The Malay word rambut translates into English as 'hair'.
What is the translation from Malay to English of duri ?
Hint (what are those pictures of fruit about?!)
The fruits displayed at left are called rambutan and durian.
The Malay word rambut translates into English as 'hair'.
What is the translation from Malay to English of duri ?
Hint (what are those pictures of fruit about?!)
The fruits displayed at left are called rambutan and durian.
This is a story about the willow ptarmigan—Alaska's state bird—and the little town near Fairbanks that was almost named for it.
Perhaps you've heard of the Klondike Gold Rush, when gallant miners flocked to the Yukon looking to make a buck. A few of them wandered west into Alaska, took the lay of the land, and founded an itty-bitty settlement on the Fortymile River. They were going to call it Ptarmigan after the local game bird that kept them well-fed when pickin's were paltry, but something fouled their plans. What was the matter? They were scared of misspelling it and becoming a laughingstock! Rather than brood over it, they scratched "Ptarmigan" and gave their town a more common name at which, surely, no one would ever cackle.
What did they call it?
(By the way, you can still visit this town, but there are only 7 year-round residents left. The miners have long since flown the coop.)
Solution
The name of that town is Chicken.
BONUS PUZZLE: Can you find all the phrases in yesterday's puzzle that hint at chickens? (Try going over it with a fine-toothed comb...)
Perhaps you've heard of the Klondike Gold Rush, when
gallant
miners
flocked
to the Yukon looking to make a
buck.
A few of them wandered west into Alaska, took the
lay
of the land, and founded an
itty-bitty
settlement on the Fortymile River. They were going to call it Ptarmigan after the local game bird that kept them well-fed when
pickin's
were
paltry,
but something
fouled
their plans.
What was the matter? They were scared
of misspelling it and becoming a
laughingstock!
Rather than
brood over it,
they
scratched
"Ptarmigan" and gave their town a more
common
name at which, surely, no one would ever
cackle.
...
The miners have long since
flown the coop.
Bonus Puzzle Solution
Some of the hints are more subtle than others; mouse over the light purple words for an explanation.
Congratulations to yesterday's solvers Maddy, Jessica, Inca, Yana, Jacob C., Leo S., Josh M. (he's aliiiive!), Zachary S., and Dr. Yetman. As is often the case, y'all had some interesting ways of knowing the answer; Jessica's is my favorite:
I know there's a city called Chicken, Alaska because, in third grade, we all spent a month recording the daily hottest and coldest recorded temperatures in the United States. Chicken, Alaska was, apparently, very, very cold when I was in third grade.Thanks to everybody who made a guess!
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.