# I'm thinking of two geographic locations (puzzle) **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [November 30, 2009, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-thinking-of-two-geographic-locations-puzzle/519499 "2009-11-30T18:07:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2009, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-thinking-of-two-geographic-locations-puzzle/519499/1 "2009-11-30T18:07:12Z")
Can you work out what they are? (This puzzle may be a little difficult. Work together on this. I’ll drop hints every now and then.) What number is significant to a 2000 election in Cormel County, Texas? Suddenly, you’re an octogenerian. What did IBM announce on November 12, 1980? Not found Last year, yy Six unique US coins Location of the National Christmas Tree (US) Where did Adrian LeDuc live? Bill Forester of the Green Bay Packers When did Nicephorus I of the Byzantine Empire and Charlemagne of the Holy Roman Empire settle their imperial boundaries? C x C + C GHI Year Robert Fulton patented the steamboat Centanni Park location Nil ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2009, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-thinking-of-two-geographic-locations-puzzle/519499/2 "2009-11-30T19:03:22Z")
A few things that need confirming – are “Cormel County” and “Centanni Park” spelled correctly? ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2009, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-thinking-of-two-geographic-locations-puzzle/519499/3 "2009-11-30T19:16:32Z")
> [@Hal\_Briston](#): > > A few things that need confirming – are “Cormel County” and “Centanni Park” spelled correctly? Sorry, the first one should be Comel, not Cormel. Thanks for catching that. The second one is correct. Google brings up several hits. I’m thinking of the one in Cambridge MA. ---
**Author:** ![Wash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/9dc877/32.png) [@Wash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wash)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2009, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-thinking-of-two-geographic-locations-puzzle/519499/4 "2009-11-30T20:30:05Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > What number is significant to a 2000 election in Cormel County, Texas? Are you sure you don’t mean Comal County, and the year 2002? ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2009, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-thinking-of-two-geographic-locations-puzzle/519499/5 "2009-11-30T20:35:12Z")
> [@Wash](#): > > Are you sure you don’t mean Comal County, and the year 2002? Googling this more gets me different results. One hit talked about three candidates in 2000, another talks about 5 candidates in 2002. But whatever you’re thinking, you’re probably on the right track. ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2009, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-thinking-of-two-geographic-locations-puzzle/519499/6 "2009-11-30T20:39:10Z")
Well, I have a 42-digit number, and no idea what to do with it. Maybe I’'m wrong about some of my answers, so we’ll see if any of these could use hinting (ones that are pretty much guesses are marked as such): What number is significant to a 2000 election in Cormel County, Texas? GWB got 24,599 votes there that year. (Guess) Suddenly, you’re an octogenerian. 80 (Guess) What did IBM announce on November 12, 1980? The 3033 processor Not found 404 Last year, yy 09 (Guess) Six unique US coins Total up the values of the six US coins, and you get $1.91. So, 191? (Guess) Location of the National Christmas Tree (US) Tortured logic for this one – The tree is on the Ellipse…so, 2? (Guess) Where did Adrian LeDuc live? Apartment Zero. Bill Forester of the Green Bay Packers He wore #69. When did Nicephorus I of the Byzantine Empire and Charlemagne of the Holy Roman Empire settle their imperial boundaries? 800 A.D. C x C + C 100 x 100 + 100 = 10100 GHI 4 (phone check!) Year Robert Fulton patented the steamboat 1791 Centanni Park location Best I can come up with is the zip code – 02141 (Guess) Nil Zip. Nada. Zero. ---
**Author:** ![Wash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/9dc877/32.png) [@Wash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wash)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2009, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-thinking-of-two-geographic-locations-puzzle/519499/7 "2009-11-30T20:40:13Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > Googling this more gets me different results. One hit talked about three candidates in 2000, another talks about 5 candidates in 2002. But whatever you’re thinking, you’re probably on the right track. This is the hit I got: [http://www.peace-actionnm.org/issues/voting/problems.html](http://www.peace-actionnm.org/issues/voting/problems.html) near the bottom of the page. If this is what you’re thinking of, then I suppose the number in question is 18181 ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2009, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-thinking-of-two-geographic-locations-puzzle/519499/8 "2009-11-30T20:58:07Z")
[spoiler]What number is significant to a 2000 election in Cormel County, Texas? 18181 is correct. Three (or five) Republican politicians all won their seats with 18,181 votes each. Suddenly, you’re an octogenerian. 80 is correct What did IBM announce on November 12, 1980? Right idea, wrong processor. Not found 404 is correct Last year, yy 09 is this year, not last year. Six unique US coins Total up the values of the six US coins, and you get $1.91. So, 191? Yep. Location of the National Christmas Tree (US) 2? Nope. Where did Adrian LeDuc live? Apartment Zero - Yep, 0. Bill Forester of the Green Bay Packers Not 69. Maybe he switched numbers at some point? When did Nicephorus I of the Byzantine Empire and Charlemagne of the Holy Roman Empire settle their imperial boundaries? 800 A.D. - Not the answer I got. C x C + C 10100 is correct. GHI 4 is correct. I got it from my phone. Year Robert Fulton patented the steamboat 1791? Not what I got. Centanni Park location Best I can come up with is the zip code – 02141 - Correct Nil Zip. Nada. Zero. - 0 [/spoiler] Good work so far. You are indeed trying to come up with one long number, though I think it’s a little more than 42 digits. ---
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2009, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-thinking-of-two-geographic-locations-puzzle/519499/9 "2009-11-30T21:38:03Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > Location of the National Christmas Tree (US) > > 2? Nope. Guess: 20500, the White House ZIP Code? > [@](#): > > Bill Forester of the Green Bay Packers > > Not 69. Maybe he switched numbers at some point? More info: He also wore [71](http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=19123153). > [@](#): > > When did Nicephorus I of the Byzantine Empire and Charlemagne of the Holy Roman Empire settle their imperial boundaries? > > 800 A.D. - Not the answer I got. A possible answer: How about 803? > [@](#): > > Year Robert Fulton patented the steamboat > > 1791? Not what I got. My answer: John Fitch patented a steamboat in 1791, while Fulton patented one in 1809. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2009, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-thinking-of-two-geographic-locations-puzzle/519499/10 "2009-11-30T21:42:06Z")
**Sternvogel** , all of your guesses are correct except the Christmas tree one. But you’re on the right track. I don’t think it’s actually at the WH. ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2009, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-thinking-of-two-geographic-locations-puzzle/519499/11 "2009-11-30T21:56:15Z")
No time to go into detail about my answers and your responses at the moment – I just wanted to make it clear that I’m aware of what year it is, and that was a slip of the finger. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2009, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-thinking-of-two-geographic-locations-puzzle/519499/12 "2009-12-01T02:23:59Z")
Gotcha. In some ways I’m already thinking in terms of 2010, so when I hear “last year”, I think 2009. ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2009, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-thinking-of-two-geographic-locations-puzzle/519499/13 "2009-12-01T02:37:06Z")
Haiti and… ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2009, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-thinking-of-two-geographic-locations-puzzle/519499/14 "2009-12-01T17:46:53Z")
> [@Isamu](#): > > Haiti and… I’ll give you two-thirds credit for that. ---
**Author:** ![hammos1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ba8739/32.png) [@hammos1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hammos1)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2009, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-thinking-of-two-geographic-locations-puzzle/519499/15 "2009-12-03T13:00:18Z")
OK, so we seem to have a set of 46 digits: 18181 80 3081 404 08 191 20002 0 71 803 10100 4 1809 02141 0 One notable property of this set of digits: [spoiler]When read in pairs, no pair is over 26. There could be a letter substitution going on here: ```auto 18 18 18 03 08 14 04 08 19 12 00 02 07 18 03 10 10 04 18 09 02 14 10 R R R C H N D H S L B G R C J J D R I B N J ``` [/SPOILER] Another possibility: Geographic coordinates. Plucking two sets of digits out of the series- 18.181803 N 71.8031 W- gets us near a mountain village in Haiti, perhaps what **Isamu** was getting at? ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2009, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-thinking-of-two-geographic-locations-puzzle/519499/16 "2009-12-03T15:35:42Z")
Good work, except that 18 != R. You need to find a different substitution code. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2009, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-thinking-of-two-geographic-locations-puzzle/519499/17 "2009-12-03T16:54:46Z")
Oh, and just to set the record straight – Haiti is not one of the places. ---
**Author:** ![5\_time\_champ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/5/278dde/32.png) [@5\_time\_champ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/5_time_champ)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2009, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-thinking-of-two-geographic-locations-puzzle/519499/18 "2009-12-03T22:00:03Z")
Location of the National Christmas Tree (US) Well, you already have used roman numerals, but DC?? 600?? ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2009, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-thinking-of-two-geographic-locations-puzzle/519499/19 "2009-12-04T02:01:27Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > **Sternvogel** , all of your guesses are correct except the Christmas tree one. But you’re on the right track. I don’t think it’s actually at the WH. It’s between the Ellipse and the South Lawn. No idea how you make it a number. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2009, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-thinking-of-two-geographic-locations-puzzle/519499/20 "2009-12-04T04:00:57Z")
The Ellipse is the site of the zero milestone. So, zero? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-thinking-of-two-geographic-locations-puzzle/519499.md?page=2)