h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

A spy knows that one of the ten people in a club is his contact, but the other nine will report him to counter-espionage agents. The only clue he has been given as to which person is his contact is a compass rose that looks like this:

~~~~~~N~~~~~~
~~~~~~|~~~~~~
E-----|-----W
~~~~~~|~~~~~~
~~~~~~S~~~~~~

The people are a historian, an explorer, a geographer, an astronomer, a physisist, a chemist, a oceanographer, a meteorologist, a science writer, and a dentist.

Who is his contact and why?

CLUE-this is in the Northern Hemisphere.

The oceanographer because he is slightly more likely to be looking up or working on magnetically reversed rocks and the tildes look like ripples anyway. The historian might put E at the top. The explorer and geographer would probably use conventional compasses. A modern meteorologist should be working from satellite images whereas sky quadrants used to be described on diagrams looking upwards. The astronomer and physicist should be using spherical co-ordinates (not sure about a "physisist" though). The chemist would be a stereo-isomer and therefore unable to make proper contact. The science writer would be made of anti-matter and thus be far too dangerous to contact. Everyone knows that the dentist is always one of the baddies and it's much safer to run at least 24.8 miles away.

I'm not clear-are you saying there is no answer, or giving an answer? If giving one, what is it?

Oh. I see. You said oceanographer. That isn't the answer I was looking for. However, it is slightly logical and you justified your answer well, so I'll give you an answer credit anyway.

The correct answer is the astronomer. Your error was in forgetting that the mesage was to be interpreted by te spy, who wouldn't be an expert in any of these fields. However, he might know that in popular astronomy books (and in night-sky simulator programs), sky maps are always printed with east and west reversed and with south on the bottom for the Northern hemisphere. THis way, if you look south (where the planets are anyway, the map matches the sky overhead and the dirrections on the map are correct--if you hold the map upside down. The spy should associate the bckwards comass rose with astronomy.

Your oceanographer explanation doesn make sence because it only works with magnetic north and south and there isn't a magnetic east and west.

Please post a puzzle.

James Bond seemed to be expert in just about everything. You should have said this was an ignorant spy.

Astronomical telescope images are often shown with S at the top rather than E/W reversed but I know what you mean about the planisphere type images. Now if you'd specified an astrologer, I would have known what level of "expertise" you intended.

I'll post a puzzle when I get my brain back. I wasn't being exactly sensible when I answered before (perhaps you could tell ). I'm on a second lot of aspirin now - unless I've misremembered and taken the second dose twice, in which case I'm heading for an overdose at the moment and might not get back to you.

"James Bond seemed to be expert in just about everything. You should have said this was an ignorant spy."

James Bond isn't exactly the average spy. If he was, he'd be dead.

"Astronomical telescope images are often shown with S at the top rather than E/W reversed but I know what you mean about the planisphere type images."

I didn't know that about Astronomical telescope images. Thanks.

"Now if you'd specified an astrologer, I would have known what level of "expertise" you intended."

I didn't mean that dumb-just an average person who just barely knows the names of the planets-like most of the science teachers I had in primary school.

"I'll post a puzzle when I get my brain back. I wasn't being exactly sensible when I answered before (perhaps you could tell )."

Thanks.

Are there any rules for the sort of puzzles you want? There are some traditional ones (or variations on the same) which have fixed answers but most people get wrong. Those always turn into a huge argument because most people are very bad at maths and logic and just can't see the right answer. Otherwise I have an idea for one which doesn't have just one right answer but which might generate some interesting suggestions. I had thought you would wait for some more people to post answers to this one before coming back and answering it yourself.

Actually, I think you've both got it confused. The dentist is the contact. Think about it: the oceanographer and astronomer have interesting careers. The science writer likes what he does. The explorer lead a life of excitement. The geographer, physicist and meteorologist enjoy their respective sciences.

The dentist looks at people's nasty teeth all day long. Yuck. He needs something to liven up his life. He's never turn in a spy. And the others might be afraid that the spy will turn over their research to foreign government scientists. But no foreign government or military cares about people's nasty teeth.

You may note I have excluded the historian thus far. It is true, his life may seem less fascinating than the other scientists at first glance. But I think that it's safe to assume the historian is very moved by history. If not, he would have been a go-go dancer or something. And since he has spent so much time studying and caring about what the rest of us neglect, us bastards, he would be very protective of his research and theories about why the Mayan people decided to live on the Yucatan peninsula instead of migrating further north/south.

So it has to be the dentist.

Phoenix

"Are there any rules for the sort of puzzles you want? There are some traditional ones (or variations on the same) which have fixed answers but most people get wrong. Those always turn into a huge argument because most people are very bad at maths and logic and just can't see the right answer. Otherwise I have an idea for one which doesn't have just one right answer but which might generate some interesting suggestions."

Those are fine. THe only rule is it can't require knowledge that only the asker can have. (ie. What have I got in my pocket?). THe asker gets to decide what and how many answeres he or she will accept before saying what's right. I'll post as being right whoever the poster says is. However, please make a new thread for each puzzle.

"I had thought you would wait for some more people to post answers to this one before coming back and answering it yourself."

I probzably should have, but it hadn't occured to me there was more than one right answer. I made a mistake, and wouldn't redo it that way if I had a choice.

"The dentist looks at people's nasty teeth all day long. Yuck. He needs something to liven up his life. He's never turn in a spy. And the others might be afraid that the spy will turn over their research to foreign government scientists. But no foreign government or military cares about people's nasty teeth."

"You may note I have excluded the historian thus far. It is true, his life may seem less fascinating than the other scientists at first glance. But I think that it's safe to assume the historian is very moved by history. If not, he would have been a go-go dancer or something. And since he has spent so much time studying and caring about what the rest of us neglect, us bastards, he would be very protective of his research and theories about why the Mayan people decided to live on the Yucatan peninsula instead of migrating further north/south."

I'm not sure if I should credit that, since it doen't make use of the clues. Also the historian might be interested in politics or the history of governemnt and believe that the spy is right for ideological reasons.

I will give you 1/2 credit.

Good point. Very fair of you.

Nephew Who still working on the first post on the first puzzle thread
"I am not sure but perhaps is it while I was laying in the fields watching birds in the sky. And the dentist was called away for an emergency."

Traveller in Time knocking on his shoulder
"Ah, there you where, I was looking for you in the basement while you were on elevation too."

<> cleaning his empty pipe
"Look quickly, there is that rare bird again! Just flew away, pity. They could have been a nice model."

trying to find a wet puzzle
"If we exist which of the previous does in our imagination?"

Sailor in Time carrying his broom
"And now all of you to the new puzzle thread ( <./>F131457&article=1112400</.> ). Then I can sanify those left over mindboggles about 'Why Who was the contact'"