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Dr. Shapiro's Puzzle of the Day

Today's Puzzle

Wednesday, September 23
California's state route emblem is a unique shape (as seen at left). What is that shape supposed to represent?

(It's not a beehive... that would be Utah.)

Hint California State Route 49 passes through Madera, Mariposa, Tuolumne, Calaveras, Amador, El Dorado, Placer, Nevada, Yuba, Sierra, and Plumas counties.

I trust that's the kind of quality information you were looking for when you clicked "Hint". Happy to help!!!!

   


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Yesterday's Puzzle + Solution

Happy Tuesday! Here's a quirky little tune from the Beach Boys called "Vega-Tables". The instrumentation is as quirky as the lyrics; for example, a bottle is played (and then emptied into a glass) at 0:13.

What "instrument" provides the rhythm from 0:52 to 1:12? Legend has it that the instrument was "played" by Paul McCartney of the Beatles, who, if you believe another urban legend, was dead at the time lost calories in the process.

Hint Improbable as it may seem, the instrument in question provides the flavoring for the drink seen below, which, according to Wikipedia, is "easy to find in New York City, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and in South Florida, but rather obscure elsewhere."

Bonus: What is the name of your favorite vega-table?

Solution The "instrument" is celery, which, despite what you may have heard, does not take more calories to crunch on than it gives back. (Both quantities are close to zero, though.) As for the hint, I present without further comment Cel-Ray.

Congratulations to yesterday's solvers Charlie (cucumber, endive), Maddy (napa cabbage), Inca (cauliflower, carrots), Yana (yams), Leo S., Anna J. (cooked carrots), Jacob C., and Dr. Yetman (Brussels sprouts). Personally, I love onions. 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.