The worlds first riddle!

Bravo.
















Will be back with hackles raised to "contend" one or two points.

Bravo.
















Will be back with hackles raised to "contend" one or two points.

CCC

MM >>>>>>>>MC>>>>>> Zilch
CC

MM
CC>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>MC

MM
CC<<<<<<<<<M<<<<<<<C

MMM
CC>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>C

MMC>>>>>>>>MC>>>>>>C

MMC>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>MCC M>>>[s]


MMC<<<<<<<C[t]C[t]<<<<<Zilch

MM
CC[t]C[t]


MM>>>[s]

C[2t] C[2t] C[2t]


Might I take this opportunity to express my admiration for the adroit way in which you compensated for the absence of logic in your reply with thinly veiled ad hominems - your "FOR some, complaining is more than a hobby: it is a way of life. The !!! of this world suffer from a condition best described as "querulous paranoia" is a classic of the genre.

Iacomus : The side of the river, and the boat , is , eh.-.-.
We have an agreement with Iacomus, not to discuss the sides of the river, and whether we're on the same, or opposite

Nevetheless, there are points concerning the antimatter that need some light :

Iacomus:


A lot is known about antimatter; in fact anti-matter is the same as matter, just has opposite properties, except energy and mass. So in theory, everything is known about antimatter. Some little amounts of it are being produced experimentally. They even made antihydrogen.



Matter and antimatter annihilate, leaving just the sum of properties; every property except mass(=energy) is cancelled, so what is left are the photons. This is a proven fact, experimentally. All of the energy is released in form of photons, which means a big explosion, (again) creating particles/antiparticles flying in all directions along the way, besides X-rays, gamma rays, etc.

It is still a mistery if distant regions of space are made from matter or antimatter. Some think amounts of matter and antimatter should be equal, and in this case ..


Some also think the amounts of wisdom and stupidity sum to zero. Basically thinking is separating pearls from sand.

Let us not quarrel about riddles; let us not fight (un)holy wars just because English is such an imprecise language. If it doesn't ring the bells for you, then the riddle is wasted for you anyway; I think the creative part of riddle making and solving is finding the 'catch' that is transferred via the spirit, not formalism of it.

Bring on the good stuff

The words of wisdom and sanity.

Quote Relative, "It is still a mystery if distant regions of space are made from matter or antimatter. Some think amounts of matter and antimatter should be equal, and in this case .."
Tryagain, "I don't mind if he doesn't matter." :wink:


"Some also think the amounts of wisdom and stupidity sum to zero. Basically thinking is separating pearls from sand."

As a pearl collector, I fully agree with those sediments. :wink:

Let us not quarrel about riddles; let us not fight (un)holy wars just because English is such an imprecise language. If it doesn't ring the bells for you, then the riddle is wasted for you anyway; I think the creative part of riddle making and solving is finding the 'catch' that is transferred via the spirit, not formalism of it.

Bring on the good stuff

* Quote Iamloco, "I am very sorry for any inconvenience caused to Trying, very.

There are three houses (A, B, and C) and three utilities (gas (G), water (W), and electricity (E)). Each house must be connected to each utility, but the various connections should not cross each other.

The Question: How must the connections be made

This riddle has been posted before, and the conclusion was; The problem can not be solved. This is now incorrect, there is a solution.

Old, but still testing.

A man wanted to enter an exclusive club but did not know the password that was required. He waited by the door and listened. A club member knocked on the door and the doorman said, "twelve." The member replied, "six " and was let in. A second member came to the door and the doorman said, "six." The member replied, "three" and was let in. The man thought he had heard enough and walked up to the door. The doorman said ,"ten" and the man replied, "five." But he was not let in.

What should have he said

A certain large animal lives happily and thrives here on Earth. One day, every single one of these critters is wiped out by a mysterious disease which affects only this particular animal.

There are none left anywhere on earth -- they are all gone. About a year or so later, they begin to reappear on Earth again. How can this be



* = This exchange started on 1st April. April fool's day. Ha, ha.

PM sent on WATER and Lies.

And talking of lies, you were right about the woolly hat but wrong about the chicken. It was in fact an inflatable, rubber, Tryagain look-alike. I do not for one minute suggest the original Try is inflatable, merely that the facsimile is full of wind sometimes.

P.S. Anyone who introduced Rolf to 'Two Little Boys' can't be all good.

A riddle for animal lovers.

Four people competed in different classes of dog agility at a recent competition. The competitions all required the dogs to run over jumps, through tunnels and various other obstacles in as quicker time as possible. Each had a different result - one came first, one third, one fourth and one ninth. All four dogs were each of a different breed.

1. If Tiff finished first then Terry finished fourth.
2. If Terry finished fourth then Jago is a collie.
3. If Jane competed in the Senior class then she finished third.
4. If Jane competed in Novice then she finished fourth.
5. The dog that finished ninth was an Alsatian. This was either Jago, in which case Jago competed in the Elementary class, or this was Kelly, in which case Terry handled Kelly.
6. Mark won Starters.
7. If Mark's dog is called Patti then Patti is a Labrador otherwise Patti is a collie.
8. Ruth's dog is called Jago.
9. If Jago finished fourth then she competed in the Novice class otherwise she competed in the Senior class.
10. If Patti finished first then Terry's dog is an Alsatian otherwise Terry's dog is a collie.
11. If Jane's dog is a Doberman then Jane finished fourth otherwise Jane finished third.


Handler's Names: Jane, Mark, Ruth and Terry
Dog's Names: Tiff, Patti, Jago and Kelly
Breed: Alsatian, Collie, Labrador and Doberman
Class: Starters, Elementary, Novice or Senior

Can you work out who handled which dog, at what level each competed, the place each finished in and the breed of each dog

Pick and mix. More unsolvable problems.

Three working women have different careers. If only one of statements 1, 2 and 3 are true, can you tell if Mary is a nurse

1. This statement is only true if statement 5 is false.
2. This statement is true if statements 4 or 5, or both 4 and 5 are true.
3. This statement is false only if both statements 6 and 1 are true.
4. Mary is a nurse
5. Karen is an artist.
6. Sarah is a photographer.

As a whole, I am both safe and secure.
Behead me, and I become a place of meeting.
Behead me again, and I am the partner of ready.
Restore me, and I become the domain of beasts.

What am I

Which of the following statements are true, and which are false?

1. Only one of the statements is false
2. Exactly two of the statements are false.
3. Only three of the statements are false.
4. Exactly four of the statements are false.
5. All five of these statements are false.

What can be driven, but has no wheels,
and can be sliced and remain whole

Two boxers are in a boxing match (regular boxing, not kick boxing). The fight is scheduled for eight rounds but ends after three rounds, after one boxer knocks out the other boxer. Yet no man throws a punch.

How is this possible

This is not intended as the opening of a discussion, dispute, or whatever. It is intended as a question that might help me understand how riddle-forums operate.

In the puzzle concerning the three working women:

If I say that I eat only bananas, the statement can be falsified either by my eating no bananas or by my eating bananas but not solely bananas. So the falsifacation of the statement allows no conclusion as to whether I do or do not eat bananas And the same reasoning applies in questions 1 and 3 of the puzzle.

Questions:
"1. This statement is only true if statement 5 is false."
Assuming this statement is true it can be concluded that Karen is not an artist. If false then, because of the use of the word 'only', no conclusion can be drawn.

"3. This statement is false only if both statements 6 and 1 are true."
We are told that if 1 is true so the first part of this is tautologous and can be disregarded, so it simplifies to 'Only if 6 is true is this statement false', which is a contradiction in terms - it cannot truly state that it is false. But it does not follow that 6 must be true. It is also false in that it must be false if 2 is true as only one of these is allowed to be true, which makes the word 'only' fallacious.

"2. This statement is true if statements 4 or 5, or both 4 and 5 are true."
If this is true no definitive conclusions can be drawn as it mentions statements 4 and 5, but by virtue of that 'or' any one of these can be false and the statement still true.
If this statement is false then no conclusions can be drawn.

So according to formal logic all we can safely conclude is that, assuming statement 2 is true, then Karen is not an artist. The entire question reduces to
'A Xor B'
'A implies Not C'
'B implies D or E'
And beyond that there is nothing can be said with certainty.


Now for my question, and it is not aimed at this thread any more than any other:

Is there a variation of logic peculiar to puzzles and riddles? For example, is it permissable to 'fudge' the rules of logic if the question requires it, even in what are referred to as 'logic puzzles'? Can a statement be regarded toy be false only in certain ways and not others? It would solve something that has been troubling me for a while. I am, fairly new to the genre and there could well be unwritten rules I have yet to learn.

My other and related question regards 'official answers'. How does it work that everyone seems to be agreed on one answer over another even when both seem equally valid. Not only to agree but are ready to defend it over counter claims? (and two equally valid answers, which seems to contradict the idea of a 'well-formed puzzle' having a unique solution, do occur and far from infrequently) What makes one answer the 'officially accepted one'?

I really would like to know.

New week, new problems. Easy peasey - I think not.

a) Five former classmates sat together at a round table at their ten-year college reunion. Each woman had an entrée and a dessert and in front of her was a flower in a vase. Erin and Ms. Gaynes ordered seafood fettuccini. Michelle and Miss. Browne had salmon. One woman had halibut. Erin and Mrs. Daniels had chocolate mousse. Melissa and Ms. Smythe ordered a sundae. Miss. Browne had a bread pudding. Michelle and Mrs. Andrews each had a rose.
Sandy and Miss. Browne each had a carnation. Only one woman had an orchid. No two women sitting next to each other had the same entrée, dessert or flower. What did Lila eat


b) An old parchment describes the location of buried treasure:

"On the island there are only two trees, A and B, and the remains of a gallows. Start at the gallows and count the steps required to walk in a straight line to tree A. At the tree turn 90 degrees to the left and then walk forward the same number of steps. At the point where you top drive a spike into the ground. Now return to the gallows and walk in a straight line, counting your steps, to tree B. When you reach the tree, turn 90 degrees to the right and take the same number of steps forward, placing another spike at the point where you stop. Dig at the point exactly halfway between the spikes and you will find the treasure."

However, our hero when he gets to the island finds the gallows missing. Is there any way he can still get to the treasure

c) What is the number that is double one-half of one-fourth of one-tenth of 80,000

d) The title of this book has been put into very fancy language. Can you name the book

"The objects, or people, have been removed from their previous localities through the power of a naturally moving phenomenon."

e) A wealthy wise old woman feared that her daughter was lazy and as a result rather stupid. When the old woman died, her will stipulated that her assets were to be liquidated and a check was to be written for the full amount. The check was to be placed in one of three envelopes. The other two envelopes would contain a blank piece of paper. If the daughter could determine from the writing on the envelope which envelope contained the check, she would inherit her mother's fortune. Otherwise, the fortune would go to the old woman's favorite charity for animals. The daughter was not allowed to touch the envelopes. Her decision had to be made based on the writing on the envelopes. The daughter was toldthat only one envelope had a true statement and that the other two statements were false.

The envelopes had the following writing:

1. This envelope does not have the check
2. This envelope has the check
3. The second envelope does not have the check

Which envelope should the daughter pick

PS. Congrats to Iacomus for 100% on the last set.

PM sent covering the latest batch.