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Dr. Shapiro's Puzzle of the Day

Today's Puzzle

Friday, October 2
Which large fruit is named (in English and many other languages) for an Italian town whose name, in turn, means "singing wolf"?

Hint In Afrikaans, this fruit is called spanspek, which means "Spanish bacon". No wait, that's not a hint at all, it's just downright weird (lol).

What might actually be a hint is that the Finnish call it verkkomeloni, and here's what comes up if you search for part of that word online:

   


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Yesterday's Puzzle + Solution

Can you identify these crabs? (This version of the puzzle has fake crab facts. There is also a version with real crab facts!)

It behooves you to know the name of this li'l guy, as he is said to bring luck. (I'll accept answers that are close, but "hand grenade" is too far!)
This performer is indispensable to bluegrass, klezmer, and Irish reels. She knows it, too, and even takes a bow before performing.
You might hire this crab to "use paint, fabric, furnishings, and accessories to change the aesthetics of a space" (such as your home's interior). Or you might @make_use_of them in Python.
This crab lives a life of secluded contemplation far from society (though in truth he depends on others for his shelter). Those of Mr. Gregg's age might remember a time when he claimed to be Henry VIII.
Don't mess with this crab; she'll hold you captive deep in darkness. And while my other descriptions above assigned arbitrary gender, this crab is definitely a "she".

Solution
  1. Horseshoe crab
  2. Fiddler crab
  3. Decorator crab
    (I had no idea there is also such a thing as a pom-pom crab, but there is and it's adorable. Thanks, Inca!)
  4. Hermit crab
  5. Dungeness crab
    (Kate said "regular" and I am still laughing about it)
Some of you really like crabs, and that makes me happy.

Congratulations to yesterday's solvers Charlie, Maddy, Inca, Nico, Leo S., Jacob C., Yana, Newton, Kate, & Mia, with red for the perfect scorers. (\/) (°,,,,°) (\/) 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.