Questions tagged [real]
For puzzles that presented themselves, with real parameters and consequences, during otherwise non-puzzling activities.
148
questions
12
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4
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This number sequence has entered my life recently
Just recently, I've noticed this sequence of numbers has become a pretty big part of my life. It goes like this:
1, 2, 4, 6, 9, 12
So here's the mystery:
What is this sequence?
Where do I keep seeing ...
- 618
31
votes
1
answer
3k
views
Goodbye grand mother <3
My grand-mother died the 17th of June 20 from cancer after spending the last three months nearly alone in her house because of the COVID Pandemic. I dedicate her this puzzle. She's Lao and today, for ...
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2
votes
1
answer
343
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Help! My Ring & Post puzzle is stuck
I have a fairly basic Ring and Wooden Post puzzle that I can usually solve. However, at a recent family gathering (pre-Covid); the ring was tangled into a weird spot and I cannot figure it out. Here ...
- 21
1
vote
1
answer
279
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Steganography - Coded Blocks Ricoh Color Copy machine
I am somewhat new to this. Forgive if my description is not clear.
I have two code blocks. I know that each block, in part, codes for a serial number (which I know). Part of the code probably ...
- 11
1
vote
3
answers
152
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Village with no boys [closed]
This is a true story. There is a Polish village with no boys born in the last 10 years. How is this possible?
- 33.2k
7
votes
1
answer
302
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Catch 21: Lies in Advertising
I posted a few Dominosa puzzles this week to celebrate adding Dominosa to my Donimoes collection of domino puzzles and games. Now, I want to finish the week with something a little different.
What ...
- 2,572
3
votes
1
answer
221
views
Determine water temperature without touching the water
I've come up with a riddle that I use on a daily basis to solve a simple problem.
In a kitchen, you have a water tap that can run cold and hot water (or a mixture). The more fancy ones have a handle ...
- 153
9
votes
0
answers
646
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Signatures of serial killer Edward Wayne Edwards?
This is from a real-life murder-mystery. In 2009 Edward Wayne Edwards was arrested and convicted of five murders, following a tip-off from his daughter April. Former detective John A. Cameron ...
- 199
1
vote
2
answers
192
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Cheapest strategy on average to find specific items in a set
The problem
You have a set on N (around 15-30) seemingly-identical objects, which in fact comprises a small number D (unknown, between 1-3) of defective objects and the rest (N-D) are good.
There is a ...
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18
votes
2
answers
1k
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Reversical Engineerimicating
Ok, like, OMG!, this is totally true.
I was looking through an old Notepad++ file I had and saw the following statements, verbatim, as I found them:
...
- 25.6k
2
votes
7
answers
2k
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Hungry for pistachios [closed]
You are locked in a completely empty room with no tools. You are given a bag with cooked pistachios. Most of the pistachios are fully open, but some are only partially open. You are not able to open ...
- 33.2k
20
votes
3
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Early 1900's Paper Puzzle - Release the Key and Live Forever
This puzzle was found in an old attic and was a religious invitation. Release the key and you could send it in to receive a Bible based book. Apparently 1000's were made but I can find no more other ...
- 203
3
votes
7
answers
1k
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Why are the tires flat on one side?
I have a long commute, so I spend a lot of time staring at the cars ahead of me. One unusual thing I've observed is that on most cars the left-hand side tires look like they have less air than the ...
- 18.6k
7
votes
2
answers
290
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Turning a fan on
I bought an air purifier which has [off, low, medium, high] settings and a single button. If it is on, the first button press activates the lights and subsequent presses increment the level with off ...
- 173
19
votes
6
answers
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The falling broom handle
As the reaction to my previous physics puzzle was somewhat mixed, I'll try again. I found this in an online physics book.
You hold a broom as shown in the following picture:
The head of the broom is ...
- 50.8k
26
votes
6
answers
15k
views
Cut a cake into 3 equal portions with only a knife
You have to determine a way to cut a circular cake into exactly three portions of equal size. The only marking on the cake is a candle in the very center.
All you have to work with is a knife that is ...
- 371
35
votes
3
answers
3k
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Is this more than a packing puzzle?
I bought this set of wooden blocks at a garage sale today, and although it was a challenge to fit them in the box, I suspected they were more than just a packing puzzle. Can you guess what else they ...
- 2,572
15
votes
6
answers
2k
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Pulling Apart a Jigsaw Puzzle
Assume you have a jigsaw puzzle that is also a tessellation. This means every piece has an identical shape and can be assembled into a 2D pattern that fills the plane with no gaps. Such a jigsaw ...
- 3,808
10
votes
4
answers
472
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Not-Quite-Sufficiently-Advanced-Technology Square
This was given as an assignment to a group of sixth graders, who were told they could use calculators. Beyond that, no real assistance was provided. They were not working on it as a group, so ...
- 41.6k
5
votes
2
answers
668
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Gold, silver and bronze in the balance
Equivalent to finding three heaviest coins in order of weight,
on a balance that holds one coin on each side.
(Simplified, with some Wikipedia references corrected, from the original puzzle.
The ...
- 21.8k
9
votes
3
answers
3k
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That's an odd coin - I wonder why [closed]
Around the world, there are several roughly polygonal coins. Here's an example:
One thing you'll notice is that they all have an odd number of sides. It turns out that this is universally true for ...
- 22.8k
26
votes
1
answer
2k
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Real life puzzle: Unknown alphabet or shorthand
User JellicleCat posted this on linguistics stackexhange a few years ago. None of us were able to come up with a satisfying answer but most seemed to agree that it was an idiosyncratic cipher or ...
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6
votes
7
answers
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Find minimum number of meeting periods to reach 2 degrees of separation for a group [closed]
I am running a training course and I want to arrange a set of 1:1 meeting periods between the participants such that at the end of the day there is a maximum of 2 degrees of separation between any of ...
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6
votes
2
answers
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A real-world puzzler - find the pattern!
This is a bit of an unusual puzzle - one that is purely "real world" :)
My console can produce a load of colours. But I can't find any obvious way to relate the colour to its number.
I'd hoped that ...
- 1,831
7
votes
2
answers
668
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What's that movie? (Geriatric Edition)
True story:
My mother, 80 years old, asked me "What's that movie?"
"What movie?"
"You know, the one with that guy..."
"..."
"Run... Homer..."
"Homer Simpson?"
"No. Maybe. Was it Homer Simpson? ...
- 25.6k
3
votes
2
answers
246
views
Should I Rest at the Travelator or Not at the Travelator?
This is a real-life puzzle encountered by one of my friends, again.
After landing and arriving at the airport, I want to pick my baggage up quickly. The problem is that the baggage claim is $500$ m ...
- 34k
4
votes
1
answer
267
views
What do these symbols mean?
On top of a door in a small Bavarian town, I found the following symbols:
Given the circumstances, I assume that they mean either a date or some kind of blessing or epigram. The latter is ...
- 141
16
votes
4
answers
4k
views
Is there a secret message in the first decimals of PI?
Is there a secret message encoded in the first decimals of $\pi$?
Source: Vi Hart
- 76k
9
votes
2
answers
570
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Decode the letters from a criminal organization
Last Saturday (2018-12-08), the Brazilian police caught those letters written by the bosses of a big Brazilian criminal organization in jail intended to be delivered to their men in the streets. The ...
5
votes
3
answers
519
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Buzz Buzz Busy Male Bees
A male bee is born from an unfertilized egg, a female bee from a fertilized egg. In other words, a male bee has only a mother, whereas a female bee has a mother and a father. How many total ancestors ...
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votes
2
answers
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Trees and dates
A friend of mine in Sydney, Australia, asked for help in explaining these stones. I don't know if this is really a puzzle, but he's definitely puzzled.
In one of our local parks someone has put ...
- 4,883
2
votes
1
answer
585
views
How to make a 2v2 rotation with 5 people
I'm running a volleyball club at school and we currently have 5 active members. Is there a way of having everybody play in a duo with everybody else and have one person sit out each game practising? I ...
- 21
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1
answer
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views
A Marvelous Meal
S.H.I.E.L.D.
Universe
Okoye
Ironman
Cosmic
Invisible-Girl
Lois-Lane
Electra
Deadpool
Yellowjacket
Logan
Loki
Ant-man
Captin-America
Infinity-Warfare
Groot
Avengers
...
- 20.1k
7
votes
2
answers
1k
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Don't put yourself out, dear
I asked my mother the other day, "What do you want for dinner? I'll get you anything your little heart desires."
My mother, true to form, radiated the stereotypical motherly vibe: "Don't worry about ...
- 25.6k
7
votes
6
answers
470
views
Flipping a coin across the internet
Suppose you wish to "flip a coin across the internet". ie. You want to show other people that you've flipped just ONE coin, and show them the result.
I'm currently trying to think of the simplest ...
- 3,068
19
votes
1
answer
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My teacher gave me a puzzle one day
I told my teacher that I liked riddles and puzzles. As a matter of fact, I introduced him to the Puzzling Stack Exchange! Then, he got a sheet of paper, asked for a pen, and when he found one (I didn'...
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7
votes
2
answers
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Identical-Looking Keys on a Ring
The number of keys on your key ring has been growing steadily over time, and now you already have 15 keys to keep track of! Unfortunately, you are unable to distinguish one key from another (apart ...
- 14.4k
7
votes
5
answers
302
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Selecting the starting player [closed]
The board game is about to begin. And suddenly we realize that we need to decide the starting player. The dice procedure is tiresome. And we can't find our dice right now. Or any other artifact that ...
- 22.8k
9
votes
1
answer
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We're gonna need a bigger bowl!
It's time for lunch, and I want to eat my favorite Regresso™ Chicken Noodle Soup. Ideally, I would pour all the soup from the can to my bowl, microwave the bowl, then eat the soup. Unfortunately, ...
- 14.4k
1
vote
2
answers
319
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What are the chances on watching the clock? [closed]
This is a relatively straightforward little puzzle, but the answers are somewhat unintuitive or can prompt a new perspective. It might be an interesting little puzzle for a probability teaching ...
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7
votes
1
answer
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Is there a hidden message this old Polybius listing?
I recently watched this video about the mythical arcade game Polybius. It's a well-crafted investigation that thoroughly debunks the myth, but there's a segment in which the investigator suspects a ...
- 1,125
4
votes
2
answers
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The Fenn Treasure Hunt (REAL!)
I heard of this riddle and wanted to pass it on to see if you expert puzzlers could solve it! These are clues for real treasure hidden somewhere in the Rocky Mountains.
As I have gone alone in there
...
- 2,793
32
votes
9
answers
9k
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Should I Take the Bus or Refill My Bottle First?
This is a real-life puzzle encountered by one of my friends.
I want to arrive early to my class today. Exactly every $7$ minutes, there is a bus that arrives at the station near my dorm and will ...
- 34k
75
votes
8
answers
24k
views
My friend sent me a photo of his keyboard, but there's something I can't figure out about it
Two months ago, my friend bought a new Chromebook. He told me yesterday that while he is happy with the computer overall, he's not that impressed by the quality of the keyboard. My friend is an ...
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13
votes
1
answer
993
views
Who can solve this cipher?
The following cipher is moderately difficult but not impossible. It is (IMO) probably easily solvable for an experienced professional code breaker.
...
- 369
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vote
4
answers
510
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The helicopter position?
Helicopter fly from New Jersey to the north for 500 km and then to the east 500 km, then to the south 500 km and then to the west 500 km
where is she now?
Can it arrive at a position where ...
- 183
40
votes
6
answers
5k
views
Changing baby's shirt
Baby needs a change of shirt, but baby is also sucking on a bottle (see this stock photo for a visual). If the bottle leaves baby's mouth, baby will start crying. Also, baby loves holding the ...
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0
votes
4
answers
462
views
What is the name of the novel?
Yesterday, after I picked up my son from fencing practice, we stopped at Krispy Kreme to get doughnuts, as per our tradition. The total was $3.19. I paid with a five dollar bill and when I got my ...
- 2,206
2
votes
2
answers
363
views
Scheduling Meetings
I came across this problem in real life and thought it could be made into an interesting puzzle. I will enjoy seeing how my eventual solution could be improved!
Here's the situation.
There ...
- 22.8k
10
votes
1
answer
720
views
What does this symbol mean
This is a real life question.
I have a hat that has this symbol on it
I can't figure out what it means.
I have asked everyone I know. But I didn't get good answers.
So What does it mean?
Even if ...
- 575