January 2011 brain teaser

[bill bolton]

Bill, poshgeordie might argue that he sorted it out by thinking ... could he do it without thinking?

The problem can only be solved with specific knowledge which is not in itself contained in the problem, so it it not deduceable from the information in the problem. It requires an outright guess (which is not excercise in lateral thinking at all) to arrive at the declared correct answer.

Cheers,

Bill B.

[ArtShapiro]

Perhaps that was more obvious to you British types than it might be to most Colonists! I assert that it's marginal as a brain-teaser.

To me, Waterloo Station is a coffee shop about three miles away in Mission Viejo, California.

Art

[poshgeordie]

To give you an insight into the murky depths of PG's brain.

History was my worst subject at school so it wasn't because of any such knowledge.

It was only when Killer was encouraging us to think laterally that I decided to ignore the London distraction and what was left was Traf and Water.

I then Googled the two words in the same search and low and behold. It was only after I'd found the link that I realised the 5 minutes past 6 clue so even that didn't "help" me.

If I'm not careful another part of my anatomy is going to be described as smart.....

[AMATX]

Ok, 'killer'; for those of us on the other side of the pond -not- steeped in British history past 1776 or so , try this one:

What letter comes next?

O T T F F S S E N _ ?


No need to solve at 5 minutes past 6:00pm, either, heh, heh.

I've seen a number of these type puzzles...if the above is too easy for you, then you probably already knew the answer, didn't you??

You may think laterally, horizontally, vertically, marginally, spatially, or not at all...there may or may not be a clue above, too...

[ArtShapiro]

What letter comes next?
O T T F F S S E N _ ?

That one is preposterously obvious - think we need something a little more challenging here.

Art

[ArtShapiro]

I'll give folks one that I always appreciated. It was posed in either high school or college, many decades ago.

What's the next number in this sequence:

11111
1011
133
111
51
43
37
34
?

Art

[killer]

31 ?

[ArtShapiro]

31 ?

You nailed it.

Art

[killer]

Here's one that might suit American puzzlers:

A cowboy rides into town on Tuesday. He is tired, so he decides to stay at the town's hotel. He rides out of town on Sunday. He has neither left town in the meantime, nor stayed anywhere else, but he only pays the hotel for two nights. How does he do it, without breaking the law?

[RealBlackStuff]

Using horses named 'Tuesday' and 'Sunday'.

[poshgeordie]

Being a boy, he's accompanied by his Cowdad who pays for the room.

Unfortunately Cowdad meets a "Belle de Jour" and shacks up with her for three nights so Cowboy has to pay for two nights for his lonely (and disgusted) self.

Aahh RBS you've got to be right with that...

[mediasponge]

Using horses named 'Tuesday' and 'Sunday'.

I believe it could be done if he has only one horse which is named either Tuesday or Sunday. One is a reference to his horse, and the other is a day of the week. Cowboys were practically married to their horses, which is why horse theft was a hanging offense.

[mediasponge]

Fill out the rest of this sentence:

There are 10 kinds of people in this world ...

[killer]

Fill out the rest of this sentence:

There are 10 kinds of people in this world ...

Answer is: Those to whom binary is unknown and those who understand it.

LMAO at the answers to the cowboy puzzle.

[AMATX]

What letter comes next?
O T T F F S S E N _ ?

That one is preposterously obvious - think we need something a little more challenging here.

Art

Well, Art, I composed it especially for YOU

Guess I got it just right, didn't I?

[AMATX]

Methinks you all have been a horsin' around way too much...

Time to get a life, boys...

[killer]

@AMATAX: Not enough horsing around yet. It is still January, the sad month, so we need to exercise our brains.

Another cryptic puzzle:

Pure nitrogen, not nice, blend it. (8 letters).

[ArtShapiro]

Pure nitrogen, not nice, blend it. (8 letters)..

I am wretched at those cryptic clues, but is it, perchance (Rot 13): Cehevrag?

Art, who sticks with the NY Times.

WHOOPS - Don't know how to delete a message, but that can't be right. Sorry.

[GomJabbar]

Pure nitrogen, not nice, blend it. (8 letters).

anepbfvf ?

(Rot 13)

Another possibility: plnabfvf

[killer]

When you have solved it you will have an 8 letter (English) word which can be found in any concise dictionary.

[killer]

Clue: The word is also the name of several Popes.

[RealBlackStuff]

"Not guilty" said he, speaking in riddles.

[rkawakami]

Did you know that for many years now, that there's a zinc slug in a cent and not copper? I'm talking a U.S. penny, by the way .

[ArtShapiro]

Clue: The word is also the name of several Popes.

OK, I get it but I don't understand; it would seem to me to have one to many Ns. Perhaps there has been been enough time since posting to talk us through the answer.

Again, I've never been able to do very well on British-style cryptic crosswords. Apparently every uneducated blue-collar Cockney laborer (labourer?) can do them in his/her sleep.

Art

[killer]

Well done, RBS. Your turn to set a puzzle!

That's a good pun, Ray.

Art: 'Pure' is one part of the clue to which the answer could be a number of words. The second clue is nitrogen (= N), and 'not nice' -sort it (anagram).
Unless you spell it a different way then it has the correct number of Ns to create the word 'innocent' = pure.

[ArtShapiro]

'innocent' = pure.

Understood - thanks. I won't relate my fractured thought process on this one.

Appreciate the explanation.

Art

[RealBlackStuff]

As I was going to St. Ives
I met a man with seven wives.
Each wife had seven sacks.
Each sack had seven cats.
Each cat had seven kits.
Kittens, cats, sacks, and wives,
How many were going to St. Ives?

[lophiomys]

none.

[ArtShapiro]

Could it possibly be (rot13)

bar jvgu nqqvgvbany whax guebja va gb abg tvir gur ahzore bs yrggref njnl

Art

[AMATX]

none.

+1

Also depends upon whether the author continued on to St. Ives, or was so enamored by the Seven wives and ONE man that he side tracked a bit, so'ze he could learn how to acquire SEVEN wives...

I also never really understood British humor; Monty Python was totally dull to me...

I did however, really like the Brit comedy TV show 'Coupling'. Very funny. BBC America used to run that over here. Too bad it was only lasted a couple of years.