Today's puzzle is linguistic. (This one will probably take a little longer than the average PotD. I hope you enjoy it!)
I sorted my daughter's alphabet blocks into two groups. Can you figure out what's special about the group on the right? You'll want to use the Hebrew alphabet chart below—and note that Hebrew reads from right to left.
Further Hints
Vowels are not written in Hebrew (although vav and yod can make "u" and "i" sounds).
The lamed on the blocks looks a little different from the one in the chart.
BONUS: Among the blocks in the group on the right, the camel stands apart, linguistically speaking. How so?
In the movies, when the bad guys want to prove that a hostage is alive, they release a photograph of the hostage holding the current day's newspaper. Such a photo could only have been taken on or after the date on the paper.
How would you stage a photo that could only have been taken on or before a given date? (Be creative! I'll post my favorite answers tomorrow.)
Solution
Answers were highly varied, such as:
- Take the picture in front of a building that is soon to be demolished.
- A picture taken right before a unique object is destroyed...
- Take a picture of the hostage next to a building and GPS coords (for visibility from space), and then blow the building up.
But it wasn't all destruction:
- Person with a snapchat photo in the photo (with timestamp showing so no one can fake it [although you could fake the webpage {but that's beside the point}])
- You can take a picture of the moon, and for the next lunar month it couldn't have been staged.
- I'd take a picture of the PotD, of course!
[Psst... there's an archive—Ed.]
A few of you got creative with time:
- Show him standing next to an activated "make time go backwardsinator"
- Someone who can see the future could have a picture of themselves searching for a keyword of some future event online but not getting anything (think COVID in 2018), which proves the photo was taken before the event happens. [Editor's note: This is what Covid meant in 2018, and talk about the pandemic being bad for business…]
- The day your car tag expires, take a picture of you in front of your car (this only works if the "good guy" is trying to prove something, I do not know if "bad guys" renew their vehicle's registration)
I don't know if this submission was one answer, two answers, or an Imagist poem:
a background of stars in the desert at night
a filled out march madness bracket
But the undisputed winner of the day is Ena, who sent five fabulous suggestions:
- Reverse Time. this is probably the simplest solution. just reverse time! thus, after = before, yesterday = tomorrow, etc. super easy
- Trap a Genie. for full instructions refer to aladdin. make SURE not to free it.
- Travel Around the World and Brainwash Every Human on the Planet (including you Dr. Shapiro). convince them you can stage this special photo even if it's not true.
- End the Universe. any photo must be taken before the universe explodes. now, as to how to end the universe... it seems tricky but all you have to do is become ruler of the universe. then you're all set.
- Last Resort. if you really can't do ANY of the above (shame on you they're really very simple) then get your cat to do it for you.
Congratulations to yesterday's winners 👑Ena👑, Caden, Leo S., Anna J., Alex Z., Inca, Peter M., Ian, Atticus, Graham, and Dr. Yetman. Thanks to everybody who made a guess!
Though he now teaches mathematics, Dr. (né Mr.) Shapiro's first job in a K–12 school was as a lunch monitor in Davis, CA. It was there that he originated the Puzzle of the Day, even rewarding correct answers with tickets in denominations like "15 points" (though without a clear idea of how he'd ultimately redeem these). Dr. Shapiro's favorite puzzle from this pre-professional era was "Tell me the location of the beehive on this campus."
Ten years later, Dr. Shapiro revived Puzzle of the Day at Proof School, writing each day's puzzle on a name tag. After 600 puzzles or so, he was just starting to feel normal about students reading his chest all the time when campus closed and the puzzle, like the rest of our lives, moved online. New puzzles are posted daily on school days.
Want to catch up on old PotDs? There's an archive currently containing puzzles from March to December 2020.