The Incredible Puzzle Thread

[Klatuu]

Hi,

This is a thread to discuss some of your other favorite puzzles, riddles, brain teasers, armchair treasure hunts, etc.

To get started, here's an online puzzle hunt I've participated in before: Puzzlecrack. It's a week-long competition with clues given through the web page. Past competitions (and solutions) are still there for you to figure out.

Another similar one is Microsoft's College Puzzle Challenge.

Any other favorites?

-Klatuu

[Harald B]

Conceptis has a bunch of nice logic puzzles, mostly picture logic. Good production values, with an excellent app to solve them in as well as a good print option.

[Avistew]

I liked the website Ouverture Facile but grew tired of it.

[Majus]

Currently I am totally addicted to Picross 3D, though it's not the kind of puzzle the discussion is about, is it?

[Avistew]

Originally Posted by Majus

Currently I am totally addicted to Picross 3D, though it's not the kind of puzzle the discussion is about, is it?

Harald B linked to graphic puzzles too, so I'm going to say it works.

[Majus]

Whee, they have 2D Picross! Awesome that.

[Avistew]

Originally Posted by Majus

Whee, they have 2D Picross! Awesome that.

I used to buy logic books. Kind of like crossword puzzle books, but with only logic stuff. My favourite ones were Logigraph (what you call Picross) and Logigram (stuff like the Einstein riddle).
There were some with numbers too. Not quite sudoku (that hadn't picked up in Europe yet) but the same kind of things. But my fav of all was logigraph for sure, logigram a close second.

[jp-30]

Print out the following JPG, cut out the 3 rectangles.



Place them so the 2 smaller ones sit above the longer bottom one. Count the Hidden People.

Swap the positions of the top two pieces.

Count the Hidden People again.

[puzzlebox]

Originally Posted by Avistew

I used to buy logic books. Kind of like crossword puzzle books, but with only logic stuff.

Oh snap, I liked those as a kid too (well, if they're the ones I think you mean, with a grid of different elements).

I also half-love/half-hate Mindbenders-type stuff. In the ones we got the premise is almost always stupid, the answers sometimes obscure. Last time I was home for Christmas, the house was so crowded I ended up sharing my younger brothers' room, and we'd read these things out to each other for a while before actually going to sleep.

Originally Posted by jp-30

Print out the following JPG, cut out the 3 rectangles.

Or cheat and do it electronically!

...

hidden_people_puzzle_1.jpg

hidden_people_puzzle_2.jpg

[Avistew]

Originally Posted by Harald B

Conceptis has a bunch of nice logic puzzles, mostly picture logic. Good production values, with an excellent app to solve them in as well as a good print option.

Is there a way to play without getting the solution before you even start? It kinda takes the fun of trying to guess what the picture is out of it.

[jp-30]

Originally Posted by puzzlebox

Or cheat and do it electronically!

Ha, it's way more fun to have the physical paper in front of you. Especially when you give it to kids to play with.

[taumel]

PathPix on the iPodTouch, i guess there exist desktop versions as well.

[flesk]

Originally Posted by Avistew

I used to buy logic books. Kind of like crossword puzzle books, but with only logic stuff. My favourite ones were Logigraph (what you call Picross) and Logigram (stuff like the Einstein riddle).

I buy one of those every now and then as well. One with picture cross only, as I grew tired of sudoku and kakuro a long time ago. Just laying on the couch with one of those is extremely relaxing when I need a break from my computer.

[The Highway]

Alright, here's one from Professor Layton. I love confusing all my friends in the top mathematics class with this one.

[GinnyN]

It's (((40 / 2) - 5) / 3) * 4.

What's about, the only place in the world if you go 1 mile to the south, 1 mile to the east, and 1 mile to the north and come back to the exactly same point?

[Avistew]

... It's 20 units, isn't it? I mean, seems so obvious to me, I must be doing something wrong?

[GinnyN]

Originally Posted by Avistew

... It's 20 units, isn't it? I mean, seems so obvious to me, I must be doing something wrong?

It's. The whole point is, when you are soooo used to resolve math problems, you start to came up with techniques. So, the normal math guy will start to came up with all the information he/she'll get before to actually see the problem.

All the maths problems, in Prof. Layton at least, are math problems you have to think differently than the normal math problems, and that's why those are difficult for the normal math student. Thank godness, I also draw, that's mean I have a certain part of the brain developed the normal engineer in my college does not. That helps, in some stuff.

[Avistew]

Out of curiosity, how did you come up with the equation? I can't make sense out of it. I suck at math so hard.

[Didero]

It's just a weird way to write '20', I think. 40 / 2 is 20. 20 - 5 is 15. 15 / 3 is 5. 5 * 4 is 20. You just have to start within the innermost parentheses, and work your way out

[Avistew]

Ooooh, I'm so used to math stuff being how you came to the solution. I was wondering where she found all of these and what formula she was applying and stuff. (Mostly, I didn't understand how they could all happen to be round numbers haha).
I didn't realise she was just saying "20" in mathese (I didn't try to calculate it, to be fair, just looking at it makes me feel stupid).