CiSRA Puzzle Competition 2009 - Solutions

This is the archive of the 2009 Puzzle Competition. Please visit the current competition site for information about the latest Puzzle Competition.

C.3 Système International

The clues are arranged in the four cardinal compass directions, and each one describes a number with a unit.

North

• Melting caesium (C, 2dp): to two decimal places, caesium's melting point is 28.44° Celsius.
• Separation refers to the concept of "six degrees of separation".
• Melting bromine (C, 0dp): to zero decimal places, bromine's melting point is -7° Celsius.

West

• cos^-13/4 is approximately 41.4096 degrees (or 0.7227 radians, but by this point it seems that degrees are relevant somehow).
• Roman Antix is the name of the band that would later become 30 Odd Foot of Grunts.
• 4.4m (in): 4.4 metres is approximately 173 inches.

East

• Boiling krypton (K, 0dp): to zero decimal places, krypton's boiling point is 120 kelvins.

South

• John Cage is a composer best known for his work 4'33" (four minutes, thirty-three seconds).
• Bob Gebert directed the film 11 Minutes Ago.
• 6.3 billion metres of light: light takes approximately 21 seconds to travel 6.3 billion metres.

The next step is to realise that all of these units can be interpreted, with a bit of squinting, as angular measures in degrees, minutes, and seconds.

• Degrees Celsius, kelvins, degrees of separation, and the result of cos^-13/4 are all "degrees".
• Feet and inches use the same symbols (' and " respectively) as minutes and seconds of arc.

This gives us the following results:

• North: 28.44°, 6°, -7°
• West: 41.4096°, 30', 173"
• East: 120°
• South: 4'33", 11', 21"

These look like they might add up to give geographic coordinates. Adding them together (i.e. subtracting south from north, and west from east) produces the point 27°10'30" N, 78°2'32" E. Looking this up on a map reveals that it is the location of the famous domed mausoleum of the Taj Mahal. The answer is TAJMAHAL.