Bongard problem 37

Which rule satisfies the 6 figures on the left but is obeyed by none of the 6 figures on the right?
1)Bongard problem 37^**/*****



All letters used have font size 48.

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 conform to a certain rule. Each and every box on the right contradicts this rule. Your task, of course, is to figure out the rule.

You can check your solution here

You can find more Bongard problems here on this site and at Harry Foundalis’ site.

New puzzles are published at least twice 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.

Playing card puzzles (1)

While waiting for my appointment with the dentist I thumbed through the magazines, looking for good puzzles. I had little hope of finding any more than a crossword or sudoku, but to my surprise I encountered a new format in the magazine plusonline. The magazine does have a website, as the name suggests, but I couldn’t find the puzzles there.

In all puzzles the problem is: which of the four cards at the bottom should replace the blue card?

Here are two puzzles in the same vein. I did make a small change: the original puzzle had rows of three cards, which I changed into cards rows of four cards.

1) Playing cards square nr 1^***/*****

You can check your solution here

2) Playing cards square nr 2^***/*****

You can check your solution here

New puzzles are published at least twice 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.

Be prepared for more puzzles of this type in a few weeks.

a pack of milk

Johnny is a logician. His mother asks him:
Please go to the supermarket and bring me a pack of milk. If they have eggs, get me 6.
What does his mother say when Johnny comes home?

You can check your solution here

Bongard problem 36

Which rule satisfies the 6 figures on the left but is obeyed by none of the 6 figures on the right?
1)Bongard problem 10^***/*****

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 conform to a certain rule. Each and every box on the right contradicts this rule. Your task, of course, is to figure out the rule.

You can check your solution here

You can find more Bongard problems here on this site and at Harry Foundalis’ site.

New puzzles are published at least twice 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.

Ikura

On January 18 I published some puzzles with the digits 1-9, each one to be used exactly once. In a publication by Denksport, the largest Dutch puzzle publisher, I found Ikura. Ikura in Japanese is the name of salmon caviar, and the first 20-50 hits in the duckduckgo search engine mostly referred to sushi and crosswords, so I guess Denksport made up this name themselves.

Below you find some examples of puzzles of this kind.

1) Ikura nr 1^**/*****

2) Ikura nr 2^**/*****

3) Ikura nr 3^**/*****

You can check your solution here

The digits 1-9 are each used exactly once.  The numbers ate the right and bottom are the sum of the digits in the 3×3 square.

New puzzles are published at least twice 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.

Dice puzzles old and new

Last month we had a look at the most famous of dice puzzles, the Polar bear puzzle. One of the beauties of dice puzzles is that, like playing cards, they are around in many bars.

I found an original dice puzzle in issue 70 of the long defunct British magazine Games & Puzzles, dated May/June 1978.

1) G&P issue 70^***/*****



I’m not sure which one is older, the Polar Bears dice puzzle or the one in G&P.

You can check your solution here

2) 4 rolls of 4 dice^***/*****



I’m not sure which one is older, the Polar Bears dice puzzle or the one in G&P.

You can check your solution here

Bongard problem S3

Which rule satisfies the 6 figures on the left but is obeyed by none of the 6 figures on the right?
1)Bongard problem S3^***/*****

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 conform to a certain rule. Each and every box on the right contradicts this rule. Your task, of course, is to figure out the rule.

You can check your solution here

You can find more Bongard problems here on this site and at Harry Foundalis’ site.

New puzzles are published at least twice 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.

Polar bears and other dice puzzles

Polar bears is no doubt the most famous dice puzzle around. I first heard it when I studied mathematics, and Douglas Hofstadters book “Godel, Escher, Bach” may have been the source.
If you want to puzzle your friends, roll 5 dice, and tell the how many polar bears can be spotted. Then roll 5 dice again, let them guess, and tell them the correct number if they guess wrong.

1) Polar bears^***/*****
The polar bears puzzle is traditionally presented as a throw of 5 dice. If you are stumped, don’t despair, it is rumored that Bill Gates could only partially solve it.



Even though you may find it hard, I do encourage you to try to solve it before consulting the answer.

You can check your solution here

2) Seals^***/*****
Polar bears hunt for seals. How many seals do you count?
This puzzle is inspired by the authors of https://www.pleacher.com/handley/puzzles/polrbear.html.

You can check your solution here

3) Fish^***/*****
This puzzle too is inspired by the authors above, though in both instances I changed names to get a more logical picture.

You can check your solution here

Ages

Ages (1)^**/*****
“Did you know that this year the sum of our ages is a multiple of 8?” Jill asked John.
“Yes,” Tom answered. “And did you know that next year the product of our ages is a three digit number consisting of three times the same digit?”

Ages (2)^**/*****
“What a coincidence,” Bill said, who had overheard their talk. “Next year the product of the ages of Bess and me will also be a three digit number consisting of three identical digits. But this year the sum of our ages is a two digit number consisting two identical digits.”

What are the ages of John, Jill, Bill and Bess?

You can check your solution here

Bongard problem 19

Which rule satisfies the 6 figures on the left but is obeyed by none of the 6 figures on the right?
1)Bongard problem 19^**/*****

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 conform to a certain rule. Each and every box on the right contradicts this rule. Your task, of course, is to figure out the rule.

You can check your solution here

You can find more Bongard problems here on this site and at Harry Foundalis’ site.

New puzzles are published at least twice 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.