Confusing puzzle from Will Shortz

The Game Room
1

I’ve been listening the NPR’s Weekend Edition every Sunday morning for at least 6months now, and Will Short’s word games are the highlight of my mornings. I solve about half of the puzzles, and always submit them, though they’ve never called me to put me on the air.

I solved yesterday’s puzzle almost before he finished reading it. But something confuses me.

Five equals four.
Seven equals five.
Eight equals one.
Twenty-six equals nine.

What does twelve equal?

Um… Eight equals one? Is that a mistake?

2

Kinda seems like it, unless it’s a multi-layered puzzle, where “one” would be referring back to “the first answer.” That doesn’t seem right, though.

RR

3

Even that doesn’t make sense, though. It wouldn’t refer back to the first answer, it would refer back to the first question.

And the puzzles are sometimes hard, but they are never obscure.

4

I don’t think it’s a mistake, because it’s written on the website in numeric form–rather than in words as you did here.

Why this proves anything is now beyond me–I had one of those lightbulb moments which then don’t compute.

5

Your lightbulb moment may have been correct.

Hint:Using the digits instead of the words is intended to obscure the solution.My answer:Roman numerals in the words for the numbers. So twelve is 65, counting the “w” as 2 "v"s.

6

Yeah, I’m not sure why that makes a difference, though I suppose it might.

I cannot for the life of me figure out why 8 would equal 1, even outside of the context of the rest of the puzzle.

If the original puzzle had a misprint, would they correct it on the website? They must know the answer, so how could they let this clue go unnoticed?

7

Huh? Now I’m more confused than before.

8

Because I = 1

9

Oh wait – I see what you’re thinking. I’m not buying part of your answer, but I can see how you’d come up with an answer of

5

10

Try

55 (LV)

11

I’d say “55” – the letters in the others are all adjacent, and “vv” isn’t a legitimate roman numeral, and LV is.

12

I think it would be better worded as

You can take four from five
You can take five from seven
You can take one from eight
You can take nine from twenty-six

What can you take from twelve?

13

“There may be no 3 in three, but there is a 4 in five, and 9 in six, and 1 in eight, and in twelve, there’s 55!” - Cliff Johnson, 3 in Three (computer game).

14

What was your solution, and based on what logic?

15

Count the number of letters in each clue.

16

I think that must have been an intentional red herring; otherwise why use 26 rather than 6 or 16?

Does anybody else wonder if Will Shortz has a brother named Jim?

17

I think you’re right.

18

No more than I wonder if Peter Cetera has a brother named Et.

19

My Sunday school teacher was Mrs. Sippi.

20

“Will and shorts- two things I’m no longer allowed to change on my own.”