stack measures 1g more than any genuine coin from any of the other stacks. You are not told which stacks contains the counterfeit coins.

If you are given a balance and told the weight of a genuine coin, what is the minimum number of weighings you will require to identify the stack of fakes?

MAILBOX: LAST WEEK’S SOLVERS

Puzzle #121.1

If the number of piles is r and n₁, n₂… nᵣ are the bottom cards’ values, then the total value of all bottom cards is: n₁ + n₂ +… nᵣ = S (say).

The number of cards in each pile is: (13 – n₁), (13 – n₂)… (13 – nᵣ).

The total number of cards in piles is therefore: 13r – ( n₁ + n₂ +… nᵣ) = 13r – S.

If R is number of left over cards, the total number of cards is: 13r – S + R = 52 = 4 x 13.

Therefore: S = 13r – 13 x 4 + R = 13(r – 4) + R

So the trickster is quickly multiplying 13 by (number of piles minus 4) and adding R to get the sum of bottom cards. In the first example, r is 6 and R is 5, so answer is 13 x (6 – 4) + 5 = 31. In the second, r is 5 and R is 3 , so the answer is 13 x (5 – 4) + 3 = 16

— Kanwarjit Singh, Chief Commissioner of Income Tax (retired)

Puzzle #121.2

Hello Kabir,

No one will call themselves a liar. A truthful person will say he/she is truthful; a liar will also say he/she is truthful. So Person #2 is lying about Person #1, and Person #3 is speaking the truth about Person #2.

I cannot determine the status of Person #1 from the information given. So I can identify only two.

— Dr Sunita Gupta, Delhi

Solved both puzzles: Kanwarjit Singh (Chief Commissioner of Income Tax, retired), Dr Sunita Gupta (Delhi), Professor Anshul Kumar (Delhi), Sabornee Jana (Mumbai)

Solved #Puzzle 121.1: Anil Khanna (Ghaziabad), Sanjay S (Coimbatore), Yadvendra Somra (Sonipat), Shishir Gupta (Indore), Shrin Ram Aggarwal (Delhi), Ajay Ashok (Delhi), Geetansha Gera (Faridabad)

Solved #Puzzle 121.2: Akshay Bakhai (Mumbai), Dr Vivek Jain (Baroda)

Problematics will be back next week. Please send in your replies by Friday noon to problematics@hindustantimes.com.

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