The worlds first riddle!

Iacomus, no pm from you. It is a pity you did not copy your pm to Relative to the rest of us, as a help guide, you understand.

The good news is, it was a Motor Bike. I would have bet the villa, farm, factory and yacht against anyone reaching that answer.
I will put a cheque in the post. :wink:

Try asked me to post this riddle for him : I am happy to do so.


Sally and Sue have a strong desire to date Sam. They all live on the same street yet neither Sally or Sue know where Sam or the other lives. The houses on this street are numbered 1 to 99. Sally asks Sam "Is your house number a perfect square?". He answers. Then Sally asks "Is is greater than 50?". He answers again. Sally thinks she now knows the address of Sam's house and decides to visit. When she gets there, she finds out she is wrong. This is not surprising, considering Sam answered only the second question truthfully. Sue, unaware of Sally's conversation, asks Sam two questions. Sue asks "Is your house number a perfect cube?". He answers. She then asks "Is it greater than 25?". He answers again. Sue thinks she knows where Sam lives and decides to pay him a visit. She too is mistaken as Sam once again answered only the second question truthfully. If I tell you that Sam's number is less than Sue's or Sally's, and that the sum of their numbers is a perfect square multiplied by two, you should be able to figure out where all three of them live

Try

When I sent you the missing PM I admit with some shame that, as the result of applauding a friend's glad tidings, I was, as one British politician said under similar circumstances, "a little tired and emotional".

Your PM was sent, but it was sent from Iacomus to Iacomus. That has been corrected and you should now belatedly receive it.

Relative's PM was sent at the same time and, rather than sending everyone a copy, I withdraw the solution to the 'one-third full aquarium' contained in it.

Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa.

BTW Relative, are we allowed a second container or the use of a freezer in the 'glass cube' question?

Relative

I have sent a PM concerning the 'Sally, Sue, Sam' question.

Sorry about the 'glass cube' nonsense. And I would still like to know if we can use a second container or a freezer in that question. Half is easy enough, so is a sixth, and either of those 'extras' would allow me to subtract the sixth from the half, or add two sixths together.

Will the person who receives the PM for Relative, please forward, he is waiting.

Something a little easier for the weekend: :wink:

a) If the removal of your appendix is called, an appendectomy, and the removal of your tonsils is called a tonsillectomy, what is the operation called that removes growth from your head

b) What would you call someone who did not have all of his fingers on his left hand

c) If it takes six men 66 days to dig six holes, how long will it take one man to dig half a hole

I cannot solve this riddle with PM's flying around.

I got a correct answer from Iacomus where clear instructions for a party address were scribbled.
See if we can intercept one of the girls

And nope, you cannot use a second container. No measuring devices allowed, remember?

Relative

A good job you told me that. There I was thinking that "Well . . . urm . . . throw it in that big bucket" didn't count as using a measuring instrument!

So can I leave the cube in the freezer over night if I allow myself to be searched to ensure I am not sneaking in a thermometer?

Having thought carefully about the glass cube,

and if one assumes that the question is as stated with no hidden twists or turns and with no 'extra' equipment,

then I am almost kind-of maybe perhaps inclined (in a sense) to tentatively hint in an oblique manner that it cannot be done.

A sixth, or a half, is easy enough in one move, but 'a half minus a sixth' or 'a sixth plus a sixth' requires a second move of some kind.

Of course I have been wrong many times before!

Iacomus, nobody said anything about how many moves it takes. Just NO MEASURING DEVICES (for measuring volume, area, length, time, ...)

Glass cube.

1. Fill the cube.
2. Keeping one edge on a flat base, start to tip the water out.
3. When the water forms a triangle with the rising rear edge, you will have 1/3 left.

Try

That sounds more like a half to me.

Relative

Unlike your usual style I find you less than crystal-clear clear this time (which could of course be the fault of the receiver, the sender, or both)

You said that no measuring instruments were allowed yet earlier you excluded the use of a second container although I had said nothing about it other than it would be a container. With no second container and no measuring the only remaining options are 'pour water into the cube' and 'Pour some of the water from the cube down the drain', as there is nowhere else to pour it.

It would still be possible if freezing or a waterproof film of some kind were allowed, etc., but this is merely a second container in disguise, using the cube as two separate containers.

I would claim - though I am prepared to be convinced otherwise - that, by use of nothing other than the cube and visual alignment of the water-level, a full cube-volume, a half cube-volume, or a one-sixth cube volume can be accurately arrived at but that is all.

With a second container one could either twice pour one sixth into the second container or could pour a half into the second container and then pour one sixth back. Either of these would produce a third but without a second container both of these options are excluded.

Quote, "That sounds more like a half to me."

What does a half sound like? (This is not a hole, you know)

Solution: Turn the cube onto its corner, and do the same.

On further consideration I would be astonished if there were any other volumes than, 'full', 'half-full', or 'one-sixth full' that could be reliably arrived at, using only the cube and visual alignment of the water surface because of the limited number of possible 'points of alignment' .

The cube can have a face in contact with the ground, or an edge, or a corner. Each of these has only one reliable 'three-point' possibility of alignment. The face-contact can only reliably produce a 'full cube' volume, an edge-contact can only reliably produce a 'half-full cube' volume, and a corner-contact can only reliably produce a 'one-sixth-full cube' volume. (In the interests of completeness an 'empty cube' volume can also be reliably arrived at, but nothing else).

Therefore, without a second container and without the use of any subsidiary equipment - using only the cube itself and visual 'three-point' alignment of the water level - the question as posed and within these constraints has no solution.

Ok, here we go again;

Fill the cube.
Tilt it over at an angle of 60 degrees.
Return to upright.
Result. 1/3 contents remain.

Send prize to PO box...

The glass cube (the solution as I have it):

It is quite difficult for me to visualize all the tilts and leans Try and Iacomus have done, but consider this:

Let us mark the bottom four corners as ABCD, and the upper four corners EFGH so that E is above A.

Fill the cube. Put it on corner A so that water reaches to corners B D and E. This measures 1/6 th of a cube volume, as Iacomus has found. Now you could in principle freeze the water and do the same with corner C but it's not necessary.
Just put the cube on edge A-B and leand it to the side so that water exactly reaches edge C-D on the other side. Now MARK the height water reaches on edge A-E. This is 1/3 of the cube height! Put the cube back in upright position and fill it to the mark.

The long walk home, Sally and Sue:
I will post solutions when requested (in 2 days without written request)

Weekend puzzles : As I was sitting at hairdressers' I had some time to think and noticed the hairdresser didn't have all her fingers on the left hand. It took me half an hour to realize the solution and another tenth of that to dig half of the hole.

I already saw that canoe finishing photo so I will not struggle with that once more.

Relative

True enough, that works just fine. I did wonder for a moment if making a mark on the side of the cube counts as 'measuring' but it was only a passing thought. A very clever solution.

I will accept no complaints or excuses. The cash prize will remain in 'puzzle fund'.

Something a little easier for the weekend: Answers:

a) If the removal of your appendix is called, an appendectomy, and the removal of your tonsils is called a tonsillectomy, what is the operation called that removes growth from your head? Haircut

b) What would you call someone who did not have all of his fingers on his left hand? Normal.

c) If it takes six men 66 days to dig six holes, how long will it take one man to dig half a hole? There is no such thing as half a hole.

Relative, the cube question was brilliant. Although I would not wish to take sides, I do have a degree of sympathy with Iacomus (about 60). However, your decision is final, and I note the prize fund remains unspent. Perhaps this answer will prompt a small cash advance.

How much time had Sam been walking from the Ol' farm station? 40 minutes.

Ok, Picture a field that is exactly 110 meters square and dead in the centre of that field is a Mule. Now the field is bordered by white fencing all along its northern edge, its southern edge and all along the eastern and western borders.

There is no way out of the field apart from through the gate at the northern border where the north fence meets the eastern fence. With me so far? Can you picture the nice square field with its lush green grass and white picket-style fencing, with a cute looking Mule.

Due to the fact that that the Mule had a bad leg, he could only move at a rate of 2.25 meters per hour, for 1.5 hours. Then he has to sleep for six hours, before starting off again. If today was Friday at 12 noon and the Mule sleeps for 24 hours on Sunday.

How long would it take the Mule to get out of the field

A police officer was walking past a house. He heard someone cry, "Don't shoot me, John! Don't shoot!" There was one gunshot. The police officer entered the house and saw a lawyer, priest, and an engineer, gathered around a dead body.

The gun was on the floor. None of the suspects admitted the crime, or made a statement against the other. However, the priest was arrested and charged.

How did the police officer know

A man is replacing a wheel on his car, when he accidentally drops the four nuts used to hold the wheel on the car, and they fall into a deep drain, irretrievably lost. A passer by suggests a solution which enables him to drive home.
What is it

Hm, I don't see what is confusing about the cube riddle anyway. I haven't solved it myself. It's from an old book I have.

How much time had Sam been walking from the Ol' farm station

To take into account the fact that he stopped off for a coffee, 1.50 minutes.