Today's Puzzle
Wednesday, November 4
I was out gardening on Saturday when I noticed that an unexpected (but welcome) visitor had made itself at home on my house. Four days later, it's still hanging around. Can you guess what it is? Oooh, how about we play 20 Questions? I'll be you.
Tip: Read across the rows.
Is it bigger than a breadbox?
No.
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Is it alive?
Yes.
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Is it brightly colored?
Yes.
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Does it make a sound?
No.
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Has it moved at all since yesterday?
[checks] No.
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Is it some unusually colorful kind of barnacle?
No, and it's a little early to make such a specific guess, wouldn't you say?
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Is it a plant?
No.
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So it's an animal?
Yes.
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Is it bigger than half the size of a breadbox?
No.
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Is it bigger than one-quarter the size of a breadbox?
You could waste a lot of questions this way. Try a different strategy.
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Is it smaller than a breadbox?
[stares] ... Yes.
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Oh, duh. Can you please not count that as one of my questions?
I’m afraid a question is a question. This was a question too.
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Is it bulbous?
Yes. Also tapered.
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Does it live in the ocean?
It’s on my house, remember?
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Is it crunchy on the outside?
I guess you could say that.
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Is it creamy on the inside?
I guess you could say that too. Look, don't eat it.
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Would you say the creaminess is because of enzymatic action?
Yes.
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Did your garden attract it somehow?
Yes.
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Does it have legs?
Not at the moment.
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How does it look?
Metallic. Finely etched. As if mysteriously lit from within.
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Yesterday's Puzzle + Solution
What game's origins are described in the excerpt at left?
The path to the modern version of this game winds through Canada and Scotland. It is now widely played at U. S. high schools and colleges; there are more NCAA teams playing the women's version than the men's version.
Hint
The Canada connection explains why this game is known in English by its French name, which (with a space added) is also the name of a Wisconsin city.
Solution
Lacrosse! Here's the source of the excerpt.
Congratulations to yesterday's solvers Inca, Lemonade, Newton, Maddy, Charlie, Leo S., Yana, Mr. Gregg, Kate, and Zachary S. 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.