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N ≈ 1000

N black Xs enclose \u2200\ufb06\u5712.

Atop the Xs sit M gold/silver Ys.

What is the value of M?

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Solution

author: Nic Bricknell

The puzzle tells us that N black Xs enclose \u2200\ufb06\u5712. Recognising that \uXXXX refers to a unicode character, we can decode it as ∀ﬆ園. Literally, this means "for all st garden/park/orchard", which must refer to the garden near St. John's called 'All Saints' Garden'. Indeed this is enclosed by many (perhaps a thousand) black fence posts, some of which are crowned by a gold or silver ornament. Going there and counting this number gives us the answer, 41.