17 questions linked to/from A "Puzzling" Cipher
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### A Puzzling Cipher: Redux

A couple months ago, I posted this, to test a new cipher encryption idea, but it was poorly constructed and did not work. After that puzzle fail, I redesigned it to work better, making it much cleaner,...
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### What is the fewest number of filled-in squares required to uniquely define a magic square?

The magic square is a well-known grid of the numbers from 1 to 9 in which every row, column, and diagonal adds up to 15: 4 9 2 3 5 7 8 1 6 But it is also ...
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### How do I choose between letter possibilities for 2- and 3-letter words in a cryptogram?

I've tried to begin solving a cryptogram by making educated guesses from the context: position of punctuation, the presence of single-letter words, or assumptions about the frequency of the letter E, ...
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### Burning ropes as timers

You have 2 identical ropes which burn at a specific rate, and an unlimited supply of matches. When you light one end of a rope, the fire will take exactly 1 hour to travel to the other end of the rope....
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### How do you create a general locked-box problem?

In this question, I presented a puzzle involving seven locks, with a Grand Vizier and four slaves. But I would like to use this style of puzzle in some of my own secret-unlocking riddles, in order to ...
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### How many clues are required to ensure Einstein's Puzzle is solvable?

I used to play Einstein's puzzles a lot when I was younger, and very quickly learned to assess quite rapidly whether I thought a puzzle would be a quick solve or more time-consuming, but I never ...
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### MPire coloring game basic strategy

The MPire coloring game is a game where several "empires" are laid out touching each other. Your task is to color each empire a different color, and not let two of the same color touch. You also have ...
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### N logicians wearing hats of N colors

N logicians are wearing hats which can be of N different colors (each hat has one color; there can be multiple hats with the same color). Each logician can see the colors of all hats except his own. ...
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### Strategy for speedsolving 2048

Once one has mastered winning 2048 in general, it's often an interesting exercise to try to do it as fast as possible. What strategies are there for speeding up 2048-solving? For example, how can you ...
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### What is the largest tile possible in 2048?

I can get to 4096 max. There are videos on youtube of guys making it to 8192. What is the theoretical maximum limit on this? PS: if you haven't played this, here is the link to addiction.
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### Which switch goes to which bulb?

You are in a room with three switches, labeled $A$, $B$, and $C$. Initially, each switch is in an off state. In an adjoining room, there are three incandescent light bulbs. Your task is to ...
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### How many chess pieces does it take to “cover” all spaces on a chessboard?

Given an 8x8 chessboard, your goal is to "cover" each space on the board with the fewest possible number of pieces. A space is "covered" if there is a piece on it, or if a piece on the board can be ...
21k views

### How can I fix “stuck” positions on the Void Rubik's Cube (using the standard beginner's method)?

Sometimes, when solving the Void Rubik's Cube using the standard beginner method, it gets "stuck." What I mean by this is that the top edge of one face and the top edge of an adjacent face's colors ...