Brain Teasers

1. An Englishman (Mr Salmon), a Welshman (Mr Green), and a Scotsman (Mr Brown) met for lunch one day. One man was wearing a salmon tie, another was wearing a green tie and the third was wearing a brown tie. "Isn't it funny," said Mr Brown to the others, "that not one of us is wearing a tie which matches our name?" "That's true," agreed the man wearing the green tie. Can you now say what colour tie each man was wearing?


2. Can you fold up a one-by-seven strip like this to form a cube with sides one unit long?

3. Can you think of two common words that begin and end with "he"? (No four-letter words please.)



4. We discussed on Tuesday how, when two squares of the same colour are removed from a chessboard, it is impossible to cover the remaining 62 squares with 31 dominoes each the size of two squares. But then we posed this question: suppose two squares of different colours are removed from such a board, for instance two adjacent corner squares. Show that the remaining 62 squares definitely can be covered with 31 dominoes each the size of two squares. This actually works no matter where the two squares are removed from. Can you construct a valid argument that works in all cases?



5. What is the significance of the repeated "little" in Lewis Carroll's All in a Golden Afternoon from Alice In Wonderland?
All in the golden afternoon / Full leisurely we glide; / For both our oars, with little skill, / By little arms are plied, / While little hands make vain pretence / Our wanderings to guide.


6. Can you fill in the blank space below to yield a true sentence?
In this sentence there are neither more nor less than ................... three-letter words.



7. Consider the magic square below. Note that its rows, columns and diagonals each add up to the magic constant 45. What else about it is interesting?

Hmmmm. If eddie is wearing a green tie and eating salmon whilst playing chess she will have brain ache.

On the first one:

Mr. Salmon's wearing the green tie; Mr. Green is wearing the brown tie and Mr. Brown is wearing the salmon tie.

Mr. Brown says none of them are wearing the same color, but then a second man is said to be wearing the green. Since that second man can't be Mr. Brown, Mr. Brown can't be wearing the green, meaning salmon is the only other non-brown tie, and leaving the green tie to Mr. Salmon.

Ben_Reilly wrote:On the first one:

Mr. Salmon's wearing the green tie; Mr. Green is wearing the brown tie and Mr. Brown is wearing the salmon tie.

Mr. Brown says none of them are wearing the same color, but then a second man is said to be wearing the green. Since that second man can't be Mr. Brown, Mr. Brown can't be wearing the green, meaning salmon is the only other non-brown tie, and leaving the green tie to Mr. Salmon.

Well done Ben, I got that one and only one other.

Brasidas wrote:

Ben_Reilly wrote:On the first one:

Mr. Salmon's wearing the green tie; Mr. Green is wearing the brown tie and Mr. Brown is wearing the salmon tie.

Mr. Brown says none of them are wearing the same color, but then a second man is said to be wearing the green. Since that second man can't be Mr. Brown, Mr. Brown can't be wearing the green, meaning salmon is the only other non-brown tie, and leaving the green tie to Mr. Salmon.

Well done Ben, I got that one and only one other.

I can't figure out how to make that seven-square strip into a cube to save my life ...

Ben_Reilly wrote:I can't figure out how to make that seven-square strip into a cube to save my life ...

Clue: Paper Airplane.

Brasidas wrote:

Ben_Reilly wrote:I can't figure out how to make that seven-square strip into a cube to save my life ...

Clue: Paper Airplane.

OK, thanks -- I was wondering if the "seven-square" detail was really just a distraction ...

#3 is headache and heartache




which this thread is giving me btw....

Cass wrote:#3 is headache and heartache




which this thread is giving me btw....

That was the other one I got...xx

Brasidas wrote:

Cass wrote:#3 is headache and heartache




which this thread is giving me btw....

That was the other one I got...xx

great minds and all that xxxx

BOOM got #5.......bloody obvious now I think of it......duh


Alice in Wonderland was based on the real life little girl Alice Liddle.

he was a bit obsessive about her.


ok I'm leaving the math stuff well alone....I know my limits.....

Cass wrote:BOOM got #5.......bloody obvious now I think of it......duh


Alice in Wonderland was based on the real life little girl Alice Liddle.

he was a bit obsessive about her.


ok I'm leaving the math stuff well alone....I know my limits.....

Well done me Lady.x

Brasidas wrote:

Cass wrote:BOOM got #5.......bloody obvious now I think of it......duh


Alice in Wonderland was based on the real life little girl Alice Liddle.

he was a bit obsessive about her.


ok I'm leaving the math stuff well alone....I know my limits.....

Well done me Lady.x

cheers m'dear

#6 is 2.......cause of you write out two it makes the sentence false.





aaaarrrrggghhhhh I should be doing housework

6. "2" technically works, but bearing in mind the hint, "a pair of" is perhaps better. Other options could include "five minus three" or "nine minus seven" and so on.


Keep going me Lady, you are on a roll.

Brasidas wrote:6. "2" technically works, but bearing in mind the hint, "a pair of" is perhaps better. Other options could include "five minus three" or "nine minus seven" and so on.


Keep going me Lady, you are on a roll.

Ok I can see that.....hint? I didn't see any hints......s'not fair

nope....I'm out....I cant do math ones......I loathe sudoko.....

well it got what little grey matter I have remaining booted up.....thanks.....I keep nagging my friend here to revive her British pub style quiz but shes too busy......pfft

no really I gotta get on and do something....tonight is Tucson Symphony - Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto #2 and were going back ti this absolutely wonderful tapas restaurant first.....so gotta do something.......

twas fun......more please but NO MATH OR SCIENCE

xx

While I can't disagree with the "little" stuff in Alice, I think it doesn't give the writing credit for pulling off a neat trick.

All in the golden afternoon / Full leisurely we glide; / For both our oars, with little skill, / By little arms are plied, / While little hands make vain pretence / Our wanderings to guide.

"Little arms" and "little hands" sound superficially like references to a child, but the phrase "full leisurely we glide" hints at another way to read it. The key is to re-word the phrase to "We glide with little speed." Thus the arms and hands verses could become "Are little plied by arms" and "While hands make little vain pretence."

The end result is a brilliant economy of words, with the same phrases meaning both that a little child was doing the actions and describing the leisure of the scene.