Strange women and their strange ways of giving you phone numbers

Question

While Bob was walking down the street one day, he met a wonderful woman that was attractive and smart and a great conversationalist.

After they had been chatting for a while the woman looked at her watch and quickly got up and scribbled something down while saying "I have to go, I'm running very late. Here's my phone number, if you know my name you can call me, otherwise don't bother."

This is what she wrote on the paper:

1.4- 2-2.2- 1.4- 2.3- 2-2.2- 1.4- 1-4. 2-2.2- 3-2. 2-2.2- 1.4-
4-1. 2-2.2- 1.4- 4.1- 2-2.2- 4.1- 2-2.2- 4-1. 2-2.2- 1.4-
2.3- 5- 2-2.2- 1.4- 2-2.2- 1.4- 4.1- 2-2.2- 2-3. 2-2.2- 1.4- 5.
1.4- 4-1. 2-2.2- 4-1. 2-2.2- 5. 2-2.2- 1.4- 3-2. 2-2.2- 1.4- 3-2. 2-2.2- 1.4-
4-1. 2-2.2- 1.4- 4.1- 2-2.2- 4.1- 2-2.2- 4-1. 2-2.2- 1.4-
2.3- 4.1- 2-2.2- 1.4- 3-2. 2-2.2- 1.4- 2-2.2- 2.3- 5.
1.4- 4-1. 2-2.2- 4-1. 2-2.2- 5. 2-2.2- 1.4- 3-2. 2-2.2- 1.4- 3-2. 2-2.2- 1.4-
5. 2-2.2- 3.2- 2-2.2- 3-2. 2-2.2- 1.4- 5.
2.3- 2.3- 2-2.2- 4-1. 2-2.2- 3.2- 2-2.2- 2.3- 5- 2-2.2- 1.4- 5. 2-2.2- 1.4- 3-2.
5. 2-2.2- 3.2- 2-2.2- 3-2. 2-2.2- 1.4- 5.
1.4- 4.1- 2-2.2- 1.4- 5. 2-2.2- 2.3- 2.3- 2-2.2- 5. 2-2.2- 1.4- 3.2- 2-2.2- 2.3- 2-2.2- 5. 2-2.2- 1.4- 3-2.
1-4. 2-2.2- 1.4- 5. 2-2.2- 2.3- 4.1- 2-2.2- 2.3- 5- 2-2.2- 1.4- 3-2. 2-2.2- 1.4- 5. 2-2.2- 2.3- 5-
4-1. 2-2.2- 1.4- 4.1- 2-2.2- 4.1- 2-2.2- 4-1. 2-2.2- 1.4-
1-4. 2-2.2- 1.4- 5. 2-2.2- 2.3- 4.1- 2-2.2- 2.3- 5- 2-2.2- 1.4- 3-2. 2-2.2- 1.4- 5. 2-2.2- 2.3- 5-
5. 2-2.2- 3.2- 2-2.2- 3-2. 2-2.2- 1.4- 5.
2.3- 5- 2-2.2- 1.4- 2-2.2- 1.4- 4.1- 2-2.2- 2-3. 2-2.2- 1.4- 5.
1.4- 3-2. 2-2.2- 1.4- 5. 2-2.2- 1.4- 3.2- 2-2.2- 5. 2-2.2- 1.4- 5.
5. 2-2.2- 3.2- 2-2.2- 3-2. 2-2.2- 1.4- 5.
5. 2-2.2- 3.2- 2-2.2- 3-2. 2-2.2- 1.4- 5.
2.3- 1-4. 2-2.2- 2.3- 1.4- 2-2.2- 1.4- 2.3- 2-2.2- 2.3- 1.4-
5. 2-2.2- 3.2- 2-2.2- 3-2. 2-2.2- 1.4- 5.
5. 2-2.2- 3.2- 2-2.2- 3-2. 2-2.2- 1.4- 5.
1.4- 3-2. 2-2.2- 1.4- 5. 2-2.2- 1.4- 3.2- 2-2.2- 5. 2-2.2- 1.4- 5.
1.4- 5. 2-2.2- 1.4- 4-1. 2-2.2- 3.2- 2-2.2- 1.4- 2-2.2- 1.4- 3-2.
1.4- 4.1- 2-2.2- 1.4- 5. 2-2.2- 2.3- 2.3- 2-2.2- 5. 2-2.2- 1.4- 3.2- 2-2.2- 2.3- 2-2.2- 5. 2-2.2- 1.4- 3-2.
4-1. 2-2.2- 1.4- 4.1- 2-2.2- 4.1- 2-2.2- 4-1. 2-2.2- 1.4-
1.4- 4.1- 2-2.2- 1.4- 5. 2-2.2- 2.3- 2.3- 2-2.2- 5. 2-2.2- 1.4- 3.2- 2-2.2- 2.3- 2-2.2- 5. 2-2.2- 1.4- 3-2.
5. 2-2.2- 3.2- 2-2.2- 3-2. 2-2.2- 1.4- 5.
1.4- 3-2. 2-2.2- 1.4- 5. 2-2.2- 1.4- 3.2- 2-2.2- 5. 2-2.2- 1.4- 5.

For obvious reasons, Bob was rather confused for a while. He realized that in their entire conversation she had never said her name.

All the same, he began trying to figure out the message she had written him. He was beginning to despair but then as he finished working out what she had written him, he immediately knew her name and called her number the first chance he got.

What was her name?

I love that she was running very late, and yet had time to write THAT on a piece of paper. — Dan Russell, Jul 28 '16 at 18:33
Maybe she keeps a few copies of this always with her to find out intelligent guys. — ViVi, Jul 29 '16 at 06:59

score 88 · Accepted Answer · edited Jul 30 '16 at 13:04

Her name is

Jenny

Her phone number is

867-5309

Because

The message is in morse code, the numbers represent the number of .s and -s should be in that place. E.g. 1.4- = .----

The translated message is:

.---- --..-- .---- ..--- --..-- .---- -.... --..-- ---.. --..-- .---- --..-- ----. --..-- .---- ....- --..-- ....- --..-- ----. --..-- .---- --..-- ..--- ----- --..-- .---- --..-- .---- ....- --..-- --... --..-- .---- ..... --..-- .---- ----. --..-- ----. --..-- ..... --..-- .---- ---.. --..-- .---- ---.. --..-- .---- --..-- ----. --..-- .---- ....- --..-- ....- --..-- ----. --..-- .---- --..-- ..--- ....- --..-- .---- ---.. --..-- .---- --..-- ..--- ..... --..-- .---- ----. --..-- ----. --..-- ..... --..-- .---- ---.. --..-- .---- ---.. --..-- .---- --..-- ..... --..-- ...-- --..-- ---.. --..-- .---- ..... --..-- ..--- ..--- --..-- ----. --..-- ...-- --..-- ..--- ----- --..-- .---- ..... --..-- .---- ---.. --..-- ..... --..-- ...-- --..-- ---.. --..-- .---- ..... --..-- .---- ....- --..-- .---- ..... --..-- ..--- ..--- --..-- ..... --..-- .---- ...-- --..-- ..--- --..-- ..... --..-- .---- ---.. --..-- -.... --..-- .---- ..... --..-- ..--- ....- --..-- ..--- ----- --..-- .---- ---.. --..-- .---- ..... --..-- ..--- ----- --..-- ----. --..-- .---- ....- --..-- ....- --..-- ----. --..-- .---- --..-- -.... --..-- .---- ..... --..-- ..--- ....- --..-- ..--- ----- --..-- .---- ---.. --..-- .---- ..... --..-- ..--- ----- --..-- ..... --..-- ...-- --..-- ---.. --..-- .---- ..... --..-- ..--- ----- --..-- .---- --..-- .---- ....- --..-- --... --..-- .---- ..... --..-- .---- ---.. --..-- .---- ..... --..-- .---- ...-- --..-- ..... --..-- .---- ..... --..-- ..... --..-- ...-- --..-- ---.. --..-- .---- ..... --..-- ..... --..-- ...-- --..-- ---.. --..-- .---- ..... --..-- ..--- -.... --..-- ..--- .---- --..-- .---- ..--- --..-- ..--- .---- --..-- ..... --..-- ...-- --..-- ---.. --..-- .---- ..... --..-- ..... --..-- ...-- --..-- ---.. --..-- .---- ..... --..-- .---- ---.. --..-- .---- ..... --..-- .---- ...-- --..-- ..... --..-- .---- ..... --..-- .---- ..... --..-- .---- ----. --..-- ...-- --..-- .---- --..-- .---- ---.. --..-- .---- ....- --..-- .---- ..... --..-- ..--- ..--- --..-- ..... --..-- .---- ...-- --..-- ..--- --..-- ..... --..-- .---- ---.. --..-- ----. --..-- .---- ....- --..-- ....- --..-- ----. --..-- .---- --..-- .---- ....- --..-- .---- ..... --..-- ..--- ..--- --..-- ..... --..-- .---- ...-- --..-- ..--- --..-- ..... --..-- .---- ---.. --..-- ..... --..-- ...-- --..-- ---.. --..-- .---- ..... --..-- .---- ---.. --..-- .---- ..... --..-- .---- ...-- --..-- ..... --..-- .---- .....

Which, converted to plain text is:

1,12,16,8,1,9,14,4,9,1,20,1,14,7,15,19,9,5,18,18,1,9,14,4,9,1,24,18,1,25,19,9,5,18,18,1,5,3,8,15,22,9,3,20,15,18,5,3,8,15,14,15,22,5,13,2,5,18,6,15,24,20,18,15,20,9,14,4,9,1,6,15,24,20,18,15,20,5,3,8,15,20,1,14,7,15,18,15,13,5,15,5,3,8,15,5,3,8,15,26,21,12,21,5,3,8,15,5,3,8,15,18,15,13,5,15,15,19,3,1,18,14,15,22,5,13,2,5,18,9,14,4,9,1,14,15,22,5,13,2,5,18,5,3,8,15,18,15,13,5,15

The result above

is the letter number in the English alphabet. (e.g.: 1 = A, 2 = B, etc.)

Translating this, we get:

ALPHA INDIA TANGO SIERRA INDIA XRAY SIERRA ECHO VICTOR ECHO NOVEMBER FOXTROT INDIA FOXTROT ECHO TANGO ROMEO ECHO ECHO ZULU ECHO ECHO ROMEO OSCAR NOVEMBER INDIA NOVEMBER ECHO ROMEO

These are the

Phonetic spellings of the English alphabet.

Which spells out the following:

AIT SIX SEVEN FIFE TREE ZEERO NINER

Which are the

Phonetic spellings of the numbers.

Giving us her phone number:

867-5309

Which, pop-culture tells us belongs to:

Jenny

Not sure where you got the ..... on the first line as I have no 5s until the 3rd... — dcfyj, Jul 28 '16 at 19:48
I think I may have screwed something up in my copy/pasting efforts. — Siyual, Jul 28 '16 at 19:52
That would be my guess. It's OK though, you still got the right answer with all the right reasoning. — dcfyj, Jul 28 '16 at 19:54
Redid the answer - I messed up the copy/paste right at the beginning, causing all the weirdness. — Siyual, Jul 28 '16 at 20:03
Can you explain why pop culture says that ? I didn't get it. — Saikat, Jul 29 '16 at 04:03
@Siyual : Appreciate your intelligence & patience to find answer to such a twisted puzzle. — ViVi, Jul 29 '16 at 07:04
Must be a different girl than the one from the song, she didn't write it on the wall! — liebs19, Jul 29 '16 at 16:48
@user230452 Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eND16kC79pw — A E, Jul 30 '16 at 17:36

score 34 · Answer 2 · answered Jul 29 '16 at 05:05

34

Alternative solution:

Her name is

Alice

Bob quickly realized this because

The message is clearly encrypted somehow, and Alice and Bob are the two names very commonly used in cryptography examples: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice_and_Bob

As for her phone number,

Bob simply solved the 19 math equations as written, for example:
1.4 - 2 - 2.2 - 1.4 - 2.3 - 2 - 2.2 - 1.4 - 1 - 4.2 - 2.2 - 3 - 2.2 - 2.2 - 1.4 - 4 - 1.2 - 2.2 - 1.4 - 4.1 - 2 - 2.2 - 4.1 - 2 - 2.2 - 4 - 1.2 - 2.2 - 1.4 - 2.3 - 5 - 2 - 2.2 - 1.4 - 2 - 2.2 - 1.4 - 4.1 - 2 - 2.2 - 2 - 3.2 - 2.2 - 1.4 - 5. = -103.1

Yielding the values:

-103.1
-106.3
-68.4
-46.2
-18.2
-61
-187.2
-36
-37.4
-18.2
-18.2
-53.2
-18.2
-37.4
-34.2
-61
-90
-18.2
-37.4

Solving that as written yields:

-1049.8

And then multiplying that

by the square of the number of equations, 19, yields:
-3789778

A perfect 7 digits:

378-9778

Finally,

The Jenny / 867-5309 "solution" was clearly an ingenious red herring. What are the odds of the woman being named Jenny and actually having that number? :-)

answered Jul 29 '16 at 05:05

Jon Schneider

449
3
4

8

This was not the answer the OP was looking for, but it's still very well done. +1 – grooveplex Jul 29 '16 at 08:11
2

Sounds like a bit of a stretch to me :P – dcfyj Jul 29 '16 at 11:09
@dcfyk: Oh, absolutely it's a stretch. :-) This was intended to be a silly answer, not a serious one! – Jon Schneider Jul 29 '16 at 13:14
5

Meh. I still think this is the correct answer. :P – pipe Jul 29 '16 at 14:45
1

I know Jon, I wasn't being serious either haha. – dcfyj Jul 29 '16 at 14:56

Charlok · Answer 3 · 2016-07-28T19:02:31.030

24

Her name is

Jenny

Because

It's morse code. The number precedes each dot or dash, delimited by commas. The lines spell out the phonetic alphabet by providing the number for each letter (1=A, 2=B etc.). The actual message is "AIT SIX SEVEN..." and at that point I extrapolated the rest. Jenny, I got your number :-)

edited Jul 28 '16 at 19:02

answered Jul 28 '16 at 18:50

Charlok

746
5
6

Correct. I was hoping it would withstand scrutiny a little longer but clearly the minds of the SE are far too strong for my puzzles haha. – dcfyj Jul 28 '16 at 18:53
Keep em coming! Had a lot of fun working on it. – Charlok Jul 28 '16 at 19:01
1

@Siyual showed much better detail in their answer. – Charlok Jul 28 '16 at 21:20
1

If you would like me to I can change the selected answer to his. Personally I'm choosing the one that posted first. – dcfyj Jul 29 '16 at 00:55
3

That is up to you. I probably only posted first because I wasn't as detailed. It's a good puzzle, and should have the best answer chosen (which in my opinion is @Siyual's)! – Charlok Jul 29 '16 at 02:11
Alright, will do. – dcfyj Jul 29 '16 at 02:11

score 11 · Answer 4 · edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:50

The short way

Jenny

To publish a telephone number invites crank calls, so many movies/stories use a fictitious telephone numbers prefix 555.
None of lines replicate three in a row, suggesting that the number does not contain 555. Posting a phone # on this site likely against site rules unless the number is very public.
OP @dcfyj lives in USA.
The problem implies the name is not explicit.
A popular U.S. the 1981 song that meets the above that names the woman.

The harder way:

After seeing the pattern 2-2.2- every 2nd/3rd pattern, I assumed it was a

space/separator.

Then 10 remaining patterns 1.4-, 1-4., 2.3-, 2-2.2-, 2-3., 3.2-, 3-2., 4.1-, 4-1., 5-, 5. were

likely digits.

The only paired digits began with 1.4-, 2.3- and 2.3- had fewer combinations leading to

1.4-, 2.3- are 1 and 2

Extending that to the other patterns lead to

3.2- is 3, 4.1- is 4, 5- is 5, 1-4. is 6 ....

Converting that letter code to A-Z

1 12 16 8 1 ALPHA
9 14 4 9 1 INDIGO
20 1 14 7 15 TANGO
...

and applying this

AITSIXSEVENFIFETREEZEERONINER

or

867-5309

which leads above mentioned song.

i like that you don't know/didn't apply morse and still worked it out — RozzA, Aug 01 '16 at 03:45
@RozzA Somewhat red-faced as I am familiar with Morse code and did not see that code's pattern until after solving the puzzle. — chux - Reinstate Monica, Aug 01 '16 at 13:25

Strange women and their strange ways of giving you phone numbers

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