Questions tagged [story]
A puzzle that is dressed up as a story or a longer description of a situation.
1,092
questions
23
votes
1
answer
1k
views
Reverse Hangman at double difficulty
So I was there, playing Hangman with my friend, when I found myself in a bit of a tough situation.
I'd guessed five of the seven letters, and thus needed to get the last two. But I only had three ...
- 4,973
107
votes
9
answers
20k
views
Five coloured doors, which leads to freedom?
You have been incarcerated in a high-security prison for several nefarious crimes which we need not go into here. The warden, being a kindly logician, offers you a single chance to escape. You are ...
- 115k
3
votes
2
answers
1k
views
The Pirates and the Mangoes [duplicate]
A group of hardy pirates are sailing along when they encounter the Royal Navy of Lord Richard. The battle is long and vicious. Sadly, the pirate ship is sunk. The only survivors are five of the crew ...
- 17.3k
0
votes
2
answers
2k
views
All You Zombies
All You Zombies is a short story by Robert Heinlein, which outlines a rather bizarre time travel paradox. Here is an outline of the paradox with a few key moments missing.
Jane is dropped off at an ...
- 662
6
votes
1
answer
564
views
Lights in the theatre
A play of Romeo and Juliet is being held in the theatre tonight, hundred of people have been waiting this moment for months.
Many people are currently working hard in the theatre to adjust the final ...
- 12.5k
30
votes
8
answers
5k
views
A long, lonely drive
It's early in the wee hours of the morning when a lonely farmer loads up his truck with his goods to sell. He lives far from the city and if he wants to ensure a good spot at the bazaar, he will need ...
- 817
36
votes
5
answers
11k
views
Sabotage at Sea - Cursed Cruise liner?
(Warning: Heavy reading incoming. I suggest writing stuff down...)
It's now the year 2150, and you're one of the few people who didn't leave earth twenty years ago. Why? A deadly disease overtook the ...
- 1,937
8
votes
5
answers
2k
views
Abducted and taken to which city?
Yesterday (April 22, 2015), Dr Jerico Wong, a prominent researcher and experimental physicist at SciCorp Industries in Chattanooga, Tennessee, had
monumental successes in his cold fusion experiments. ...
- 17.4k
-2
votes
2
answers
496
views
The Trek to Mount Tarantoola - Redux!
Opal awoke with a start- exhausted in her trek, she had momentarily slipped into a dream of a hastily written and terribly vague puzzle that was based entirely too much on an improvised scene she had ...
- 2,935
10
votes
2
answers
1k
views
Tipsy Time Travel
One late night on a hill in Innsbruck, Doug struggled to organize his memories. He picked up the “present” which looked like a cross between an IPad and a giant Blackberry (whatever the hell those ...
- 9,042
35
votes
6
answers
2k
views
Magician, assistant, nine dice, and two cups
A magician and her assistant are performing a magic show today, and you are the only audience member. Since it is a Thursday, the magician is saving her strength for the inevitable dragon attack and ...
- 1,063
19
votes
3
answers
3k
views
The secret research of Professor Hubert J. Farnsworth (a murder mystery puzzle)
The poster on the university bulletin board is definitely trying to drum up some hype:
One Night Only
Be one of the privileged individuals present when Professor Hubert J. Farnsworth reveals ...
- 24.1k
43
votes
4
answers
2k
views
Hamlet and the theatre
Hamlet is preparing a play to find out the truth about his father's death. The theatre has $2015$ numbered seats and can contain all the members of King Claudius's court. He gives to each member a ...
- 12.5k
3
votes
5
answers
1k
views
The man and the woods
A man is being chased into the woods by an evil king. The king has stated the man will not be chased once he is leaving the forest. The king is slightly mad, but knows the entire forest is too long ...
- 1,177
7
votes
1
answer
1k
views
Sherlock Holmes and the road to perdition
"Ah, Sherlock, we were waiting for you. Something horrible has happened and we need your help."
Sherlock Holmes had barely entered the Security Council room. Only a few hours ago, he was summoned ...
- 995
12
votes
3
answers
4k
views
When is Mr. Hill's birthday?
Jack and Jill are students of Mr. Hill. Mr. Hill's birthday is on $M$ month, $D$ day. Neither student knows when Mr. Hill's birthday is, but both know it is one of the dates below. Mr. Hill told Jack ...
- 639
143
votes
2
answers
9k
views
A mysterious email from Andrew Void
You are a secret agent in the service of the KGB, about to embark on a highly dangerous mission to infiltrate MI6. You have your disguise, your papers, and your backstory all prepared. The night ...
- 115k
6
votes
2
answers
306
views
Recipe for Success
One evening you receive an e-mail from an acquaintance, asking for your help. The e-mail runs as follows:
Dear friend,
I need your help! I've forgotten the combination to my safe and I need ...
- 5,005
6
votes
2
answers
1k
views
Man’s Best Friend
I loved my best friend. He was always there for me. I brought him home on my own when I was young, but my parents didn’t like him at all. They would always yell at me whenever I’d share my food with ...
- 331
27
votes
4
answers
7k
views
Double whammy murder case! What happened?
It's Friday the 13th, and you and a group of 7 friends from the "Survivor" club belonging to University LeMao (A, B, C, D, E, F, and G) go camping.
You're all pretty good friends, and talk quite a ...
- 1,937
3
votes
1
answer
243
views
A picture of Gaspard Monge
In Paris, a famous Nobel prize winner was found murdered in his kitchen.
The door of the refrigerator stood wide open, and a small piece of butter
had fallen on the floor. On the kitchen table, there ...
- 11.6k
-1
votes
4
answers
2k
views
The greatest thief in the world
Bob is the chief of security at an exhibition hall. His job is to make sure that all the trade shows which happen there are safe and secure events. This weekend is a big consumer expo where many ...
- 1,311
6
votes
5
answers
1k
views
Over the Bridge, If You Dare [closed]
A young man walks through the forest.
He comes to a bridge.
In front of the bridge is a large man carrying an axe.
The man says, "If you want to cross this bridge, you must tell me something. If ...
- 1,450
15
votes
2
answers
2k
views
The Sinister Killer
The body was lying naked on the floor of an apartment living room. Crime scene investigators and forensics were inspecting the body and the nearby area. You, detective Randy, opened the door and ...
- 14.4k
168
votes
1
answer
14k
views
Internship Available!* - Figure out what you're being asked to do before you sign up
Sine waves bound in rectangles shaped into prisms. Mass increases, position changes twice, and mass decreases. The prisms become rectangles and are either discarded or stored for later use. If that ...
- 3,805
9
votes
3
answers
5k
views
Mysterious Murder Mystery 4
The sky is dark, filled with black clouds. The sun, high in the sky, still shining, trying to cut through the dark, thick, black clouds. The moon, slowly turning red, slowly taking over. You hear a ...
- 2,113
6
votes
1
answer
905
views
The man, the weapons, the time
STORY:
He awakes, covered in quite a thick layer of dust. Quite clearly suffering from some form of memory loss, this man begins to look around, eyes blurry, almost sticky in feeling. There's bodies ...
- 1,218
20
votes
4
answers
7k
views
Mysterious Murder Mystery 3
Two of the officers arrest Detective Randy White; one was holding him, while the other was putting handcuffs on Mr. White. You see that the whole Investigation department talking, some whispering to ...
- 2,113
12
votes
4
answers
2k
views
The SErial Killer (Part 3)
This puzzle is part of a series - part 1 is here and part 2 is here. Any comments I make on the OP are canonical and out of character (OOC). Any comments I post on answers are for flavour only.
Since ...
- 5,745
26
votes
4
answers
2k
views
The SErial Killer (Part 2)
This puzzle is part of a series - part 1 is here. Any comments I make on the OP are canonical and out of character (OOC). Any comments I post on answers are for flavour only.
Update: As it turns out, ...
- 5,745
47
votes
12
answers
5k
views
The SErial Killer (Part 1)
This is part of a series which I'll be continuing if this goes down well enough. If you have any feedback on the puzzle (too hard, too easy, not clear enough, etc) I'd appreciate it so that future ...
- 5,745
25
votes
7
answers
11k
views
Mysterious Murder Mystery 2
"Take her away!" commands the police officer, as two other officers handcuff the blonde woman. "Good work, Detective! I can see why you were named the number one detective. Keep up the great work!". ...
- 2,113
41
votes
9
answers
10k
views
Nobody knows me. Nobody wants me
You are going through the belongings of your recently deceased uncle and come upon a small wooden box with the following inscription, presumably describing its contents.
Those who take me, won't ...
- 569
13
votes
13
answers
15k
views
The old man doesn't like seagull meat
An old man and his mute niece always wanted to visit some beautiful tropical island.
"Before my sight leaves me, I want to see how a real palm looks like!", said the old man. He was lying. His sight ...
- 3,567
33
votes
15
answers
40k
views
Mysterious Murder Mystery [closed]
Last year, December 21, 2013, you were awarded the "#1 Detective in the World" for solving more than 50 murders. Your boss gave you a promotion, contingent upon your moving to Chicago. You agreed and ...
- 2,113
5
votes
3
answers
1k
views
The robbery of the Black Forest Inn
in December 1496, after a rainy day, an inn somewhere in the Black Forest, on one of the major north-south roads, was visited by a group of highwaymen in the middle of a freezing cold night. ...
- 995
-1
votes
2
answers
921
views
The Impossible Game?
You meet a clever, and dark man. He wants to steal your mind and sell it to the dumbies (an imaginary species of shadows that have an IQ of less than -150)
He offers you to play a game, if you win, ...
- 14.3k
-2
votes
3
answers
663
views
A Forked Path in the Forest [closed]
You, a young adventurer, are travelling through the forest. Suddenly, your path splits in 2. You have no map or compass - well, you do but your compass is broken. You know you have to keep travelling ...
- 14.3k
1
vote
1
answer
2k
views
Sherlock and the Luncheon
Sherlock had been invited to lunch by a rich man in London. He went to the man's house and found that the lunch was actually a huge party and there were a lot of people around.
Dreadful, he thought....
- 5,971
-7
votes
2
answers
689
views
The Long Bus Ride [closed]
I expect multiple answers to this, however only 1 of them is correct.
A bus was scheduled to stop 10 times today. Each time, 7 people got on the bus and 5 got off.
At the last stop, how many people ...
- 14.3k
193
votes
25
answers
92k
views
In the 100 blue eyes problem - why is the oracle necessary?
The riddle
Randall Munroe (of xkcd fame) has, a bit hidden on his site, a logic puzzle:
A group of people with assorted eye colors live on an island. They are
all perfect logicians -- if a ...
- 2,260
14
votes
4
answers
6k
views
The Puzzle of the Locked Box
Here's an old puzzle I found in a book once.
A box has some number of locks on it. It is guarded by a Grand Vizier and four slaves, each of which hold keys to the locks.
The Grand Vizier and slaves ...
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