Tuesday, 20 July 2010

Do The Math To Solve These Clues

numbers-in-clues

A number in a clue is usually a reference to another clue in the grid, or a Roman numeral.

Sometimes it is none of those.

Here are a few clues that use numbers as mathematical objects and symbols to stand for arithmetic operations.

Can you solve them?

 

From Alec Robins' book The A.B.C. Of Crosswords:

⅔ of 1 + ⅔ of 1 – what kind of sign is that? (4)

From Anatomy of the Crossword by D. St. P. Barnard:

 3.14159 + 2.71828. Not for a Simple Simon! (3)

Guardian 25037 (Puck):

Poor fish eaten by roughly 4.10 (11)
[Clues from the books have been kindly provided by Chaturvasi from his collection.]

Update 3-Sep-2014: Clue by Mohsin Ahmed @ 1ACross:

(twelfth of seventy-eight) + (fourth of five) + (eighth of eighteen) (3)

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14 comments:

  1. Deepak Gopinath20 July 2010 at 11:59

    First two are

    {(-o)NE}{ON(-e}

    {PI}{E}

    ReplyDelete
  2. Deepak Gopinath20 July 2010 at 12:09

    The next two being

    {C{OVER}T}

    {HUNDRED}{W}{EIGHT} from the first half of the clue, couldnt decipher the second half

    ReplyDelete
  3. VJ20 July 2010 at 12:10

    I could solve a couple.

    PIE and UNFORTUNATE.

    Mathematical equations kinda freak me out.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Steve Ball20 July 2010 at 12:28

    (2/3) of 1 + (2/3) of 1 – what kind of sign is that? (4) is NE + ON

    3.14156 + 2.71828. Not for a Simple Simon! (3) is Pi + e.

    Steve = : ^ )

    ReplyDelete
  5. Sanjeev20 July 2010 at 13:54

    Very interesting...
    1. Neon = (-O)NE+ON(-E)
    2. Pie = PI + E

    no clue with the rest... more clues!

    ReplyDelete
  6. VJ20 July 2010 at 13:57

    NEON

    ReplyDelete
  7. Shuchi20 July 2010 at 14:06

    Hello readers

    I'm keeping comments on hold for a while so that more of you can try solving them.

    Almost everyone has the first two answers - congrats!

    Hints for the others:

    #3: The definition is "secret".

    #4: It is a double definition clue, the two sides of the "=" lead to the same word. Solving with the LHS should be easier.

    #5: The numbers need to be spelt as words. Ignore the dot. No other arithmetic operation is involved.

    ReplyDelete
  8. VJ20 July 2010 at 18:32

    #4

    LHS = HUNDREDWEIGHT

    RHS = a...n/ 20 = a ton = 2240 lbs/ 20 = 112 lbs = HUNDREDWEIGHT

    ReplyDelete
  9. Deepak Gopinath20 July 2010 at 18:53

    And here's the last one which I got after a round of golfing
    {UNFOR{TUNA}TE*}

    ReplyDelete
  10. Shuchi20 July 2010 at 19:26

    To sum up: Excellent solving, everyone!

    ReplyDelete
  11. VJ20 July 2010 at 19:56

    Nice clues

    Really liked NEON and UNFORTUNATE.

    C/t = C over T is a new one for me.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Anonymous21 March 2012 at 16:52

    Here's one!:
    (1001+666)(87-66)= Not fit when topsy-turvy? (5)

    ReplyDelete
  13. Anonymous27 March 2012 at 21:35

    (1001+666)(87-66) = 1667*21= 35007
    35007 when topsy-turvy/upside down becomes LOOSE
    Definition: Not fit

    ReplyDelete
  14. Shuchi27 March 2012 at 23:55

    Thanks sreelakshmi. The equation threw me off. LOOSE upside down = 35007 is a nice find.

    ReplyDelete