Inspired by jafe's 3D nonograms :)
Answer is one word. 
This puzzle is a part of Ooohh, it all makes sense now! :D
Answer
Nonogram solution:
. . . . .
. # # # .
. # . . .
. # . . .
. . . . .
. # . # .
. . . . .
. . . . #
# . . . .
. . # . .
. # . # .
# . . . .
# . . . #
# . . . .
. # # # .
. # # # .
# . . . .
# . . . #
# . . . .
. # . # .
. . . . .
. # . # .
. # # # .
. # # # .
. . . . .
and with the Eye of Faith we can see that
the six sides of the cube bear the letters of the word RADIUM.
In how many different ways can two knights and two rooks be placed on a $5\times5$ chessboard, so that no piece attacks another piece?
This is a new kind of riddle called a Crozier riddle. Here are the rules:
The first letter of each of the answers must be put together and unscrambled to reveal a final word. Here are the clues: (They will start off easy and get increasingly harder)
- Something a horse says.
- The largest living land animal.
- Ten letter name for someone’s job.
- A flashcard website that makes simple learning tools to help students study.
- An alternative sugar in gum that is not sugar or aspartame.
- A song about a good girl gone bad that talks about the Dow.
- A ten letter word for a problem that resulted from a doctor.
The final unscrambled word will be seven letters: _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Answer
Answers to hints(partial):
1. Neigh
2. Elephant
3. Occupation
4. Quizlet
5. maltitol, mannitol, sorbitol or xylitol(reverse solved)
6. Umbrella(by Rihanna)
7. Iatrogenic (Thanks puzzledPig!)
Which anagram to
Equinox
See if you can solve these rebuses which range from easy to hard. They are all linked by a topic.
On e
luu (-4)
EDIT:
Hints:
2. I could have added a space to make it make easier.
4. Treat the 4+image as one unit. Keep reading it aloud.
5. rlord3534 has the interpretation for the 3 images correct. Now see if you can make sense of them. It would help if you keep thinking about what exactly you are trying to solve.
[Note that I have now posted the solutions to this puzzle below]
*Note the images of the flags, bus, spring, trophy outline and the text for 'tumn' do not belong to me (all obtained online).
Answer
Given that not all of them have been solved, and the solutions are scattered through several answers, I shall post the full solutions here.
Solver: This was solved quite quickly, and I cannot attribute anyone in particular with it (as several people got it).
Quite literally:
A hole in one
Given the solution for 1, the topic is most likely to be (and is):
Sports (although it actually is slightly more refined than this, as I have posted in the side note at the very bottom of this answer)
although some guessed that it might be:
Golf
Solver: Volatility
This was quite mean, and I could have made it easier to get by writing it as:
l uu (-4)
Nevertheless, it's
l before double u $\to$ l b4 w $\to$
lbw (cricket)
The '-4' is optional, as
the b stands for 'before' anyway, hence the brackets.
Solver: rlord3534
[triangle] - [angle] = tri
which sounds like:
Try (rugby)
Unsolved
I could have perhaps made it easier by drawing the arrow in a more helpful place. However, the point of giving rebuses linked by a certain topic was so that solvers could try to 'guess' the solution by thinking of common phrases which I might have put in, and this was the case for this rebus.
In the hint, I said it would be helpful to consider the 4+image as one unit.
The image represents the flags of the countries in the uk
So that part of the rebus says:
4 + uk $\to$ four add uk
The arrow represents:
out
So combining these, we get:
out four add uk
Reading this out loud:
out four a-dduk (pronouncing uk as "uck" rather than "you kay")
Which sounds like:
Out for a duck (cricket)
Partial solvers: rlord3534 (got all of the mini-rebuses), Aleeeeee (almost got there afterwards)
First, get the interpretation of the 3 images:
The first one wasn't hard:
Bus
The second one was slightly harder, but was guessed by some:
u's (plural of the letter 'u')
The third was made up of 4 images:
spring $\to$ Spring
some 'er' $\to$ Summer
gold 'tumn' $\to$ Au 'tumn' (chemistry) $\to$ Autumn
win 'ter' $\to$ Winter
So these 4 images represent:
the seasons
However, this is not the correct interpretation for this final part, and I did say to some that the arrows were the most important.
Note that we are trying to solve a rebus, and I underlined the importance of this in my hint.
The word ‘rebus’ is quite close to the first image, but with an extra ‘re’.
If we apply this ‘re’ to the next image, we get ‘re[u’s]', which sounds like ‘reuse’.
This might lead to the interpretation of the final image which is ‘cycle’. If we add ‘re’ to it, we get ‘recycle’.
This now gives us:
rebus, reuse, recycle
This is quite similar to the phrase:
reduce reuse recycle (which Aleeeeee managed to spot)
Yet the key to solving this puzzle is:
The word 'reduce' is replaced with 'rebus'.
This perhaps indicates that the solution of the original rebus is ‘reduce’.
But this isn’t sports related, and that’s because:
The original rebus did not have any ‘re’s in it — they were placed there by us in order to help solve the puzzle. The image which would have completed the rebus (the image which should have replaced the ‘bus’), should’ve been ‘duce’, or something which sounded like that in order to complete the pattern.
Therefore the final solution is:
reduce $\to$ duce
Which sounds like:
Deuce (tennis)
Side note:
The sport doesn’t have to be tennis, but it most often is associated with it. Note that the theme is more specifically terminology (words/phrases) used in sport.
You are given a 9-digit number $a$. Let $b=a+1$.
Now, if you make a big number $N$ by concatenating $a$ and $b$, then $N$ is divisible by 19.
What is the number $a$?
Answer
For any $a<999{,}999{,}999$ we have $b\le 999{,}999{,}999$ which is 9 digits, too, so the $a$ part in the $N$ number is shifted by 9 decimal places. So $$N=10^9\cdot a+(a+1)=(10^9+1)a + 1 = 2,631,579\cdot 19\cdot a + 1$$ which is NOT divisible by $19$.
Let's try $a=999{,}999{,}999$ then. Hurray! We get $b=1{,}000{,}000{,}000$ and $N=9{,}999{,}999{,}991{,}000{,}000{,}000 = 526{,}315{,}789{,}000{,}000{,}000\cdot 19$
Hence $a=999{,}999{,}999.$
There are seven days in a week. Let's say you want to pick one at random, such that each day has an equal chance of being picked as each other day. In other words, the goal is to obtain a uniform random 1/7 chance of picking any of the seven days.
But all you have is a coin and a six-sided die (not dice, you don't have 2 dice, you have only 1 die). What procedure of coin-flipping and/or die-rolling should you use to get a 1/7 chance?
I know of two ways to do this, but they're slightly out-of-the-box solutions. I consider them valid solutions but want to see what you guys think. Of course, I'll let people try to answer first before revealing my solutions.
Hint: don't try anything like trying to pick a random number in your head. The only things you can use are the coin and die.
EDIT: I'm going to post the three answers I know of in the most compact and simple way (in my humble opinion). Everyone who answered so far has given the equivalent of one of these answers:
Method 1.
Roll the die and flip the coin. This gives 12 possibilities: 1T, 2T, 3T, 4T, 5T, 6T, 7T, 1H, 2H, 3H, 4H, 5H, 6H. Assign seven days of the week to seven of those values. If the result is one of the remaining five, just repeat the process until you get a valid value. This has a 5/12 (41.67%) chance of repeating.
Method 2.
Flip the coin three times (and be sure to record it in order of course). This gives 8 possibilities: HHH, HHT, HTH, HTT, THH, THT, TTH, TTT. Assign seven days of the week to the first seven of those values. If your result is the eighth value, repeat the process until you get a valid value. This has a 1/8 (12.5%) chance of repeating.
Method 3.
Roll the die twice (and be sure to record them in order because a 2 and 5 is not the same thing as a 5 and 2 in the sample space!). This gives 36 possibilities: 1&1, 1&2, 1&3, 1&4, 1&5, 1&6, 2&1, 2&2, 2&3, 2&4, 2&5, 2&6, 3&1, 3&2, 3&3, 3&4, 3&5, 3&6, 4&1, 4&2, 4&3, 4&4, 4&5, 4&6, 5&1, 5&2, 5&3, 5&4, 5&5, 5&6, 6&1, 6&2, 6&3, 6&4, 6&5, 6&6. Assigned 7 days of the week, but do that 5 times. This uses up 35 values. If your two rolls results in the 36th value, just repeat the process until you get a valid value. This has a 1/36 (2.78%) chance of repeating, which is much smaller than the previous two methods.
Some concluding thoughts...
Now that I think about it, you could extend the multiple rolls/tosses. If you flipped the coin 6 times, that's 64 possibilities, and 63 is evenly divisible by 7 so you can assign days of the week to that, and just repeat if u get the 64th value (1 out of 64 chance = 1.56%!). You could roll the die 4 times for 1,296 possibilites. 1,295 is divisible by 7, so assign days of the week evenly to all those values, and just repeat if u get the 1,296th value (1 out of 1,296 chance = 0.08%!!!). You can probably go even further with them, but it's a trade off of doing more rolls/tosses, which takes a longer time and might take longer to compute the result, than just taking the 1/36 chance of having to repeat via the 2 roll method, for example.
tiS thE season of Rejoicing! TIme for Caroling, sUgAr cooKies, anD FaMily iNfiGHting! hoWever, there's an eXtra sPecial reasOn this wilL be the Best holidaY season eVer. there's Just one Question, now, though. what's given me such Zeal and enthusiasm for this holiday? i can't wait!
I apologize in advance for this puzzle. I had such grand ideas, but then so much of it ended up being forced instead of meta with itself. :( Doesn't change the fact that the answer is still a legitimate reason to be excited for December!
I will be providing intermittent hints as necessary. :)
10/11/17 11:51 AM Pacific Time
The title holds some significance to solving the puzzle.
10/12/17 11:47 AM Pacific Time
Wvz13Fnaobea
10/13/17 11:34 AM Pacific Time
I've been reading a lot about Kryptos recently...
10/16/17 11:56 AM Pacific Time
Giovan Battista Bellaso had a hand in the creation of this type of puzzle, even if it doesn't bear his name.
10/16/17 11:55 AM Pacific Time
SERTICUAKDFMNGHWXPOLBYVJQZ is a square.
Answer
The reason you can't wait for the holidays is:
STAR WARS.
Most of the legwork has already been done by others, namely:
There are 26 unique capital letters, which probably form a substitution key. The bold letters spell Distraction. The italic letters spell cicessrt. The many hints lead towards a Vigenère cipher, probably a keyed Vigenère.
Unfortunately, using the capital letters as alphabet and using Distraction as key and cicessrt as text (and vice versa) to decode doesn't yield anything. (The most recent hint confirms that the capitals form the alphabet, but "Distraction" was just that - a distraction.)
A recent comment by the OP ...
... says that no-one has done anything with the first hint, which says that the title is important. Now the title has the letters can't wait in all caps. Using cissert as Vigenère key and cant wait as encoded text, we get the plaintext "Star Wars".-
Given a circular list of coins, that all have Tails facing up. In each move, if we flip the coin at position $i$, then the coins at positions $i-1$ and $i+1$ get flipped as well. That is, consider: H H H T T: if I flip the coin at index 3 (0-based indexing), then the result would be: H H T H H.
Initial state: T T T T T ... T $~~$($N$ coins)
Final state: H H H H H ... H $~~$($N$ coins)
What would be the minimum number of moves to make all coins have Heads facing up?
Answer
If N is divisible by 3, then flipping every third coin will work (N/3 moves). This must be the minimum because there are N coins changed and each move changes only 3 coins' states.
If N is not divisible by 3, then flipping every coin makes every coin change states three times (N moves).
To prove that this is the minimum, notice that it doesn't matter in what order coins are flipped, and flipping the same coin twice is pointless. This means that every possible sequence of flips is equivalent to a set of which coins are flipped. There are $2^N$ of these sets.
If we start to flip every third coin starting at an arbitrary position, eventually we will reach a state where exactly one coin is heads up and the rest are tails up. Because this can be repeated, any combination of heads and tails is possible. There are $2^N$ of these combinations. This is the same as the number of sets of coins that can be flipped, so each set must correspond to exactly one combination of heads and tails, and vice versa.
We know that flipping every coin makes all coins heads up, so no other set of flips can lead to all heads up. In particular, every sequence of fewer than N flips will be equivalent to a set of flips which is not this set, so it will not lead to the desired position. Therefore, N moves is the minimum.
This puzzle is part 12 of Gladys' journey across the globe. Each part can be solved independently. Nevertheless, if you are new to the series, feel free to start at the beginning: Introducing Gladys.
Dear Puzzling,
A new day, a new city. Once again, there is so much to see that I don't even know where to start. Good thing that I'm not in a hurry! I'm writing to you from a small island in full view of not one but two of the world's most iconic landmarks (granted, one of them is a replica).
Wish you were here!
Love, Gladys.
Crossword across
1. Prophetic sign
6. Mental disorder
9. Learned, knowing
10. Metal vocalist with an eponymous band
11. Thor's enemy in comic books
12. The most resilient parasites
13. 100 centavos
15. Illuminance unit
16. Of course, in a text message
18. Football organization
21. Tubers
22. Firearm
23. Native American tribe
24. Body of waterCrossword down
1. To have debt
2. Denver's elevation
3. Prominent landform
4. Taker of a small step
5. Actor Alan
7. French for "God"
8. Elaborate fabrication
13. Rolls –
14. Company name in Looney Tunes
15. Edible parts of frogs
17. Payment for transport
18. Purposes or benefits
19. Combustible material
20. Actress OrtizCryptic across
1. A feline particle (4)
6. Funny tags for a buck (4)
9. Currency in Portugal, Iraq... (4)
10. Total amount in consumption (3)
11. Wild, detailed, extremely elaborate ruse (4)
12. To half-heartedly meet around a pole (5)
13. Punch vegetable audibly (4)
15. Linux icon Torvalds's first user experience (3)
16. Curve a relic's sides (3)
18. Behold West End's leading actor Rob (4)
21. Elusive mountain dweller is still single (4)
22. Spirit endlessly getting older (3)
23. With no end in sight, make fun of lack of difficulty (4)
24. Elderly, polled regularly (3)Cryptic down
1. Boxer to strike guy in Manila, making comeback (3)
2. Top element missing from upcoming first-class block (4)
3. Film's music lacks opening for central part (4)
4. Glossless finish missing for actor Damon (4)
5. Listen to a spouse briefly leading to gas station (4)
7. Anglican priest's ballet dress (4)
8. Corrupted exam card (4)
13. Mathematician's central thesis follows director Michael (5)
14. Lloyd Webber musical switches first two parts of play (4)
15. African country also surrounds Ghana's capital (4)
17. Enjoy books, fear no introduction (4)
18. Heartless Facebook votes are fabrications (4)
19. First signs of Winston, in leadership, trusting Chamberlain (4)
20. Finish Pernod evenly (3)
Gladys will return in "Better than Rembrandt".
Answer
You are
on the Ile aux Cygnes, in the River Seine, in Paris.
Clues and solutions:
Crossword across | Cryptic across
1a. Prophetic sign OMEN | ATOM 1a. A feline particle (4)
6a. Mental disorder ADHD | STAG 6a. Funny tags for a buck (4)
9a. Learned, knowing WISE | LIRA 9a. Currency in Portugal, Iraq... (4)
10a. Metal vocalist with an eponymous band DIO | SUM 10a. Total amount in consumption (3)
11a. Thor's enemy in comic books HELA | WILE 11a. Wild, detailed, extremely elaborate ruse (4)
12a. The most resilient parasites IDEAS | TOTEM 12a. To half-heartedly meet around a pole (5)
13a. 100 centavos REAL | BEAT 13a. Punch vegetable audibly (4)
15a. Illuminance unit LUX | TUX 15a. Linux icon Torvalds's first user experience (3)
16a. Of course, in a text message OFC | ARC 16a. Curve a relic's sides (3)
18a. Football organization UEFA | LOWE 18a. Behold West End's leading actor Rob (4)
21a. Tubers YAMS | YETI 21a. Elusive mountain dweller is still single (4)
22a. Firearm GUN | GIN 22a. Spirit endlessly getting older (3)
23a. Native American tribe CREE | EASE 23a. With no end in sight, make fun of lack of difficulty (4)
24a. Body of water SEA | OLD 24a. Elderly, polled regularly (3)
Crossword down | Cryptic down
1d. To have debt OWE | ALI 1d. Boxer to strike guy in Manila, making comeback (3)
2d. Denver's elevation MILE | TILE 2d. Top element missing from upcoming first-class block (4)
3d. Prominent landform MESA | CORE 3d. Film's music lacks opening for central part (4)
4d. Taker of a small step NEIL | MATT 4d. Glossless finish missing for actor Damon (4)
5d. Actor Alan LADD | ESSO 5d. Listen to a spouse briefly leading to gas station (4)
7d. French for "God" DIEU | TUTU 7d. Anglican priest's ballet dress (4)
8d. Elaborate fabrication HOAX | AMEX 8d. Corrupted exam card (4)
13d. Rolls – ROYCE | BAYES 13d. Mathematician's central thesis follows director Michael (5)
14d. Company name in Looney Tunes ACME | ACTS 14d. Lloyd Webber musical switches first two parts of play (4)
15d. Edible parts of frogs LEGS | TOGO 15d. African country also surrounds Ghana's capital (4)
17d. Payment for transport FARE | READ 17d. Enjoy books, fear no introduction (4)
18d. Purposes or benefits USES | LIES 18d. Heartless Facebook votes are fabrications (4)
19d. Combustible material FUEL | WILT 19d. First signs of Winston, in leadership, trusting Chamberlain (4)
20d. Actress Ortiz ANA | END 20d. Finish Pernod evenly (3)
Presumably IDEAS is a reference to memes, but I'm not sure why "most resilient". [EDITED to add:] Ah, apparently it's from Inception.
Grid:
M L C E
O M E N A D H D A T O M S T A G
W I S E D I O L I R A S U M
H E L A I D E A S W I L E T O T E M
R E A L L U X B E A T T U X
O F C U E F A A R C L O W E
Y A M S G U N Y E T I G I N
C R E E S E A E A S E O L D
E E S L S D S T
and now
the matching letters (with "?" where I can't tell whether they match) are as follows:
. .
. . . . . . . .
. I . . . . .
. . L . . . . . .
. E A . . U X
. . C . . . .
Y . . . G . N
. . . E . . .
. . S .
spelling out ILE AUX CYGNES -- from which one can see (1) a replica of the Statue of Liberty, and (2) the actual Tour Eiffel.
Credit where due:
El-Guest found HELA as Thor's enemy, which I wouldn't have found not only because I don't know anything about comics but also because I had NESS for 3dn -- which is a perfectly good answer in isolation, but as El-Guest says presumably the intended answer is MESA. JonMark Perry noticed that I hadn't done 14d (I had all the letters and never even looked at the clue!) and also provided the answer. Chris Cudmore revealed that "Ideas are the most resilient parasite" is indeed a quotation, from the movie Inception.
Sorry for the last riddle
But this time I'll try not to fiddle
The important lines will begin now
This time it'll be better I vow
The prefix is where mad white workers work
With strange liquids that will make you berserk
The suffix sounds like how you walk through a wall
Drop one of 4 letters and you will have appall
The infix is best known as letter 4 times 2
Cause of a male stereotype I wish I never knew
How am I talking though? Don't bark up a storm as to why...
All you need to worry about is... what am I?
Answer
I want to say
labrador
because
The first clue -> 'lab'.
and
you walk through walls using doors. 'dor' sounds like 'door' and is 'door' with a letter dropped.
and
not too sure about the infix--maybe the male name 'brad' is stereotyped with aggressiveness? (no offense to any brads out there), and letter 4 x 2 or d2 is associated with dopamine which is associated with aggressiveness.
but most of all
dogs can bark up a storm!
Smoking makes me blush
And smell rather strongly
I'll achieve my purpose
If you answer this wrongly
Who am I?
Answer
You are a
herring
Smoking makes me blush
Smoking herring turns it red.
And smell rather strongly
Smoked herring has a strong smell.
I'll achieve my purpose if you answer this wrongly
A red herring is a clue meant to be misleading.
Short, but not sweet
A herring is a small fish, and it does not taste sweet!
This is the same principle as here.
You seemed to enjoy the first ones, so here is another one. This one is in three lines, and the sentences give less direct clues (in my opinion), in order to be a bit more complicated. Let me know if you prefer this way, or the previous one. Or even if you don't like them at all!
You can find the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th letters attractive, unappealing or average, but everyone, included you, has one.
The 3rd, 4th and 5th can be seen running company.
And the 5th, 6th and 7th can be taken, shown or cleared.
What is the word we are looking for?
The next one is here.
Answer
The answer is:
FACE-OFF.
Everyone has a face, which can be either attractive or unappealing to various people.
A CEO runs a company.
"Take off", "show off", and "clear off" are common English phrases.
Following in the footsteps of MOehm, leoll2 and the formerly known Lukas Rotter (who has deleted his account D:), we have a new name to add: JonMarkPerry!
In his profile we find an interesting image:
(For colourblind: From left to right:
Yellow Red Orange Blue
Purple Dark Blue Red Green
Pink Blue Yellow Purple
Green Dark Blue Orange Pink)
Followed by the line
The diagonals are all 45°, and therefore +/-/0 1.
Observations:
So, you know the drill:
(Also note his profile pic has changed to a pic of Hank Williams III which may or may not be related)
Will add bounty in about a week if not solved.
You are given the following plaintext/ciphertext pairs:
they_got_my_contract_back_to_find_ to_their_alarm_a_dog_had_signed_
sonic_boom_sonic_boom_sonic_boom_ trouble_keeps_you_runnin_faster_ sonic_boom_sonic_boom_sonic_boom_ save_the_planet_from_disaster_
even_though_weve_never_said_it_ theres_something_that_ the_two_of_us_both_know_
Derive the plaintext that corresponds to the following cipher text:
Answer
The answer is
"but_the_sun_rolling_high_through_the_sapphire_sky_keeps_great_and_small_on_the_endless_round_". Each column represents a letter of the alphabet, with the final one representing underscores. The top left part of the puzzle shows the order in which coloured blocks need to be interpreted, from left to right, top to bottom. So in the final puzzle, we convert red blocks first, then blue, then green, then purple, then grey. (I'm not sure whether I'm proud or ashamed of the fact that I got the full answer after translating "but the sun rolling high")
Please read and understand my first question before proceeding. This one should be worse.
pdf files I uploaded to Dropbox:
These puzzles were generated by computer. A good solver has no problem solving them, so I can't just ask for people to find the solutions. That's why I'm just giving the solutions to you up front. Fair warning, these are super hard to solve by hand.
I did think of a different question I could ask, but we need to define some things first.
A Slitherlink of Twos is a typical, square cell, Slitherlink puzzle where each cell is either a "2" or left blank. It may have any grid size, even rectangular ones, just nothing weird like an "L" shape. It must have exactly one loop for a solution.
Let us also define backfill as the process of, having solved a Slitherlink puzzle, going back and filling in each blank cell with the appropriate number for the solution.
As we learned from the previous question, for a Slitherlink of Twos, we would expect that when we backfill a typical puzzle we would at some point be adding ones or threes.
Can you, when you backfill any Slitherlink of Twos, add a zero to a cell?
Answer
Well, look what I found. Another shot at a Slitherlink!
Answer:
Yes, there is (at least) one solution.
Explanation:
I believe this is the only solution that will work:
The real key here is to know some of the intricacies of Slitherlink:
1. If you have one or more zeroes along the edge of a puzzle, it would necessitate ones and/or threes in the puzzle elsewhere. This means that the zeroes have to be somewhere in the middle of the puzzle. Here's a couple of examples:
2. Slitherlinks can only have one loop; you cannot have concentric loops as in the following:
With these things in mind, I do not see another way to have a Slitherlink puzzle with only zeroes and twos than the one that I found. I would be interested to see if someone's found another way!
(Continued thematically from here)
"George, you know this puzzle?" I asked.
"Oh yes, of course. And I much prefer this version to the French one."
"Yes, it's much better." I agreed. "So you can solve it?"
"Naturally! In several different ways. Oh oh! Let me show you my favorite. Maybe you haven't seen this one before."
George rolled up his sleeves and narrated his solution as follows:
"Down
Left
Down
Right
Right
Up
Then both of these down together
And left."
He looked at me with his eyes twinkling. "Now watch this! You see how it's symmetrical? Now I can use both hands simultaneously."
He continued:
"In
Up. Mmm. Now I've got to go fetch those two. How does it go? Oh yes.
In
Up. Got 'em!
Down
Up
Down
In."
"Now I've got to break the symmetry for the last bit also. But it's just a few more moves." He continued with just one hand:
Right
Down, Right, Up
Left
And finally up!
"Oh, that's a very neat solution!" I said. "I haven't seen that one before."
He smiled proudly.
What was the puzzle? And what was the solution?
Answer
This is
a solution to clear the English-style peg solitaire board.
The original game was French, the goal is to remove things from the board, and moves are up/down/left/right, all of which matches the description. Furthermore, there are 32 pegs in the initial position and each move removes one peg, meaning that after the described 31 moves (remember to count the double-handed ones twice!), there is a single peg left – as there should be in a correct solution.
Starting position
After the initial moves – "see how it's symmetrical?"
After the 2-hand moves
Final position
This is a short riddle which has a short answer.
I look like I have no memory,
but I am fine,
but turn me around
and I may knock you down.
Answer
I think the answer is
OK
I look like I have no memory
OK looks like 0K (zero kilobytes)
but I am fine,
OK is synonymous with fine.
but turn me around and I may knock you down.
OK backwards is KO (an acronym for knock out)
My prefix is dishonest, in everything they say,
My infix is the price, that my suffix asks to pay.
Answer
NEW GUESS:
You are
Concentrate
My prefix is dishonest, in everything they say,
Con as in con-man.
My infix is the price
Cent
that my suffix asks to pay.
Rate
Probably wrong but it doesn't hurt to guess.
Liability
My prefix is dishonest, in everything they say,
Liar
My infix is the price
Bill
that my suffix asks to pay.
Ability
This is a well-known local puzzle.
An old farmer has 17 cows and three sons. After his death, this is what the will contains: "I have decided that the livestock will be distributed among the three sons like so: A, the oldest, will get half of all cows. B, the middle son, will get a third of all. C, the youngest, will get a ninth.
No cow is to be harmed, or partly owned; otherwise no one gets any, and the cows are to be given away to the village."
How do the sons resolve this puzzle?
Answer
Let's take a token cow and assume it to be a part of the old man's inheritance.
Now there are 18 cows.
1/2 of 18 = 9. The 1st son gets 9.
1/3 of 18 = 6. The 2nd son gets 6.
1/9 of 18 = 2. The 3rd son gets 2.There is no condition on the no. of cows that remain after the distribution has been done.
9+6+2 = 17.Everyone gets what's in the will. The token cow is the extra one.
In a sudoku puzzle, what is the absolute minimum number of clues that must be given to specify a layout with a unique solution? Is one in each row, column, and box (9 total) necessary or sufficient?
Answer
For a standard $9 \times 9$ sudoku, the minimum is $17$ squares. It had long been known that at least $16$ were required and that $17$ was sufficient. This article closes the gap.
@Don Kirkby have designed a set of dominoes puzzles that they call Donimoes. You slide the dominoes like the cars in Nob Yoshigahara's Rush Hour puzzle, always along their long axis.
I have altered this puzzle by changing numbers to letters.
The goal is to slide all the dominoes into a rectangle, without sliding any matching numbers next to each other.
Move a domino one space along its long axis so that none of its letters match an adjacent letters on a neighbouring domino.
All the dominoes in the puzzle have to be connected in one solid group, diagonal connections don't count. When you move a domino, it can be disconnected during the move, as long as it is connected at the start and the end of the move. Remember that it can only move one space at a time, though.
1) There may be more than one solutions. The one that I am looking for will form something special.
2) The two "CO" tiles have been named as "CO1 and CO2" for your convenience. Stay calm - they are not harmful nor toxic :P
Answer
Answer:
It's impossible.
First of all,
CO1 and ST tell us that the vertical side of the rectangle is of size at least 4.
Second,
AI, ER, IR and CO2 tell us that the other side is of size at least 4 as well. Therefore we are aiming at a 4x4 square.
Finally:
Just before you move the CO1 up (you clearly have to at some point)
$\bullet$ you need to have moved the other O to the left before that (there is not enough room on the right) otherwise you break the no two identical letters adjacent rule.
$\bullet$ you also need to have moved IR to the left (to make room for the CO1 to move up).
$\bullet$ you cannot possibly have moved ES up, otherwise moving CO1 would result in disconnecting ST from the rest of the board.
Conclusion: at that very moment, the block CO1 ST ES is disconnected from the other letters.
The answer to this puzzle is a hint for The strange story of Lord Lefthide.
Several horsemen came across a German man. "Have you seen some twins?", they asked him.
The man answered by the negative, then added: "May I know why you're looking for them?"
"We call them the Scorpion Brothers, they have stolen something quite unique a week ago, while the guards were busy playing dice.", they answered.
"What did they steal?"
"That which is missing, of course!"
What was stolen?
Answer
I have no idea how it can be stolen, but looks like what is missing is
three
Looking at various parts of the story, there are places which hint, directly or indirectly, at similar entities, reordered:
unique (1), twins (2), horsemen (4, of the apocalyptic variety), May (5th month), dice (6 sides), week (7 days), scorpio (8th zodiac sign), "nein" (9, German for "no")
Couldn't find anything related to the missing one in between, so that might be what they stole.
Is it possible to tile a $10\times10$ chessboard with (non-overlapping) T-tetrominos?
If so, how? If not, prove it's impossible.
Bonus: Which Tetris pieces can used to tile a 10$\times$10 board, allowing reflections?
It is certainly posssible to tile a regular $8\times 8$ chessboard. Below is a failed attempt to extend that tiling to a $10\times 10$ board, which misses some squares in the upper left and lower right. The colors don't matter, they're just there to make the picture more clear.
$\qquad\qquad\qquad\qquad$
Answer
It is not possible. The area of a $10 \times 10$ checkerboard is $100$, so it takes $25$ T pieces to have the same area. The checkerboard has the same number of red and black squares, but each piece covers three of one color and one of the other. $25$ pieces cannot cover $50$ squares of each color, the most even they can get is $51-49$
Enter! Small or large, as the case may be
I'll assist you - it's easy! - I'm both lock and key
Who am I?
Answer
You are
The
CAPS LOCKkey
Enter! Small or large, as the case may be
ENTERis another key on the keyboard.CAPS LOCKis used to toggle case between lower and upper, or small and large.Author's note: in addition, the injunction "Enter! Small or large, as the case may be" can be read as an invitation to enter text into the computer by typing it in, in the appropriate case (lower or upper).
I'll assist you - it's easy!
CAPS LOCKmakes it easier to type a string of capital letters, rather thanSHIFT.
I'm both lock and key
Lock is in the name, and a key is what you are.
This is a Statue View puzzle, an original invention combining two logic puzzle genres: Statue Park and Canal View. It is harder than my previous Statue View, so you may want to start there.
Rules of Statue View:
Answer
Answer:
Solution:
Step 1:
The point of entry is the 9. Not all of its four sides and be filled because then the 9 itself is isolated. So at least one adjacent square of the 9 is empty, meaning the other three branches are full. If the north and west branches were full, then there would be a closed space. Thus, either the north or west adjacent squares must be empty. This implies both the south and east branches are full.
Step 2:
The marked square must be yellow, i.e. empty. If it were not, then since the 5 isn't satisfied yet, either the west or east adjacent square is filled as well. Believe it or not, this creates a closed space!!! (See below)
Step 3:
We begin a long proof-by-contradiction. Assume the marked square is gray:
Then all of the following must be apparent:
If the square west of the 5 was filled, then the piece taking up that square would inevitably create a closed space somewhere. So it must extend eastwards:
This is absurd. Contradiction. Thus the marked square was empty.
Step 4:
If the square south of the leftmost 4 were empty, the entire east branch must be filled, contradicting the 2. So it must be filled, completing an entire tetromino.
Step 5:
We can only extend the 5 west, and with only one possible piece without creating a closed space:
Step 6:
We must extend east from that 4:
We used up both L pieces, so the only piece that can complete this section is the Z piece.
Step 7:
The group of 3 empty squares can't be filled by a single piece, and so the bottom 4 can only extend one way:
Step 8:
That piece in the center-ish must be a T piece:
Step 9:
If the branch north of 6 extended 3 squares, it would create a closed space somehow. Similarly, if it extended 2 squares, it would inevitably create a closed space. So it is as most 1 square in length. Because of math, this implies that the eastward branch is at least 2 squares long:
Step 10:
As it turns out, this branch must be exactly 2 squares in length. If it were 3 squares, then this is a contradiction because the last piece that has a 3-square base must be used for the 9 in the top-left corner. If it were 4 squares, this contradicts the 6.
Since this implies that the square north-adjacent to the 6 must be filled, this completes the piece:
Step 11:
The 2 at the bottom can only be satisfied by an O piece. The 1 at the top can only be satisfied by the T piece.
There's only one way to fit the rest:
Really nice puzzle!
This is the corrected version of puzzle French alphametic (misspelled)
Every letter stands for a digit in base-10 representation, different letters stand for different digits, and the four summands and the sum are even:
UN
UN
DEUX
+ DOUZE
------------
SEIZE
Which digit does each letter represent?
(Please present the full analysis how these digits can be determined.)
Answer
Denote by $c_1$ the carry-over from the rightmost column, by $c_2$ the carry-over from the next column, by $c_3$ the carry-over from the middle column, and by $c_4$ the carry-over from the fourth column.
Since all four summands and the sum are even, the equation $2N+X+E=10c_1+E$ must be solved with $N,X,E$ even. By distinguishing five cases on $N$, we get the following five possibilities:
N X c1
------------
0 0 0 (Case 0)
2 6 1 (Case 1)
4 2 1 (Case 2)
6 8 2 (Case 3)
8 4 2 (Case 4)
Case 0 has $N=X$, and therefore is illegal.
The next column in the summation yields $3U+Z+c_1=10c_2+Z$, and hence $U=(10c_2-c_1)/3$. Since $0\le c_2\le3$, this yields the following:
N X c1 U c2
-----------------
2 6 1 3 1 (Case 1)
4 2 1 3 1 (Case 2)
6 8 2 6 2 (Case 3)
8 4 2 6 2 (Case 4)
Now Case 3 has $N=U$, and is illegal.
The middle column in the summation yields $E+U+c_2=10c_3+I$.
In Cases 1 and 2, this equation becomes $E+4=10c_3+I$. Hence $I$ is also even. The five subcases $E=0,2,4,6,8$ yield $I=4,6,8,0,2$. Since $E$ and $I$ must be different from $N$ and $X$, this leaves only the following subcases alive:
N X c1 U c2 E I c3
--------------------------
2 6 1 3 1 0 4 0 (Case 1a)
2 6 1 3 1 4 8 1 (Case 1b)
4 2 1 3 1 6 0 1 (Case 2 )
In Case 4, the equation becomes $E+8=10c_3+I$. Hence $I$ is also even. The five subcases $E=0,2,4,6,8$ yield $I=8,0,2,4,6$. Since $E$ and $I$ must be different from $N,X,U$, this leaves only the following subcase alive:
N X c1 U c2 E I c3
--------------------------
8 4 2 6 2 2 0 1 (Case 4 )
Now let us turn to the fourth column, which yields $D+O+c_3=10c_4+E$. Since $E$ is even, this means that $D+O+c_3$ is even.
In all surviving cases, we have $U=3$ and $c_4=1$. In particular, this implies $S=D+1$, so that one of $S$ and $D$ is even.
Let us summarize:
N X c1 U c2 E I c3 D S O
-----------------------------------
4 2 1 3 1 6 0 1 8 9 7 (Case 2 )
Hence $I=0$, $X=2$, $U=3$, $N=4$, $E=6$, $O=7$, $D=8$ and $S=9$ have been assigned, and only the digits $1$ and $5$ remain open, and both can be legally assigned to $Z$.
This yields the following two solutions (that only differ in the value of $Z$):
34 34
34 34
8632 and 8632
+ 87316 + 87356
------ ------
96016 96056
Dear PSE users and moderators,
I’m new here in PSE, but I really need your help. There was this person who gave me a black envelope consisting 10+1 pages of puzzles, and also a scribble saying: “Find our favorites and you will be accepted to join our ‘pyramid cult’. Feel free to ask for help from your beloved friends on PSE. They will surely guide you into all the truth.” I’m also a newbie on grid puzzles, so, could you please give me any hint to solve these? It’s getting harder and harder later on..
- athin
Jump to the first page: #1 Numberlink | Previous page: #2 Moon-or-Sun | Next page: #4 Hitori
Rules:
- Place light bulbs (O) according to the following rules.
- Light bulbs may be placed in any of the white triangles, the number in the triangle shows how many light bulbs are next to it, adjacent to its side.
- Each light bulb illuminates from bulb to black triangle or outer frame in its 3-directions (parallel with one of the board sides).
- Every white triangle must be illuminated and a light bulb can not illuminate another light bulb.
Special thanks to chaotic_iak for testing this puzzle series!
Answer
Finished grid:
The car:
The letter in cells with lamps in them spell FERRARI.
Reasoning
I'm going use red for lamps, yellow for illuminated cells and grey for not-yet-illuminated cells that cannot have a lamp in them.
To start off, we notice that the cell marked with orange has to be a lamp. If it wasn't, completing the 2 would illuminate two sides of the 2 below it (circled) and leave no room for two lamps.
To complete the 2, we have to illuminate one side of the 2 below it. This means that the cell below the corner 2 has to be a lamp, because only one of the other two cells next to the 2 can be a lamp (the other being illuminated from above).
In the central triangle, the bottom cell cannot be a lamp because this would force the cell next to the central-left 1 to be a lamp. This in turn would illuminate two sides of the 2 above it (circled), leaving no room for two lamps around it.
Since the central triangle's bottom cell must be empty, we now know where the two lamps of the 2 next to it go. Fill those in.
From here, the 1 next to the 2 we just filled only has one option. This leaves only one option for the 1's in the bottom left corner as well.
The 2 in the bottom right corner is forced now, and filling that in solves the 2 above it.
The 1 above the central triangle only has one option as well. Also, add lamps to the bottom centre and the centralmost cell because they can't be illuminated from anywhere else.
The circled cell cannot be a lamp, because it would make it impossible to complete the 2 above it.
This cell can only be illuminated from one place now.
The circled cell cannot be a lamp, because that would block off the only cells that can illuminate the dark cell on the right.
Only one way to complete the grid now.
