CISRA Puzzle Competition 2012 - Solutions
2C. Word Sets
The diagrams contains sets of 100 words each. Some of the words may trigger some associations which lead to the intuitive leap needed to attack this puzzle.
Set 1. This contains several substances, some real chemical elements, others... not so real. In fact, it looks like many of the substances are taken from fiction – which is indeed the case. Classifying each substance into the types "real" and "fictional", and shading the squares containing real elements, produces a significant looking shape (shown below).
Set 2. This set contains superhero names. They can be split them into DC Comics and Marvel characters. Shading the DC heroes produces another shape.
Set 3. By now the pattern should be clear but this set of Latin words may initially be more difficult. The secret is that many of them are names of constellations in the night sky, while others are not. Shading the constellations reveals a shape.
Set 4. This set of intriguing animal/pun names is reminiscent of the names of Pokémon. Shading the actual Pokémon and not the fake ones reveals another shape.
Set 5. These names come from Greek mythology. Many of these have been used as the names of moons in our solar system, and in particular for moons of Jupiter. Shading the moons of Jupiter gives a fifth shape.
Set 6. This is an odd looking list of occupations and personality descriptions that reads like an extended list of Disney dwarf names. This is not too far from the truth, which is that many of them are names of Smurfs. Shading the Smurfs and leaving the non-Smurfs blank gives us our sixth shape.
The shapes revealed are shown below.
Set 1. The shape is the Venus symbol, which naturally enough represents Venus, or the female gender. However, given that the set is all about chemical elements, a different association is more appropriate: the Venus symbol is also the alchemical symbol for the element COPPER.
Set 2. The DC Comics shape resembles the Batman logo, and Batman is a DC hero. So the clue word here is BATMAN.
Set 3. The constellations produce the symbol ♋ – which is the astrological symbol for the constellation of CANCER.
Set 4. This produces the number 92. Pokémon are numbered sequentially, and the 92nd Pokémon is GASTLY.
Set 5. Here we have the Roman numeral XXVI. The moons of Jupiter are assigned permanent Roman numerals indicating the order in which they were assigned names. Moon XXVI is ISONOE.
Set 6. The Smurf set produces an icon of a pair of scissors and a comb. One of the Smurfs not already listed in the set is BARBER Smurf.
We now have six six-letter words. The fact that each word is six letters long is compelling, and this may be used to confirm the solutions for any words that you might not be entirely sure of. Six six-letter words should suggest arranging them in a square. If you do, in the order presented, you can see another six-letter word reading down the diagonal:
Georg Cantor was the founder of modern set theory, tying in to the puzzle title. He also produced an important number theory proof known as Cantor's diagonal argument, so finding him along the diagonal is doubly appropriate. The solution to the puzzle is CANTOR.