Just wondering how many people here are puzzle solvers... I'm thinking of running puzzle contests, and I want to gauge how many potential contestants there are. I'm planning to run it as a series of puzzles, where the goal is to solve all of the puzzles in the least amount of time. Ideally, players would compete in teams (3-4 people). I think some people are familiar with this type of thing (MIT Mystery Hunt, BANG!, etc.), except that the puzzles won't be as difficult.
I like to think of myself as a puzzle solver...it'd be fun even in losing.
-Alpha
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Lies! -I'm Buffy Summers, town tracker. I used my ability on you and saw that you didn't use any abilities before the game started. My flavor is I was sucked through a mysterious space-time portal and I'm here to kill all the vampires, and my tracking ability is a combination of my Slayer and Native American skills.
You have a 3 gallon bucket, a 5 gallon bucket, and an unlimited supply of water. You need exactly 4 gallons of water. Since the buckets have no markings on them, the only actions you can take are: Filling either bucket, Pouring out either bucket, or Pouring one bucket into another. How do you get exactly 4 gallons?
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-banner by Dementia Blader, avatar by Zoobamaphooza
Fill the 5 gallon bucket. Pour water into the 3 gallon bucket until it fills. Empty the 5 gallon bucket. Pour the remaining 3 gallons into the 5 gallon bucket. Fill the 3 gallon bucket again. Fill the 5 gallon bucket. Empty the 5 gallon bucket and then pour what is left of the 3 gallon bucket into the 5 gallon bucket. Fill the 3 gallon bucket again. Then empty it into the 5 gallon bucket. That gives you 4 gallons.
I woke up this morning and had some leftover scrambled eggs. That's when I took a look outside and realized I was in another state. Here's what the signs said:
chart game
iron bans
ended nice pens
dressing flip
neon trot
nubian Hal
terribly
stinky Isaac
Where was I?
/end puzzle
Anyway, it's probably true that teams won't work out too well for this, and there might not even be enough people interested. That's a shame, since it somewhat limits what kinds of puzzles I can give... Hmm, maybe it's better if it's not a series? Like just a collection of puzzles with say, a week time limit, and whoever PMs me the most correct solutions wins?
In a trailer or RV with at least one other person old enough to drive.
[There are a few other possibilities, but that's the most likely of the ones I came up with.]
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Count me in for this whole puzzle deal.
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Dacarnix
------------------
Don't say I'm out of touch with this rampant chaos - your reality
I know well what lies beyond my sleeping refuge - the nightmare I built my own world to escape
from "Imaginary" by Evanescence
pedestal -> beetles,
beetles -> eternal
eternal -> retracted
retracted -> coerces
coerces -> corporeal
corporeal -> soprano
soprano -> tornado
tornado ->
no word with "trao", so it's gotta be "ond" which only gondola has.
Damn. That took me like an hour of staring at words. I was so sure it had something to do with the placement of the vowels.
Here's another one; it's kinda easy. Please don't answer if you've seen it before.
/Begin Puzzle
Three men check into a hotel, and pay the cashier $30 for their room, which they split three ways. The cashier realizes that he has overcharged them, and gives $5 to the bellhop to take up to their room. The bellhop decides that they will have a hard time splitting $5, so he "relieves them" of $2 to make things easier. Each man thanks the bellhop for their $1 refund.
Each man paid $10 initially. After they each got $1 back, they had paid $9 each for the room.
Very nice, Goblinboy! *applause* I was hoping the "even" hint would be subtle enough that no one would easily pick up on it.
I won't answer your puzzle, as I already know the answer, but I will post a hint for my previous puzzle. It seems it's a bit tough, but maybe that's only because people aren't picking up on the in-puzzle clues.
The word "scrambled" indicates an anagram puzzle. In addition, the word "leftover" also indicates that you'll be taking parts out of each anagram. Hopefully that helps.
In case any of you didn't know, there's also a [ spoiler ] tag on these forums.
New Jersey?
I really only got the Trenton one, but it's pointless continuing after that as I don't really know any other place where there's a Trenton, nor do I know any other New Jersey cities (besides Jersey City, but you didn't put that in there; no J)
Heh. Not quite Goblinboy! This is why you shouldn't stop solving a puzzle halfway just because you think you know the answer! I intentionally threw in some anagrams which were ambiguous
EDIT: I think I'm probably going to just post a set of puzzles, and anyone can PM me their answers. I'll leave the puzzles open for a week, and then whoever has the most solved at that point is the winner. How does that sound, everyone?
My best guess right now is mastermind. I'm looking at repeated letters within the words, and also at the number of letters in between them. I see a pattern of 0,1,1,2,3, which would lead me to believe that the next word should contain a repeated letter with 5 letters in between them. The only one I see fitting that is mastermind.
If that's right, is there any particular reason you chose those letters? Because I don't see a sequence that goes: g,c,a,c,u,m...
So you think it's best just to keep posting puzzles within this thread? It seems a little disorganized this way. Maybe what I can do is post sets of puzzles (one set per thread), and people can just discuss or solve them in the thread. I can keep a tally going to see who's solved the most.
mastermind is correct, for the reason you posted. Veddy nice
there was no reason for the sequence of letters. That probably would have been a good one for a lead-off.
The lead-offs were:
observatory: 5 syllables.
swagger (2), Cicero (3), damage (2) , democracy (4), uncouth (2)
a 5-syllable word would come next.
indomitable: 4 letters between letter repeats. In case you didn't catch the fibonacci reference (of course you did, you've got a Math degree :D) and simply saw the 1,2,3 of damage/democracy/uncouth
republic had to do with the meanings of the words (Greek... stuff every other word. Cicero, democracy, Plato's Republic)
Anyway, sets of puzzles sound fun. If you want any from me, just LMK But you've probably got it under control.
It was indeed a nice puzzle. I got misled several times while trying to figure it out. Good job
I wouldn't mind accepting submissions, although that means you won't be able to solve them, of course. I also reserve the right to modify puzzles to make them more or less challenging as needed.
I think I've finally figured out the best way to do this. People can still use this thread to post single puzzles, but I'll be posting a thread with a puzzle set every month (probably between 5-6 puzzles). Everyone is free to discuss the puzzles and solve them in those threads, using the [ spoiler ] tag appropriately. I'm planning to put up the January puzzle set by the weekend. I've got a few in mind already.
Three men check into a hotel, and pay the cashier $30 for their room, which they split three ways. The cashier realizes that he has overcharged them, and gives $5 to the bellhop to take up to their room. The bellhop decides that they will have a hard time splitting $5, so he "relieves them" of $2 to make things easier. Each man thanks the bellhop for their $1 refund.
Each man paid $10 initially. After they each got $1 back, they had paid $9 each for the room.
$9 * 3 = 27 + $2 (what the bellhop took) = $29.
Where did the last dollar go?
-Goblinboy
No missing dollar just bad math.
You don't want to add the 2$ to the 27$ you want to subtract it.
This leaves 25$ which was the real price of the room.
Incorrect, Dacarnix. Just to clarify, the solution to the puzzle is the name of the state.
Incorrect, or not the answer you were looking for? :winky:
If you woke up, had leftovers, and "realized" you were in a different state, where else would you be than an RV or trailer?
If you really want the state, though, you're obviously in Missouri.
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Dacarnix
------------------
Don't say I'm out of touch with this rampant chaos - your reality
I know well what lies beyond my sleeping refuge - the nightmare I built my own world to escape
from "Imaginary" by Evanescence
Incorrect, or not the answer you were looking for? :winky:
If you woke up, had leftovers, and "realized" you were in a different state, where else would you be than an RV or trailer?
Well, I could've been kidnapped and then waken up inside my captor's lair (he was kind enough to give me his leftovers), or perhaps I sleep-drove my car across the state line, or... never mind
If you really want the state, though, you're obviously in Missouri.
Very nice. Did you use the hint I gave? Or did you just keep cracking away at it?
Someone please tell me how do do those spoiler tags so that i can start guessing too... I had mastermind right but i didn't want to just post it. Thanks...
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-banner by Dementia Blader, avatar by Zoobamaphooza
It looks like I'll have the set up by Saturday at this rate. In any case, here's another puzzle, which some of you might already know.
EDIT: Elpadre, the spoiler tag is [ spoiler ] [ /spoiler ] without the spaces inside the brackets.
/begin puzzle
You have 2 ropes, not necessarily of equal length. You know that they each take exactly 1 hour to burn completely from end to end, but they don't burn at a constant rate. This means that if you light a rope and let it burn for half an hour, there may or may not be half of the rope remaining.
Your goal is to measure 45 minutes using these two ropes.
My guess...I'm not that good at these games...lol..
Light Rope A from both sides and Rope B from one side. Once Rope A is gone, this should be 30 minutes. Put Rope B out. Find the exact center and relite the end. Once the Rope B burns to the mark, that is 15 minutes. Giving you 45 minutes.
So, any interest?
-Alpha
-banner by Dementia Blader, avatar by Zoobamaphooza
-banner by Dementia Blader, avatar by Zoobamaphooza
chart game
iron bans
ended nice pens
dressing flip
neon trot
nubian Hal
terribly
stinky Isaac
Where was I?
/end puzzle
Anyway, it's probably true that teams won't work out too well for this, and there might not even be enough people interested. That's a shame, since it somewhat limits what kinds of puzzles I can give... Hmm, maybe it's better if it's not a series? Like just a collection of puzzles with say, a week time limit, and whoever PMs me the most correct solutions wins?
[There are a few other possibilities, but that's the most likely of the ones I came up with.]
-----
Count me in for this whole puzzle deal.
------------------
Don't say I'm out of touch with this rampant chaos - your reality
I know well what lies beyond my sleeping refuge - the nightmare I built my own world to escape
from "Imaginary" by Evanescence
Here's another puzzle:
/begin puzzle
This sequence might be even harder than you think:
pedestal, beetles, eternal, retracted, coerces, corporeal, soprano, tornado
Which of these could come next? - vandalize, daunting, gondola, tortoise, poodles, tantalize
it's Gondola.
pedestal -> beetles,
beetles -> eternal
eternal -> retracted
retracted -> coerces
coerces -> corporeal
corporeal -> soprano
soprano -> tornado
tornado ->
no word with "trao", so it's gotta be "ond" which only gondola has.
Damn. That took me like an hour of staring at words. I was so sure it had something to do with the placement of the vowels.
Here's another one; it's kinda easy. Please don't answer if you've seen it before.
/Begin Puzzle
Three men check into a hotel, and pay the cashier $30 for their room, which they split three ways. The cashier realizes that he has overcharged them, and gives $5 to the bellhop to take up to their room. The bellhop decides that they will have a hard time splitting $5, so he "relieves them" of $2 to make things easier. Each man thanks the bellhop for their $1 refund.
Each man paid $10 initially. After they each got $1 back, they had paid $9 each for the room.
$9 * 3 = 27 + $2 (what the bellhop took) = $29.
Where did the last dollar go?
-Goblinboy
I won't answer your puzzle, as I already know the answer, but I will post a hint for my previous puzzle. It seems it's a bit tough, but maybe that's only because people aren't picking up on the in-puzzle clues.
In case any of you didn't know, there's also a [ spoiler ] tag on these forums.
New Jersey?
I really only got the Trenton one, but it's pointless continuing after that as I don't really know any other place where there's a Trenton, nor do I know any other New Jersey cities (besides Jersey City, but you didn't put that in there; no J)
I'll try to think up a good one for you
-Goblinboy
EDIT: I think I'm probably going to just post a set of puzzles, and anyone can PM me their answers. I'll leave the puzzles open for a week, and then whoever has the most solved at that point is the winner. How does that sound, everyone?
A new one (should be a bit easier than yours, but still worth a few brain cells):
/Begin Puzzle
Semi-hint inside:
swagger, Cicero, damage, democracy, uncouth, _______
What comes next? Choose from:
observatory, indomitable, mastermind, republic
-Goblinboy
If that's right, is there any particular reason you chose those letters? Because I don't see a sequence that goes: g,c,a,c,u,m...
So you think it's best just to keep posting puzzles within this thread? It seems a little disorganized this way. Maybe what I can do is post sets of puzzles (one set per thread), and people can just discuss or solve them in the thread. I can keep a tally going to see who's solved the most.
there was no reason for the sequence of letters. That probably would have been a good one for a lead-off.
The lead-offs were:
observatory: 5 syllables.
swagger (2), Cicero (3), damage (2) , democracy (4), uncouth (2)
a 5-syllable word would come next.
indomitable: 4 letters between letter repeats. In case you didn't catch the fibonacci reference (of course you did, you've got a Math degree :D) and simply saw the 1,2,3 of damage/democracy/uncouth
republic had to do with the meanings of the words (Greek... stuff every other word. Cicero, democracy, Plato's Republic)
Anyway, sets of puzzles sound fun. If you want any from me, just LMK But you've probably got it under control.
-Goblinboy
I wouldn't mind accepting submissions, although that means you won't be able to solve them, of course. I also reserve the right to modify puzzles to make them more or less challenging as needed.
I think I've finally figured out the best way to do this. People can still use this thread to post single puzzles, but I'll be posting a thread with a puzzle set every month (probably between 5-6 puzzles). Everyone is free to discuss the puzzles and solve them in those threads, using the [ spoiler ] tag appropriately. I'm planning to put up the January puzzle set by the weekend. I've got a few in mind already.
No missing dollar just bad math.
You don't want to add the 2$ to the 27$ you want to subtract it.
This leaves 25$ which was the real price of the room.
Incorrect, or not the answer you were looking for? :winky:
If you woke up, had leftovers, and "realized" you were in a different state, where else would you be than an RV or trailer?
If you really want the state, though, you're obviously in Missouri.
------------------
Don't say I'm out of touch with this rampant chaos - your reality
I know well what lies beyond my sleeping refuge - the nightmare I built my own world to escape
from "Imaginary" by Evanescence
Well, I could've been kidnapped and then waken up inside my captor's lair (he was kind enough to give me his leftovers), or perhaps I sleep-drove my car across the state line, or... never mind
Very nice. Did you use the hint I gave? Or did you just keep cracking away at it?
-banner by Dementia Blader, avatar by Zoobamaphooza
EDIT: Elpadre, the spoiler tag is [ spoiler ] [ /spoiler ] without the spaces inside the brackets.
/begin puzzle
You have 2 ropes, not necessarily of equal length. You know that they each take exactly 1 hour to burn completely from end to end, but they don't burn at a constant rate. This means that if you light a rope and let it burn for half an hour, there may or may not be half of the rope remaining.
Your goal is to measure 45 minutes using these two ropes.
http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=519290