Category: Practical
Samuel Loyd (1841 – 1911), born in Philadelphia and raised in New York City, was an American chess player, chess composer, puzzle author, and recreational mathematician. As a chess composer, he authored a number of chess problems, often with interesting themes. At his peak, Loyd was one of the best chess players in the US and was ranked 15th in the world, according to chessmetrics.com.
MLN
This puzzle/game is played with groups of people, in which at least one of the participants knows the meaning of “MLN”, and the others are trying to figure it out.
All players must sit in a circle, facing each other. Then the people, who do not know what “MLN” stands for, take turns to ask questions. Every question must start with “Is MLN…” and must have a “yes” or “no” answer. Then a player who knows the meaning of “MLN” answers the question and the game continues until everyone solves the puzzle.
To play this game with your friends, at least one of you must know about the solution, which is explained below. Just keep in mind that whoever reads it, will lose the enjoyment of figuring it out by himself.
The abbreviation “MLN” stands for “My Left Neighbor”. For example, if someone asks “Is MLN a boy?”, the answer will depend on the gender of the person on their left side. This makes the game both interesting and confusing.
Manifold
Manifold is a brilliant puzzle invented by Jerome Morin-Drouin. Based on the origami principle, the goal of Manifold is to fold the printed paper several times, so that eventually you will end up with a 4 × 4 square which is white on one side and black on the other. The Manifolds here are provided by The Incredible Company and are part of their Manifold game which contains a total of 100 puzzles. Click the images, download them, print them, and solve the puzzles.
One to Eight
Prepare a piece of paper with dimensions 2×4, then fold it four times to form 8 squares. Write on the squares in the top row the numbers 1, 8, 7, 4, and write on the squares in the bottom row the numbers 2, 3, 6, 5.
Now your task is to fold the piece of paper several times, so that the squares end up on top of each other, with the numbers appearing in ascending order top to bottom, and 1 face up.
Once you do this, try again with numbers 1, 8, 2, 7 on the top row, and 4, 5, 3, 6 on the bottom row.
Coming soon.
Six Coins
Take six coins and arrange them in a triangle as shown in the image. Your goal is to rearrange the coins into a hexagon with only four moves. Every move consists of sliding one coin to a new location where it touches at least two other coins.
The solution is shown below.
Tie a Knot
First, get a completely untangled rope. Now, your task is to grab its two ends, and without letting it go, tie this knot in the middle.
In order to do this, first cross your arms, and from this position, grab the two ends of the rope. Once you untangle your arms, the knot will appear on the rope.
The Cherries Puzzle
Get a stripe of paper, then cut two holes and two slits in it, as shown on the image below. Then try to attach two large cherries to paper, without tearing it apart.
Pull the handle in the paper through the holes, attach the cherries, then pull it back up.
Bonded Forever
Get 2 ropes and tie them up around the hands of 2 of your friends, as shown on the picture. Then, let your friends separate from each other, without untying the knots or cutting the ropes.
The solution is shown below.
Cross – Parallel
This puzzle/game is played with groups of people, in which some of the participants know the rules, and others are trying to figure them out.
All players must sit in a circle, facing each other. Then one person who is familiar with the rules starts by pointing at another and saying “cross-cross”, “cross-parallel”, “parallel-cross”, or “parallel-parallel”. After that, the person who got picked must choose another one and guess which one of the four expressions above he must say. If he gets it wrong, he gets corrected, and then the next person continues. The game ends when everyone finds out what the secret is.
To play this puzzle game with your friends, at least one of you must know the secret rules and solution, which are explained below. Just keep in mind that whoever learns the rules, will lose the enjoyment of figuring them out by himself.
When you point at somebody, you say “cross-cross”, if yours and the other person’s legs are crossed, “cross-parallel”, if yours are crossed and the other person’s are parallel, etc.