The Daily Jumble

The Daily Jumble appears every day in the Saint Paul Pioneer Press. You can also see it at this address:
Daily Jumble for September 24 2013 (Sorry, this does not work on Apple products, only on PCs)

I have found that some students really like this kind of problem.

Hints: #1 A group of boats.
#2 A deep narrow ravine, often seen in Western movies, a gang might hang out there.
#3 One of the most popular computer styles, it is two three-letter words stuck together.
#4 What happens to a concert when the band refuses to play (verb).

You will end up with these circled letters: FEEGCHAOPACN. You are trying to make a six-letter word, a two-letter word, and a four-letter word. There are very few two-letter words, one of these is OF, so cross out O and F.  Now look at the cartoon, the words on the cartoon, and the letters that are left and guess the cartoon caption.

The Daily Jumble is a good exercise in problem solving. I have worked out a bunch of tricks for solving them. The tricks involve permutations and logic, both math topics.

If anybody tries this, send me an email at margolis.stephen@yahoo.com and I will send you a bunch of tricks for solving this kind of problem. If you have an Apple computer and can't open the link, tell me your room and teacher and I will give you a paper copy.