OT - 7/9/2010 Puzzle

[Ganchrow]

Alright this puzzle should hopefully be a bit easier than the last.

A Name Repeated

And again, whatever SBR points I have at the time (or, at the solver's option, a special prize related to the puzzle solution that happens to be very near and dear to me) go to the first person to post the correct solution in this thread.

[Ganchrow]

The title of the puzzle won't be of much if any help in figuring out a solution, but for those familiar with the reference it should confirm the correct answer otherwise obtained.

[Ganchrow]

The puzzle solution is the titular "Name Repeated". No complex math is required.

[Art Vandeleigh]

I was way better at the puzzles where you'd put up pictures of Sesame Street characters for some reason. Not requesting, just saying.

I have no clue yet (Hootie), but the phrase in your first post "a BIT easier than the last" sounds suspicious.

[MonkeyF0cker]

Would it be correct to assume that this is a matrix?

[Jaug]

I don't get it at all.

[Ganchrow]

I was way better at the puzzles where you'd put up pictures of Sesame Street characters for some reason. Not requesting, just saying.

Point taken.

No promises but I'll see what I can come up with.

I have no clue yet (Hootie), but the phrase in your first post "a BIT easier than the last" sounds suspicious.

A completely unintentioned clue.

Would it be correct to assume that this is a matrix?

Well technically it's the very exemplification of a "matrix" purely by virtue of its being a 2-dimensional array of numbers.

That literal and obnoxious reading of your question aside ... no, you needn't hunt down your old Liner Algebra textbook or concern yourself with matrices qua "Matrices" in anyway.

The solution can be obtained with nothing more than simple pen & paper arithmetic (although I'd think it easier copying the table values into Excel), and the always important Eureka moment.

[Data]

The puzzle solution is the titular "Name Repeated".

Does that mean that
somehow makes "d"?

[Miz]

I tried a few different approaches, to no avail. Good puzzle. Tough one.

Admittedly, I don't know what may be "near and dear to you".

I personally think that the puzzles are cool (because they are not easy, in my opinion). With the wealth of information you have posted, I don't know how anyone could think badly of you (or the brainteasers).

[Ganchrow]

Does that mean that
somehow makes "d"?

Heh ... now who's being all literal?

[Ganchrow]

This problem is actually somewhat similar to the last.

Consider that in conjunction with Hint #3.

[Data]

Who is Arcadio?

[Ganchrow]

Who is Arcadio?

Well done once again, Mr. Data.

"Arcadio" is a name repeated through the principle 5 generations generations of the Buendia family in the fantastical city of Macondo as detailed in the Nobel Laureate Gabriel García Márquez's masterpiece One Hundred Years of Solitude.

Anyway, Data, at your option I'll either give you the 61 SBR points currently in my possession or alternatively will send you a copy of One Hundred Years of Solitude via Amazon tout de suite. Your choice.

[Ganchrow]

The answer as Data cleverly deduced is "Arcadio".

Attached is an Excel spreadsheet demonstrating 2 alternate (though related) methods of figuring the answer.

The BWAnd() function in Excel is merely a user-defined function implementing the bitwise AND operation, which is available in VBA, but curiously not in Excel 2003.

If the solution's not clear and anyone remains curious just ask.

[Not Matt Rain]

Good job Data. I wasn't even close.

or alternatively will send you a copy of One Hundred Years of Solitude via Amazon tout suite.

I believe you meant to type the French idiom "tout de suite" unless you were deliberately going for its colloquial pronunciation.

Not Matty finally wins.

[Ganchrow]

I believe you meant to type the French idiom "tout de suite" unless you were deliberately going for its colloquial pronunciation.

Not Matty finally wins.

Humiliated!

Post silently corrected.

[Data]

Well done once again, Mr. Data.

Thank you, sir. I want to commend you on the elegance of both, the puzzle itself and the solution you have given.

"Arcadio" is a name repeated through the principle 5 generations generations of the Buendia family in the fantastical city of Macondo as detailed in the Nobel Laureate Gabriel García Márquez's masterpiece One Hundred Years of Solitude.

You used the word "literal" so many times in this thread that I thought it cannot be that because literally the name is Jose Arcadio.

Anyway, Data, at your option I'll either give you the 61 SBR points currently in my possession or alternatively will send you a copy of One Hundred Years of Solitude via Amazon tout de suite. Your choice.

Thank you again. Please allow me to contribute by sweetening the pot for the next winner.

[MonkeyF0cker]

Nicely done, Data.

[HedgeHog]

Good job, Data.