# Find the missing value for “main”

coal    60

mine    63

code    39

lame    41

gain    23

gala    22

main    ?


Find the missing value for "main"?

Hint: there are hidden abbreviations in the words!

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case matters and there's a reason every word has two vowels – Raystafarian Jan 29 at 18:08

## 2 Answers

My answer:

main = 6 + 19 = 25

Reasoning:

Each word is composed of two 2-letter US state abbreviations. The number is the sum of the order in which the states were admitted to the United States. For example, COAL = Colorado + Alabama = 38 + 22 = 60. Here's the full list:

coal = Colorado + Alabama = 38 + 22= 60
mine = Michigan + Nebraska = 26 + 37 = 63
code = Colorado + Deleware = 38 + 1 = 39
lame = Louisiana + Maine = 18 + 23 = 41
gain = Georgia + Indiana = 4 + 19 = 23
gala = Georgia + Louisiana = 4 + 18 = 22
main = Massachusetts + Indiana = 6 + 19 = 25

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I think I made it too hard by not giving the hint, glad it is solved :) Thanks. – Oray Jan 29 at 18:45
I think it would have gotten solved without the hint... eventually. But it might have taken a while longer. The hint did help quite a bit. – Duncan Jan 29 at 18:46

So I might be completely off on this, but I think the answer is:

main=20

My Solution:

coal - code=al - de (= 21)
al - de - lame = - made (= - 20)
- mine + made = ad - in (= - 43)
ad - in + gain = adgd (= - 21)
adga - gala = d - l (= - 43)
d - l + coal = coad (= 17)
code - code = a - e (= - 22)
a - e + lame = mala (= 19)
mala - gala = m - g (= - 3)
m - g + gain = main (= 20)

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sorry, good try but it is not like this. it is more like about abbreviations given in the question. – Oray Jan 29 at 18:19