A New Find

From Lee Sallows, a remarkable new self-inventorying list:

ONE A, ONE B, ONE C, ONE D, TWENTYEIGHT E, SEVEN F, FIVE G, FIVE H, EIGHT I, ONE J, ONE K, ONE L, ONE M, EIGHTEEN N, EIGHTEEN O, ONE P, ONE Q, FOUR R, TWO S, TEN T, FOUR U, FIVE V, FOUR W, ONE X, TWO Y, ONE Z

“I may be wrong, but I believe it to be the most concise self-descriptive (or ‘self-enumerating’) English pangram yet discovered, with as many as 12 of its 26 letters occurring just once.”

(Thanks, Lee!)

12/18/2019 UPDATE: We’ve learned that the same self-descriptive pangram had already been found in 1998 by Gilles Esposito-Farese, in collaboration with Éric Angelini and Nicolas Graner.

December 17, 2019March 13, 2020 | Language

Sums and Sums

lee sallows self-descriptive magic square

Something new from Lee Sallows: a self-descriptive magic square. Each row, column, and long diagonal adds up to 20, and every letter used is correctly counted.

“You may notice that the square includes a fox. But don’t be foxed by the fox. Just enjoy him. For this is not merely any old fox. No, it is our old friend the quick brown fox that jumped over that lazy dog!”

(Thanks, Lee!)

November 15, 2019 | Language · Science & Math

The Two Squares Puzzle

Lee Sallows just sent me this — the puzzle is difficult, but the solution is stunning:

sallows two squares puzzle

	Select Click for Answer
Lee writes, “That such a thing could exist tends to defy belief.” I’ve walked through it and the two squares do indeed inventory one another’s contents. Well done!

September 28, 2019 | Puzzles

The Egyptian Lo Shu

Another contribution from Lee Sallows:

“The smallest, oldest and most famous magic square of all is the specimen of Chinese origin known as the Lo shu. In this, the numbers from 1 to 9 are so placed that their sum taken in any row, column or diagonal is 15. This is another way of saying that the sum of any three of them lying in a straight line is 15. Less well known is the ‘Egyptian’ Lo shu (seen below) in which the same numbers are rearranged in a triangular formation that exhibits the same property.”

(From his book Geometric Magic Squares, 2013.) (Thanks, Lee.)

sallows egyptian lo shu

June 11, 2019June 10, 2019 | Science & Math

Counter Play 2

sallows counter puzzle 1

Lee Sallows sent this clever puzzle, a followup to one we presented in 2010:

In the square shown above, any 3 counters in a straight line sum to 15.

Puzzle: Reposition the counters (again, one to each cell) to produce a new square again showing eight collinear triplets summing to 15, but with 1 now placed in a corner square.

	Select Click for Answer
(Thanks, Lee!)

June 6, 2019June 6, 2019 | Puzzles

“Algebraic Theory of French Letters”

From Lee Sallows:

sallows french letters

(Thanks, Lee!)

February 16, 2019 | Language · Science & Math

Podcast Episode 219: The Greenbrier Ghost

In 1897, shortly after Zona Shue was found dead in her West Virginia home, her mother went to the county prosecutor with a bizarre story. She said that her daughter had been murdered — and that her ghost had revealed the killer’s identity. In this week’s episode of the Futility Closet podcast we’ll tell the story of the Greenbrier Ghost, one of the strangest courtroom dramas of the 19th century.

We’ll also consider whether cats are controlling us and puzzle over a delightful oblivion.

See full show notes …

October 1, 2018October 8, 2018 | Crime · Death · History · Oddities · Podcast