Problematics | Fans of Pele and Maradona

A South African team is five goals ahead of an European side. Which player scored which goal?

The football World Cup is a welcome reminder of how long this column has been running. Problematics was in its infancy during the 2022 World Cup, and has completed almost a full cycle since then. Although we have not really completed four years yet (the last World Cup edition began later in the year than this one), we are close. While we wait for the landmark, the sporting event itself calls for a celebration. So let’s kick off the World Cup with two puzzles dedicated to football.

Welcome to Problematics! (Unsplash )

#Puzzle 199.1

A World Cup match is in progress, with a European team struggling against a South American side which has already scored five goals. Each goal has been scored by a different player, each of whom, incidentally, represents a different European club when not playing internationals. Being South American, each one is a fan of either a Brazilian or an Argentine player, including Alberto Di Stefano who played for both Argentina and Spain. In this match, each of the five players have scored with a different kind of shot. And each one, of course, has a different designated position on the field.

The usual conditions apply. If goal A and goal B are described as consecutive, it could be either A immediately followed by B, or B immediately followed by A. If goal C comes before goal D, these may or may not be consecutive (unless explicitly stated as consecutive). You have 19 clues, which I suspect makes the puzzle a little easier than it could have been.

(1) The highest number of international goals by any of the five players is 33

(2) Two players who score consecutively have 27 and 31 international goals respectively

(3) The left-winger scores immediately after the player with 27 international goals

(4) The player who scores immediately after the full-back has 28 international goals

(5) The player with 29 international goals scores immediately before the Juventus player

(6) The first goal is scored by a player with 27 international goals

(7) The fourth goal is scored with a bicycle kick

(8) The bicycle-kick goal and the Maradona fan’s goal are scored consecutively

(9) One of the five goals is a header

(10) A goal arising out of a chip shot and the Bayern Munich player’s goal are scored consecutively

(11) The Pele fan scores before the Bayern Munich player

(12) The goal scored with a half-volley comes after the Socrates fan’s goal but before the chip-shot goal

(13) The bicycle-kick goal comes after the Real Madrid player’s goal but before the goal scored with a curler

(14) The half-back is not involved in the second, third or fourth goals

(15) The Garrincha fan scores before the Di Stefano fan

(16) The centre-forward is a fan of Maradona

(17) The Ajax player scores before the Manchester United player

(18) The Manchester United player scores immediately after the goal scored with a half-volley

(19) The fifth goal is scored by the right-winger

From the first goal to the fifth, please arrange in tabular form all details about each player’s superstar idol, European club team, position on the field, the goal-scoring shot, and the number of international goals.

#Puzzle 199.2

The surface of a standard football. (Wikimedia Commons)

A standard stitched football consists of 12 pentagons and 20 hexagons, which is why they are sometimes described as 32-panel balls. What is the total number of edges (sides) of these geometric shapes, counting each edge only once?

MAILBOX: LAST WEEK’S SOLVERS

#Puzzle 198.1

Hello Kabir,

Let the jewels counted by Calculus, Tintin, Haddock and Snowy be C, T, H and S respectively, and let the number of hidden jewels be X. Given:

C + T + H + S + X = 630

S + X = H + T + C

H + X = 1.5(C + T + S)

T + X = 2(C + H + S)

C + X = 2.5(T + H + S)

Solving, we get:

C + T + H = 315 (from first and second equations)

C + T + S = 252 (from first and third equations)

C + H + S = 210 (from first and fourth equations)

T + H + S = 180 (from first and fifth equations)

Adding these four new equations gives:

3(C + T + H + S) = 957

=> C + T + H + S = 319

This means X = 630 – 319 = 311.

Using this value in the above equations gives all the variables: Calculus = 139, Tintin = 109, Haddock = 67, Snowy = 4, Hidden = 311.

— Dr Sunita Gupta, Delhi

#Puzzle 198.2

Hi Kabir,

The anagram answers are:

BRAINTEASER BY YMCA = A CARIBBEAN MYSTERY (novel)

OUR HELICOPTER = HERCULE POIROT (character in Death on the Nile)

NOTE HT HEADLINE = DEATH ON THE NILE (novel)

MPs ARE SLIM = MISS MARPLE (character in A Caribbean Mystery)

Common link: Author Agatha Christie

— Shishir Gupta, Indore

Among the solvers below, one has used AI to crack the anagrams in #198.2 and does not wish to be credited for that puzzle, so his name appears among the solvers of #198.1 alone. Akshay Khanna’s solution to #198.1 has been sent on his behalf by YK Munjal, his father-in-law.

Solved both puzzles: Dr Sunita Gupta (Delhi), Shishir Gupta (Indore), Vinod Mahajan (Delhi), Ajay Ashok (Delhi), Professor Anshul Kumar (Delhi), Sabornee Jana (Mumbai)

Solved #Puzzle 198.1: Anil Khanna (Ghaziabad), Kanwarjit Singh (Chief Commissioner of Income-tax, retired), Yadvendra Somra (Sonipat)

Solved #Puzzle 198.2: Akshay Khanna (Delhi)

Problematics will be back next week. Please send in your replies Friday to problematics@hindustantimes.com.