Us-Them Maze
Can you pass through this maze?
SOLUTION
The solution is shown below.
Elemental Puzzles
Below each of the following Venn diagrams there are seven tiles consisting of two letters. Place each tile in a different region so that the four tiles in each circle can be rearranged to solve the corresponding clue.
SOLUTION
The solutions are shown below.
Discs, Planets, and Time
Which of the following is the odd one out and why?
- CD
- Venus
- Clock
- DVD
- Mars
- Watch
SOLUTION
The answer is Mars, since it spins counter-clockwise. All the other objects spin (or contain elements that spin) clockwise.
FEATURED
The Bicycle Problem
If you pull straight back on a pedal of a bicycle when it is at its lowest position, will the bicycle move forward or backward?
SOLUTION
The surprising answer is that (usually) the bicycle will move backward.
When a bicycle moves forward, the trajectory its pedal traces with respect to the ground is called a trochoid. Depending on the selected gear of the bicycle, that trochoid could be:
- Curtate trochoid (for almost all gears of most bicycles)
- Prolate trochoid (if the gear is very low and the bicycle moves slowly)
- Common trochoid, a.k.a. cycloid (if the wheels of the bicycle and the pedal spin at identical speeds, practically never happens)
Since we are fixed with respect to the ground, by pulling the pedal backward, we are causing it to move leftward along the trochoid and therefore the bicycle will be moving backward. We note that despite that, the pedal will be moving forward with respect to the bicycle (but not with respect to the ground).
You can see a visual explanation of this puzzle in the video below.
Real Word Gogen Puzzle
Add the 25 letters between A and Y to the grid below. Each one should appear exactly once. When you have finished, you must be able to spell the following words moving horizontally, vertically or diagonally around the grid:
AXIOM, BANQUET, CHOMP, FAWN, JOY, LURKED, RUN, STY, VYING
SOLUTION
The solution is shown below:
Wacky Wordies 1
Can you figure out what phrases and sayings are represented in the Wacky Wordies below?
SOLUTION
The answers are:
- Stacked deck
- Life of ease
- Holy mackerel!
- Straw vote
- Inflated ego
- Sloppy joes
- Rule of thumb
- T-squares
- Inverted pyramid
- Spinal cord
- Spring fever
- Checkered past
- “Me and My Shadow”
- Writer’s block
- Monograph
- Hollywood and Vine
- Striped bass
- Coconuts
- Knotty pine
- Bag of pipes
- Dotted Swiss
- Oliver Twist
- Comic strips
- Dead Sea Scrolls
- Chief of staff
- Mini stereo
- Test grid
- Old English sheepdog
- All-star game
- “Amazing Grace”
We Go on Vacation
For this puzzle/game, you will need to find a group of friends, preferably 5 or more. The premise is that you will go together on a vacation but each of you can bring only specific items there. The rules regarding which items can be brought and which not are known by one of the players and the other ones are trying to guess them.
In the exchange below, George is the one organizing the trip and the one who knows which items the rest are allowed to bring.
GEORGE: I will take my guitar with me. What do you want to take?
SAM: Can I take an umbrella with me?
GEORGE: No, you cannot take an umbrella, but you can take some sunscreen.
HELLEN: Can I take a scarf with me?
GEORGE: No, you cannot take a scarf, but you can take a hat.
MONICA: Can I take a dress with me?
GEORGE: No, you cannot take a dress, but you can take some makeup.
Can you guess what the rules of the game are?
SOLUTION
Everyone is allowed to take with themselves only items whose first letter is the same as the first letter of their names. Thus, George can take a Guitar, Sam can take Sunscreen, Hellen can take a Hat, and Monica can take Makeup.
Leave No Squares
How many matchsticks do you need to remove so that no squares of any size remain?
SOLUTION
Nine matchsticks are enough, as seen from the solution below.
To see that eight matchsticks are not enough, notice that removing an inner matchstick reduces the number of 1×1 squares at most by 2. Since there are 16 such small squares, in order to get rid of them all, we need to remove only inner matchsticks. However, in this case, the large 4×4 square will remain.
The Least Spoken Language
Which is the least spoken language in the world?
SOLUTION
The answer is THE SIGN LANGUAGE.