Puzzle Corner

Post by **superlion** » Sat Sep 04, 2004 11:14 pm

I'm pretty much stumped.

Capt.Rutlinger · Post by **Capt.Rutlinger** » Sun Sep 05, 2004 1:07 am

He slips, gets up and restart climbing

Post by **Jay** » Sun Sep 05, 2004 2:22 am

He may or may not have restarted climbing when he finally came to a stop. But, no, he did not go the 150 feet up by climbing.

Post by **Jay** » Mon Sep 06, 2004 7:02 pm

There is something about the location of the mountain. These locations are at many places in the world. In fact, there might be more of these locations with mountains than other locations with mountains. Yet people do not usually think about these locations when they think of mountains. Also remember a couple of the subtle hints: no snow, no wind. What location or type of location has the mountain?

Post by **okapi_07** » Mon Sep 06, 2004 8:23 pm

could the mountain be underwater? he slipped and just kinda floated to the top?

Post by **Jay** » Mon Sep 06, 2004 8:45 pm

Yes, that is correct. It was an undersea mountain and natural buoyancy lifted him. (I would have also accepted water currents, although buoyancy is probably the more common cause.)

These situations are real. There are a number of people that explore undersea mountains, usually climbing "down" rather than up. Slips sometimes occur. It is called a "fall" even though the motion is up rather than down. This situation sometimes also occurs while exploring underwater portions of caves as well as caves that are underwater.

However, the puzzle as described was more likely to occur longer ago. The reason is the puzzle says "no ropes were involved". However, because floating up too fast can lead to nitrogen narcosis, most of these explorers use ropes so that they will not float up too far. In the case of underwater portions of caves, slips can be even more dangerous. So all explorers that know what they are doing will use ropes there.

I was surprised this puzzle took so long with so many people liking underwater nature.

Post by **Jay** » Mon Sep 06, 2004 9:36 pm

This one is trickier, but I have always loved this puzzle. It involves some math.

Three friends of mine had a problem and came to me for advice. They had a grandfather who owned stables and a number of horses. Their grandfather lived to a very old age but his time had come. In the grandfather's will, he left 1/2 of the horses on the estate to the oldest grandchild, 1/3 of the horses to the next oldest grandchild, and 1/8 of the horses to the third grandchild. Unfortunately, at the time, there were 23 horses. My friends certainly did not want to cut up or harm the horses in any way. Knowing how much I loved animals, they came to me for advice. What did I do to help them?

Capt.Rutlinger · Post by **Capt.Rutlinger** » Tue Sep 07, 2004 12:38 am

you borrowed them a horse, so they had 24 and thus they could now divide it.

Post by **Jay** » Tue Sep 07, 2004 2:09 am

Excellent... that is correct! For the official answer:

After hearing their problem, I went to another friend of mine, who also had horses. I asked to borrow a horse for a while. I then took this horse to my other three friends and said, "I am giving this horse to the estate temporarily." So then there were 24 horses. Therefore, the oldest of the three got 1/2 of them, or 12 horses. The second got 1/3 of them, or 8 horses. The third got 1/8 of them, or 3 horses. 24 horses minus 12 horses minus 8 horses minus 3 horses left 1 horse remaining. So I took the remaining horse (the one I brought) back to my other friend. And everyone, including the horses, were extremely happy!

Post by **Jay** » Tue Sep 07, 2004 2:26 am

The king had died some time ago and the queen replaced him on the throne as Head of State. They had two children who were twins. Both were delivered at birth by caesarean section, and both were born at exactly the same time.

Eventually, the time came when a new king had to be chosen. One of the two was very intelligent and loved by everyone, but the other was not so bright. He was not liked at all, and was not favored by the queen or people in their parliament. Yet, it was the latter who was chosen. Why?

There were no corrupt motives involved. The constitution was used to elect the king. The intelligent child did not die and was not harmed or locked away. The queen agreed with the decision. Foreign powers were not involved. Marriage did not form part of the decision.

Capt.Rutlinger · Post by **Capt.Rutlinger** » Tue Sep 07, 2004 12:09 pm

the first born child gets the throne. The latter was the one first born. (twins can't be born at the same time, it usually takes several minutes before the second child is born)

Post by **Jay** » Tue Sep 07, 2004 8:35 pm

No, as the puzzle states ¨Both were delivered at birth by caesarean section, and both were born at exactly the same time." So the time of birth was not used in choosing the new king.

Post by **superlion** » Tue Sep 07, 2004 9:31 pm

They were fraternal twins and one was not related to the king?

phantom · Post by **phantom** » Tue Sep 07, 2004 10:56 pm

The liked twin was a girl and thus couldn't hold the title of king. The not-liked twin was a boy and thus ascended to the throne as king.

Post by **Jay** » Tue Sep 07, 2004 11:30 pm

Yes, that is correct. They were fraternal (rather than identical) twins with one being female and the other being male (both having the previous king as their father). Although the female was liked more and was more intelligent, a female cannot hold the title of "king" (a male monarch) by definition. See, another puzzle where avoiding any "male/female" sterotyping might help (although much more subtle here).