https://pages.hachette.co.

uk/stephen-hawking/
every wednesday

puzzle 1: is there a god?

hermes S
aphrodite R
earth T
ares R
zeus S S
chronos C
ouranos/uranus a/n
poseidon s

cssssTrra/n

mercury R
venus U
earth T
mars A
jupiter I I
saturn S
uranus N (Caelus)
neptune P

"SPIRITUAL"

puzzle 2: how did it all begin?

How did IT ALL begin, and NOT begin? Will it, in EFFECT, happen more than once? And
can you tell me how IT ALL ends? Or is that an indefinite article. All I know is it
surrounds THAT, and it makes ME subjective. Are you surprised? Maybe this is the
sound you make when you start KNOWING THINGS.

"INFLATION"

puzzle 3: is there other intelligent life in the universe?

1) yes
2) we are alive
3) nineteen for example
4) no
5) quick
6) with a bang
7) of course
8) no idea
9) rendezvous with rama
10) extraterrestrial
11) we come in peace
12) you must be joking

answer is "selfaware"

puzzle 4: can we predict the future?

Ae Ba Bh Cf
Al Fe Y
31 u 28 ru 31 r 30
Do Do Re Do Fa
 s t e p h e
d n e e e e h e s

Ae Ba Bh Cf De (15 21 28 36 45 triangular numbers)

Al Fe Y Te -- Tellurium is the next element, #52
janUary febRUary maRch apRil
Do Do Re Do Fa Mi is "happy birthday to you"
stephen -- "n" is the next letter in Hawking's first name
???

dete_min_
"determine" is the best answer

-- 56 107 98
13 26 39
ga u ni ru ga r zn
1 1 2 1 4
19 20 5 16 8 5
4 14 5 5 5 5 8 5 19

4 - 3 - 7 - 5 - 6 - 9

Al = aluminum, # 13
Fe = iron, # 26
Y = yttrium, # 39
Te = tellurium, # 52
Tb = terbium, # 65
Cf = californium, # 98
Bh = bohrium, # 107
Ba = barium, # 56
Ga = gallium, # 31
Ni = nickel, # 28
Zn = zinc, # 30

puzzle 5: what is inside a black hole?

1000-1010-0101 -f-> 1100-0110-0101 -i-> 1011-1000-1100 -a-> 0101-1100-0110 -e->

1001-0111-0001 -r-> 1101-0001-1001 -k-> 0001-0011-1000 -o-> 1000-0001-0011 -z->
1100-1011-1011 -b-> 1010-1011-1011 -v-> 1110-0011-0111 -c-> 0011-0011-0110 -j->
0111-1111-0110 -t-> 0110-0011-1110 -m-> 0101-1000-0001 -u-> 0000-1010-1100 -q->
0000-0111-1101 -x-> 0000-0000-1011 -g-> 1001-1000-1010 -y-> 1000-1010-0111

a = shift right by 1,e = shift right by 2,i = shift right by 3,o = shift right by
4,u = shift right by 5

f = _+__,-+__,____
r = _+__,_--_,+___ -- adds to digits 2,6, and 8
k = --__,__+_,___-
z = _+__,+_+_,+___
b = _-+_,____,____
v = _+__,-___,-+__ -- addition of digits 2,5,6,7,8
c = --_+,____,___- -- addition of digits 12 and 3
j = _+__,++__,____
t = ___-,--__,+___ -- addition of digits 4,7,8
m = __-+,+_--,---+
q = ____,-+_+,___+
x = ____,_---,_-+_
g = +__+,+___,___-
y = ___-,__+_,-+_+
only 19 letters

1000-1010-0111 -?-> 0110-1010-0110 -u-> 0011-0011-0101 -?-> 0111-0110-1101 -?->

0000-0110-0011 -a-> 1000-0011-0001 -?-> 1001-0001-1001 -u-> 1100-1100-1000 -?->
1010-1011-1000 -e-> 0010-1010-1110

m1 = -++_,____,___- --- likely a "c" under normal addition of digits 12 and 3

m3 = _+__,_+_-,+___ --- likely a "r", adding digits 2,6, and 8
m4 = _---,____,--+_ --- likely a "v", adding digits 2,5,6,7,8
m6 = ___+,__-_,+___ --- likely a "t", adding digits 4,7,8
m8 = _-+_,_-++,____ --- likely a "r", adding digits 2,6, and 8

_u__a_u_e

"curvature"

puzzle 6: is time travel possible?

2018 - 2017 - 2024 - 2054 - 2004 - 2024 - 2022 - 2082 - 1982 - 2018

3-4-0-1-8-6-5 = 2018
3-4-0-2-#-7 = 2017 = c - 2,3,4,7,0,# spell "c"
4-7-#-*-2-8-6-9 = 2024 = a - 2,4,6,7,8,9,*,# spell "a"
4-7-8-3-1-9-6 = 2054 = u - 1,3,4,6,7,8,9 spell "u"
3-1-2-4-*-9-0-#-5 = 2004 = s - 1,2,3,4,5,9,0,#,* make an "s" shape
4-7-#-*-2-8-6-9 = 2024 = a
4-7-#-*-0-1 = 2022 = l - 1,3,7,*,0,# make an "L"
3-1-2-8-*-#-5-0 = 2082 = i - 1,2,3,5,8,0,*,# make an "I"
4-0-5-8-6 = 1982 = t - 4,5,6,8,0 spell "t"
3-4-0-1-8-6-5 = 2018 = y - 1,3,4,6,5,8,0 make a "y"

"causality"

puzzle 7: will we survive on earth?

fractions valid for 8 digits, and don't round
labels = ["answer","MAGNESIUM","CANE SUGAR","WATER","SEEDS","ROCKET FUEL"]
vals = [(77329518556564,101559956668415), (answer) (0.4)
(3309700194202,5345260877285), (magnesium) (0.3076923077)
(6937584300135,20311991333683), (cane sugar) (0.2857142 or 0.35714285)
(7750341,8638025), (water) (.2857142)
(47701072,60466175), (seeds) (0.375)
(2810810269416621,3656158440062975) (rocket fuel) (0.3125 or 0.375)]
[a/b for a,b in vals] =
[0.7614174039975085, - answer (irreducible fraction), 15 digit number (denominator)
0.6191840342660851, - magnesium (irreducible fraction), 13 digit number
0.3415511648348595, - cane sugar (irreducible fraction), 14 digit number
0.8972353055241216, - water (irreducible fraction, period of 620), 7 digit number
0.7888885314806171, - seeds (from an irreducible fraction, has a period of 1860), 8
digit number
0.768787872707236 - rocket fuel (irreducible fraction, period of 210180), 16
digit number]

78 = s, 88 = e, 88 = e, 53 = d, 14 = s
76 = r, 87 = o, 87 = c, 87 = k

the "answer" 2nd coordinate is exactly 5 * the 2nd coordinate of "cane sugar", 19 *
the 2nd coordinate of "magnesium", 36 * less than the 2nd coordinate of "rocket
fuel"
the second coordinate of "seeds" is 60,466,177 * less than that for "rocket fuel".
that is, rocket_fuel_2 = 60466175*60466177
the second coordinate of "water" is 7 * less than that for seeds, so 8638025 * 7 =
60466175
water_2 * 7 = seeds_2
cane_sugar_2 * 5 = answer_2
magnesium_2 * 19 = answer_2
answer_2 * 36 = rocket_fuel_2
water_2 * 7 * 60466177 = rocket_fuel_2
answer_2 = water_2 * 7 * 60466177 / 36
magnesium_2 * 19*36 = rocket_fuel_2
cane_sugar_2 * 5 * 36 = rocket_fuel_2

answer is in base 36

"resources"

puzzle 8: should we colonise space?

planets = "glutamine lucretius increment tentative aluminous scentless levitated

inherited mousetail evocation preclosed corpuscle snowflake roastable cudgeller
pipsqueak cosmology penthouse emergence unwelcome meteoroid ingenuity combatant
nonflawed mammalian shrinking excalibur moderator workbench ramanujan woodscrew
versatile dissemble glaciated cheeriest navigated crossbeam squeakier evidently
pterosaur ridiculed exosphere inclining shunnable sanitizer isochoric waterless
afterglow tenuously annoyance earthlier isooctane paramedic crackdown hemotoxic
arbitrate departure flashback defensive northeast nontruant afternoon boathouse
globulous boundless tillerman spiralled bigheaded footloose enclosure capricorn
barricade straddler marvelous perturber untelling satirical socialize margarita
paltriest conscious ruinously mysticism unbashful overbrace ironsmith amazingly
concourse shamanism eruptible housecarl shadeless improving platitude topologic
picaninny".split()

cond1 = {planet for planet in planets if len(set(planet)) >= 8}

cond3 = {planet for planet in planets if all(x != y for x,y in

zip(planet,planet[1:]))}

def evalcond4(p):
ret = 1
for i,letter in enumerate(p):
if letter in "aeiou":
ret *= i+1
else:
ret *= 2
ret = 3/2*ret**(1/3)
return 13.6 <= ret <= 24.8

cond4 = {planet for planet in planets if evalcond4(planet)}

cond5 = {planet for planet in planets if planet[0] not in "aeiou" and planet[-1]
not in "aeiou"}

1 & 3 & 4 & 5 = 'flashback','crackdown','workbench'

so combine any 3 and look for a single non-compound word

1 & 3 & 4 contain evidently and improving

1 & 3 & 5 contain navigated and paltriest
3 & 4 & 5 contain capricorn and combatant
1 & 4 & 5 contain ['boundless', 'flashback', 'crackdown', 'workbench'], which all
sound like compound words, except boundless is not truly compound.
answer: "boundless"

puzzle 9: will artificial intelligence outsmart us?

there are only 11 pieces without something coming out of every side: the "eve"
piece with the left and top right circuitless, the "bee" piece with the top and
right sides of the upper "e" circuitless, the "oil" piece with the lower right and
left of the "o" circuitless, the sides of the "n" on "ten", the sides of the "o" on
"toes", the top of the "h" and left of the "o" on "horse", and then the lower and
right sides of the stand-alone "d"s, the top and bottom of the "g" and "v", and the
sides of the "w". this totals 5 tops that are blank, 4 bottoms that are blank, 7
right sides that are blank, and 6 left sides that are blank, plus a bottom and left
blank on the board.

the "oil" and the "w" or the "oil" and "ten" are the only ways to match "oil"

the "horse" can't really have anything above it, since the only options are the
"d", "v", or "g" which are all problematic. it definitely goes in the top row and
matches against the board. the "ten" can't match against the "horse" to the left,
and neither can the "bee" or the "oil". that leaves either "toes" or "d" or "w".
either way a "d" will be needed to turn the blank spaces downward. you can spell
"believe" with several pieces, and put "toes" or "ten" against the right edge.

way to characterize the moves, where each piece stitched onto another overlaps 1
down 2 and left 1 or right 1 and up 2
left 2 or right 2
left 1 and down 1 or up 1 and right 1
up 2 or down 2
up 2 or down 2
down 1 and right 1 or left 1 and up 1
left 2 or right 2
right 2 and down 1 or left 2 and up 1
right 3 and up 1 or down 1 and left 3
up 1 and right 1 or left 1 and down 1
right 2 or left 2

down: 2+2+2+1+1 = 8-4 for overlap = 4

left: 1+2+1 = 4-2 for overlap = 2
right: 1+2+2+3+1+2 = 11-5 for overlap = 6
up: 1+1 = 2-1 for overlap = 1

first stage words and letters:

t h t e o g
o ors e be li w
e e n v
s d d eve
=
bddeeeeeeeghilnooorssttvvw

other words in the puzzle with every side having wires: pen, bay, pod, up, mare,
hop
yo
u
=
aabdeehmnoooppppruuyy

other letters:
a,l,i,e,b,',',',a,i,t,o,l,l,e,o,i,s,n,n,h,y,l
=
aabeehiiillllnnoosty'''

26 letters in the first part of the puzzle, 21 letters in the long words leftovers,
and 23 single letters = 70.

total letter frequency:

a = 4/67 = 5.97% < 8.2% avg
e = 11/67 = 16.4% > 12.7% avg
i = 4/67 = 5.97% < 7.0% avg
o = 8/67 = 11.9% > 7.5% avg
u = 2/67 = 3.0% > 2.8% avg
l = 5/67
m = 1/67
n = 4/67
s = 3/67
t = 3/67 = 4.5% < 9.1% avg
indicates actual words being formed

outer rim of board contains 91ax8 eki4 ni60trh 0dl23evbyg s7p5 um

=
123456789abdeeghiiklmnooprstuvxy -- indicates gibberish

xlok-rsun

xlokursen

I-HSPR--N

inspiring

words on the original board:

horse, alive, ten, you, oil, mare, sly, bold, eve, den, bee, up, ai, go, hop, pen,
hilt, pod, toes, bay
with a leftover 'w' and 'n'

"horsedeli" is possible
"competent" or "discovery" not probable since "c" is missing

from Noah: the outer board numbers 1-9 probably spell the answer

words that can be formed from the outer board:

anxieties
believing
blasphemy
boneheads
boogeyman
dangerous
deserving
desirable
deviation
dystopian
emotional
endurable
evidently
evolution
exhibited
explosive
hyperbole
improving
indurable
labyrinth
laughsome
mastering
mishandle
mitigable
monitored
nervously
nightmare
observing
obtrusive
ominously
onslaught
originals
outreason
overtaken
overthink
regulated
reimagine
resilient
semideity
simulated

I would guess:
regulated

puzzle 10: how do we shape the future

spiritual
inflation
selfaware
determine
curvature
causality
resources
boundless
--------- (regulated?)

sipsnidefrcellicutfatrareatubeuvrwia-ossamaol-uoatirn-nulune-drire-lcte-eey-ss-s-

81 entries

look at it in a new way:

8*7+6*2 = 68 entries

purple:
s ir
i la
e a
et m

yellow:
 t
i

d r
t
u i
e
b d s

gray:

nf
s f w

cu v u
y
u
u
-

green:

sa t
rc s
le
-

dark blue:
ua
on
r
ne

red:
i l
t
l a
e
e

s
n s
- -

think about what it means:

24 entries

obtain an answer:

"carefully" perhaps?
"empowered" perhaps?
"education" perhaps? **
"globalism" perhaps?

spiritual t a is there a god

inflation a o how did it all begin
selfaware e e is there other intelligent life in the universe
determine d i can we predict the future
curvature u u what is inside a black hole
causality c t is time travel possible
resources o c will we survive on earth
boundless n n should we colonise space
--------- i d will artificial intelligence outsmart us
(regulated)
(education) how do we shape the future

ailprstu
afilnot
aeflrsw
deimnrt
acertuv
acilstuy
ceorsu
bedlosu