MIT Libraries Puzzle Challenge

Puzzle Archive: Fall 2007 Puzzle 2 Solution

See the unsolved puzzle here.
Or go back to the Puzzle Archive.

Released November 5, 2007; deadline was November 20, 2007. Congratulations to the winner of the drawing, Khoa Nguyen!

Solvers will quickly notice that the questions have bold and italicized letters which spell out "Dewey Research Advisor." The Dewey Research Advisor is an online database which provides starting points and tips for answering specific research questions in the fields of business, management, and economics. There are currently over 400 questions and answers in the database, which can be browsed by subject or searched by keyword. Each question provides links to relevant resources available at MIT and on the internet. Further research assistance on these topics is available from librarians at the Dewey Library; just Ask Us! Each of the questions in this puzzle is taken verbatim from the Dewey Research Advisor. The first challenge is to find the answers to all of the questions:

Where can I find information on agricultural economics? (8) AGRICOLA
Where can I find a list of definitions of the various methods of incorporation? (10) BIZFILINGS
Where can I find yield curve analysis information? (9) BLOOMBERG
How can I find a directory of high tech companies? (8) CORPTECH
Where can I find information on obsolete securities? (10) DATASTREAM
Where can I find information about financial models? (7) ECONLIT
How can I find what people are searching on the internet? (9) EMARKETER
How can I access statistical information for the EU? (8) EUROSTAT
Where can I find changes in companies' management? (7) FACTIVA
Where can I find international statistical agencies on the Web? (8) FEDSTATS
How can I find information on nonprofit organizations? (9) GUIDESTAR
Where can I find housing data from the U.S. government? (7) HUD USER
Where can I find transcripts of conference calls? (9) INVESTEXT
Where can I find information on social networking? (_____ Research) (7) JUPITER
Where can I find information on worldwide wages and fringe benefits? (_____ Internet) (8) LABORSTA
How do I find SEC filings? (10) LEXISNEXIS
Where can I find all common stocks listed on an exchange? (_____ Online) (8) MERIDIAN
Where can I find national accounts variables expressed in a common set of prices in a common currency? (_____ Tables) (9) PENN WORLD
How do I find information on the sports industry? (_____ Research Online) (8) PLUNKETT
Where can I find data on world supply and consumption of oil? (10) SOURCEOECD
How do I find betas for companies or industries? (_____ Investment Survey) (9) VALUELINE
How do I find career information about management consulting? (_____ Career Library) (7) WETFEET

The answers are in alphabetical order, which is a good hint that they're not in the correct order for the grid (another hint is that the number of letters in each word doesn't match up with the grid in this order). Solvers will have to figure out that cells in the grid which are merged with the cell above or below contain the same letter. Knowing that, there is only one way to fit the words in the grid correctly. The unique solution looks like this:

The grayed letters, reading down, spell out "Answer is Milton Friedman." (Note: we did accept submissions of both "Milton Friedman" and "Answer is Milton Friedman")

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This page was last updated on Thursday, 16-Jul-2009 07:54:13 EDT