January 2009
Problem of the Month

Hand Bell Problem

My wife and I attended a Hand Bell Concert at a neighboring church and we did not know the identity of any of the ringers.

The concert began with small groups of ringers playing seven different pieces, and their names were given in the program.

Assuming that I could remember the faces of each ensemble and could distinguish male from female, which of the 14 ringers could I identify by the end of the concert?

The first seven pieces are given below along with the performers.

Musical Selection		Ringers
The Swan		Amy, Karen, Trever
Kindness		Andrew, Karen, Lance
Bist Du Bei Mir		Laurie, Michelle, Tracy, Yvonne
Arioso		David, Lynne, Nancy, Stephanie
Adagio		Andrew, Trever
Pick A Winner		Andrew, Kate, Lance, Trever
O Holy Night		Lynne, Tracy

The following ringers were males: Andrew, David, Lance, Trever

The following ringers were female: Amy, Karen, Kate, Laurie, Michelle, Lynne, Nancy, Stephanie, Tracy, Yvonne

Solution to the Problem:

I could identify the following nine ringers:
Amy, Andrew, David, Karen, Kate, Lance, Lynne, Tracy, and Trever.

I could not determine the identities of the following five ringers:
Laurie, Michelle, Nancy, Stephanie, and Yvonne.

Here is the order in which the ringers were identified:

Musical Selection		Ringers Identified
The Swan		Trever (the only male)
Kindness		Karen (only person in 1st 2 groups), Amy (only one left in 1st group)
Bist Du Bei Mir		None
Arioso		David (only male in group)
Adagio		Andrew (since Trever was identified) Lance (since he is the remaining ringer in group 2)
Pick A Winner		Kate (only female in this group)
O Holy Night		Lynne (only one to be in groups 4 and 7), Tracy (only one left in group 7)

Correctly solved by:

1. Richard K. Johnson	La Jolla, California
2. Hazen Dickerson	Mountain View High School, Mountain View, Wyoming
3. David & Judy Dixon	Bennettsville, South Carolina
4. Ty Malone	Mountain View High School, Mountain View, Wyoming
5. Claire Lewis	John Handley High School, Winchester, Virginia
6. Marissa Vitt	Mountain View High School, Mountain View, Wyoming
7. Amber Henry	Mountain View High School, Mountain View, Wyoming
8. Jacquelyn Heltz	Mountain View High School, Mountain View, Wyoming
9. Alexis Condos	Mountain View High School, Mountain View, Wyoming
10. Halie Gardner	Mountain View High School, Mountain View, Wyoming
11. Emily Stapp	Mountain View High School, Mountain View, Wyoming
12. Cherish Register	Mountain View High School, Mountain View, Wyoming

Send any comments or questions to: David Pleacher