Charley and Wilma
Why despite killing dozens of people Charley and Wilma were not punished?
SOLUTION
Charley and Wilma were intense hurricanes which formed in August 2004 and October 2005 respectively.
Category: Puzzles
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Cut the Pizza
Cut a circular pizza into 12 congruent slices, such that exactly half of them contain crust.
Remark: We say that a slice contains crust if it shares an arc with the boundary of the pizza (with non-zero measure).
SOLUTION
First, cut the pizza into 6 congruent circular triangles, and then split each of them in half, as shown on the image below.
Saavedra Position
White to play. Is this game a win for White, Black, or a draw?
SOLUTION
This game is a win for White.
1. c7 Rd6+
2. Kb5 Rd5+
3. Kb4 Rd4+
4. Kb3 Rd3+
5. Kc2! Rd4!
6. c8=R! Ra4
7. Kb3
Now Black will either lose the rook, or get mated in one. If White promoted a Queen instead of a Rook, then 6… Rc4+ would lead to 7. Qxc4, which is a stalemate.
Not a Prince
What wears a crown but is no Prince,
Is good at standing but cannot sit,
Digs for years but leaves no pit,
And wears its jewels inside of it?
SOLUTION
The answer is TREE.
Open or Close
If you turn the handle of the top left gear clockwise, will the box in the bottom right open or close?
SOLUTION
The box will open.
Missing Parenthesis
Insert the missing parentheses into each equation to make it true.
SOLUTION
The solutions are:
- (((9+12)÷(3+4))÷(2+1))×2 = 2
- ((9+12)÷3)+4÷(2+1×2) = 8
- (9+12)÷3+4÷2+1×2 = 11
- 9+12÷(3+4÷(2+1×2))= 12
Source:
“Intermediate Algebra for College Students” by Karl. J. Smith and Patrick J. Boyle
FEATURED
Cat Maze
Reach the Goal by following the cats, alternating between cats facing forwards and cats facing backwards. The cats in your path must be connected or overlapping.
SOLUTION
The path is outlined via the green cats below.
Sunome
The main challenge of a Sunome puzzle is drawing a maze. Numbers surrounding the outside of the maze border give an indication of how the maze is to be constructed. To solve the puzzle you must draw all the walls where they belong and then draw a path from the Start square to the End square.
The walls of the maze are to be drawn on the dotted lines inside the border. A single wall exists either between 2 nodes or a node and the border. The numbers on the top and left of the border tell you how many walls exist on the corresponding lines inside the grid. The numbers on the right and bottom of the border tell you how many walls exist in the corresponding rows and columns. In addition, the following must be true:
- Each puzzle has a unique solution.
- There is only 1 maze path to the End square.
- Every Node must have a wall touching it.
- Walls must trace back to a border.
- If the Start and End squares are adjacent to each other a wall must separate them.
- Start squares may be open on all sides, while End squares must be closed on 3 sides.
- You cannot completely close off any region of the grid.
Examine the first example, then solve the other three puzzles.
SOLUTION
The solutions are shown below.
The Gun and the Recording
One day, the police found a man dead inside a hut. In his left hand, he was holding a gun. In his right hand, he had a recording device. When the recording was played, the police heard the man talking about how horrible his life was and how he wanted it to end. The recording ended with a gunshot. The police was about to call it a suicide until a detective pointed out a very important clue. What was it?
SOLUTION
If the person shot himself and died, he wouldn’t have been able to stop the device from recording further.