Golf Puzzle – Answer:
HEMLOCK – By Eric LeVine
|
Hole |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
11 |
12 |
13 |
14 |
15 |
16 |
17 |
18 |
|
Par |
4 |
4 |
3 |
4 |
4 |
3 |
5 |
4 |
5 |
4 |
5 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
3 |
4 |
3 |
4 |
|
Kitty |
6 |
6 |
5 |
5 |
6 |
4 |
7 |
6 |
5 |
4 |
6 |
5 |
6 |
6 |
3 |
4 |
3 |
6 |
|
John |
4 |
6 |
4 |
4 |
5 |
3 |
4 |
3 |
5 |
4 |
5 |
5 |
5 |
6 |
4 |
6 |
4 |
4 |
|
Tiger |
6 |
4 |
3 |
4 |
3 |
1 |
3 |
4 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
4 |
4 |
4 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
The first step is to look at the data as absolute values relative to par. When doing so, a highly suggestive pattern emerges—all of the numbers are 0, 1 or 2. This unveils the fact that the data is actually represented as base 3.
|
Hole |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
11 |
12 |
13 |
14 |
15 |
16 |
17 |
18 |
|
3^0 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
|
3^1 |
0 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
|
3^2 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
The final step is to convert the base 3 values to base 10 and then map into alphabetic ordinals.
|
Hole |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
11 |
12 |
13 |
14 |
15 |
16 |
17 |
18 |
|
Base 3 |
202 |
022 |
012 |
001 |
112 |
201 |
212 |
012 |
200 |
100 |
201 |
022 |
012 |
111 |
110 |
120 |
010 |
102 |
|
Base 10 |
20 |
8 |
5 |
1 |
14 |
19 |
23 |
5 |
18 |
9 |
19 |
8 |
5 |
13 |
12 |
15 |
3 |
11 |
|
Alphabetic |
T |
H |
E |
A |
N |
S |
W |
E |
R |
I |
S |
H |
E |
M |
L |
O |
C |
K |
This yields the string “THE ANSWER IS HEMLOCK” and thus the final solution is HEMLOCK.