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:

of 1 + 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

Deepak Gopinath said...

First two are

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

{PI}{E}

Deepak Gopinath said...

The next two being

{C{OVER}T}

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

VJ said...

I could solve a couple.

PIE and UNFORTUNATE.

Mathematical equations kinda freak me out.

Steve Ball said...

(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 = : ^ )

Sanjeev said...

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

no clue with the rest... more clues!

VJ said...

NEON

Shuchi said...

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.

VJ said...

#4

LHS = HUNDREDWEIGHT

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

Deepak Gopinath said...

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

Shuchi said...

To sum up: Excellent solving, everyone!

VJ said...

Nice clues

Really liked NEON and UNFORTUNATE.

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

Anonymous said...

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

Anonymous said...

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

Shuchi said...

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