OT - 6/16/2006 Puzzle

[Ganchrow]

answer was 'Hollywood'. Once again Mudcat proves his mettle.

Speaking of metal:
A heavy block of iron, a metal ball weighing sixteen pounds with a wire attached, and a flat-based iron ring for support.

These are components of a surprisingly sensitive device. What is the device used for?

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[Sean]

Te audire no possum. Musa sapientum fixa est in aure.

[scottyy11]

i thinking some type of scale

[Mudcat]

I keep picturing a shot putt, which is right around 16 pounds. I'm mentally attaching a wire to it and hoping some surrounding image will come to me. Is it a wire to conduct current to the ball or is the ball suspended and the wire is a supporting cord? I don't know (yet).

Of course the metal ball in the puzzle could be a much different size than a shot putt depending on the density. It could be a bigger hollow thing.

Iron hoop for support. Is it supporting from above or below or some other vector?

Heavy block of iron. Hmmm . . .

Then again I'm not even sure if it's supposed to be literal or more of a word puzzle.

That's where I'm at.

[isetcap]

So the device is comprised of 3 different components. Let's figure out what the 3 items are first and then tackle the big picture.

Anybody know a blacksmith?

[Ganchrow]

Te audire no possum. Musa sapientum fixa est in aure.

So take it out?

[rolemand]

Not to be a jerk but these are getting to be like playing casino games online. The answer just gets spit out and there's no way to verify some of these answers to questions. It would be a lot more (use your own adjective) if the answers were presented in the either a different thread or the following days thread.

[Ganchrow]

Not to be a jerk but these are getting to be like playing casino games online. The answer just gets spit out and there's no way to verify some of these answers to questions. It would be a lot more (use your own adjective) if the answers were presented in the either a different thread or the following days thread.

Thanks for the feedback. I definitely agree with you.

The previous day's answers have been appearing in the following day's thread. Also, as soon as we get HTML enabled for posts, there will be a text box through which answers can be submitted an automatically graded and tallied.

[rolemand]

Thanks Ganchrow. I'm not sure I said exactly what I wanted but I'll try to clarify. I don't mind the answers in the thread or in the following days thread. I want to know how the answer was derived. I always learn better by working the solution backwards. Kind of need the Teacher's workbook or something on how to go from A to B.

[tacomax]

Good idea, rolemand. Although not for my benefit because I solve the daily puzzles within minutes, naturally.

[Ganchrow]

Thanks Ganchrow. I'm not sure I said exactly what I wanted but I'll try to clarify. I don't mind the answers in the thread or in the following days thread. I want to know how the answer was derived. I always learn better by working the solution backwards. Kind of need the Teacher's workbook or something on how to go from A to B.

OK. Now I see what you mean. good poiont. I'll try to do that. Check out for an explanation of the answer to this one.

[Ganchrow]

And as the puzzle previous to this one goes, it was just a simple cipher. Each letter (lower case or capital) just represented a different randomly selected (lower case or capital). The clue asked the encoded text asked for the name of the only C-rated book tio start with the second letter of the puzzle's title ('h'). The answer was then Hollywood.

[Ganchrow]

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