I didn't think to mention this, but the solution to my version differs from that of the original.
Also, the puzzle contains "fourth" and "four", and I wonder if while fixing the ambiguity problem it might be an idea to change one of those two similar words: eg, like this:
Which letter in this sentence comes eight letters before the letter that comes five letters after the third appearance of the first letter to occur four times?
That change stirs the spaghetti tangle a bit and gives the puzzler a little extra to think about.
]]>Yes, I agree with Catpurrson about the ambiguity.
This would fix it, I think:
Which letter in this sentence comes eight letters before the letter that comes five letters after the fourth appearance of the first letter to occur four times?
Maybe it could be worded better?
]]>Re-reading it, after seeing your solution, I see it does say '5 letters after the 4th appearance of (t) in this sentence, which is, as you say, P. That does render my above alternative invalid, but it still seems to me that the puzzle could be read as what letter comes 8 letters before P in the alphabet, which is the letter H. So H seems just as valid an answer as the 8th letter before P in the sentence, which is R.
Was this ambiguity intentional, to make it a trick question?
What does anyone else think of my alternative reasoning?
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