Today's Puzzle
Tuesday, May 11
On the Japanese calendar at left, I have covered up 24 instances of the same kanji (character) with blue boxes. These usages of the kanji refer to particular periods of
time, but the same kanji can also refer to what object in
space?
Hint
The only language you need to know for this puzzle is English.
Bonus Puzzle
If you can read kanji—or Chinese!—then today's puzzle may not be much of a puzzle at all. Try this one instead. Why are these 12 kanji called ghost characters?
妛 挧 暃 椦 槞 蟐 袮 閠 駲 墸 壥 彁
Yesterday's Puzzle + Solution
These are dictionary definitions of what four thematically related verbs?
- to lower the head or body suddenly
- to lose one's nerve—usually used with out
- to sharply poke or pinch the buttocks
- to complain, grumble
Solution
- duck
- chicken
- goose
- grouse
I think the theme speaks for itself…
Congratulations (with 🐥 for a perfect score) to yesterday's solvers Anna J., Jacob C., Bridget, Inca🐥, 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.