Easy as
ABC
by
Derek Kisman and Dave Savitt
Answer:
T REX
The
underlying logic puzzle is an "End View" puzzle, a type of puzzle
often
seen in World Puzzle Championships, U.S. puzzle championships,
and
various puzzle publications -- except that "End View" puzzles are
usually
2-dimensional.
In a
2-d end view puzzle, one is given a square grid (e.g. 5-by-5)
whose
squares are to be filled by a range of letters (e.g. A through C),
with
each different letter occurring exactly once in each row and
column,
and the other squares remaining blank.
If a letter appears
at the
top (respectively, at the bottom) of a column, this indicates
that
the top (respecively, bottom) non-empty square in the grid must
contain
that letter; and similarly for rows.
As an
example, here is a 2-d end view puzzle, 4-by-4 with letters A
through
C to be entered in each row and column.
A
----
B|????|
|????|C
B|????|
|????|
----
And
here is its solution:
A
----
B|xBCA|
|AxBC|C
B|BCAx|
|CAxB|
----
The
puzzle at hand is a 3-d end view puzzle, 5-by-5-by-5 with
letters
A through C to be entered in each rank, file, and column.
The
dashed lines at the top indicate vertical clues. The unique
solution
to the logic puzzle, slice by slice, is:
A-CB-
-AB-C
CB--A
-C-AB
B-AC-
CBA--
-C-BA
A-C-B
BA-C-
--BAC
BC--A
AB-C-
--BAC
C-AB-
-AC-B
-A-CB
B-CA-
-CAB-
A-B-C
CB--A
--BAC
C-A-B
BA-C-
-BC-A
AC-B-
Now,
from the second grid filled with miscellaneous letters, look at
only the
letters in squares which are filled with by an A in the
End
View puzzle. There is one such square
in each rank, file, and
column,
and so for each of the six axial directions from which one
might
try to look at the cube, these squares will appear as a 5-by-5
grid. The graphic in the title suggests looking at
the As from the
top of
the cube, in which case one sees:
LASTK
SXFOU
RTHEK
LUFIR
STCTI
Similarly,
looking at the Bs from the front of the cube, one sees:
FIRST
ASTBT
HIRDN
RLLAS
TEXWP
Looking
at the Cs from the left, one sees:
THIRD
RDEML
ASTXK
WFOUR
THOEA
These
three messages are to be parsed as:
LAST
KSX; FOURTH EKLU; FIRST CTI
FIRST
ASTB; THIRD NRL; LAST EXWP
THIRD
RDEM; LAST XKW; FOURTH OEA
Now, as
the text of the puzzle directs, look for "something in common":
there
is one letter, T, in common between the two "first" clues; there
is one
letter, R, in common between the two "third" clues; there is
only
letter, E, in common between the two "fourth" clues; there is
one
letter, X, in common betewen the three "last" clues. Hence the answer
is T
REX. (Since there are no
"second" clues, the second spot is empty.)