rec.puzzles Archive

Complete these analogies:

competition/tests/analogies/other

Problem

Complete these analogies:

1.  bathtub : ring :: spring : ?
2.  mole : molehill :: earthworm : ?
3.  opposite : same :: contra- : ?
4.  Pygmalion : Galatea :: Aphrodite :
5.  sqrt(-1) : sqrt(-3) ::  Gaussian : ?
6.  hunting : courtship :: pack : ?
7.  earth : organic molecules :: space : ?
8.  language : translate :: style : ?
9.  antarctic : arctic :: penguin : ?
10.  few : many :: jury : ?
11.  3 : 4 :: Cardano : ?
12.  gamma : pi :: Euler : ?
13.  half : fourth :: sesqui- :: ?
14.  geologist : doctor : paleontologist :: seismic blast : auscultate : ?
15.  Mendel :: Lamarck :: eugenics : ? :: ? : species
16.  bishop : knight :: diagonal : ?
17.  1000 : 100 :: ton : ?
18.  CISC : RISC :: RISC : ?
19.  serious : silly :: metaphysics : ?
20.  history : settlements :: cliometrics : ?
21.  Catholic : Catholicism : mass :: witch : ? : ?
22.  analgesia : productivity :: placebo effect : ?
23.  body : mind :: biosphere : ?
24.  nerves : ears :: neurotoxic : ?
25.  ancient : modern : recent :: oxbridge : ? : ?
26.  macro : micro :: paleontology : ?
27.  gold : red :: acapulco : ?
28.  history : language :: dialectical materialism : ?
29.  trial-and-error : think tank :: heuristics : ?
30.  finger : fingerprint :: gun : ?
Show solution
1.   sinter

        Sinter is the mineral deposit left around a spring.

2.   midden

        A midden is the burm left at the entrance to an earthworm's hole.

3.   ipsi-

        Ipsilateral is the opposite of contralateral. 

4.   Leto

        Pygmalion was granted a wish by Aphrodite; Galatea by Leto.

5.   Eisenstein

        The integers in the field Q(sqrt(-1)) are called the Gaussian integers.
        For Q(sqrt(-3)) the name is "Eisenstein".  As far as I know, no other
        number field has been given a special name.  Indeed, it was probably a
        mistake to start naming them in the first place.  We now know that any
        irreducible polynomial over a field F generates an extension field.

6.   lek

        A lek is a group of males organized to attract females.

7.   panspermia

        Life on Earth may have originated on Earth from organic molecules,
        or may have originated from space from hardened spores called
        "panspermia."

8.   bowdlerize

        A written work may be translated to another language, or its style
        may be changed by "bowdlerizing" it.  This technique is used by spies
        to conceal their sources.

9.   puffin

        Penguins are swimming birds of the antarctic; puffins are swimming
        birds of the arctic.

10.  venire

        The members of a jury are chosen from a larger panel, the venire.

11.  Ferrari

        Cardano discovered the closed form solution for the cubic equation.
        His student Ferrari discovered the solution for the quartic.

12.  Ludolph

        Pi was once called "the Ludolphian number", after Ludolph van
        Ceulen, who spent his life calculating it to 35 places.  Euler
        first calculated gamma to 16 places.

13.  quasqui-

        A sesquicentennial is a 150th anniversary; a quasquicentennial
        is a 125th anniversary.

14.  tunk

        A geologist uses seismic blasts to explore the earth; a doctor
        auscultates to explore the body; a archaeologist tunks to explore
        tombs, etc.  All involve exploring with sound.

15.  euphenics, clade

        Mendelian evolution is based on genetics; Lamarkian evolution
        is based on physical changes.  Eugenics is the manipulation of
        genes; euphenics is the manipulation of physical organisms
        after birth.  A species is a group of organisms that are
        physically similar; a clade is a group of organisms that are
        genetically similar.

16.  boustrophedon

        Boustrophedon is back and forth motion, like an ox plowing
        a field or a knight moving on a chess board.

17.  quintal

        A metric ton is 1000 kilograms; a metric quintal is 100 kilograms.
        
18.  VLIW

        The VLIW ("Very Large Instruction Word") computer architecture
        is likely to replace the RISC ("Reduced Instruction Set Computer")
        architecture, much as the RISC architecture is likely to replace
        the CISC ("Complex Instruction Set Computer") architecture.

19.  pataphysics

        Pataphysics is whimsical metaphysics, intended as a parody of
        science.

20.  ekistics

        Cliometrics is a multi-discipline approach to history; ekistics
        is a multi-discipline approach to the study of settlements.

21.  Wicca, esbat

        Wicca is the religion of witches; an esbat is a meeting of a
        coven of witches.

22.  Hawthorne effect

        The placebo effect is analgesia caused by taking supposed
        but actually inert medicine; the Hawthorne effect is productivity
        caused by being part of a supposed but actually nonexistent
        experiment.

23.  noosphere

        The noosphere is the sphere of human consciousness and
        mental activity.

24.  ototoxic

        Ototoxic is poisonous to hearing or balance.

25.  redbrick, plateglass

        Oxbridge refers to British universities (Oxford and Cambridge)
        founded in ancient times; redbrick refers to British universities
        founded in modern times; plateglass refers to British
        universities founded in the last half of the twentieth century.

26.  palynology

        Palynology is the study of microscopic fossils.

27.  Panama

        Acapulco gold and Panama red are types of potent marijuana.

28.  Whorfian hypothesis

        Dialectical materialism postulates that history determines
        an individual's conception of the world; the Whorfian hypothesis
        postulates that language determines an individual's conception
        of the world.

29.  synectics

        Heuristics is a technique of problem-solving that involves
        trial-and-error.  Synectics is a technique of problem-solving
        that involves a think tank.

30.  lands
        Fingerprints are indentations that serve to uniquely identify
        fingers; lands are indentations that serve to uniquely identify
        guns.