Questions tagged [no-computers]
A puzzle designed to be solved without using calculators, online decoders, or computer programming. Using a computer to type and post the answer is allowed; the spirit of this tag is to make people solve the puzzle on their own.
798
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Chess - I will eat!
Suppose that you are playing White, and your aim is to eat a black piece (pawns qualitfy) in the fewest moves as possible and Black are not cooperating at all, and, even more, Black's aim is to ...
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A Math Riddle: But the math does not add up
Grandpa had a lot of different books of stamps on his desk. He was counting them.
I was curious. “What are all those stamps Grandpa?”
“I just got back from the Post Office son and bought a bunch of ...
- 39.2k
9
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Trivia... sudoku
An entry in Fortnightly Topic Challenge #49: Pub Quiz Camouflage
Please do not search the answers online (hence the no-computers tag), otherwise it would be too simple to solve this puzzle. I tried ...
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6
votes
2
answers
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Twin primes and divisibility
Let $p$ and $q$ be a pair of twin primes. Find the smallest possible value of $a+b$ where $a$ and $b$ are positive integers such that $p\;|\;(a+qb)$ and $q\;|\;(a+pb)$.
This puzzle is my own ...
- 116k
31
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5
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How can 3 queens control the white squares?
It is well known that there is no way of arranging 4 queens on a checker board in such a way that every square is occupied or threatened.
Now consider a slight variation where we only need to cover ...
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A Cryptic Cryptarithm
An entry in Fortnightly Topic Challenge #48: Unusual tag mix
Solve these puzzles to reveal why I made them.
Matriarch mostly prepared oats for American airline location? (8)
AIRLINE + LOCATION = ?
51 ...
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3
votes
1
answer
93
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Number conversion via Prime route
This is a variation of the Word Ladder. Instead this is a number ladder.
Convert the number 12345 to the number 54321 in seven or less steps
with the following rules
A: You can only change any one ...
- 39.2k
9
votes
1
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Chess Endgame Study
I came across this puzzle-like endgame study. Usually, opposite color bishops are draw-ish. Here's an absolutely extraordinary counter-example. Enjoy!
White to play and mate in 8.
Source: Winning ...
- 22.8k
7
votes
1
answer
260
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Three to Seven in five or less
Can you change the word Three to the word Seven in five steps or less with the following rules:
You must exactly replace two letters; one vowel and one consonant of the word in each step with a ...
- 39.2k
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0
answers
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First digit of 2021^2021 [duplicate]
Can you find the first digit of $2021^{2021}$ without a computer? Good luck!
- 33.2k
8
votes
3
answers
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With a little effort, one can prevail
What is common between the following words and names?
(Inspired by this except that I actually know the answer to this one)
Defeat
Kleenex?
Guanaco
Nerdiest
Sardar
Ian McKellen
Dingo
Gun
Diablo
...
- 24.5k
5
votes
3
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A Circle of numbers
Just saw a Circle of numbers on my Whats App message (source not listed) which is as following
Arrange numbers 1 to 32 in a circle such that any two adjacent
(neighboring) numbers add up to a perfect ...
- 39.2k
7
votes
1
answer
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A special number
Here is a nice puzzle from my friend.
Can you find a number that is a product of two consecutive primes and when multiplied by its own reversal produces a palindrome? The answer may surprise you. No ...
- 33.2k
8
votes
2
answers
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Rack 'Em Up! 🎱
In a game of English eight-ball pool, a set of 15 balls are arranged or 'racked' in the shape of an equilateral triangle. In order for the balls to be racked fairly, they must be arranged like so:
<...
- 1,221
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votes
1
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Find the fastest stalemate for Black!
In the below position, how many moves will it take for Black to be stalemated? Black moves first, and both sides are working together. Black's pawns are moving down. Have fun solving!
Zdravko Maslar, ...
- 8,253
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An Artistic Bunch
Luke, Clive, Anton and Paul are four talented creative artists, one a dancer, one a painter, one a singer, and one a writer. (Though not necessarily respectively.)
Luke and Anton were in the audience ...
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I have a bad feeling about this country name
What is the longest country name that can be fully anagramed into one word from the Merriam-Webster dictionary?
Please use this site for the list of countries.
Minimum length 8 letters. If a country ...
- 39.2k
7
votes
1
answer
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Expanding on a classic
From the simple caesar to the seemingly uncrackable elliptic curve, there are countless ways to obscure - and even hide - a sensitive message. Cryptography is quite interesting in this way. I find the ...
- 539
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votes
2
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Pentomino tiling on wrap-around 5x5 grids
It is known that P pentominoes cannot tile a 5x5 square board.
Q1: If the east and west edges of the 5x5 square board are "wrapping around" (if you move a piece through one of the edges, the ...
- 11.6k
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4
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Crossing out every second number
Write down all integers from 1 to 1000. Cross out the first number and every second number after that. So you will cross out 1, 3, 5 and so on. Now repeat the process exactly - cross out the first ...
- 33.2k
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1
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n rows and 18 columns
I haven't posted for a long long time, so here is an interesting combinatorics problem!
There is a table with 𝑛 rows and 18 columns. Each of its cells contains a 0 or a 1. The table
satisfies the ...
- 5,560
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votes
1
answer
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Stochastic Taxicab Path
A city's roadworks is laid out as a perfectly rectangular tiling. A commuter within this city has to travel to work a distance of 17 blocks east and 7 blocks north each day, and tries to take the same ...
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2
votes
1
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Does this alphametic have only one solution?
I could only get one answer for the following alphametic. Can you confirm?
ETAS / (E * T * A * S) = SEAT - SATE
All 4 lettes are separate digits from 1 to 9.
ETAS, SEAT and SATE are 4 digit numbers
...
- 39.2k
12
votes
2
answers
485
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A fraction puzzle
This is a puzzle with both the computer-puzzle tag and the no-computers tag.
We have the following list of five fractions:
$$11/5, 30/77, 1/11, 21/2, 5/7.$$
Starting with an integer $x$, we perform ...
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3
votes
2
answers
521
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Yet another mixed sum
An instance of this puzzle is here: https://www.theguardian.com/science/2020/nov/16/can-you-solve-it-the-srcmalbed-nmebur-plzuze
a) It has been swhon taht to raed a txet the oedrr in wihch the ...
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13
votes
1
answer
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The tip of a colorful triangle
Original source: Problem 1 of British Informatics Olympiad 2017, Round 1
You're given a bunch of red (R), green (G), and blue (B) balls. I arrange some balls on a line. Then I ask you to complete the ...
- 11.6k
19
votes
1
answer
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views
Honeybee Hangover
A drunken honeybee lands on a completely random hexagon of a large triangular section (depicted below) of its hive, and then every second afterwards, takes a step to a completely random adjacent ...
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votes
1
answer
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Particular Diophantine equation [closed]
There are four natural numbers $a$, $b$, $c$ and $d$ such that $a<b<c<d$. They satisfy the following equation:
$a^2$+$b^2$+$c^2$+$d^2$= $abcd$
What is the smallest possible value of $d$? This ...
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votes
2
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7x7 Knight's tour: Minimal proof for universality on black squares
We already know that 7x7 board cannot have a closed Knight's tour, and it cannot start or end at a white square if R1C1 is black. But our knowledge about 7x7 Knight's tour is still limited. So here is ...
- 11.6k
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1
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The largest lettered word which you can make and continue make words from it by deleting $1$ letter from it everytime [duplicate]
Ok, here is a simple puzzle to think :-
Find the largest lettered word such that deleting one letter at a time can give you a meaningful word in each step .
Note that only deletions are allowed, in ...
- 1,754
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votes
2
answers
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The art of computer programming
EDIT: I know we are not supposed to edit in new requirements after first posting but as far as I understand it this requirement is implicit in all questions here:
Explain your answer! At least a ...
- 10.2k
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Sudokus everywhere 2
Every 9x9 box is a valid sudoku, making 4 sudokus in all. Hopefully this one is a little more challenging than the previous one. I tried keeping the clues symmetric, but didn't quite manage. Enjoy!
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TRUMP to BIDEN : This transition won't be easy
Can you change the word TRUMP to the name BIDEN in 10 steps or less by
changing one letter at a time?
Each change must result in a valid word from MW dictionary.
No proper nouns, abbreviations or ...
- 39.2k
18
votes
1
answer
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Sudokus everywhere!
Every 9x9 box is a valid sudoku, making 9 sudokus in all. I'm not sure how hard it is as I started solving it with just a few clues, then added more whenever I got stuck. Enjoy!
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2
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4x4 grid equations version 2
I decided to make another one of these, because they are fun and this one is rather different.
Can you place all numbers from 1 to 16 into cells, such that the following 8 equations hold? Note that ...
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1
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4x4 grid equations
Can you place all numbers from 1 to 16 into cells, such that the following 8 equations hold? Note that the operator "/" only works for non-remainder division, i.e. you can have "8 / 4&...
- 33.2k
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1
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An odd looking Sudoku
Somewhat in the spirit of Stiv's This new puzzle type needs a name, can you solve this odd looking Sudoku and give it a name?
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0
answers
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What is the shortest English–language sentence which contains 25 unique letters? [closed]
There is a lot of literature on the subject of short English pangrams, that is, sentences that contain every letter.
But I am curious what the shortest, or at least some of the shortest, sentences are ...
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77-digit number divisible by 7 with seven 7s
The smallest number divisible by 7 with seven 7s is trivially 7777777.
Then, what is the greatest 77-digit number divisible by 7 which contains seven 7s?
- 4,169
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3
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How to divide their loot? The thieves' dilemma
Three thieves rob a jewelry store at gunpoint and end up with the following loot.
10 necklaces
8 bangles
6 rings
It so happened that the jewelry was antique and valuable. They asked
the scared ...
- 39.2k
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votes
1
answer
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Will forcing chains break this sudoku puzzle?
I am trying to pick up advanced sudoku techniques by practicing with “difficult” puzzles as suggested by my sudoku app.
In this puzzle, I am stuck in the position as shown below. I think I can make ...
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Coffee theorem puzzle [duplicate]
I am back yet with another puzzle, my last one was made this morning, and this one is a copied one from an app/website called Brilliant. So, this is especially for those who do not have Brilliant ...
user71418
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Change Four to Nine in fewest steps
Change the word
FOUR
to the word
NINE
by changing only one letter at a time. The change must result in a 4 letter word from the MW dictionary and cannot be an abbreviation,acronym, anagram or a ...
- 39.2k
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votes
2
answers
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Sudoku in the third dimension (3D Sudoku)
People seemed to enjoy my last Sudoku variant puzzle - Samurai Pseudoku, so I spent this week making another! This one is going to require using logic you've never used before...
The last one was a ...
- 56.4k
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Multiplying to reverse digits
Today I noticed that $294$ is a multiple of $49$, which is the last two digits of $294$ reversed.
How many other numbers have this property? That is, how many three-digit numbers have a factor which ...
- 116k
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votes
2
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A greedy cryptarithm
Find all solutions to
EAT
ATE
+ EATEN
-------
YUMMY
Where different letters represent different digits from 0 to 9.
Problem by myself
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1
answer
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Balancing a yardstick
There is a known trick to this, so “no computers” may be used to look up the answer.
Alice gives Bob a wooden yardstick with a small weight secured to one end and says, “See if you can find the ...
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Sudoku like you've never seen it before
I've spent this week trying to create a difficult logic puzzle which is a combination of two Sudoku varaints, 'Samuari Sudokus' and 'Pseudokus', and this combo is unlike anything you can find online. ...
- 56.4k
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Unlock the safe!
There is a (very insecure) safe, which has three digits in the lock. Each digit can only be $0,1,2$. The user choose a password made up with three $0,1,2$ digits, and the safe can be unlocked if at ...
- 5,560
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The Lucky Number
Lucky numbers are 4 digit numbers that have the following property: they are equal to the sum of the fourth power of their digits. Therefore, they can be expressed as follows:
$$1000a+100b+10c+d = a^4+...
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