Squirrels go nuts

When I returned from Burkina Faso early January, my wife presented me with a copy of Smart Game’s new “Squirrels go Nuts!” puzzle.

I already had several of Smart Games puzzles, such as “IQ link” and “IQ Fit”, and they usually provide a decent amount of puzzles, starting easy and gradually toughening. This one is no different.

The puzzle consists of a tray with four holes, and four squirrels who have to drop their acorn into one of the four holes. Your task is to slide the squirrels over the board so that the acorns are dropped into a hole.

The puzzle comes with a booklet with 60 problems, and you may wish to skip the first half of them – personally I found them ridiculously easy, and no, I’m not a super genius.

Bongard dates (2)

In 1967 the Russian scientist M.M. Bongard published a book containing 100 problems. Each problem consists of 12 small boxes: six boxes on the left and six on the right. Each of the six boxes on the left conforms to a certain rule. Each box on the right contradicts this rule. Your task, of course, is to figure out the rule.

1)Bongard problem dates 3^*/*****

2)Bongard problem dates 4^*/*****

The original Bongard problems were geometrical and thus, in theory, culture free. These dates are western dates, and thus not culture independent. I have used the Italian/Dutch format. The 2-weekly puzzle column in the Guardian in the past already expanded the scope from geometry to language, but as far as I know the dates are a new territory. During my recent visit to Burkina Faso I wrote up 12 problems, so I have enough to trouble you the first half of 2020.

New puzzles are published at least once a month on Fridays. Solutions are published after one or more weeks. You are welcome to remark on the difficulty level of the puzzles, discuss alternate solutions, and so on. Puzzles are rated on a scale of 1 to 5 stars. You can check your solutions here

Happy puzzling!