The Name Game

[Joseph Bolas]

Here is another puzzle taken from a PerplexCity card:

It had been a long day, so I decided to play a game with some of my Science students, assigning each of their names a value based on a secret rule. I had just told Catherine that her name had two different values, 223 and... when Sente stopped by to ask for my help with a phase adjustment on the Earth-Perplex City link.

As I left, I called back "You'll have to figure out what Catherine's other value out was by yourselves"

FRANKLIN = 133
BARBARA = 167
LAUREN = 231
LAURA = 237
TIMOTHY = 193
GEOFFREY = 172

[Jason Larsen]

What would be my name's value?

[Kirk Bevins]

What would be my name's value?

Don't tell him. He needs to work it out from the values given. Trying to cheat are we, Jason?

[Joseph Bolas]

What would be my name's value?

Don't tell him. He needs to work it out from the values given. Trying to cheat are we, Jason?

Don't worry Kirk, I will not be working out names that aren't mentioned above

Also Kirk, I don't think that Jason posted this question, with the intention of actually solving this puzzle.

[Jason Larsen]

You're right, Joseph!

I just wanted to show my curiosity!

[Joseph Bolas]

You're right, Joseph!

I just wanted to show my curiosity!

If you can wait until the puzzle is solved, then by all means, I can reveal what your number would be. In the meantime though, do try to solve it and you may get it right.

[Jason Larsen]

Absolutely, Joseph!

[Dinos Sfyris]

241. I wont reveal my method for anyone still trying to work it out but I was probably the most likely person to get it! I dont think Jason can be a number, nor can anyone with a J in their name for that matter.

Cheers for this puzzle Joseph. I enjoyed it

[Kirk Bevins]

241. I wont reveal my method for anyone still trying to work it out but I was probably the most likely person to get it! I dont think Jason can be a number, nor can anyone with a J in their name for that matter.

Cheers for this puzzle Joseph. I enjoyed it

Hmm - a J - so I thought it could be something to do with enclosed loops, such as in B or R, or even lines of symmetry or even straight edges. I guess I'm not even close though.

[Joseph Bolas]

241. I wont reveal my method for anyone still trying to work it out but I was probably the most likely person to get it! I dont think Jason can be a number, nor can anyone with a J in their name for that matter.

Cheers for this puzzle Joseph. I enjoyed it

Well done Dinos, 241 is correct

it's a nice little puzzle, isn't it

Hmm - a J - so I thought it could be something to do with enclosed loops, such as in B or R, or even lines of symmetry or even straight edges. I guess I'm not even close though.

Sorry Kirk you are not on the right lines

[Dinos Sfyris]

There is a clue in how Joseph has dressed up the puzzle at the beginning.

Kirk you would be 115 btw.

[Charlie Reams]

I don't have a number But if I did it would probably be more than 28.

[Joseph Bolas]

There is a clue in how Joseph has dressed up the puzzle at the beginning.

Kirk you would be 115 btw.

Just to add to this, BEVINS also works for this puzzle and could be either 92 or 103

[Gary Male]

Ah, I get it now! I'll go and have a sulk because I'm not allowed a number.

[Kirk Bevins]

There is a clue in how Joseph has dressed up the puzzle at the beginning.

Kirk you would be 115 btw.

Just to add to this, BEVINS also works for this puzzle and could be either 92 or 103

This is doing my head it - how can it have two values?

[Joseph Bolas]

BEVINS also works for this puzzle and can be either 92 or 103

This is doing my head it - how can it have two values?

The same reason that Catherine has 2 numbers

There is a clue in how Joseph has dressed up the puzzle at the beginning.

This should help you solve the puzzle

[Kirk Bevins]

Science - is it like their chemical numbers added together and why should BEVINS have two values? Well you could take B for Boron or Be for beryllium. Am I close?

[Charlie Reams]

Science - is it like their chemical numbers added together and why should BEVINS have two values? Well you could take B for Boron or Be for beryllium. Am I close?

That's pretty much it, yes. You can split some names up in various ways, and some (like mine) don't work at all.

[Michael Wallace]

It's a nice puzzle, but Dinos sucks:

I wont reveal my method for anyone still trying to work it out but I was probably the most likely person to get it!

Completely gave it away

edit: actually that's not entirely fair (don't read replies to a puzzle thread if you don't want spoilers) but it was still quite lol to say "I'm not going to say how I did but here's a massive clue"

[Joseph Bolas]

Science - is it like their chemical numbers added together and why should BEVINS have two values? Well you could take B for Boron or Be for beryllium. Am I close?

Well done Kirk . It involves splitting up the names into groups of 1 or 2 letters, matching the chemical element symbols and then adding the numbers together .

You can split up BEVINS like so:

BE - Beryllium = 4
V - Vanadium = 23
IN - Indium = 49
S - Sulphur = 16

Total = 92

BE - Beryllium = 4
V - Vanadium = 23
I - Iodine = 53
N - Nitrogen = 7
S - Sulphur = 16

Total = 103

[Howard Somerset]

Very neat. I was nowhere near.

[Kevin Thurlow]

Nice one! On a similar subject, a magazine which was either "Education in Chemistry" or "Journal of Chemical Education" had an interesting game where you made as many words as possible (of four letters or more) from the symbols of the elements. The person who wrote the item said he'd got up to about 1450 different words.....

I spent a while doing it then got bored, however I did manage a 16-letter word and a 100 or so shorter ones. I will return to it..... I did it in a table in "word" so I don't get too confused about which ones I've got.

There are now 111 elements that have been named and if you search for "webelements" on Google you will find an up to date periodic table, unless of course you are lazy fluorine, uranium, carbon, potassium, erbium, sulfur!

Kevin

[Kirk Bevins]

, unless of course you are lazy fluorine, uranium, carbon, potassium, erbium, sulfur!

Kevin

What??? American spellings?!? Grr...

[Charlie Reams]

What??? American spellings?!? Grr...

Sulfur is the technical spelling too, and Kevin is nothing if not technical. See also FOETUS.

[Jon O'Neill]

He's also technically a foetus?