Puzzles

A page of logic puzzles. Answers are available, but to get to them, you first have to take a stab at a solution.

E-mail your guesses to steve@lauducci.com and I'll send you a back one or more passwords. Enter the passwords here or at the bottom of this page and click Answers to get to the answers page.

Your other option, if you're even a moderately skilled hacker, is to break through the not-very-tight security surrounding the passwords!

A Summer Summary

A brief quiz to test your knowledge of why June, July, and August are the hot months in North America.

  1. Summer starts on June 21 because that's when
    1. the moon is on the same side of the earth as the sun
    2. the earth is closest to the sun
    3. the north pole is tilted toward the sun
    4. all the air conditioners pump so much waste heat outside.

  2. Summer lasts about four days longer than winter because
    1. the earth orbits more slowly in summer
    2. July and August have 31 days while February has 28
    3. the earth is closer to the sun in summer
    4. trick question - the seasons are all the same length

  3. If you're standing at the equator at noon on June 21, the sun appears to be
    1. directly overhead
    2. north of you
    3. south of you
    4. it varies from year to year

  4. On the evening of June 21, Mars
    1. is visible in the eastern sky
    2. is visible in the western sky
    3. is not visible at all
    4. it varies from year to year

Deceptively Easy Sequences

All of the following sequences have an obvious answer, which is wrong. Your task is to find a non-obvious answer and an explanation. The answers page provides one possible solution, although any answer is acceptable as long as you can provide a good justification for it. (Note: the number to the left of each sequence is for reference and is not part of the sequence.)

What item fits in the blank space of each of the sequences below?

  1. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12,    
  2. A, B, C, D, E, F, G,    
  3. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10,    
  4.    , 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12
  5. A, B, C, D,    
  6. 28, 28, 28, 28, 28, 28, 28,    
  7. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9,    
  8. E, E, E, E, E, E, E,    
  9. A, B, C, D, E,    

Learn To Speak Hawaiian

Sort the following Hawaiian words into the correct order.

Bonus question: The Hawaiian language uses 12 letters. What are they?

Visiting the States

Suppose you decide to make a tour of the lower 48 United States. You plan to visit each state once and only once, traveling by land (over bridges where necessary), and never leaving the US. You may start wherever you wish. Which one of these states is it impossible for you to end your tour in?

Fine print:

Nines

Using only the digit 9, and the operators listed below, can you write expressions for each of the odd numbers from 1 to 25?

Operators:
+ (plus) - (minus)
× (times) ÷ (divide)
^ (exponentiation) √ (square root)
! (factorial) ( ) parentheses

You may re-use operators as many times as you like, but try to use as few 9's as possible. For example:

1 = 9 ^ (9 - 9) This uses three 9's
1 = 9/9 Better: uses only two 9's

The solution on the answer page uses a total of 39 nines. How low can you go?

Pennsilfaanisch Deitsch

Match each English word with its Pennsylvania Dutch equivalent. "If y'aint Dutch, y'aint much!"

1) Afternoon a) Auslenner
2) Barometer b) Brandewei Pronunciation Tips
3) Daffodil c) Dodmache aa = aw as in law
4) Dawn d) Halbyaerich ae = a as in late
5) Delay e) Iwwermache ch, like a hard h
6) Foreigner f) Langweilich ei = i as in line
7) Kill g) Nochmiddaag sch = sh as in ship
8) Legislator h) Oschderblumm w = v as in vine
9) Repeat i) Semmlimann
10) Semiannual j) Sunneuffgang
11) Tedious k) Uffhalde
12) Whiskey l) Wedderglaas

How Much Is That?

Match the numbers on the left with the quantities in the middle and the things they measure on the right. Hover the mouse over an abbreviated unit to see its full name (IE only).

Amount Unit Used For Measuring
0.13 acre / (furlong fortnight) Amount of gas a dollar will buy
1.6×106 (C V in) / (mg kHz2) Floor space in a cubicle
3.9×107 J (in Hg) / (kW mPa) Height of a person
8.5 Pa schooner / ton Length of a workday
9.4×10-7 pint / Ångstrom Speed of a car on a highway

(Note: this link may come in handy...)

Show Me!

Enter one or more passwords here and click Answers to go to the answers page. Each puzzle has its own password. If you enter more than one, separate them with spaces.

Moonlit ocean image