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Many Happy Returns

专题
Brainteaser / 脑筋急转弯
难度
L7

题目详情

这是一个文字谜题。题面给出一组带编号的“退回物品”和一组收件人描述，需要把每个要退回的词嵌入或反向嵌入到对应收件人答案中，再利用编号抽取字母，得到最终线索并确定未编号物品的收件人。

英文原题

It’s our first day back at work – we just got our nametag1. And yet we’re already in over our heads!

We have a set of returns to process:

  • 1 “I need to return this recipient…”
  • 1 “I need to return this popular type of street food…”
  • 1 “I need to return this type of remark…”
  • 1 “I need to return this suddenly canceled (agreement)…”
  • 1 “I need to return this classical dance…”
  • 1 “I need to return this graduate-to-be…”
  • 2 “I need to return this soft touch…”
  • 1 “I need to return this type of heron…”
  • 2 “I need to return this soft but unruly drummer…”
  • 2 “I need to return this group of criminals…”
  • 10 “I need to return this type of understanding…”
  • 9 “I need to return this BBB-…”
  • 1 “I need to return this person who wants to quit…”
  • 7 “I need to return this ugly facial expression…”
  • 6 “I need to return this warm breakfast dish…”
  • 10 “I need to return this brown-coloured ale…”
  • 4 “I need to return this plant that grows underground…”
  • 6 “I need to return this common solvent…”
  • 7 “I need to return this partner dance…”
  • 9 “I need to return this type of symmetry…”
  • Ø “I need to return these good luck charms…”

…but the list of recipients got all mixed up :-( We tried to put them back as best as we could, but only got this far:

  • …said an important C++ component ($4.09)
  • …said le supermarché, il ristorante and el dinosaurio ($5.08)
  • …said the counterargument ($5.08)
  • …said the laundry room staple ($5.09)
  • …said the heavy machine useful in forestry ($5.10)
  • …said the remnants of an explosion ($5.11)
  • …said the (story) that was worth repeating ($6.08)
  • …said Captain Marvel & Black Widow ($6.08)
  • …said this type of inexpensive flooring ($6.08)
  • …said the (fuse) that seemed ready to go off ($6.09)
  • …said the 4-dimensional solid ($6.09)
  • …said the distinguished ambassador ($6.09)
  • …said Duel (or High School Musical) ($6.09)
  • …said one of the major scenes in West Side Story ($6.11)
  • …said the narrow bike trail ($6.11)
  • …said the cozy wine shop ($7.07)
  • …said the total reprobate ($7.10)
  • …said the often-wet piece of equipment ($7.10)
  • …said the person who was here before me ($7.11)
  • …said the person hovering a foot off the ground ($8.09)

What do we need in order to finish all these returns?

(The answer to this puzzle is a person.)

  1. though we have to hand it back in later to… the worker guarding the parking lot ↩

解析

每个收礼人都在字面意义上“归还”了某个东西：例如 “allocator” 中藏着 taco。先把 20 个带编号的归还物与对应收礼人配对，再按编号抽取收礼人中的字母，得到额外线索 “said the dairy producer”。这个线索指向 cheesemonger（奶酪商），因此未编号的第 21 个物品 good luck charms 应配成 gnomes。

英文解析

Each of the 20 recipients had something to return, literally:

For example, that “important C++ component” was an allocator, which is “returning” the word taco (a popular type of street food). (“Allocator” has 9 letters and “taco” has 4, which is alluded to in the price.)


The first 20 return items – and their matching recipients – are as follows:

  • 1 giftee, streetfight (one of the major scenes in West Side Story)
  • 1 taco, allocator (an important C++ component)
  • 1 biting, ignitible (seemed ready to go off)
  • 1 reneged, degenerate (total reprobate)
  • 1 ballet, tellable (worth repeating)
  • 1 senior, heroines (Captain Marvel & Black Widow)
  • 2 caress, tesseract (4-dimensional solid)
  • 1 egret, detergent (laundry room staple)
  • 2 animal, laminate (inexpensive type of flooring)
  • 2 cartel, singletrack (narrow bike trail)
  • 10 tacit, masticator (heavy machine useful in forestry)
  • 9 rating, dignitary (distinguished ambassador)
  • 1 seceder, predecessor (person who was here before me)
  • 7 sneer, smithereens (remnants of an explosion)
  • 6 omelet, telemovie (Duel, or High School Musical)
  • 10 draught, mouthguard (often-wet piece of equipment)
  • 4 tuber, rebuttal (counterargument)
  • 6 acetone, enoteca (cozy wine shop)
  • 7 tango, cognates (le supermarch, il ristorante and el dinosaurio)
  • 9 rotative, levitator (person hovering a foot off the ground)

Taking the inidcated letter of each recipient gives an extra clue: “…said the dairy producer”. This is the person we need to match up the un-numbered 21st item (the good luck charms). And that person is a cheesemonger, who is returning some gnomes.


That was a tough one, congrats to those of you who figured it out! Just remember to hand in your nametag to the gateman when you leave :-)