"Truth is always strange,..."
(9048'3 256)

        W O R D
      * L I S T
      x x x x D
      x x x R
  x x x x O
x x x x W      
x x x x x x x x

There are 8 unique letters in the alphametric and there is no 1 or 7 in (9048'3 256) this indicates none of the letters is a 1 or 7.  1 seems like it would have been the obvious choice for T.  Is there another digit that can produce the same last digit as the number it is multiplied by?  The only other digit that works with more than one other is 6.  6*2=12, 6*4=24, 6*8=48, 6*0=0 so the top row must be these digits and the LIS must be 3,5,9.

When S is multiplied by WORD there is no carry.  The only candidates for S and W are S=3 and W=2.

Let's look at the numbers at the top and fill in what we know:
(9048'S W5T) the S fit fine as a possessive in the first word.  The 5 can only be L or I.  To be a word WIT, I=5.

This leaves L=9

(L048'S WIT) and the remaining letters are O R D.

The only thing that seems to fit is LORD'S WIT.
A google search of that turns up nothing but a google search of the quotation reveals the the author as Lord Byron.
I ends "stranger than fiction."  This is often paraphrased to "Truth is stranger than fiction." 

I don't think it would be very easy to derive the rest of the alphametric without the number clues.  Charlie's post seems to indicate it is possible.

Posted by Jer on 2012-04-13 11:03:07