bout de papier, Vol. 3, No. 3 (1985) — Fall 1985 // Automne 1985, p. 43
A rough diamond of a puzzle by A Aalto
New York is a baseball town, especially in the summer, and even the local diplomats catch the bug. So it was, one hot August night, that six foreign service officers sat evenly-spaced about a round table (call their chairs I to 6 clockwise) in McGinty’s Bar on 42nd Street, putting away a few pints and swapping predictions on who would make the league playoffs, who would go on to the series and who would win. One of the six later tried to write down what the guesses had all amounted to, but between the beer and the lateness of the hour, all he could remember were the following random facts:
(1) The Canadian thought the Blue Jays would win the series (of course).
(2) The Japanese and the man in chair 3, on the other hand, agreed that the Royals would beat Toronto. (3) The two men who thought that the Mets would beat Los Angeles were seated directly opposite each other.
(4) Miss Nkomo, the Zambian, thought that California would beat the Yankees but lose to the Cardinals. (5) The man in chair 5 thought that the Dodgers would lose the series.
(6)The Australian, who thought that Los Angeles would beat St. Louis and win the series, had on his left a man who thought that the Angels would lose the playoffs.
(7) Two people thought that Kansas City would lose in the playoffs; they were not seated together. (8) The Spaniard and the American (from the UN Mission) both thought that the Yankees would make it to the series, and the Spaniard thought they would win.
(9) Only the man in chair 6 thought Cincinnati would make the playoffs.
(10) The man who saw the Mets losing the playoffs was sitting next to the man who saw St. Louis winning them.
(11) The man in chair I was the only person who thought the series would be an all New York affair. (12) No two people picked the same series winner; three picked National League teams and three picked teams from the American League.
Can you fill in the table with the country of each seat-holder, plus the teams each thought would make it to the American League playoffs, the National League playoffs and the World Series, with the winners circled in each case? Only the teams mentioned in the clues should be used. bout de papier will pay $25 to the author of the first fully correct answer drawn on Feb. 1, 1986. the National and the American, each with two Divisions, the East and the For those of you not particularly into baseball, there are two Leagues, in that League’s championship or playoffs. The winners of the two League West. The winner of the East and West Divisions in the same League face off playoffs match up in the World Series. The teams mentioned in the clues divide up as follows:
American League East National League East
New York Yankees New York Mets
Toronto Blue Jays St. Louis Cardinals
American League West National League West
Kansas City Royals Los Angeles Dodgers
California Angels Cincinnati Reds
View the original scanned pages →
Originally published in bout de papier, Vol. 3, No. 3 (1985) — Fall 1985 // Automne 1985, p. 43. Read the rest of this issue →
