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Dr. Shapiro's Puzzle of the Day

Today's Puzzle

Friday, April 9
Happy Spring Break! PotD is on hiatus until school resumes on the 19th. However, if you're feeling starved for puzzles, here's one that may last you a little longer than the usual daily fare.

Ten years ago, a friend of mine happened on a coded letter while doing some historical research. This letter was written in 1631 by Martha Winthrop to her husband John Winthrop the Younger (a Puritan and political leader of the Connecticut colony); the two of them communicated in a private cipher. Can you decode the letter?

Hint This is just like solving a regular cryptogram… except that 17th century spelling is a little different from 21st century spelling.

(Want even more puzzles? The archive is newly up to date!)

   


     Note: Clicking "Submit" will send your response to Dr. Shapiro.

Yesterday's Puzzle + Solution

Because brains are very delicate, always handle them with care; they have a tendency to fall apart.
This quotation comes from page 732 (in my copy) of the best-selling American book within what genre? My parents' edition of the book also contains instructions relating to squirrels.

Solution This quotation is from a cookbook, namely The Joy of Cooking. (Yes, early editions had recipes for squirrel, among other game.)

Congratulations to yesterday's solvers Inca, Atticus, Micah, Dr. Yetman, Graham, Jason, and the Greggs. Thanks to everybody who made a guess!

About This Site

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 2020 to March 2021.