Coded
Follow these directions:
Select any three digit number such that the hundreds digit is at least two greater than the units digit. (For example: 672) Call this number w.
Reverse the digits of w. (For example: 276) Call this number x.
Subtract x from w. Call this remainder y.
Reverse the digits of y. Call this number z.
Add y and z.
Multiply the sum of y and z by 100,000.
From the product obtained in the last step, subtract 8,685,432.
This number is the final answer. However, it is in code. To produce the message, substitute a letter for each digit according to the following key:
0 – o
1 – l
2 – f
3 – m
4 – i
5 – r
6 – p
7 – w
8 – a
9 – g
If your work is correct, you should be able to read the decoded message.
Thanks to shinydome
I know, instead of fooling with this I should have been mailing chap. 1. But I couldn’t resist.
w=783
x=387
y=w-x=396
z=693
y+z=1089
1089*100000=108900000
108900000-8685432=100214568 = looflirpa
and reversed…
Hah!
Comment by rakkity — April 1, 2005 @ 12:59 pm
When you screw up and multiply by 1,000,000 instead of 100,000, it doesn’t work completely, but the april part still comes out. Curious…………
Comment by mathlete — April 1, 2005 @ 2:19 pm
Should I take it personally, the lack of an “s” at the end?
Comment by michael — April 1, 2005 @ 5:28 pm
Wait, Michael. Let me get this straight. YOU post a code to have us come up with April Fool. We do. And then YOU ask if you should take the lack of an “S” personally?
Well, then, I guess the answer is … “Yes”.
Comment by hunh? — April 1, 2005 @ 6:58 pm
Quintessential Mac puzzle, minus the inordinate amount of thinking required.
Rakkity, thanks for sparing us from getting out pencil (I think I still have one somewhere) and paper!
Comment by smiling — April 1, 2005 @ 10:52 pm
Might have been a quintessential Mack (that’s my father, Jennifer) puzzle, but the generous contributor was shinydome.
Comment by michael — April 2, 2005 @ 7:02 pm
Clearly I do not have all of my father genes, I was too lazy to figure that out, I just jumped to the comments. Utilized my resources (some other fool wasting his time to figure it out) and now just gained an extra 2 minutes of sleep.
Good night. 🙂
Comment by CoffeeBoy — April 4, 2005 @ 10:38 pm