The worlds first riddle!

OK, then. Since it is a stick shift, I'd say I could drive exactly zero miles.

Will this help wizard work better than Microsoft's? I can just see it:

Are you having trouble a) starting the vehicle, b) changing gears, c) stopping.

Have you pressed the brake pedal?
Have you shifted to a lower gear?
Have you tried creating a sail out of your shirt to increase wind resistance?

I like your explanation, though. I've tried to teach my sister-in-law how to drive a stick. She does great when there isn't any traffic, but gets freaked out that people will yell at her if she stalls the car.

Merlin playing his part in environmental safety writes:

"Have you tried creating a sail out of your shirt to increase wind resistance?"

Ever since man changed from square wheels to round to REDUCE wind resistance. That is the problem. Keep your shirt on.


Whim, "Here you see 10 matches" (Safety type, I hope it is dangerous to play with matches) :wink:


At first glance, what you ask appears impossible. Nice one.

Whim,

To make sure I understand, is this the task?

- Start with what you have shown
- Each turn, one match is moved (not removed or added)
- The starting configuration for each turn is the ending configuration for the previous turn (as opposed to starting with what you have shown each time)

Yep that's it.

And no use of brackets. Calculation from left to right.

Whim

Whim, that was mind blowing. I hope I understood correctly. Great puzzle.

"A mind once stretched by a new idea never regains its original dimensions."


X-X X-X (=0)
VIII-VII (=1)
VII-V I-I (=2)
X-IV-III (=3)
V+IV-V (=4)
V+II-I-I (=5)
X-IX+V (=6)
V+V-III (=7)
VI-1+111 (=8)
V-V+IX (=9)


1. No Gentiles have booked noses;
2. A man who is a good hand at a bargain always makes money;
3. No Jew is ever a bad hand at a bargain.


1. All ducks in this village that are branded "B", belong to Mrs. Bond;
2.Ducks in this village never wear lace collars, unless they are branded "B"
3. Mrs. Bond has no gray ducks in this village.


1. All the old articles in this cupboard are cracked;
2. No jug in this cupboard is new;
3. Nothing in this cupboard, that is cracked, will hold water.

Whim, "…the plus sign are matches too"

Example:

||-|-||+| 0
|+|-||+| 1



Sorry to be so sloooow but, all my answers including + and - did = 10 matches.

X-X X-X (=0)
VIII-VII (=1)

However, I do see I failed to follow, "replacing just one match each time"

A person with a booked nose always makes money.
No gray ducks in this village wear lace collars.
No jug in this cupboard will hold water.

26 balls
360 containers

The balls are randomly divided over the containers.
A container can have more than one ball.
How many containers have balls in them according to probability?

Can you show me a formula, how to calculate this?

101 D - 101
Cruella D'eville

3 B M - 3
See how they run

T 10 C - The 10
Moses

366 D I A L Y - 366 days
February 29th

6 W O H T E - 6 wives
Herman and the Hermits

A B A T 40 T - Ali
Open Sesame

50 W T L Y L - 50 Ways
Paul Simon

N 10 D S - Number 10
2800 Pensylvania Avenue

12 S O T Z - 12 signs
What's your sign?

Don't think so.



I'll await your answers. :wink:


whim

None of these apples were grown in the shade.
Puppies that will not lie still never care to do worsted-work.
All names in this list are melodious.

T 39 S
The 39 Steps

T 7 W O T W
The 7 wonders of the world

WATER/MILK

Let W represent one unit of water
Let M represent one unit of milk
Let C represent the capacity of the cup (0 <= C <= 1)
Let D represent the number of units of water that get transferred in the second transaction (0 <= D <= C)
The number of units of milk that get transferred in the second transaction will be C-D.
Note that I'm not assuming that the milk and water mix perfectly after the first transaction.

26 Balls
360 Containers

Here are the probabilities that the balls are contained in exactly N containers.
For B balls and C containers, the generic formula is
C(C,N)*C(B-1,B-N)/C(B+C-1,B)
C(x,y) = x!/[y!(x-y)!] = # combinations of x things taken y at a time
The formula for this situation is C(360,N)*C(25,26-N)/C(385,26)

How many containers have balls in them according to probability?

13?


whim

Mark, award yourself a blueberry muffin.



None of these apples were grown in the shade.
Puppies that will not lie still never care to do worsted-work.
All names in this list are melodious.

T 39 S
The 39 Steps

T 7 W O T W
The 7 wonders of the world

WATER/MILK

Your answer works for me.


I have:

Let the cup have contents c.
We start with 1 litre of milk and 1 litre of water:
first can: second can:
1 milk 0 milk
0 water 1 water
We take one cup of milk, pour it into the second can, and mix it. The result is:
first can: second can:
1-c milk c milk
0 water 1 water
The concentration of milk in the second can is c/(1+c); the concentration of water in the second can is 1/(1+c). We now take one cup of the mixture in the second can and pour it back into the first can. This cup contains c x c/(1+c) milk and c x 1/(1+c) water. The result is:
first can: second can:
1-c + (c x c/(1+c)) = 1/(1+c) milk c - (c x c/(1+c)) = c/(1+c) milk
0 + (c x 1/(1+c)) = c/(1+c) water 1 - (c x 1/(1+c)) = 1/(1+c) water
So now there is as much water in the first can as there is milk in the second can.



Whim asks, "How many containers have balls in them according to probability?"

The answer to which I missed in my answer. Nevertheless, my conclusion is that there is a better than 50% chance that at least one container will have two balls.

I note Marks answer. However, I am somewhat confused by the last line: 26 = 0.164134697

Over to you Whim for your comments.



Imagine you are on an island called Exel, with inhabitants that look the same from the outside, but differ from inside (their truthfulness). We distinguish the following types:

Knights, who always tell the truth.

Knaves, who never tell the truth.

Normals, who sometimes tell the truth and sometimes lie.

Assume you meet one of these inhabitants, and he tells you: "I'm no Knight". Then, what type is the inhabitant


1. All members of the House of Commons have perfect self-command.
2. No M.P., who wears a coronet, should ride in a donkey-race.
3. All members of the House of Lords wear coronets.


1. No goods in this shop, that have been bought and paid for, are still on sale.
2. None of the goods may be carried away, unless labeled "sold".
3. None of the goods are labeled "sold" unless they have been bought and paid for.


1. No Acrobatic feats, that are not announced in the bills of a circus, are ever attempted there.
2. No acrobatic feat is possible, if it involves turning a quadruple somersault.
3. No impossible acrobatic feat is ever announced in a circus bill.