21
$\begingroup$

My friend gave me this note in class,

my very own third grade mathematics class!

But alas:

To little, my third grade-ly efforts amassed.

Again and again,

I wish I'd known then,

I needn't try to compute.

What was my little friend's favorite fruit?

65 27 66 49 54 32 17 62 44 30 71 59 19 68 48 67 62 38 67 21 24 64 54 57 43 67 37 

84 66 67 68 71 65 66 80 65 54 87 54 61 83 49 88 57 64 78 67 57 62 51 76 50 73 50

Hint 1:

Although the poem will assist your journey,
About all but its plaintext, you needn't worry.

Hint 2:

Heed this advice as if from some advisor:
This puzzle involves fewer than one cipher.

Hint 3:

The teacher said something 'bout a bug on the ceiling...
I'm sure that the lesson would have been revealing!

Improve this question
$\endgroup$
7
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ @North Thanks for the consideration, but the answer to the question is not hinted to at all in the poem. The numbers hold the answer. Would this still be considered a riddle? $\endgroup$
    – Austin Weaver
    Apr 2 '18 at 23:27
  • $\begingroup$ I don't want to give too much away here of course, but the first hint is true at face value. The only thing you should pay attention to in the poem is what it is actually saying: no tricky trickery tricks. $\endgroup$
    – Austin Weaver
    Apr 2 '18 at 23:36
  • $\begingroup$ Alright, then you can reject the riddle tag added. However, I'd advise getting rid of the number-sequence tag, because number sequence is finding the next number in the sequence (hence its name) and it doesn't seem like your asking us to find the next number. Of course, disregard this comment if I am wrong. $\endgroup$
    – Prince North Læraðr
    Apr 2 '18 at 23:38
  • $\begingroup$ @North I thought the tag just indicated that the puzzle involved lists of numbers. Accordingly, I will now remove the tag. $\endgroup$
    – Austin Weaver
    Apr 2 '18 at 23:41
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ I cannot believe I didn't see this, especially when you consider this. $\endgroup$
    – Chowzen
    Apr 4 '18 at 15:55
13
$\begingroup$

His favourite fruit is a

Banana

The numbers are

coordinates in the plane, in the first line are the x-coordinates and on the second line are the y-coordinates. So the point are (65, 84), (27, 66), etc.
If we draw all these points, we get the following:
enter image description here

Improve this answer
$\endgroup$
2
  • 2
    $\begingroup$ bravo. I spent too much time working on numerics $\endgroup$
    – Jason P Sallinger
    Apr 3 '18 at 16:27
  • 3
    $\begingroup$ +1 for yellow plot points. $\endgroup$
    – Chowzen
    Apr 4 '18 at 15:52

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and cookie policy

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.