It Turns Into a Different Story
It turns into a different story. What is it?
ANSWER: ✱✱✱✱✱✱ ✱✱✱✱✱✱✱✱✱
Note: This is Will Shortz’s favorite crosswords clue of all time.
SOLUTION
The answer is SPIRAL STAIRCASE.
Difficulty: Advanced
William F. Shortz is the world’s only academically accredited puzzle master. He designed his own major program at Indiana University, which in 1974 led to his one-of-a-kind degree in Enigmatology, the study of puzzles.
FEATURED
Mythological Maze
Can you find your way from the bottom to the top in this Mythological Maze?
SOLUTION
The solution is shown below.
11 is a Racehorse
Can you figure out what story the following sequence of statements is telling?
- 11 is a racehorse
- 12 is 12
- 1111 race
- 12112
SOLUTION
11 is a racehorse. 12 is one (1) too (2). 11 won (1) one (1) race. 12 won (1) one (1) too (2).
Pytagoras’ Classical Problem
Cut the piece below into three parts which can be rearranged into a square.
SOLUTION
The solution is shown below.
Toggle a Pixel
Toggle one pixel to make this equality correct.
SOLUTION
(71+1)×(71-1) = 7×6×…×2×1 = 7!
FEATURED
Eye of the Dragon
Divide the circle below in two pieces. Then, put the pieces together to get a circle with a dragon, such that the dragon’s eye is at the center of the new circle.
SOLUTION
The solution is shown below.
A Horse in Front, A Car Behind
You are sitting on a plane. There is a horse in front of you and a car behind you. Where are you?
SOLUTION
You are on a merry-go-round in an amusement park.
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.
