vettecat: (hmmmm)
vettecat ([personal profile] vettecat) wrote2009-04-19 10:09 am
Entry tags:

[identity profile] surrealestate.livejournal.com 2009-04-19 02:25 pm (UTC)(link)
It's easier than it might look at first glance -- it's a puzzle more than a math problem.

I wasn't sure if you were looking for the solution or just offering it to other people to solve, but I don't want to spoil anyone else's fun, so let me know if you did want the answer and I'll email it to you. In any case, thanks for the pointer. :)

[identity profile] foolcat.livejournal.com 2009-04-19 03:21 pm (UTC)(link)
Spoiler alert!
scroll down if you want the answer.











Paige Fox is bad at math

[identity profile] signy1.livejournal.com 2009-04-19 10:39 pm (UTC)(link)
Ah yes. This strip. I took one look at it and cursed, because I am not capable of leaving codes unbroken. And I hate math, too!

[identity profile] c1.livejournal.com 2009-04-19 11:27 pm (UTC)(link)
I was always lousy at math, but this wasn't that bad. Thankfully, Apple includes a decent scientific calculator in their OS.

[identity profile] vettecat.livejournal.com 2009-04-20 03:44 am (UTC)(link)
Either or both... but someone did post the solution. Thanks, though!

[identity profile] vettecat.livejournal.com 2009-04-20 03:44 am (UTC)(link)
Aha! I suspected it would be something like that... Thanks!

[identity profile] vettecat.livejournal.com 2009-04-20 03:47 am (UTC)(link)
Someone posted the solution here, if you didn't already figure it out. (Have we met, BTW?)

[identity profile] deguspice.livejournal.com 2009-04-20 03:52 am (UTC)(link)
It was easy to solve without the use of a calculator.

Do the easy math functions first. Once you get enough letters filled in, you can identify the rest of the letters you need and figure the answer.

[identity profile] vettecat.livejournal.com 2009-04-20 04:13 am (UTC)(link)
Useful!

[identity profile] vettecat.livejournal.com 2009-04-20 04:14 am (UTC)(link)
Makes sense. Though honestly I just didn't feel like taking the time...

[identity profile] chanaleh.livejournal.com 2009-04-20 06:39 pm (UTC)(link)
Yeah, when I got home from rehearsal late last night and read our comics, J had already gleefully worked the puzzle and pencilled in the answer, and on the whole I found that satisfied me rather better than decoding it myself would have. :-)

(The only bit he couldn't work out in his head immediately on sight was X, and he left that one for last so he could get it by process of elimination instead of bothering to do the long division.)

[identity profile] noeltheone.livejournal.com 2009-04-20 08:15 pm (UTC)(link)
X wasn't actually that hard if you work with computers a lot, since '512' is 2^9 and 8192 is 2^9 x 2^4. 8192+1024=9216, which reduces to 512x16 +512x2, or 512x18...

Okay, so maybe it makes sense in my head.

[identity profile] noeltheone.livejournal.com 2009-04-20 08:19 pm (UTC)(link)
I was actually a little irked that some of them (C,J,U,Q,Z) result in clearly non-integer answers.

But that's probably just me (780 math SAT). Also, the integral was pretty silly.

[identity profile] vettecat.livejournal.com 2009-04-21 04:21 am (UTC)(link)
Very cute!

[identity profile] vettecat.livejournal.com 2009-04-21 04:21 am (UTC)(link)
I suppose it all depends on your point of view...

[identity profile] noeltheone.livejournal.com 2009-04-21 01:00 pm (UTC)(link)
Hey, what can I say, I'm wierd. ;-)

[identity profile] vettecat.livejournal.com 2009-04-22 04:12 am (UTC)(link)
But in a good way!