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SWEET SIXTEEN: North & South Regions

NORTH:

The answer to the high seed of game E is 50.

Game E:
H: All Systems University
L: Marginal Benefit University

Game F:
H: Texas Texas
L: Best Picture

SOUTH:
Game E:
H: The number on the "Take 6" card in Decennial Edition of Wolfgang Kramer and Richard Ulrich's El Grande.

L: [(A*B*C*D)/(E*F*G*H)]+I, where

A: Soldiers, without embracing temptation, retreated. (8)
B: Mathematical constant, a negative, on the keyboard. (5)
C: First two letters, less one, are the entire set? (8)
D: Boss beginning to investigate office workplace. (6)
E: Inspector sounds uninterested in pattern. (11)
F: Mixing lobster, beef to create pub favorite. (7,2,4)
G: Stages of a dance. (5)
H: Magician producing rabbit sporting achievement of goals. (3,5)
I: Headliner for Tenacious D on the roster for casino game. (9)

Game F:
H:

Mm4_image1

L:  Last two digits of the only zip code that, because of its corresponding town name, could theoretically join and complete the set of two other zip codes X and Y, where X + Y is the zip code of the town whose name is formed by concatenating (the surname of the actor or actress who was born N + P days before the individual who wrote a novel whose title character's residence, when entered into a standard telephone keypad, forms the number that is P times the Dewey Decimal System classification number most closely corresponding to the categorization of a book written on the item mentioned in quotation marks in the preface to the notable play written less than a year after the same playwright's Androcles and the Lion, where N > P and the concatenation of N and P in that order equals the only area code to serve at least part of both the northern and southern borders of the state whose seal features the detail seen below) and (the last syllable of the character surname of the actor or actress's final role) and X - Y is the reversal (12345's reversal is 54321) of the zip code of the town that shares its name with that of the original album to contain the Zth greatest song on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 greatest songs of all time, where the Zth occurrence of the letter E in the first chapter of the aforementioned novel occurs in the word "drew."

Sealthedeal

#

Comments

Game F-H's image isn't loading. Anyone else have the same problem?

Posted by: Alan Lemm | Mar 27, 2008 1:08:40 PM

Same problem. And could someone verify the N>P and Dewey numbers? I'm hitting a wall here.

Posted by: Ross | Mar 27, 2008 1:25:11 PM

What comes directly before the end of the first parentheses (that N > P and the fact about the area code and state seal) should be sufficient to find what N and P are. N and P are cited in the clue before you actually know what they are.

Dewey numbers here refer to the three-digit code that is applicable for the item in question in the Dewey Decimal System categorization system in a typical library. A full list of "Dewey numbers" can be found here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Dewey_Decimal_classes

Posted by: anonymous | Mar 27, 2008 2:33:34 PM

Yes, I undestand all that, but the phone keypad number doesn't work out. Ok, I'll put it aside for now.

Posted by: Ross | Mar 27, 2008 3:10:01 PM

Here's the links, see if these work:

http://jumbledpileofperson.typepad.com/.shared/image.html?/photos/uncategorized/2008/03/17/sealthedeal.jpeg

http://jumbledpileofperson.typepad.com/ym/ShowLetter?box=MMIV&MsgId=3348_3440447_2033_1662_2932_0_26506_4708_57901113&bodyPart=2&tnef=&YY=33572&y5beta=yes&y5beta=yes&order=down&sort=date&pos=0&view=a&head=b&VScan=1&Idx=4

Posted by: JmSR | Mar 27, 2008 3:32:58 PM

Ross, I think I may be having the same problem as you. We may be working with the wrong play (though the designation of "notable" narrows the list substantially) or may be interpreting the wrong DDS number. I really can't see that my N and P can be anything other than what I've figured out for them. In any case, I have a product (P times the DDS classification number) in which all of the digits don't have corresponding letters on the telephone keypad.

Also, JM, it's the second (longer) URL that isn't producing a picture. Your attempt to post the URL is running off the right side of the page.

Posted by: MartinD | Mar 27, 2008 3:56:50 PM

H:

http://jumbledpileofperson.typepad.com/
ym/ShowLetter?box=MMIV&MsgId=3348_3440447_2033_
1662_2932_0_26506_4708_57901113&
bodyPart=2&tnef=&YY=33572&y5beta=
yes&y5beta=yes&order=down&sort=
date&pos=0&view=a&head=b&VScan=1&Idx=4


L:
http://jumbledpileofperson.typepad.com
/.shared/image.html?/
photos/uncategorized/
2008/03/17/sealthedeal.jpeg

Copy and paste and combine without spaces.

Posted by: JmSR | Mar 27, 2008 4:10:29 PM

Hi,

The name of the link isn't my problem...

The problem I have with Game F-H's image is that it searches for that link & can't find it...

Does the image exist?...

Posted by: Jim from Minnesota | Mar 27, 2008 4:44:07 PM

Yeah, I have the state seal image but not the one for F-H. (Maybe there is no image for F-H and we have to find the number via alternate means).

Also, cryptic crossword clues have always been my Achilles' heel so I'll have to definitely persevere through that set above.

Posted by: Mike | Mar 27, 2008 4:48:49 PM

This one works out; it's a great clue and the ZIP code 'completion' is worth the effort!

Posted by: Don | Mar 27, 2008 9:03:02 PM

I duplicated the image.

Posted by: JmSR | Mar 28, 2008 7:57:43 AM

That's exactly it, Martin. Same problem.

Posted by: Ross | Mar 28, 2008 8:47:12 AM

South E-L: Shouldn't clue E have 12 letters instead of 11?

Posted by: Alan Lemm | Apr 18, 2008 7:53:18 PM

'Tis true, Alan. I'll change it soon.

Posted by: JmSR | Apr 19, 2008 12:03:27 PM

Ross & Martin, did you figure this one out. I have the same problem you described, but Don says he got it to work. The DDS number seems so "obvious" that I can't understand why it would be wrong.

Posted by: Paula | Apr 22, 2008 10:48:07 AM

Paula, I'm also stuck at the same point Ross and Martin were describing. I agree that it's unlikely we're messing up on the play or the DDS. I've been trying to work it backwards (starting from the Rolling Stone list) but no luck yet. I use it as a mental break from looking up useless trivia on the State of Maine.

I love/hate this contest!

Posted by: Susy | Apr 22, 2008 10:58:15 AM

I know what you mean about love/hate...
For a solid week now instead of counting sheep to sleep I lay in my bed imagining all the ways that the numbers 9, 1 and 1 can make 15 and then checking to see if 7, 3 and 5 make 26 that way...

Posted by: Paula | Apr 22, 2008 11:17:44 AM

The DDS number is about as straightforward as it could be. There's no argumentation about what it is; it was meant to be as obvious as possible. So think a bit on what it means if that DDS number is right and the value for P is right. I don't want to give anything away, but don't be afraid to sleep on it (Paula's got a week under her belt for another one of my puzzles, I see).

Posted by: Screwy Dewey | Apr 22, 2008 3:30:48 PM

I just figured out the "character's residence" portion of the clue. Apparently, the clue IS correct the way it's written.

Posted by: Alan Lemm | Apr 22, 2008 4:26:34 PM

Spoke too soon. Forget I said anything.

Posted by: Alan Lemm | Apr 22, 2008 4:32:57 PM

NOW I've got it. Game F-L is officially solved.

Posted by: Alan Lemm | Apr 22, 2008 4:43:44 PM

Does the value of Z in Game F-L count the "e" in "Chapter" or "One"?

Posted by: Alan Lemm | Apr 22, 2008 4:54:42 PM

Good clarification--neither of those "e"s are counted (the first "e" that is counted is the last letter of the first word of the main text).

Posted by: Screwy Dewey | Apr 22, 2008 5:37:01 PM

LOL Paula...I fall asleep each night pondering my three remaining cryptic clues!

Posted by: susy | Apr 22, 2008 6:42:58 PM

I wonder if we have the same three, Susy. I'm surprised I'm doing as well as I am in that department (of course, I've barely even looked at the Elite Eight to Final Four games and onward so who knows what shadows linger there).

Posted by: Mike | Apr 22, 2008 10:28:10 PM

AHA...
I should no by now, one should never let the distress signals of other players influence their own thoughts when solving...

Posted by: Paula | Apr 23, 2008 10:11:36 AM

The author of Game F-L is this region would like it to be known that Z-1 is divisible by P.

Thanks,

The Mgmnt

Posted by: JmSR | Apr 25, 2008 12:50:02 PM

I would rather know what kind of music an author from the other region likes to listen to...

Posted by: Paula | Apr 25, 2008 1:06:18 PM

I still didn't get the DDS and P to work out. I give up. But I see the point that we should keep our "distress signals" to ourselves as it might wrongly influence others.

Posted by: Ross | Apr 29, 2008 8:34:36 AM

NORTH:

The score of the game the team lost with in the first four March Madness

Game E:
5 Synogoue: 50 W
8 Ground St.: 49

Game F:
2 I Owe U.: Texas Texas 64 W
3 The Cordon Bleu: Best Picture 53 (This was one of the few fixed values)

JonMichael Rasmus, author


SOUTH:
Game E:
12. E. Orthodox 66
16. Saint Liar's 71 W

H: Fromm BGG, natch.

JonMichael Rasmus, Author.

L:
A: Spartans
B: Piano
C: Alphabet
D: Studio
E: Checkerboard
F: Bottles of Beer
G: Steps
H: Hat Trick
I: Black Jack

Math (associate each word with a number):

[(300*88*26*54)/(64*99*39*3)]+21 = 71

Jay Winter, Author

Game F:
6 Gloria 31
7 Cal. St. Fullofit 82 W

H: Using the Dancing Men cypher from the Sherlock Holmes story, it spells out "thirtyone".

John Daly, Author

L: The state seal detail shown is from Pennsylvania's, and the area code in question is 814, making N = 81 and P = 4. George Bernard Shaw wrote Androcles and the Lion and, not that long afterward, the more well-known Pygmalion, whose preface references the writing device called "Current Shorthand." That Dewey Decimal System classification number is 653 and 653 * 4 = 2612. The "1" in this number might tip you off a bit; no letter on a standard telephone keypad corresponds to a 1. In fact, the only number-to-letter conversion that needs to be made here is the "2" to a "B," which forms B612, the asteroid home of the title character of Antoine de Saint Exupéry's The Little Prince. Exupéry was born on 6/29/1900, 85 days after film star Spencer Tracy, whose last role was as Matt Drayton in Guess Who's Coming to Dinner? The only Tracyton is in Washington with zip code 98393, which is X + Y. The 93rd greatest song on the list is U2's "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" from their Joshua Tree album, which shares its name with the California town with zip code 92252, which makes X - Y 25229. Solving the math, we find X = 61811, the zip code to Alvin, IL and Y = 36582, the zip code to Theodore, AL. The missing town name is the third and final chipmunk Simon. The only Simon in the US is in West Virginia with zip code 24882, making the answer to this clue 82.

Mike Graczyk, Author

Posted by: JmSR | May 1, 2008 10:25:38 AM

I had to read that book for my French class in high school. Nice, Mike.

Posted by: ross | May 1, 2008 1:12:23 PM

Thanks, Ross (and others for the comments). I had to read "The Little Prince" in 6th grade and, though I've never reread it, I've grown to like it more over the years.

This is probably my favorite clue, mainly because the Chipmunks make a cameo if you go all the way through--and kudos to those who got the "B612" thing. Admittedly, that was probably the trickiest part of the clue.

And I guess it's also fun watching people intellectually squirm (insert corny evil laugh here)

Posted by: Mike | May 2, 2008 6:55:09 AM

Oh, glad to be of some entertainment for you, Mike :)

Posted by: ross | May 2, 2008 7:57:23 AM

RE: South Game F - L

As one of the uninitiated who never read The Little Prince as a kid, I wanted to go back and find some flaw in the original clue. But I couldn't find one. Bravo, Mike, for your drafting of a well-crafted and ultimately fair clue that I never solved simply because I couldn't think outside the box.

Posted by: MartinD | May 12, 2008 5:20:12 PM

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