What could be better than fun logical puzzles to break an awkward shyness, unite strangers and create fun atmosphere at any party? Print these puzzles on a piece of paper, glue them to cardboard and use as table centerpieces (see pic below). You could also place them directly on the plates or tie them to birthday balloons. Birthdays, Thanksgiving, Chanukah or Christmas. Young or old - everyone loves puzzles. Better yet, use your friends' names and their real life events in these puzzles. Who would not be thrilled to see a puzzle dedicated to him or her?
Contact me (maria at marialando dot com) to create Puzzle Centerpieces for Your Party.
The slowest man on the street contest
Moshe and his friend Peter stood and argued whose car is faster: Moshe's silvery FJ Cruiser or Peter's smooth new Lexus Hybrid. Another friend, Daniel, joined the discussion and being an experienced lawyer (complex-deal settler between ego-maniacal corporations) he told both parties that he will give $100 to any of them whose car will come last after going around the block. Hearing this, Moshe jumped into the car and put the pedal to the metal. He won. How?
Click to see the puzzle answer
Moshe jumped into Peter's car. Peter had no choice but to use Moshe's car and unable to catch up with Moshe, he brought Moshe's car last to the finish.
Click to hide the answer
Moshe and a Bear Puzzle
|
On his last camping trip, Moshe stalked a bear that has attacked Moshe's chocolate supply. The bear naturally went south. What color was the bear?
|
|
Click to see the puzzle answer
Who is the tallest?
All Moshe's sisters and brothers are very tall. His sister is shorter than his brother, who is higher than the second sister, who is shorter than Moshe, who is taller than his only brother. Who is the tallest?
Click to see the puzzle answer
A Drinking Puzzle
|
As a young manager, Moshe was known for his relaxed attitude of "No drinking at work" policy. Once he found a completely full bottle of an unlabeled liquid, smelling like alcohol under one of the desks. Reviewing the cubicle on the next day, he discovered that the bottle is partially empty with a temporary cork in it. He decided to find out how much has been consumed by the bottle owner before calling him for a chat. How did he do it using only a ruler on his desk?
|
|
Click to see the puzzle answer
The trick is to flip the bottle. Liquid will fill up the narrow space leaving empty cylindrical volume at the top. One could use the ruler to measure the radius and height of this cylinder and then compute the volume. This volume corresponds to the "missing" alcohol from the bottle.
Click to hide the answer
Cheating!!!
|
One evening last week Moshe went to visit his friend, Alex, for an obscure professional advice. At the Alex's house Moshe met a famous haircut master, Pinni, who then invited Moshe to join them for a Patriots' game. (Pinni cuts Tom Brady's hair) Moshe then spent the night with his only brother's wife's only brother-in-law's wife and claimed in the morning that he "almost" met Gisele. What shall Moshe's wife do to him?
|
|
Click to see the puzzle answer
Moshe brother's wife's only brother-in-law's wife could be only his own wife. So, he got back home to her after football adventures.
Click to hide the answer
Whose grass is greener?
|
Who has the greenest grass on our street? This unannounced competition has been going on forever. Each of the neighbors pretends to go for a walk with his dog or child and carefully reviews other's grass: color, height and weed count. Then, he quietly sneaks back home, spends a day searching the Internet and tries to overdo the neighbors' grass. As a result the grass in the house number 32 is greener than in house number 16, which has less weed than house number 9, which is cut more frequently than house number 17. Who does the most land labor? |
|
Click to see the puzzle answer
When is it going to explode?
|
One morning Moshe and his friend decided to make homemade Root Beer. They put some powder in the bottle, added yeast and water. They tightly closed the cap on the bottle and were observing this cool growing substance. The instructions said that every cell is dividing by half every minute creating two new cells of the same size as the original. With this speed, by 10pm that day they would manage to grow half a bottle of this substance from only one cell. How long would it take until this bottle fills up and explodes?
|
|
Click to see the puzzle answer
In one more minute, by 10:01pm, half the bottle of this substance will double (every cell is dividing by half every minute) and fill the whole cup. Explosion will follow, as has been demonstrated in the past.
Click to hide the answer
Advise Moshe whom to hire
The other day Moshe was interviewing two candidates in a row for an Assistant position. The first of them admitted to Moshe that he has heard how the second candidate admitted to him in the waiting room that she is a liar. Can Moshe trust either of these candidates? (This puzzle assumes that everyone is either always lying or always telling the truth.)
Click to see the puzzle answer
Moshe definitely could not trust the first one, as he is lying. He could not have overheard the other person admitting that she is a liar. If she would be a liar, she would be lying that she is truthful. If she would be truthful, she won't be telling that she is a liar. So, the first candidate is definitely a liar. We know nothing certain about the second candidate.
Click to hide the answer
Beware of Halloween
|
One past Halloween, Moshe was captured by a local children's tribe that demanded candy. Unprepared and candy-less, Moshe tried to confuse the kids by offering them a choice of chores he could do for them. He told them, I will tell you one statement. You will decide, if this statement if true or false. If the statement is true, I (Moshe) will put on a ballerina costume and go around the neighborhood with you gathering candy and then give all the candy to you. If the statement is false, I will sit and guard your candy supply for the next 10 hours or as long as it takes for you to finish Trick-o-treating. Then Moshe told kids his statement. Surprisingly, they did become confused and just let him go. What statement did Moshe make that forced the kids to spare him? |
|
Click to see the puzzle answer
Moshe's statement was: "I am going to guard your candy supply" - exactly corresponding to his punishment for the FALSE statement. Kids became confused, unable to accept this statement as either true or false and decided to just let Moshe go free. Should this statement be accepted as TRUE, Moshe would need to put on a ballerina costume and go around the neighborhood with them gathering candy - contradicting to his TRUE promise to guard the candy. Should this statement be considered FALSE, the punishment will be exactly the statement, making it TRUE. Therefore, unable to accept the statement as either TRUE or FALSE, kids let Moshe go.
Click to hide the answer
Armani suit on a single salary
|
Three friends are dying to get the Armani suit from the latest fashion show, but neither could afford to pay what the suit is offered for. The first friend, Daniel, who is famous for his preference for first class travel over expensive suits, is saying: "If each of you two will give me half of what you have, I will have enough to buy the suit. We could then share the suit proportionally to our investments." The second friend, Alex, stately and broad shouldered, is saying: "If each of you will give me one third of what you have, I will also have enough to buy this suit. We can then share it proportionally to our body sizes." Then the third friend, who happens to be Moshe, said: "If each of you two will give me just one fourth of what you have, I could buy this suit. We could then split the suit according to our investments." Who has most money of these three friends?
|
|
Click to see the puzzle answer
Of course the third friend. He needs to borrow less than his friends in order to afford it. To really solve it, one can create a system of linear equations. If you are daring to do so, make sure you don't drink up until you get all three answers. Turns out that the third friend has around 3/4 of the price of the suit, second friend has 2/3 and the first friend only around 1/3 of the price.
Click to hide the answer
