The magic snake is a plastic puzzle manufactured by Shuo Yi toys factory, Shang Hua town, China. It is constructed of a series of half cubes, cut diagonally, and connected with what loooks like a string. I don’t know the price, it’s a present given by “Black Pete”.
The packaging looks cheap, and the back carries the images of 9 3D figures which can be constructed with it.
Here are some more figures which you may wish to create:
1) Circles**
Which code belongs at the question mark?
If you wish, you can peek at a hint
I have long suspected that there is a strong connection between mathematics and puzzles. Proving such a relation according to the scientific standards is of course another matter. It was nice to read that a study by the University of Chicago found that puzzle play helps boost Learning Math-Related skills in children between ages 2 and 4.
The advertisement flyer of the contractor showed me several examples of masonry, with bricks in two colours: brown and yellow.
Which code should be substituted for the question marks?
You can look up a hint
Puzzlers are likely to value their brain power. So I’ll take this opportunity by passing on some research results: walking increases your memory
1) Signalling people**
Have you ever seen the people on an aircraft carrier, or in the mountains, signalling an helicopter to get down at a specific point?
This puzzle is inspired by those people and signals.
Did you know….
Body language provides a much better cue than facial expressions when judging if a person has just gone through severe emotions?
See here for more details.
In the previous post I mentioned SudologiQs. Like Sudoku, the numbers 1-9 apear in every row, column and area exactly once. The difference with a normal sudoku is that no numbers are given as a clue, but that the puzzler gets a number of clues.
Let me give you a small 5×5 example.
Now let’s have an example of what a clue looks like:
Row I: Put the capitols of these countries in alphabetical sequence:
A: Korea
B: USA
C: Netherlands
D: Afghanistan
E: Germany
All these capitols are well known, though they are not always the biggest cities in those countries:
Seoul, Washington, Amsterdam, Kabul and Berlin.
Assigning their alphabetical sequence: 4 Seoul, 5 Washington, 1 Amsterdam, 3 Kabul, 2 Berlin. So the solution becomes
IA: 4; IB 5; IC: 1; ID: 3; 1E: 2.
OK, let’s get started. Did you know that usage of your memory activates large parts of your brain? I suggest that you try to solve this without using wikipedia.
Row I Put the names of these dogs in alphabetical sequence:
A. A dog who playes basketball
B. Son of Gray Wolf and Kazan
C. Laura Ingalls’ second dog in Little House on the Prairie
D. fictional collie dog character created by Eric Knight
E. First dog in Married … With children
Row II Associate these scientists with their branche of science:
A. Hendrik Lorentz
B. Euclides
C. Ivan Pavlov
D. Carolus Linnaeus
E. George Bernard Shaw
1. Physiology or Medicine, 2. Literature, 3. Botany, 4. Physics, 5. Mathematics
Row III Link these quotes with the persons
A. Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I’m not sure about the former.
B. Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase.
C. Blood, sweat, toil and tears
D. By all means, marry. If you get a good wife, you’ll become happy; if you get a bad one, you’ll become a philosopher.
E. Love is a fruit in season at all times, and within reach of every hand
1. Mother Teresa, 2 Martin Luther King, 3 Winston Churchill, 4 Socrates, 5. Albert Einstein
Row IV Connect book and author
A: G. K. Chesterton
B: Agatha Christi
C: Ruth Rendell
D: Isaac Asimov
E: Dorothy Leigh Sayers
1. Henry, 2. Father Brown, 3. Lord Peter Wimsey, 4. Hercule Poirot, 5. Chief Inspector Reginald Wexford
Row V What is the translation of these bulgarian numbers?
A: tri
B: edno
C: chetiri
D: dve
E: pet
Column A Put the composers in chronological sequence:
I: Antonio Lucio Vivaldi
II: Johannes Brahms
III: John Lennon
IV: Johann Christian Bach
V: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Column B Associate these trees with their uses
I: Maple Tree
II: Black willow
III: Para rubber tree
IV: Scots Pine
V: Spruce trees
1. Whitewood, 2. Rubber, 3. Maple syrup, 4. Turpentine, 5. Substitute for quinine
Column C Order the names of these islands in alphabetical sequence
They are depicted at different scales.
Column D In which country do you eat this?
I England
II Germany
III Greece
IV Italy
V Spain
1 Pizza, 2 Tapas, 3 Sauerbraten, 4 Horta, 5 Beef in Beer
Column E which sporter practises which sport?
I Sawao Kato
II Michael Phelps
III Elisabeta Lipa
IV Larisa Lazutina
V Anton Geesink
1 Rowing, 2 Swimming, 3 Cross-country skiing, 4 Gymnastics, 5 Judo
You can check your solution
Sudologiq were published in a book in German, by Ludwig Konemann. I have the dutch translation in my possession. Amazon sells a french translation. Googling for a few minutes did not show any english language examples, so you might well be looking at the first example in the english language.
1) Physics*
Every column and row totals 14.
ab3: the atomic number of silver
bc2: the number of hours in a day
bc1: the NGC number of a galaxy in the constellation Pisces
You should need only 2 of the 3 clues.
2) Bible*
Every row and column totals 13.
ab3: the number of years that the people of Israel dwelt in the desert
abc2: number of fish caught by Peter at the end of the gospel of John
bc1: age of Mozes when he was called in the desert, + the number of daughters of Putiel that Eleazer took as his wife(s)
You should need only 2 of the 3 clues.
3) Games*
Use the numbers 2,3, 4 and 6 exactly once in every row and colomn.
ab4: the number of chess pieces at the start of the game
bc3: the number of territories in the risk game
cd1: number of pegs in standard peg solitair
d2: number of suits in a card game
b21: the number of playing squares on a monopoly board MINUS the maximum number of houses on 1 street.
a21: the number of playing fields in back gammon
Again, you don’t need to solve every clue to solve the puzzle.
Cross-sums like the above appeared among others in “Introducing cross-sums” by Edward Fulbrook and Richard Maltby jr, ISBN 0-911104-68-2 in 1977. Mid 2012 I purchased a book with sudoku’s to be solved by obtaining trivia.
The term “cross-sum” is nowadays almost exclusively used for kakuro puzzles, which are hugely popular. Kakuro puzzles have a totally different concept.
In summer 2012 I obtained a book SUDOLOGIQ by Ludwig Konemann, which takes this concept to the form of sudoku’s.
You can check your solutions:
solution to 1
solution to 2
solution to 3
Gratte ciel or skyline or skyscraper is a type of puzzle where a square grid is given (though rectangular shapes would work as well). Every square in the grid has a skyscraper of 10, 20, 30 or 40 high in a 4×4 grid. The number of different skyscrapers that can be seen from an edge is given along that edge.
For example, if in a row the heights of the skyscraper are 20, 10, 30 and 40 respectively, 3 skyscrapers are visible from the left, as the 10 is hidden behind the 20. Only 1 is visible from the right: the one with a height of 40.
Like many modern puzzles, I don’t know where it was invented first. I have seen it around for several years now.
This one should be a nice and easy introduction:
1) 4×4*
2) 5×5**
3) 5×5**
If you solved it, we have the solution to 1, solution to 2 for you.
For the third puzzle, we have some Hints
Sometimes empty spots are introduced, called parks. they can be regarded as skyscrapers of height 0. It really doesn’t change the puzzle, by simply adding 10 to every height it transforms into the standard form.
For the Puzzle-Olympics, the International Brain Olympics Committee is purchasing gold, silver and bronze medals. In the medal shop, the bronze, silver and gold medals each have their own prize. Unfortunately for the procurement officer, only sets have price labels.
What is the prize of the fourth set?
If you are puzzled, we have a hint for you.
Inspector Simon Mart of Scotland Yard looked at the cabs lined up at the airport. After solving several difficult cases in London, he had been sent to this strange tropical island, KoaLoao. At first sight nothing looked strange. The sky was blue, the leaves of the coconut trees bright green, and the sand was yellow, and the ocean reflected the yellow sunlight as deep blue.
But he knew that the strange thing of this island was the people. The natives of this island fell into two distinct groups: those who always spoke the truth, called TruthTellers, and those who always lied, and were called LieSpeakers.
1) The cabdrivers
He approached the first taxi, and wondered how he could find out if the cab driver was a TruthTeller or a LieSpeaker.
“What’s the cost of a trip to the majestic hotel?” inspector Mart asked.
“Whoah dollar” the taxi driver told him. As the inspector did not understand the local language, the answer was meaningless to him. Then he suddenly realized that even if he had known the language, the answer would have been worthless to him if he didn’t know if the cab driver was a TruthTeller or a LieSpeaker.
He immediately asked: “Are you a TruthTeller?”
The reply came without hesitation:
“Koa, sir!”
Inspector Mart looked around helplessly. The cab driver of the next taxi walked up to him.
“Can you help me, please?” he said to the taxi driver. “Is this taxi driver a TruthTeller?”
The second cab driver answered right away:
“Loao, sir!”
Inspector Marts face cleared up. That taught him something.
He asked a third question, this time to the first taxi driver:
“Would this man” – the inspector pointed at the second cab driver – “call himself a TruthTeller?”
“Loao, sir!” the first taxi driver exclaimed.
Is the First cab driver a TruthTeller or a LieSpeaker?
If you wish you can check your solution.
2) The theft of the Yellow Coconut
Inspector S. Mart looked at the interrogation report of the three suspects of the theft of the Yellow Coconut, a monumental piece of Art by the native artist Art Fruit, symbolizing the fertility of islands in the Paleontic Ocean. Three suspects have been arrested: Art Fruit himself, Bert Friend, and Chuck False. It has already been established that one of them must have stolen the Yellow Coconut from the Royal Museum of Native Art. All three are natives of the island.
Art: I am innocent. Chuck is guilty.
Bert: I am innocent. Chuck is guilty.
Chuck: I am innocent. Art is a LieSpeaker.
Who is guilty?
If you solved it, you can check your solution.
The sliding block puzzle on this photo was invented by James W. Stephens; it is called the simplicity puzzle. The aim is to move the three square piece from the bottom right corner to the upper left corner. My colleague Edwin Santing produced it using the 3D printing facilities at shapeways.com, and google sketchup for the design.
Mike W. Stephens has his own puzzle site, called puzzlebeast. He specializes in sliding block puzzles, and his site is well worth a visit.
Beautiful as this puzzle is made, it is easy to make a temporary one yourself from cardboard. There are many, many shunting puzzles possible, and I intend to get back on this topic later.
justpuzzles 