Answer to the Problem of the Week
for the week of December 19, 2005

Holiday Algebra
by Craig Wilson
in Games Magazine (October 2005)

Many Christmas songs have lyrics in which a word or phrase is repeated. Several repetitive lyrics have been extracted from a number of holiday favorites.   Each algebraic expression below represents a song, where each word is represented by its first letter and exponents show the number of repetitions.   If two or more words are repeated as a group, they appear in parentheses.   For example, (JB)2 is short for "Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells."

Can you identify all the songs below?

  1. (JB)3R
  2. P(RP3)3
  3. FL8
  4. (SIHP)2
  5. N4
  6. (WWYAMC)3
  7. (OCT)2
  8. OTO(CAJ)2OTOCAJ
  9. (GIED)2
  10. (OCLUAH)2
  11. (H3WWG)2
  12. (LIS)3
  13. (FN)3
  14. (SB)2
  15. (HCSC)2
  16. (RTSJ)2 R2TSJ
  17. (OC)2E

  Extra Credit: A61

 

Solution to the Problem:

  1. "Jingle Bell Rock" ("Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell Rock")
  2. "The Little Drummer Boy" ("Pa Rum Pum Pum Pum, Rum Pum Pum Pum, Rum Pum Pum Pum")
  3. "Deck the Halls" ("Fa La La La La La La La La")
  4. "Silent Night" ("Sleep in Heavenly Peace, Sleep in Heavenly Peace")
  5. "The First Noel" ("Noel, Noel, Noel, Noel")
  6. "We Wish You A Merry Christmas" ("We Wish You A Merry Christmas, We Wish You A Merry Christmas, We Wish You A Merry Christmas")
  7. "O Christmas Tree" ("O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree")
  8. "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" ("O Tidings Of Comfort And Joy, Comfort And Joy, O Tidings Of Comfort And Joy")
  9. "Angels We Have Heard On High" ("Gloria in Excelsis Deo, Gloria in Excelsis Deo")
  10. "O Come, All Ye Faithful" ("O Come, Let Us Adore Him, O Come, Let Us Adore Him")
  11. "Up On The Housrtop" ("Ho, Ho, Ho, Who Wouldn't Go? Ho, Ho, Ho, Who Wouldn't Go?")
  12. "Let It Snow" ("Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow")
  13. "Feliz Navidad" ("Feliz Navidad, Feliz Navidad, Feliz Navidad")
  14. "Silver Bells" ("Silver Bells, Silver Bells")
  15. "Here Comes Santa Claus" ("Here Comes Santa Claus, Here Comes Santa Claus")
  16. "Joy To The World" ("Repeat The Sounding Joy, Repeat The Sounding Joy, Repeat, Repeat The Sounding Joy")
  17. "O Come, O Come Emmanuel" ("O Come, O Come Emmanuel")

  Extra Credit: "Jingle Bells" sung by the barking dogs ("Arf, Arf, Arf, Arf, Arf, Arf, ...")
(Most everyone sent in the Hallelujah Chorus from Handel's Messiah, but those are H's!).

Correctly solved by:

1. Erin Fennacy Fresno, California
2. Bill Funk San Antonio, Texas
3. John Funk Ventura, California
4. Walt Arrison Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
5. Andrew Montoya Winchester, Virginia
6. Lauren Ko Winchester, Virginia
7. Joanne, Justin, Google, and Riaz New York City, New York
8. Samantha Stevens ----------
9. Daniel Carlton Winchester, Virginia
10. Jeffey Gaither University of Virginia
Charlottesville, Virginia
11. Jeff McKenzie Winchester, Virginia
12. Elizabeth Carlson Winchester, Virginia
13. Emily Powell Winchester, Virginia
14. Arin Smith University of Virginia
Charlottesville, Virginia
15. Jacquelyn Heltz ----------
16. Amber Micheli ----------
17. Morgan Vercimak ----------
18. Mandy Maxfield ----------
19. Heather Brown Winchester, Virginia
20. Kelley Kolar Winchester, Virginia
21. Jessica Irick Mountain View, Wyoming
22. Jamie Ciminelli ----------
23. Dana Moats Ft. Eustis, Virginia
24. Kelly Blend Winchester, Virginia
25. Julianne Harris Winchester, Virginia
26. David McKinney Winchester, Virginia
27. Charles Washington Winchester, Virginia
28. Erin Bender Winchester, Virginia
29. Anne Bryant Winchester, Virginia
30. Va Lynne Stoddard ----------
31. Olivia Quach Harrisonburg, Virginia
32. Maggie Morrison Winchester, Virginia