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Dr. Shapiro's Puzzle of the Day

Today's Puzzle

Tuesday, December 15
The Electoral College convened yesterday to formally elect the next President (spoiler alert: it's Joe Biden). In its reporting, the New York Times published a map representing each state as a block of squares, with 1 square per elector. Here are a few examples:
I happened to notice that four states on this map were shaped like Tetris pieces. Two of those were New Hampshire and Rhode Island. Can you identify the other two, shown below?

Bonus Question Which state was made up of 4 squares, but was NOT shaped like a Tetris piece?

   


     Note: Clicking "Submit" will send your response to Dr. Shapiro.

Yesterday's Puzzle + Solution

Can you guess these animals from their German names? Literal translations are provided. Tip: #1, 2, 4, 5, and 7 are mammals.
  1. Stinktier ("stink animal")
  2. Faultier ("lazy animal")
  3. Nacktschnecke ("naked snail")
  4. Schnabeltier ("beak animal")
  5. Waschbär ("washing bear"; this animal is common in North America, including in cities)
  6. Schildkröte ("shield toad")
  7. Fledermaus ("flutter mouse")
Bonus Question Flusspferd, "river horse", is not particularly guessable—until you realize that the English word for that animal also means "river horse" (in Greek). What animal is it?

Solution
  1. skunk 🦨
  2. sloth 🦥
  3. slug 🐌–🐚 (apparently there is no slug emoji)
  4. platypus 🦆+🦰
  5. raccoon 🦝
  6. tortoise/turtle 🐢
  7. bat 🏏–🦗 j/k I mean 🦇
The answer to the bonus question is hippopotamus. 🦛

Fun fact: Raccoons are not common outside North America, and are considered exotic enough to display in zoos. I have seen the raccoon in the Ménagerie du Jardin des Plantes (a zoo of small animals in Paris). It was identified as a raton laveur, French for "washing rat"—so while German and French do not agree on which "ordinary" animal the raccoon most closely resembles, they do agree that its most nameworthy trait is its habit of washing its food in running water. (Oddly dainty for an animal that has adapted itself to garbage raiding!)

I thought about including Maulwurf in yesterday's puzzle, but how many of you would have figured out that a "mouth thrower" is a mole? I personally know this because of the most German children's book ever (seriously, click that link, it will make your day). Wikipedia indicates that this book has been adapted for the stage. I... I have questions.

Congratulations to yesterday's solvers Inca, Maddy, Yana, Anna J., Charlie, Peter M., Jason, and Kate. (Also, Peter solved Thursday's puzzle but I inadvertently left him off the solver list.) 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 November 2020.