letter sequence

John Robinson

unread,

Mar 9, 1986, 4:31:06 PM3/9/86

to

Listening to my 9-month old try to talk inspired this one:

What is the next letter in this sequence:

m, n, b, d, p, ?

/jr

John Woolley

unread,

Mar 10, 1986, 6:56:57 PM3/10/86

to

M and N are the voiced nasals of the bilabial and alveo-dental series.
B and D are the voiced stops of the bilabial and alveo-dental series.
P is the unvoiced stop of the bilabial series.
So... T is the unvoiced stop of the alveo-dental series.

The hint gives it away, makes it clear it's a phonetic problem.

Now, what's the next letter in the sequence

Z O T T F F S S E N T E T T F F S S E N T... ?
--
Peace and Good!,
Fr. John Woolley
"Compared to what I have seen, all that I have written is straw." -- St. Thomas

Matthew P. Wiener

unread,

Mar 11, 1986, 7:14:46 AM3/11/86

to

In article <5...@cisden.UUCP> jo...@cisden.UUCP (John Woolley) writes:
>Now, what's the next letter in the sequence
>
> Z O T T F F S S E N T E T T F F S S E N T... ?

T T T T T T ...

ucbvax!brahms!weemba Matthew P Wiener/UCB Math Dept/Berkeley CA 94720

Patrick M Juola

unread,

Mar 12, 1986, 9:47:32 AM3/12/86

to

In article <5...@cisden.UUCP> jo...@cisden.UUCP (John Woolley) writes:

>Now, what's the next letter in the sequence
>
> Z O T T F F S S E N T E T T F F S S E N T... ?
>--

> Fr. John Woolley

Warning -- answer follows.....

The next nineteen letters are all "T". The sequence is the first letter
in the English names for the numbers 0..20.
Pat Juola
Hopkins Maths

D. Hedden

unread,

Mar 12, 1986, 1:47:07 PM3/12/86

to

In article <5...@cisden.UUCP>, jo...@cisden.UUCP (John Woolley) writes:
>
> Now, what's the next letter in the sequence
>
> Z O T T F F S S E N T E T T F F S S E N T... ?
> --

An old, easy one--
T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T F...
or maybe you would prefer--
T-O T-T T-T T-F T-F T-S T-S T-E T-N T T-O T-T
T-T T-F T-F T-S T-S T-E T-N F...

Now try this--
1 18 46 94 63 52...

"The moving hand writes ..."

Don

Chris Stassen

unread,

Mar 13, 1986, 5:49:19 PM3/13/86

to

>What is the next letter in this sequence:
> m, n, b, d, p, ?

What are the next four letters in this sequence:

H, H, L, B, B, C, N, O, F ...

(Careful! There are two equally correct answers).

- Chris

Matthew P. Wiener

unread,

Mar 16, 1986, 3:19:20 AM3/16/86

to

In article <8...@spp2.UUCP> sta...@spp2.UUCP (Chris Stassen) writes:
>What are the next four letters in this sequence:
>
> H, H, L, B, B, C, N, O, F ...
>
>(Careful! There are two equally correct answers).

Answer 1: ... N N M A ...
Answer 2: ... N S M A ...

The sad thing about this sequence is that it ends U U U, and will probably
end U U U for the longest time.

Matt Crawford

unread,

Mar 16, 1986, 10:51:02 PM3/16/86

to

In article <8...@spp2.UUCP> sta...@spp2.UUCP (Chris Stassen) writes:

>Jung ner gur arkg sbhe yrggref va guvf frdhrapr:
>
> U, U, Y, O, O, P, A, B, S ...
>
>(Pnershy! Gurer ner gjb rdhnyyl pbeerpg nafjref).

Bu, yvxr gbb rnfl, zna! Gur nafjre vf A, A, Z, N be
A, F, Z, N.

Here's another letter sequence problem:

Complete this sequence: A, E, H, I, K, L, ...
_____________________________________________________
Matt University craw...@anl-mcs.arpa
Crawford of Chicago ihnp4!oddjob!matt

Pete Williamson

unread,

Mar 17, 1986, 9:37:11 AM3/17/86

to

Then there is this one: W, A, J, M, M, A, J ...

--
Pete Williamson
"By hook or by crook, we will !!" ... #2

John Woolley

unread,

Mar 17, 1986, 6:52:58 PM3/17/86

to

In article <8...@spp2.UUCP> sta...@spp2.UUCP (Chris Stassen) writes:

>What are the next four letters in this sequence:
>
> H, H, L, B, B, C, N, O, F ...
>
>(Careful! There are two equally correct answers).

Well, obviously it's N, S, M, A. How could anyone fail to see it right
off? But I don't see how there's another equally correct answer, unless
you're going to argue for N in place of my S, which would be pretty perverse.

Actually, this was a good one. I stared at it for some minutes without any
progress, then decided to call my Dad and see if he had any ideas. As his
phone was ringing, suddenly it all was clear. Funny how these things happen.
I think it was the haunting familiarity of the CNOF part of it that clicked.

Matthew P. Wiener

unread,

Mar 18, 1986, 10:10:18 AM3/18/86

to

>>>What is the next letter in this sequence:
>>> m, n, b, d, p, ?
>>
>>What are the next four letters in this sequence:
>>
>> H, H, L, B, B, C, N, O, F ...
>

>Then there is this one: W, A, J, M, M, A, J ...

And don't forget this one: A B C D E F G H ...

John Woolley

unread,

Mar 19, 1986, 11:19:14 AM3/19/86

to

In article <15...@panda.UUCP> p...@panda.UUCP (Pete Williamson) writes:
>Then there is this one: W, A, J, M, M, A, J ...

W A J M M A J V H T P T F P B L ....

This is closely analagous to the even more mysterious

G J T J J J A M W J J Z M F J A ....

The really important question, though: What is the 41st element? K? B? H? C?