Questions tagged [explanation]
The answer to a problem may be known but it is not understood. These questions explicitly request additional details on how a problem is solved or why the current solution is appropriate.
48
questions
16
votes
5answers
7k views
Why is “lion” the answer to “Take the first left turn at the zoo?”
From The Evening Standard's Cryptic Crossword - Apr 23 2021, the clue for 36-Across is:
Take the first left turn at the zoo (4)
And the answer is "lion".
I get that the first left is L. ...
0
votes
1answer
136 views
Coloring 5 largest numbers in each row and column yields at least 25 double-colored numbers
I have a question about the answer given to this problem. The problem is reproduced below:
This is a question from a very old American Mathematical Monthly, if I recall correctly. It has a very nice ...
3
votes
1answer
153 views
9 people sitting at a round table
I am unable to figure out how to solve this question @Joffan has given an answer but he hasn't mentioned much regarding his approach. I requested him but he still didn't give a clear answer. This is ...
2
votes
1answer
259 views
Arrange candies without repeating pattern
The following puzzle had been posted before but I couldn't understand the only answer that was given there, which was by @neodne . So, I created this post asking someone to explain neodne's answer to ...
11
votes
1answer
2k views
Why is “AFTS” the solution to the crossword clue “Times before eves, in ads”?
I was doing a crossword from the NY Times (from Mon, Feb 11, 2019 by Portia Lundie / Will Shortz) and I got the following clue.
51 ACROSS - Times before eves, in ads
The answer is "AFTS". ...
1
vote
1answer
100 views
Why is 'logjam' the answer to 'function held up by traffic blockage'?
Why is 'logjam' the answer to 'function held up by traffic blockage'? I guess 'log' is function, and logjam is blockage but why 'jam/maj'? L,G & A are all correct.
4
votes
2answers
2k views
Why is “HADAT” the solution to the crossword clue “went after”?
I was doing crossword from NY Times, from Mon, Feb 11, 2019 by Howard Barkin + Will Shortz and I got the following clue.
Went after
The answer is "HADAT". However, I can not find ...
11
votes
1answer
1k views
Why is RYE the answer to “Grass over pretty Cambridge backs”?
The clue is:
Grass over pretty Cambridge backs
The answer is RYE. I get the grass part, but what is the connection in the rest of the clue? This is from the Saturday Telegraph Cryptic, clue no. ...
0
votes
1answer
197 views
Why is the answer to “Newspaper had a box for the sweetmeat” FUDGE?
This is a clue from a cryptic crossword published in the NZ Herald on January 1st 2021:
Newspaper had a box for the sweetmeat.
All I can see is that FUDGE is a sweet often kept in a box or tin, but ...
5
votes
1answer
628 views
Why is “issued” the answer to “Fire corners if one-a-side matches haven't begun”?
Why is "issued" the answer to "Fire corners if one-a-side matches haven't begun"?
This was published in the NZ Herald cryptic crossword on 8th December 2020.
4
votes
1answer
192 views
Explain the solution to a cryptic clue for ORIGAMI
Cryptic crossword clue 21 down from Telegraph puzzle #29,363.
Sort of art foundation almost inspiring amateur (7)
We have the letters O_I_A_I. We believe the ...
10
votes
1answer
550 views
Why is “alienated” the answer to “One caregiver in particular turned indifferent”?
The clue is:
One caregiver in particular turned indifferent. (9)
I think the answer may be "alienated" but I can't really explain it. Can anyone else provide a good explanation?
17
votes
1answer
2k views
One thousand year old riddle (from the Exeter Book)
This riddle is from the Exeter Book, circa 960-990 A.D.:
Clothes make no sound when I tread ground
Or dwell in dwellings or disturb the flow.
And lofty air and gear at times
Above men's towns ...
2
votes
1answer
203 views
Pattern Recognition: $7 \star 8$ =?
The following pattern was given to me by one of my friends:
If $$\quad 5 \star 5 = 10$$
$$\quad 6 \star 6=18$$
$$\quad 7 \star 7=36$$
then $$\quad 7 \star 8 = ?$$
a) $54 \quad$ b) $51 \...
4
votes
2answers
310 views
What's the problem with the prisoner to be hanged logic puzzle
A criminal is imprisoned on Monday, and told "you will have been hanged by the weekend, but you won't know which day we'll hang you."
If it gets to Thursday midnight and he's not been hanged yet, he ...
4
votes
12answers
2k views
English Logic Puzzle [closed]
On this site, I found this:
"If some Smaugs are Thors and some Thors are Thrains, then some Smaugs are definitely Thrains."
Options: TRUE, FALSE, NEITHER
The answer given is FALSE. However, I ...
2
votes
2answers
108 views
Astonishing Analogies
An analogy can compare a comparison.
What is the answer to the following question?
Alarm is to Bread as Course is to Dot - Explain
-2
votes
1answer
1k views
What is the correct solution to 16/4(4)? [closed]
This has been circulated recently. We all know the order of the calculation: BEDMAS.
B rackets and Parentheses: First Priority
E xponents: Second Priority
D ivision: Third Priority
M ultiplication: ...
5
votes
10answers
21k views
How to prove that this man has a profit of 20 and not 10?
This is not actually a puzzle per se, but I'm asking for an explanation about the puzzle's answer.
The puzzle goes like this:
A man bought a goat for 60. He then sold it for 70. Later, he bought ...
7
votes
2answers
319 views
Teacup geometry
Inspired by the three utilities puzzle from prog_SAHIL I'm now posting a similar puzzle that makes use of the topology of a cup with a handle:
The question is:
How many distinct points can you ...
6
votes
1answer
246 views
How many dimensions?
You have $n+1$ points in $n$-dimensional Euclidean space, such that the mutual distance between each pair of points is the same. Now imagine an $n$-dimensional generalization of a sphere, such that ...
5
votes
2answers
671 views
two of A, B and C in each row column and diagonal
This puzzle comes from a book called "Braintraining Puzzles" (The one with a blue-green cover). It involves a 6x6 grid which needs to be filled with two copies of A, B and C in each row, column and ...
4
votes
2answers
3k views
Alternate answer to the 2 guard 2 door question?
I asked a friend the classic question about the two guards and two doors that goes as follows:
The rules are clear: there are two doors. One leads to the castle, the other, to certain death. You may ...
1
vote
1answer
1k views
How is this the correct answer in this number sequence?
I have this sequence:
24, 63, 10, 48, 35, 72, 44....
The next number is
How is this the correct answer?
11
votes
1answer
1k views
How do I solve this logic puzzle?
I am trying to improve my logical thinking and I came across this puzzle problem. I need some help solving the puzzle below.
Two weeks ago, four enthusiasts made sightings of objects in the sky in ...
8
votes
2answers
5k views
Homer's Riddle Understanding
I recently heard the riddle that Homer, reportedly, died trying to solve. Homer approaches some fisherman and they say to him, "What we caught, we threw away, what we didn't catch, we kept.
I ...
6
votes
5answers
60k views
Why does this answer to “two doors with two guards” work?
On this post: Two doors with two guards - one lies, one tells the truth the most common answer for this riddle is given.
However, while the answer marked as correct is the most common solution I found,...
7
votes
5answers
1k views
Single letter chemical elements on a 2x2 grid
In the past somebody showed me the puzzle below. I remember the answer but not the entire solution. Here it goes:
On a grid of 2x2 put four single letter chemical elements. The result should have ...
14
votes
3answers
1k views
Logic behind numeric sequence
There was this sequence on a magazine and the reader has to find the next number:
10, 2, 4, 6, 2, 8
I couldn't find one, then I found the answer in the next magazine. They say the number is 5, so ...
19
votes
1answer
745 views
Salon workers, for short?
The clue is "Salon workers, for short?", and
the answer is "EDS".
I've spent hours trying to find an EXPLANATION for this answer.
Why are there so many sites that simply GIVE you the answer without ...
1
vote
4answers
736 views
Clock time Puzzle
What will be the time when the hour, minute, and second hands will all coincide in between 6 O'Clock and 7 O'Clock?
How should I approach this type of question? Can anyone explain it?
7
votes
1answer
936 views
Why are these shapes impossible to draw with the given rules?
The image above shows a group of shapes, all with lines leading to their center point. These shapes cannot be drawn with the following rules:
You may not trace over over an already existing line.
You ...
5
votes
0answers
2k views
Mensa IQ test question: complete the logical sequence [closed]
I tried taking the Mensa practice test. One of the question involved completing a series of figures with the most logical option. This is the base sequence:
And we have to choose the additional ...
2
votes
3answers
628 views
Clarifications on the unexpected hanging paradox
I read through the wiki on the unexpected hanging paradox .
A judge tells a condemned prisoner that he will be hanged at noon on one weekday in the following week but that the execution will be a ...
5
votes
1answer
469 views
Optimize cloth usage
A factory that manufactures clothing cuts multiple garments at once.
Sometimes a number of markers are used for a job. Each marker may have a single size or multiple sizes depending on what is needed....
8
votes
4answers
11k views
Malcolm Gladwell's Outliers - Progressive Matrices Puzzle
In Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell presents the following puzzle:
...
9
votes
2answers
870 views
mistakes in analogous puzzles from The Tipping Point
In the book 'The Tipping Point', Malcolm Gladwell cites two puzzles and draws an analogy between them, in fact he claims the two are equivalent. I believe there are some problems with both puzzles, ...
16
votes
4answers
2k views
Strategy for finding the key to this cipher
A coworker and I are perplexed over this puzzle. We gave up and looked at the answer, but we cannot seem to understand how it works. Can anybody explain?
Text version of the above image
We've created ...
-3
votes
2answers
3k views
Logic-grid puzzle. How do I have to interpret the clue?
There are eight students named Aman, Bobby, Chameli, Deepak, Ekta, Farook, Garima and Harsh in a school. They are in class 6th, 7th and 8th with no more than three students in any class.
Each of ...
-4
votes
1answer
264 views
Timetable Planning [closed]
There are 16 seminars with the following durations in minutes:
60,45,30,45,45,30,30,45,60,60,45,30,30,60,30,30
They need to be divided into groups. Each group must have 2 subgroups. The first ...
3
votes
6answers
1k views
Explaining Cheryl's birthday
Relevant link : Cheryl's birthday
I understand the solution. But it feels wrong to me, because Albert cannot possibly make the third statement with the information he has at the moment he makes it.
...
-3
votes
1answer
1k views
Working schedule (with explanation) [closed]
Alice, Bob, Chris, Dave, Eric, Fred and Laura used to work in a restaurant 6 days a week, from Tuesday to Sunday (Monday is a day off). Every one works at least for one day, and at least two people ...
-7
votes
3answers
598 views
Cows eat too much [closed]
Cows are always hungry...
70 Cows eat all the plants on a pasture in 24 days.
30 Cows clear the same pasture in 60 days.
How many cows are needed to clear the pasture by the end of 96th day?
-5
votes
2answers
210 views
Group of Farmers [closed]
A group of farmers need to harvest 2 farms, one of which is twice the size of the other.
They worked half of the first day on the bigger farm. Then they split into two equal groups to work on ...
9
votes
1answer
16k views
Explanation for the “I am whole but incomplete…” riddle?
I saw a riddle:
I am whole but incomplete,
I have no eyes, yet I see.
You can see, and see right through me.
My largest part is one fourth of what I once was.
What am I?
Apparently the answer is:
...
-3
votes
2answers
2k views
What is the purpose of a weird non-linear watch dial that goes up to 100? [closed]
Can anyone tell me what is the purpose of the outter dial of this watch? Notice how the scale is not linear and goes to 100. It can only be rotated counter-clockwise only.
This is the only picture I ...
17
votes
8answers
6k views
When to be sure that we have counted all the squares in such problems
My first question: how would one solve such problems (in general)? What should be the general technique?
My second question: When to be sure that we have counted all the squares in such problems?
13
votes
5answers
2k views
Why is “trapeze” the solution to this cryptic crossword clue?
I was doing a cryptic crossword this morning and I came across the following clue:
Circus equipment has chimpanzee, say at the centre
The answer is "TRAPEZE" (confirmed by "check answers"). The ...
