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Here are four more sequence puzzles. The challenge is to guess the pattern and hence fill in the missing terms. Each "???" denotes exactly one missing term.

  1. 6, ???, 5, 8, 4, ???, 7, 3, 4, ???, 4 (now solved by March Ho)
  2. Henry, Lily, Ben, Ned, Natalie, ???, Albert, Simon (now solved by KSab)
  3. 73, 74, 88, 51, 28, 36, 84, 50, 83, 99, ??? (now solved by Len)
  4. 40, 30, 70, 39, 54, 74, 23, ??? (whoever solves this will get the accepted answer)

Please let me know whether these are too easy, too hard, or neither! I've tried to arrange them in order of difficulty, but I could be completely wrong with this.

Hint (in riddle form):

The same thing coming more than once,
Sometimes coming once a month.
Then the wood on which you eat,
Perhaps excelling at what it does.

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    $\begingroup$ are they independent? $\endgroup$
    – user10001
    Mar 16, 2015 at 17:23
  • $\begingroup$ @TheEmperorofIceCream Yes, all four are independent. $\endgroup$
    – Rand al'Thor
    Mar 16, 2015 at 21:00
  • $\begingroup$ Is the title relevant to any of the sequences? $\endgroup$
    – xnor
    Mar 17, 2015 at 7:09
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    $\begingroup$ I didn't down vote, but if I had to guess it is something similar to the days of the spaghetti party debacle where these types of puzzle are becoming too common (though not necessarily to the same degree) and all of the rules defining them are progressing more and more out into left field... just a guess though. $\endgroup$
    – Warlord 099
    Mar 23, 2015 at 22:03
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    $\begingroup$ I just look at the title and see the name Benedict Cumberbatch. $\endgroup$
    – A E
    Mar 23, 2015 at 22:24

3 Answers 3

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Sequence 3 is:

the last 2 digits of the 11 users with the highest rep on puzzling.se. The sequence in the question has been revised as the order has been changing. The missing numbers are shown in bold:
ver5: 73, 74, 88, 51, 28, 36, 84, 50, 83, 99, 88
ver4: 73, 74, 88, 51, 28, 36, 84, 83, 50, 20, 99
ver1: 73, 74, 88, 51, 28, 36, 84, 83, 20, 99, 50

Sequence 4 is:

the atomic numbers for the elements in reverse alphabetical order of the chemical symbols:

Zr, Zn, Yt, Y, Xe, W, V, Uut
40, 30, 70, 39, 54, 74, 23, 113

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  • $\begingroup$ Well done! I thought updating the sequence from time to time would count as a hint. You've found yourself ;-) $\endgroup$
    – Rand al'Thor
    Mar 28, 2015 at 10:45
  • $\begingroup$ Double well-done! I can't upvote more than once, but I can accept. $\endgroup$
    – Rand al'Thor
    Apr 28, 2015 at 8:53
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Partial answer:

1: Decimal sequence expansion of $10-\pi$

6,8,5,8,4,0,7,3,4,6,4 OEIS 030644

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  • $\begingroup$ Well done! Any ideas on the other three? $\endgroup$
    – Rand al'Thor
    Mar 16, 2015 at 21:01
  • $\begingroup$ @randal'thor Not that I could think of in 5 minutes :c $\endgroup$
    – March Ho
    Mar 16, 2015 at 21:02
  • $\begingroup$ I thought the first one would be easiest. Keep trying! :-) It's probably too soon for me to give away any hints. $\endgroup$
    – Rand al'Thor
    Mar 16, 2015 at 21:08
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For the second question I believe Mary edit: or M'Gann is a valid answer. The names begin with first letters of the ordered (though not consecutive) elements of the periodic table, the open spot having to be Magnesium.

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    $\begingroup$ Very good observation. In addition, the first 2 letters of each name match the short form of the elements according to the order in the periodic table (and only the elements with two letters as short form are considered, hence skipping H, B, C, N, O, and F). But the problem is, what name starts with Mg? $\endgroup$
    – LaBird
    Mar 24, 2015 at 15:12
  • $\begingroup$ @LaBird At first I was actually thinking that, but I after a brief internet search for names that begin with Mg, I thought that perhaps it was just the two first letters of the elements, I don't know though it does seem like the short form was the asker's intention. $\endgroup$
    – KSab
    Mar 24, 2015 at 15:19
  • $\begingroup$ @LaBird M'Gann? $\endgroup$
    – KSmarts
    Mar 24, 2015 at 15:24
  • $\begingroup$ Well done! As @LaBird says, the sequence is of names whose first two letters are the codes for successive 2-letter-code elements. I made sure the ??? was in the position corresponding to Magnesium because I couldn't think of a name beginning with Mg ;-) $\endgroup$
    – Rand al'Thor
    Mar 24, 2015 at 20:37
  • $\begingroup$ Hint: the pattern to the 4th sequence is in the same sort of ballpark. $\endgroup$
    – Rand al'Thor
    Apr 27, 2015 at 22:53

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