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        riddles >> easy >> Letter sequence
        
(Message started by: Speaker on Jan 19th, 2003, 6:53pm)
Title: Letter sequence
Post by Speaker on Jan 19th, 2003, 6:53pm
This is a letter sequence puzzle that sometimes occurs on entrance examinations for some private and exclusive Kindergartens in Japan.

What letters should go in the blanks?

S _ T _ T _ S


Needless to say, many of the kids get it, and many adults do not.
Title: Re: Letter sequence
Post by BNC on Jan 19th, 2003, 11:41pm
Do you have to speak Japanese to answer?
I mean, I can think of an answer, but that would require knowledge of the English names for week days, which I assume not all kindergarten kids know, unless English is their native language
Title: Re: Letter sequence
Post by Speaker on Jan 20th, 2003, 12:03am
Japanese is not necessary.

If the sequence is common enough in everyday life then a child will recognize it whether they understand it completely or not.

However, the reasoning of the people creating the test, may depend on a child's basic grasp of a second language. And, this is one of the first things tought in ESL courses, especially for kids.
Title: Re: Letter sequence
Post by william wu on Jan 20th, 2003, 1:58am
i got it! yes! i got in! :D
Title: Re: Letter sequence
Post by Jeremiah Smith on Jan 20th, 2003, 4:04pm
Is it S M T W T F S, i.e., the days of the week?
Title: Re: Letter sequence
Post by Icarus on Jan 20th, 2003, 5:28pm
ARRGHH! I'm 40 years old and still not smart enough to be a kindergartner in Japan! I'm 0 for 2 on these questions. Can there be any further embarassment? :-[
Title: Re: Letter sequence
Post by wowbagger on Jan 22nd, 2003, 4:15am
[quote author=Icarus link=board=riddles_easy;num=1043031199;start=0#5 date=01/20/03 at 17:28:58]I'm 0 for 2 on these questions. Can there be any further embarassment? :-[/quote]
Maybe Speaker will post another one? ;D
[hide]I know, you'd still have a score of 0%[/hide]
Title: Re: Letter sequence
Post by Speaker on Jan 22nd, 2003, 7:18pm
Here is another one.

In the original this is written in Japanese script, so it is prettier. But, the meaning is preserved in translation to English.

Here it is.

Big, Small, Big, Small, Big, Small, Big, ?, Small, Big, Small, Big

What goes in the ?, Big or Small?

Here is the original Japanese if you have the fonts.

大小大小大小大？小大小大

Well, kind of prettier.

Title: Re: Letter sequence
Post by SWF on Jan 22nd, 2003, 8:24pm
What letters fit if there are two blanks between each given letter:

S _ _ T _ _ T _ _ S
Title: Re: Letter sequence
Post by Speaker on Jan 22nd, 2003, 8:30pm
Potassium nitrate
in plural  ;D
Title: Re: Letter sequence
Post by wowbagger on Jan 23rd, 2003, 2:03am

on 01/22/03 at 19:18:28, Speaker wrote:
Big, Small, Big, Small, Big, Small, Big, ?, Small, Big, Small, Big

What goes in the ?, Big or Small?

I'd say it should be
[hide]Big[/hide]
Title: Re: Letter sequence
Post by wowbagger on Jan 23rd, 2003, 2:07am

on 01/22/03 at 20:24:08, SWF wrote:
What letters fit if there are two blanks between each given letter:

S _ _ T _ _ T _ _ S


on 01/22/03 at 20:30:35, Speaker wrote:
Potassium nitrate
in plural  ;D

Sorry, but  don't see how you can fit KNO3 "in plural" in there...
Is there a special meaning to your "in plural"?
Title: Re: Letter sequence
Post by Speaker on Jan 23rd, 2003, 2:15am
Saltpeters, which is the colloquial term for potasium nitrate.

You might also use statistics

About the big small problem, I would say you are right. And, I assume you understand why.
Title: Re: Letter sequence
Post by wowbagger on Jan 23rd, 2003, 3:57am

on 01/23/03 at 02:15:04, Speaker wrote:
Saltpeters, which is the colloquial term for potasium nitrate.

Hmpf!  :P
Maybe I should have thought a little longer about that one... (btw: saltpetres fits equally well)

On a more fundamental point:
I wouldn't consider this a "letter sequence" (in analogy with a "number sequence"), whereas the original riddle at the beginning of this thread is one (I suppose).

Hints at my solution to the big/small problem:
[hide]
Consider the number of items.
The idea is related to the one of the original riddle of this thread.
You can count it on the knuckles of two hands!
[/hide]
Title: Re: Letter sequence
Post by BNC on Jan 23rd, 2003, 4:01am
A big hint for Big/Small:
[hide]
The beginning of the sequence may also be:
Big, Smallest, Big, Small, ...
[/hide]
Title: Re: Letter sequence
Post by Speaker on Jan 23rd, 2003, 3:32pm
Wowbagger

I also learned about the knuckles mnenomic. And, the hint you give, about the number of items, was also given in the original entrance exam.
Title: Re: Letter sequence
Post by lukes new shoes on Jan 23rd, 2003, 4:53pm
for S _ _ T _ _ T _ _ S
i was thinking maybe S E N T E T T F F S
as in the first letters of seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven etc.
Title: Re: Letter sequence
Post by SWF on Jan 23rd, 2003, 5:43pm
Very good Luke's New Shoes, that is the answer I was looking for.

Although "statistics" does fill the blanks, I wasn't intending this to be a game of hangman.
Title: Re: Letter sequence
Post by Chronos on Jan 23rd, 2003, 7:37pm
Now, see, in the original puzzle, if you had made the second T an R instead, I would have gotten it.  :(


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