H E L L O
my name is
Dr. Shapiro's Puzzle of the Day

Today's Puzzle

Friday, August 28
Many of us know Joel as Dr. Via (Latin for street). Which of these Proof School teachers can you recognize from Latin versions of their surnames?
  1. Collis
  2. Faber
  3. Subsilvana
  4. Homo Novus
  5. Centum Fontes
  6. De Campo
  7. Ausa Est
Feel free to use Google if you're stumped; you'll still need your brain too, I promise. Thanks to Joel for help creating this puzzle!

Hint Teachers #1–3 have last names that are English words (or are made up of English words). Teachers #4–6 have last names that are words in other languages (or are made up of words in other languages). You're on your own for #7. *evil laugh*

   


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Yesterday's Puzzle + Solution

I recently saw posters plastered in my neighborhood with this text in English and Spanish:

VOTE 4 JAMIE DLUZAK
A MAN OF THE PEOPLE

VOTA 4 JAMIE DLUZAK
UN HOMBRE DE LA GENTE

Reader, I laughed. Can you tell why I found Mr. Dluzak's pitch amusing?

Solution The "4" works in English because "for" and "four" are homophones (words that sound alike). But it doesn't work in Spanish! The correct translation is "Vota por Jamie". "Vota 4 Jamie" reads as "Vota cuatro Jamie", which just sounds silly. (Language learners, raise a hand if you have to slow down when you're reading aloud and you get to a numeral like 1983—I see you.)

A couple of you also questioned "un hombre de la gente", which is a word-for-word translation of "a man of the people", but not necessarily an idiom a Spanish speaker would use. "Un hombre del pueblo" would be better.

Congratulations to yesterday's solvers Inca, Nico, Maddy, Summer, Charlie, Anna K., Anna J., Atticus, Jacob C., Jessica, Jason, Kate, Zachary S., and Mr. and Mrs. Gregg. 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 to June 2020.