puzzles

PUZZLES

Here is a cryptogram puzzle. In it, each letter is substituted by another letter of the alphabet. If "THE TALL MAN" was the message and X stood for T, Q stood for H, E for L, C for E, B for M, T for A, and D for N, the encoded message would appear as "XQC XTEE BTD." HINT: Try to solve one-, two-, and three-letter words first. Also, look for the most frequently appearing letters, they are probably encoding vowels or very commonly used constanants like T,N,or R.

Q DVGR KGR WG UGJLT BPENWGXPIF NHCCJTU.

Q IF WKT BPENWGXPIF FIUWTP. ZPQVX GV WKT

VTMW GVT.

Uh oh. It's a message in blood. Instead of merely substituting one letter with another, BLOOD TYPES (O-,O+,A-,A+,B-,B+,AB-,AB+) replace the letters instead! Each blood type can substitute for at least three different letters.

O- is A,B,or C
O+ is D,E,or F
A- is G,H,or I
A+ is J,K,or L
B- is M,N,or O
B+ is P,Q,R,or S
AB- is T,U,or V
AB+ is W,X,Y,or Z

The table to the right tells you which letters go with which blood type. When you decipher the message, all you have to do is pick the right letter out of the three or four possible choices. It's tougher than it looks, though!

B+B-B-B- AB-B-AB- AB+A-A+A+ O+B-O-O-B+A+

B-B- O- A+B-AB-B+B-O+AB+. O-B+O+ AB+B-AB-

B+O+O-O+AB+ AB-B- O-O-O-B-O+B-B-

AB+B-AB-B+ A+A-AB-A-B-A- O+A+O+B+A-

O-B-O+ AB-B+O-AB-O+A+ A-B-AB-B-

O-B+O-AB-O+, B-O+AB+ AB+B-B+A+O+B+?

Here's another message in blood. This one is harder because this time I did NOT tell you which letters go with the corresponding blood type. This time you have to figure that out! Can you decipher the message and find out who sent it?

Here are some clues, each blood represents THREE letters of the alphabet. Neither Q nor Z is used. Both O+ and O- represent at least one vowel.

O+ A+O-AB+O- B-O+A-A+ B-O-B+O+A-B- O+O+ O-A+O-

AB+O+A-A-O-O+O+ B+O-A-A+O+A-O-A-B+. O+B-

B-O+A- AB+O-O+O- O-A+O-B+, B+O+B+O-

O-O+O+O+B+A+O-.

--AB-O-AB+O-A-O+O-A+ B+O+A+O+O+O+B+A+O+A-O-

LOGIC PUZZLE

The police are trying to make sense out of Ilene's story at the shopping mall. Ilene and nine others (one was Jane) were locked up inside the mall for three hours, and one of the nine other people is a deranged mass murderer! Only three people survived the ordeal, including the killer. Bodies were found at 9 p.m.,9:30 p.m.,10:00 p.m.,10:45 p.m.,11:00 p.m.,11:15 p.m. and 11:30 p.m.. Using the information below, can you deduce the fate of each person and the time they were found dead (when applicable)?

1. Alan found a drowned woman (who was not Denise) in the mall fountain sometime after 10:00 p.m.

2. The one who was impaled was found sometime before the hanging victim.

3. A man chopped into pieces was found in the tool shop sometime before 11:00 p.m.. Another man was found bludgeoned to death in the sporting goods store at 9:30 p.m..

4. The electrocution victim was found by Eric 30 minutes after another victim, who was a woman (she was not Denise). Neither of these two victims was found last.

5. The one who was gutted in the restaurant kitchen was found sometime after 11:00 p.m..

6. Harold was murdered sometime after 10:00 p.m., but he was not the one who was hung in the fabric store.

7. The first victim was the security guard. He was not impaled, and his name is not George.

8. Denise found a body at 10:00 p.m.. The body was not Claire or Fred.

9. The one who found Claire dead was later found gutted in the restaurant, and Bob found this person.

10. Between the first letters of the names of the 11:00 victim and the killer, one immediately follows the other in the alphabet.