# 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!

• case matters and there's a reason every word has two vowels – Raystafarian Jan 29 '16 at 18:08

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

• I think I made it too hard by not giving the hint, glad it is solved :) Thanks. – Oray Jan 29 '16 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 '16 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)