Let’s get those molars into a real toughie this time. A spider is inside a fully closed box 12 inches wide, 12 inches high and 40 inches long. It is on one of the 12x12 walls, 1 inch from the top and 6 inches from both sides. (Assume that our friendly neighbourhood arachnid is of the super spidey variety that doesn’t die from lack of oxygen ever.).
On the opposite 12x12 wall however is a normal everyday housefly dying of oxygen deprivation since this puzzle has been going on for what seems like years and is so wasted that it can’t fly or even walk. Seeing Mr Doom on the opposite wall it has just enough strength left to position itself so that the inevitable is put off for as long as possible. Where should it go? You have to specify the point on the fly’s wall by giving the distances from the right side and from the top of the box so we can dig a grave for the little guy when solutions come in.
Throughput
(The problem was: “A 6 kms diameter circular fort has a north and south gate. A big tree stands 2 kms north of the north gate. What distance must be covered by a soldier walking east from the south gate to see the tree without obstruction?”)
Six kms, if he is walking due east and not along the wall. And the tree will be 10 kms. The tree must be pretty big, he must have excellent vision and there must be level unobstructed land in the path of sight for him to see it. -- Kishore Rao, kishoremrao@hotmail.com
By the way, what is meant by “big” tree? The question becomes ambiguous if the tree is big enough to extend its branches in east/west direction. Should the trunk be visible without obstruction or the whole tree? Perhaps it could have been mentioned that there is a slender pole at a distance of two kms north of the northern gate. (I hope you do not interpret this as nitpicking.) – A V Ramana Rao, raoavr@gmail.com
(Among the first five who also got it correct are: S V S Sivam, svssivam@yahoo.com; Balagopalan Nair, balagopalannair@gmail.com; Altaf Ahmed, ctrlaltaf@yahoo.in; Kshitish Krit Nanda, kritnanda@gmail.com; Dhruv Narayan, dhruv510@gmail.com. -- MS)
(The second one was: “1. What are the next four numbers in the series 12, 1, 1, 1, 2, 1, 3, ?, ?, ?, ?.”)
After spending an hour, it dawned on me. The starting number of 12 made me think about a clock. The sequence gives the number of chimes of a clock every half hour starting from 12. The three 1s are the single chime at 12.30, 1 and 1.30. The next four numbers are 1, 4, 1, 5. -- Saishankar Swaminathan, saishankar482@gmail.com
The answer to the next four number is 12, 1, 1, 1, 2, 1, 3, 1, 4, 1, 5. They are from the cuckoo clock, the chimes of the clock starting at 12. -- Dr Vinayak Shukla, shukla58@hotmail.com
(The third problem was: “Question #1: Which man drinks diet soda? Question #2: Which man owns a spider monkey? Given that . . . There are five houses and that in each house lives a man of a certain nationality who has his favourite drink, his favourite game and his own unusual pet.” Furthermore 15 clues were given.)
The answers to the Multinational Muddle is: The drink of the Russian is Diet Soda, while the American has the Spider Monkey as his pet. The complete answer is: First house: Russian, Yellow, Diet Soda, Camel, Racquetball; Second House: Swede, Blue, Coffee, Rat, Quoits; Third House: Englishman, Red, Milk, Toad, Backgammon; Fourth House: Italian, White, Herb Tea, Guppy, Solitaire; Fifth House: American, Green, Lemonade, Spider Monkey, Charades. -- Charanjit Singh Pardesi, cspardesi@gmail.com
(Also among the five correct people are: Animesh Jena, animeshjena5@gmail.com; Ravi Nidugondi, iravi.nidugondi@gmail.com; Dr A K Bhat, docakbhat@gmail.com; Rajesh Sahu, rajeshsahu1998@gmail.com; Chitra Ramaswami, crswami499@gmail.com.)
But Google This Now
1. A boiled egg and a raw egg start rolling down an endless ramp simultaneously. Which one rolls in the lead and why?
2. First list of five words: PRONE, VERSE, PALMIST, APRON, EVER. Second list of five words: PISTIL, PETAL, CALYX, SEPAL, ANTHER. Which word in the second list should come next in sequence as the sixth word in the first list? And why? Sharma is a scriptwriter and former editor of Science Today magazine.
Mukul Sharma
Scriptwriter and former editor of Science Today magazine
(mukul.mindsport@gmail.com)