Droodles

Did you ever notice that people often draw all kinds of figures during meetings? Here are some coded, abstract droodles.

There is a hint

Pattern codes – circles

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.

Masonry

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

Pattern code snakes

1) Snakes
What is the code that goes into the question mark?

You can check your solution

Pattern codes – signalling people

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.

solution

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.

Books

1) books^*
The professors assistant entered the office room of the professor and noticed that the professor had not only labeled the plants as shown in a previous post, but also his books. Only a new book on his desk was not yet labeled. Can you help him out?

You can look up hint here.

As you may have noticed I like this type of puzzle. Though I am no brain expert, i think you need to active different parts of your brain, and though I’m no expert in the field here’s a list of those parts of the brain which i think will be utilized while solving these puzzles:

• According to research by J. R. Binder and others, the Angular gyrus was used heavily when processing abstract keywords. Finding the correct abstract concepts play an important role in these puzzles.
• Prefrontal Cortex: used for: planning, reasoning, and judgment. Once you have an idea which properties of the objects play a role in the codes, you will need deductive reasoning to check that. Deductive reasoning activates the left frontal lobes, as researched in a meta study in 2011 by Jérôme Prado, Angad Chadha, and James R. Booth.
• The Occipital Lobes are used by visual activities, and as these puzzles are highly visual the solver needs to use this part of his/her brains.
• The inferior frontal gyrus and middle temporal gyrus are utilized according to research by Jing Wang, Julie A. Conder, David N. Blitzer, Svetlana V. Shinkareva.
• Corpus Callosum: This allows information to move between the left and right hemispheres of the brain and is thus a very important integrative structure.

Next weekend we hope to be away a few days, so the puzzle may be later than usual.

Pattern code post-its

1) Post-its^*
You know those super busy people at the office? Their desk is full of yellow post-its. Every office seem to have at least one such person. One fellow worker had a system to code their priority. Can you find his system?

You can look up a Hint

Pattern – flowers

When the new assistant of Professor F. Lower walked into the lab, he noticed that the professor had labeled 5 of the plants. The professor seemed to have walked out of the lab without labeling the sixth plant. Can you help out the assistant?

You can look up a Hint