Word Ladder Puzzles and A Counting Problem (Post #3)

Word Ladder Puzzles

 In our last post to The Island Puzzler Blog we described the home of “The Puzzle Club”  on Coltrane Island.  In this post we are going to talk about some of the prominent members of our club.  First, and foremost, is our Junior President, Mike Miller.  The secret behind Mike’s problem solving ability is covered in my book, “The Clue Club,” which is currently being serialized in our magazine chapters.  While each member of the club is more, or less, an expert in some particular area of puzzledom, such as coin or match problems, mazes, cards, math and word stumpers, Mike (who was given the nickname, “Super Solver”, by his robot friend  PAL) is the acknowledged expert at solving any and all classes of conundrum confusions.  In  “The Clue Club”, we also met PAL, the creation of Professor Kane, who, after designing PAL, couldn’t make him work.  It took Mike Miller, and his newly acquired powers, to assemble the lovable little robot.  Another invention of Professor Kane’s is his portable Time Machine.  The Coltrane Puzzle Club uses this machine to travel back into the past to meet, and study with, the great puzzlers of yesteryear.  When fastened down to the floor of the Bucket-of-Bolts, (Roderick Sneakwell’s name for Mike’s car),  all the driver has to do is to get the car up to 55 miles an hour, flip the Time-Jump switch, and off they go to the location indicated on the machine’s settings.  The aforementioned Roderick Sneakwell is an aggressive member of our club who thinks that he’s the one who should be the Junior President, not Mike.  Although an apt puzzler, Sneakwell tends to be something of a wise guy.  He also has a running feud with the club librarian, Mr. Fogg, (better known as O.M. short for Oldest Member.)  Another prominent member is Biff  Bennington, Mike’s best friend.  Biff’s a so-so puzzler who’s always in there trying.  His mother, Ma Bennington, runs the “New-Old Bennington House,” the towns best Bed and Breakfast establishment.  More about the folks of Coltrane in our next, issue.

Puzzle Club Members

 

A Counting Problem

Mr. Fogg's Answer Desk

Once again we have a couple of problems from Chapter One of  “The New Island Puzzler.”  The answers to The Ladder Problems are as follows: (1)  HAWK, HARK, HARE, HAVE, HOVE, DOVE.  (2)  HAND, HIND, HINT, MINT, MIST, FIST.  (3)  PORK, CORK, COOK, COOP, CHOP.  (4)  BEER, BEET, BENT, WENT, WANT, WANE, WINE.   As for Calvin’s Count The Rectangles Puzzle, the total number  is 51.

Riddles and A Bowling Game! (Post #2)

Riddles in The Library

 In my last post I welcomed you to our new Puzzle Club blog.  Today I’m going to talk about the hometown of the Puzzle club.  When I wrote the book “The Clue Club,” with Dwight Dobbins, I left it up to him to name the town.  I guess he liked the music of John Coltrane because that’s the name he came up with.  Coltrane is very much like the towns that I lived in for most of my life, namely Glen Ridge and Maplewood, New Jersey.  It also contains aspects of Hilton Head Island, in South Carolina, a place of many fond memories for our family.  The town in our story is situated south of Virginia, along the east coast of the United States.  The town goes back at least to the Revolutionary War and the residents live mostly in old Victorian style homes.  The stores, situated downtown, are grouped around a park which features a bandstand along with a statue of Abner Bennington Coltrane, the founder of the ABC Puzzle and Game company, the town’s major employer.  Access to the island is over a short bridge.

Several times a year the island plays host to both national and international puzzle conventions.  These activities have gone on for over a hundred years.  Much of Coltrane is a living memorial to the past.  The streets are shaded with magnificent old oaks, elms, maples and chestnut trees.  It is one of the few towns left in the country where the streets are still illuminated with gas lamposts.  Several of their roads are also paved with cobblestones.  There are miles of palm shaded beaches and an old time amusement park, reminiscent of the New Jersey shore circa the 1930’s.

High above the town, on a prominent cliff, stands the home of the Puzzle Club.  This was formerly the residence of Abner Bennington Coltrane.  Several years ago, when the Puzzle Club was formed, the Coltrane Foundation presented this beautiful building to the organization for use as their headquarters.  It is here that many of our puzzling adventures take place.  The club’s magnificent library has been the scene of many a lively session of brain battles among our heroes.

Once a year, on Founders Day, the town celebrates the establishment of the ABC Puzzle and Game Company, and, for one day, turns the clock back to 1896, the year the company opened for business.  Everyone must dress up for the occasion.  No cars with a vintage later than 1920  are allowed on the streets.  The only other forms of transportation permitted are the electric trolley cars and horse drawn carriages.

Living in Coltrane is, in many ways, like living in a theme park.  When you’re there the cares of the rest of the world seem to disappear.  Life is indeed all fun and games.  In our next post I’ll be introducing you to some of the residents that make Coltrane such an enjoyable place to visit.

A New Bowling Game

Mr. Fogg's Answer Desk.

The Riddles, along with the Bowling game presented above, are both items from Chapter One of The New Island Puzzler (please checkout the Coltrane Bookstore).  The answers to the riddles are: (1) Why is a wig like a lie? Because it’s a false hood. (2) Why is an empty purse always the same?  Because there is never any change in it.  (3) What is the highest public building in Hilton Head?  The library because it has the most stories.  (4) When does a chair hate you?  When it can’t bear you.  (5) What Question can never be answered by “yes”?  “Are you asleep?”  (6) Why is Ireland the Wealthiest country in the world? Because it’s capital is always Dublin.  (7) What is bought by the yard yet worn by the foot?  Carpet.  (8) On which side of the church does a cypress tree grow?  On the outside.  (9) Who was the most popular actor in the Bible?  Samson.  He brought the house down.  (10) What does no man want yet no man wants to lose?  A bald head.

Introduction to The New Island Puzzler (Post #1)

Charles Barry Townsend

My name is Charles Barry Townsend and I am a writer of books dealing with puzzles, games and magic.  Over the past thirty-seven years I’ve had some twenty-five books published on these subjects.  Along the way I managed to create three puzzle magazines, and, for six years, I wrote a Sunday cartoon/puzzle feature for King Features Inc.  At various times I’ve written and illustrated puzzle columns for several national magazines.  For three years I had a column in an early computer magazine, Creative Computing, when the language of choice was BASIC.  For ten years I created a Financial Crossword Puzzle for the Dreyfus Mutual Fund’s, “Letter From The Lion.” 

Ten years ago I started a project that I call “The New Island Puzzler.”  It is a continuation of a magazine that I created some twenty years ago when I lived on Hilton Head Island in South Carolina.  “The New Island Puzzler” is a book containing forty chapters. Each chapter is presented in the form of a quarterly magazine.  To date I’ve completed thirty-six chapters with a total of over sixteen hundred pages.  This book contains thousands of items, all illustrated with great line drawings and comic strip characters.  The contents of my new book can be divided into three parts.  Part one includes all of the books that I have written in the past.  Part two features items that never found their way into print, material from presentations that were never accepted, and half-finished ideas that were filed away and forgotten.  Part three presents new puzzles, games and magic items that are created for each new chapter.  With “The New Island Puzzler” I am also proceeding with an idea that I first entertained back in 1979 when I wrote a book called “The Clue Club.”  In that book I presented my problems within the setting of a small town where most of the inhabitants worked for The ABC Puzzle Company.  This business was started by the town’s founder, Abner Bennington Coltrane.  Everyone in the town is interested in problem solving.  The focus of this interest resides in the Puzzle Club which is run by a great group of eager teenagers who are lead by their president, Mike Miller.  Old and young alike (including our readers) are welcomed as members to this club.  The original book, “The Clue Club,” is being reprinted in “The New Island Puzzler.” 

Over the years I’ve been fortunate in having achieved some success in the field of puzzle writing.  Many of my books have been translated into Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, and even Malaysian.  English language editions are sold in many countries, including India, where they have been well received.  With this in mind I approach the creation of “The New Island Puzzler” with the determination to make it the best of all of my puzzling endeavors.  I welcome all of you to my new Blog.  I look forward to hearing from you concerning it’s content, and any ideas you might have for making it a winning enterprise.

Your editor, Charles Barry Townsend

 

Mr. Fogg's Checkers Problem

An AlphaMath Problem

“Those are a couple of nifty puzzles from Chapter One of our new book.  First, the winning moves I used to defeat the Senator are: 23 to 18, 14 to 23, 5 to 9, 13 to 6, and 1 to 17.  Now, over to Harriet’s Diner Puzzle.  Harriet is asking someone in the kitchen to come out and “fill up the pepper and salt shakers.”  The answer to the AlphaMath problem is: 7066 + 051 + 934 = 8051.”