Ten Problems

Decode the two-word secret message.

Clue 1: HABCAEEGEIHILFEDCPIME

Clue 2: Pi 14

Update: Solutions have been posted!

On November 11, 1928, a man had lived as long in the twentieth century as he had lived in the nineteenth. What’s his birthdate? Assume he was born at midday.

Source: 536 Puzzles & Curious Problems by Dudeney

Update: Solutions have been posted!

Go through all 49 dots in twelve straight contiguous lines. Begin and end on the red dot.

Update: Solutions have been posted!

Three grandmothers, with their two granddaughters;
Two husbands, with their two wives;
Two fathers, with their two daughters;
Two mothers, with their two sons;
Two maidens, with their two mothers;
Two sisters, with their two brothers;
Yet only six in all lie buried here;
All born legitimate, from incest clear.
How might this happen?

Source: 536 Puzzles and Curious Problems by Dudeney

Update: Solutions have been posted!

You are at an intersection where there are two ways you can go. At each way, a guard is standing.

One way leads to a land of paradise, while the other leads to a pit of burning death. But you don’t know which one is which.

One guard is known to tell only truths, while the other guard is known to tell only lies. But you don’t know which one is which.

By asking only one of the guards only one question, how can you find out which way to go?

Update: Solutions have been posted!

© Bonnie J. Malcolm

Update: Solutions have been posted!

Answer One: The Birth of Boadicea
Original Problem

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Answer Two: A Secret Sequence
Original Problem

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Answer Three: Riding Downtown
Original Problem

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Answer Four: The Missing Dollar
Original Problem

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Answer Five: Thrifty Thugs
Original Problem

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Answer Six: Mixed Boxes
Original Problem

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Answer Seven: Three Lights
Original Problem

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Answer Eight: Incense Sticks
Original Problem

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Answer Nine: Gadsby
Original Problem

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Answer Ten: Mulling Over Multiplication
Original Problem

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This should be an easy one for you guys.

Two convicts are locked in a cell. There is an unbarred window high up in the cell. No matter if they stand on the bed or one on top of the other they can’t reach the window to escape. They then decide to tunnel out. However, they give up with the tunneling because it will take too long. Finally one of the convicts figures out how to escape from the cell. What is his plan?

Update: Solutions are posted!

Here’s is a fun problem I found on the Internet today while browsing around:

Once upon a time a king wanted to hire the best Mathematician in his kingdom to work in his palace. His servants brought to him the best two mathematicians, one of them was blind. The king told both mathematicians that he can’t hire both so he will ask a question and whoever answers gets the job.

The king said: “I have three sons, whoever guesses their ages will be hired.” The king told them that if they multiply the ages of his sons the result will be 36. Both mathematicians told the king that this information is not enough. The king then said: “The number of windows in the building across the street is equal to the sum of the ages of my sons.” The first mathematician (who can see) counted the windows, and told the king that he still could not figure it out. The Blind mathematician (who could not count the windows) told the king that he does not have an answer. The king then said: “My oldest son has red hair.” Right away the blind mathematician gave the correct answer and got hired.

The question is: How did the blind guy know the answer and what is the answer?

There are no ‘tricks’ to this problem. An you can assume the age are whole numbers and if their ages differ by less than a year they count as having the same ages (i.e. two six year olds have the same ages regardless of when they are born).

Source

Update: Solutions are posted!

Well, not really. By moving only one coin, can you change the formation of the coins above such that the six (the diagram above is wrong! see edit) coins form two straight lines with four coins on each line?

Edit: The image is WRONG! For this problem the horizontal line of coins should only contain THREE coins! it should be like

O O O
O
O
O

Update: Solutions are posted!

Ok, I admit I’ve really taken a liking to connecting dots today for some reason, so here another one to test out your elite skills of baseball connections.
Can you draw two straight lines without lifting your pencil such that the two lines passes through all six baseballs?

Update: Solutions are posted!

Can you draw four straight lines without lifting your pencil such that the four lines passes through all of the nine dots show above?

(The dots are suppose to be evenly spaced… I drew it with Paint.)

Update: Solutions are posted!

Three types of monkeys - monkeys of the same type weigh the same - were amusing themselves in the jungle. By chance they found a small wobbly tree, where, by varying the amounts of monkeys on each side they could keep the tree in an upright position.

They found out that:

2 howler monkeys and 1 squirrel monkey on one side balanced with 4 spider monkeys on the other side.

2 spider monkeys and 1 squirrel monkey on one side balanced with 3 howler monkeys on the other side.

Can you determine how many squirrel monkeys on one side it would take to keep the tree upright with 4 howler monkeys on the other side?

Update: Solutions are posted!

Johnny was given 16 coins by his older, somewhat meaner brother, Mark. He told him that he could keep them all if he could place all 16 on the table in such a way that they formed 15 rows with 4 coins in each row.

After 10 minutes, Johnny walked away with the coins and Mark, after complaining futilely to his mother, left with nothing.

How did Johnny place the coins?

Update: Solutions are posted!

When does Oct 31 = Dec 25 make sense?

Update: Solutions are posted!