Hi. OK, so I presented an edited version of the illusion script at Edinburgh Sceptics in the Pub last night. I will let anyone who was there describe the ensuing hilarity!
So, to the Friday puzzle. Can you add two straight lines to this and make it into another letter?
As ever, feel free to say if you have a solution and how long it took, but please don’t post your solution. Have a good weekend and I will post the answer and credit on Monday.
July 17, 2009 at 6:42 am |
If I did this right I think I got it! I actually would not have seen it if I hadn’t been making a joke about this actually! I did it in about 3 minutes.
July 17, 2009 at 6:53 am |
Got this one stupidly quick (2 seconds maybe), must have suited me.
July 17, 2009 at 9:15 am
Ditto here.
July 18, 2009 at 12:12 pm
I think I saw this one in negative time… i.e. I actually saw another letter at first glance, then proceeded to read the prompt and was like “oh ok, *that’s* why I saw that.
July 19, 2009 at 6:35 am
Me too – thanks for making me feel clever
July 17, 2009 at 6:55 am |
got it, 5 seconds
July 17, 2009 at 6:56 am
I must have been trying to hard.
July 17, 2009 at 6:58 am |
Scratched my head for about 2 minutes, then kicked myself for being so stupid.
July 17, 2009 at 6:58 am |
3 seconds. Once one gets used to think around the corner with most Friday Puzzles they seem a lot easier.
July 17, 2009 at 6:58 am |
squinting helped.
July 17, 2009 at 6:59 am |
5 seconds. I looked for a loophole, and there it was!
July 17, 2009 at 7:01 am |
Got it. 10 or so seconds.
July 17, 2009 at 7:01 am |
Got it in about 5 seconds!
July 17, 2009 at 7:02 am |
Took a few seconds, but I think I got it….
July 17, 2009 at 7:04 am |
Got it – 30secs or so. Nice.
July 17, 2009 at 7:06 am |
heh, 20 seconds, started thinking… then realised that’s never the way to go
July 17, 2009 at 7:08 am |
headscratching required, but got it finally.
July 17, 2009 at 7:14 am |
Nice one, took about 20 seconds but I had to look away / stop looking at it to get it.
Will use with my team this morning.
July 17, 2009 at 7:17 am |
About a minute and I’m still not completely sure if I got it. I can think of two letters you can kinda sorta make if you fudge it a bit.
August 20, 2009 at 2:37 pm
Than I think, you haven’t got it
If you find the solution you will not think of any other
July 17, 2009 at 7:18 am |
Got it in under a second. Lame.
July 17, 2009 at 7:18 am |
I got this right away. I looked at the letter and set out to mentally draw lines on it, and my first instinct was to draw them where the answer key would say.
July 17, 2009 at 7:24 am |
I wanted to add these lines before I read the actual puzzle.
July 17, 2009 at 1:55 pm
heh same!
July 17, 2009 at 7:32 am |
I couldn’t figure it out for about a minute or so. Then I reread the instructions and saw it instantly.
July 17, 2009 at 3:00 pm
Even though i read the instructions about 5 times, this helped me see it. Took me a couple minutes before i got frustrated and took a look at the comments.
July 17, 2009 at 7:33 am |
I got it posthaste. It was practically telegraphed in the instructions.
July 17, 2009 at 7:33 am |
Think I have it, though not too sure.
July 17, 2009 at 7:36 am |
Got it within seconds I can see two letters you can make.
July 17, 2009 at 7:36 am |
Heh, I have always been a bit skeptical (and irritated) when people claim they get the answers in 5 seconds and complain how easy the puzzle was, and I’m still trying to figure it out… but this time I can honestly say I got it in about 2 seconds or less, and without any serious thinking.
July 17, 2009 at 7:36 am |
This is really easy thanks to google.
July 17, 2009 at 10:00 am
What key words did you use. I just tried to google it out of interest…
July 20, 2009 at 7:11 am
No keywords as I didn’t ‘google’ the answer.
I just had gmail open which has its symbol as the answer.
July 17, 2009 at 7:39 am |
Saw it straight away but that’s probably because of what I’m doing right now.
July 17, 2009 at 7:52 am |
Saw it straight away. Or perhaps I’ve got it entirely wrong?
July 17, 2009 at 7:57 am |
Hahaha.
July 17, 2009 at 8:04 am |
I addressed the problem with my mighty intellect – a millisecond!!!! *preens and admires big head in mirror*
July 17, 2009 at 8:09 am |
Wasted a minute thinking of it as a question instead of a puzzle, then in about 2 seconds when thought “hang on this is a puzzle, think differently”
July 17, 2009 at 8:14 am |
Instantly – but tricky to say why without revealing the answer!
July 17, 2009 at 8:16 am |
It took me a couple of seconds to play with other solutions than the real one, that I saw even before the question was asked.
July 17, 2009 at 8:19 am |
I’m so dense. Took me about 10 minutes.
July 17, 2009 at 8:21 am |
Well, . . . I THINK i have it… lol..:-)
July 17, 2009 at 8:30 am |
I’m so smug I came up with 2 solutions in fewer than not very many seconds. Also, because I’m a finicky old git, I’d like to point out that it’s “fewer” than X seconds, rather than “less” than.
Does anyone know why my wife left me?
July 17, 2009 at 10:16 am
Sorry to be even more annoyingly pedantic, but in fact “less” is correct here, because you’re talking about a cumulative amount of time, rather than about seconds as individual entities.
I got it in under a second, but I shan’t be smug as I usually take a lot longer.
July 17, 2009 at 8:31 am |
About 30 seconds
July 17, 2009 at 8:33 am |
10 seconds. Ruled out logical and went lateral ( literally)
July 17, 2009 at 8:40 am |
I’m guessing that turning on it’s side, adding two little bars and making it a capital Sigma doesn’t count?
August 20, 2009 at 2:40 pm
That was my first solution too
But there is a lot simpler one
July 17, 2009 at 8:44 am |
English isn’t my first language, that must have helped me see it at once.
July 18, 2009 at 9:05 am
Quite possibly. I would imagine that would have been a great help.
August 20, 2009 at 2:43 pm
I thought it took me more than 30 seconds to find the solution *because* english isn’t my first language
July 17, 2009 at 8:48 am |
Like Mchl, I thought about those lines before I read the text…
July 17, 2009 at 8:53 am |
I actually envisaged the answer before I even read the question, so probably minus 2 seconds!
July 17, 2009 at 9:05 am |
Under ten seconds.
July 17, 2009 at 9:24 am |
Ha! About two minutes. I was halfway through typing a comment admitting to being one of the dense ones this week, but I got there.
July 17, 2009 at 9:25 am |
Like some others, I saw the solution before reading the whole question.
July 17, 2009 at 9:31 am |
About 2 minutes, then facepalmed. So obvious.
July 17, 2009 at 9:39 am |
*groans*
5 seconds
July 17, 2009 at 9:45 am |
About 5 mins of wondering if I could get away with an A with a drooping bar before I finally got it licked.
July 17, 2009 at 9:57 am |
I often think that many of these puzzles are much like the jokes kids tell in the third grade. Even if you get them, there’s no real satisfaction in the punchline.
I figure about 15~ 20 seconds, maybe more. I will have to actually use a stopwatch next time.
July 17, 2009 at 10:02 am |
hehe!
I love that one
July 17, 2009 at 10:21 am |
Doh. friday morning brain struggling
ashamed to say i googled it
weirdly i was on the right train of thought i simply didn’t have the patience to think it through
July 17, 2009 at 10:22 am |
heehee
about 30seconds..
July 17, 2009 at 10:38 am |
bout 5 secs. cool
July 17, 2009 at 10:42 am |
I can’t make a letter, but I can now send you one. 10 seconds.
5/10 must do better! :-/
July 17, 2009 at 11:03 am |
Got it immediately. I’m beginning to learn how your mind works, Professor Wiseman!
July 17, 2009 at 11:16 am |
Two Hours!!!!! Kept coming back to it and the penny finally dropped on the fourth attempt. Is it just me? Or are the people who boast of how they got it in a matter of seconds REALLY ANNOYING!! As I’ve said before, these puzzles do nothing for my self esteem.
July 17, 2009 at 11:18 am |
1s
July 17, 2009 at 11:22 am |
10 seconds thinking, then looked away, then about 1 second not thinking.
July 17, 2009 at 11:35 am |
Got it, only took three or so hours after I’d tried fudging three seperate letters =)
July 17, 2009 at 11:40 am |
Haha, I also thought that it could be an ‘A’ at first. Tried to make it into a B and then tried to see if a C could be made, and then I saw it >.>
July 17, 2009 at 11:43 am |
Got it under 5 seconds
July 17, 2009 at 11:58 am |
yeah yeah, about 10 secs I reckon
July 17, 2009 at 12:24 pm |
oooooooh I finally got it…I’m going to say that took me about 10 minutes. Durrrrrrrrrr.
July 17, 2009 at 12:34 pm |
got it first time I looked at it, but then got sidetracked looking for another solution for 20 seconds, looked again and bingo.
July 17, 2009 at 12:40 pm |
Visual puzzles I can do!
July 17, 2009 at 12:50 pm |
10 sec. not sure if it’s correct.
July 17, 2009 at 1:24 pm |
My wife tried to give me the answer, but I wouldn’t letter.
July 17, 2009 at 2:03 pm
Classic
July 17, 2009 at 2:01 pm |
A few seconds. Love this puzzle!
July 17, 2009 at 2:05 pm |
Nothing immediately, forgot about it for a couple of hours, then it came to me out of the blue at work. I was reading my email at the time
July 17, 2009 at 2:06 pm |
Got the right answer, but I can think of another answer that would satisfy as well.
Got the wrong answer very quickly and then what I assume is the right one about 20 seconds after that.
July 17, 2009 at 2:30 pm |
Doh! I was just complaining to my dad that I can never get these questions anywhere near as quickly as others seem to. I was saying that’s it’s been about 10 minutes and I still don’t get it so I read the question aloud to him. Upon reading it aloud, I got it in 1 second.
July 17, 2009 at 3:12 pm |
I have an answer but I don’t think it’s right. I am not good with this.
July 17, 2009 at 3:20 pm |
Got it in 10 seconds.
Was able to turn it into another letter without adding any lines at all after 1 seconds thinking…
July 17, 2009 at 3:38 pm
oh yeah I can get THAT one.
July 17, 2009 at 4:23 pm |
The first time I attempted this was right after it was posted. And it stumped me real good. I gave up.
Came back to see if there were any anecdotes posted of last night’s sceptics in the pub illusion script – disappointed that there are NONE that I can see!
But I took a second look at the puzzle and it hit me instantly. Honestly, the brain is like a dog that won’t let go of a frizbee sometimes. A little after forget about trying to wrestle the frizbee away the dog drops the frizbee and voila… It’s a cinch!
July 17, 2009 at 5:13 pm |
Came back to see if there were any anecdotes posted of last night’s sceptics in the pub illusion script – disappointed that there are NONE that I can see!
Well as per the script Richard bought us so many drinks that we are only just surfacing now! Script highlights were indeed read out and much hilarity ensued.
July 17, 2009 at 5:36 pm |
About 2 seconds, that is if the answer I have is correct…
July 17, 2009 at 5:37 pm
Oh! and I have just spotted another way of doing it… clever!
July 17, 2009 at 5:46 pm |
I got it before I read the question.
Good one.
July 17, 2009 at 6:03 pm |
Oh my dear god..
July 17, 2009 at 7:04 pm |
I’m amazed at how frequently it takes an external “push” to start thinking laterally. Even though I like to think I already am, I’m hardly thinking out of the box.
Got this one by trying twice (10-20 seconds each) after which I read a few comments and then it struck me.
Been happening so often at work, and then these puzzles.
July 17, 2009 at 7:27 pm |
Too easy, Richard. I’m disappointed, nothing to look forward to on monday, now
July 17, 2009 at 7:53 pm |
I have too many solutions and I suspect all of them are kind of wrong. But I like them anyways.
July 17, 2009 at 8:00 pm
Seriously, you guys. I have two tidy new letters and one made with no extra lines and one untidy letter and two semi-tidy ones and one barely tidy and I don’t know what the hell. My brain is full.
July 17, 2009 at 8:32 pm |
OMG! Looked a few times, took about 3 minutes… You almost got me with this one. I felt a fool after I got it, but not as much now a few minutes after. Because I got it! Richard… you slay me!
July 17, 2009 at 8:35 pm |
About half a second. Insanely easy.
July 17, 2009 at 8:39 pm |
I may stamp my feet and shout. This one almost licked me. I swear, if I can find anymore puns, I’ll write them here.
July 17, 2009 at 8:46 pm |
Took me about 30 seconds. Very clever puzzle!
July 17, 2009 at 9:58 pm |
One of the first one’s I got almost immediately
July 17, 2009 at 10:04 pm |
Got it straight away, very easy this one.
July 17, 2009 at 10:08 pm |
Took about a minute for me to get out of the box then it clicked.
July 18, 2009 at 12:05 am |
I have it…I think.
July 18, 2009 at 12:37 am |
Give up, can’t be arsed with this one – is just getting me frustrated!
July 18, 2009 at 12:44 am
Okay now got it and slightly embarrassed about previous comment!
July 18, 2009 at 2:10 am |
Too Easy, only a few seconds
July 18, 2009 at 2:47 am |
I can make it 3 other letters by adding 2, 1, and 0 straight lines.
July 18, 2009 at 3:14 am |
Got it right away before even reading the question…
Sat around trying to figure it out for 5-10 minutes because I didn’t think it would be that easy.
July 18, 2009 at 4:06 am |
4 solutions and counting so far, first one a 10 seconds, the others about 2 minutes in total.
July 18, 2009 at 6:12 am |
About 30 seconds.
July 18, 2009 at 7:17 am |
I answered the question just not in the right way (despite the overwhelming clues left behind by TheGH and DimlyAware) and then I did what Lux did and I got the other answer, so now I have two. How exciting.
July 18, 2009 at 1:03 pm |
Yes. Saw the letter straight away.
July 18, 2009 at 3:30 pm |
It took me 5 minutes.
July 18, 2009 at 3:30 pm |
If it is alowed to rotate the letter 90º clockwise then i’ve found a solution in a couple of minutes.
The first thing that came to my mind was moving two of the existing lines to form an “X” like this:
|\/| => \/
/ \
but what is required is to add two more straight lines so this was not valid.
July 18, 2009 at 8:31 pm |
I just turned it sideways and got another letter immediately.
English alphabet, you say? Bah humbug.
~~ Paul
July 18, 2009 at 10:19 pm |
Wasn’t timing, but it was within a few seconds; when it hit me, I did a little inward groan.
July 18, 2009 at 10:38 pm |
I always seem to get it after I read some of the comments. Maybe it’s because knowing that other people figured it out helps?
July 18, 2009 at 11:37 pm |
I got it in about 25 seconds. I have never twittered before and I want to take part in your RV experiment, how do I go about that? Is the RV experiment still active and is there a link to it?
July 19, 2009 at 4:02 am |
Took me a while then the light suddenly dawned, penny dropped etc.
July 19, 2009 at 12:54 pm |
I think 15 seconds or so, got the answer.
July 19, 2009 at 2:40 pm |
ohhhhh right!!!!!!!! just got it (after 10 min!)
July 19, 2009 at 8:05 pm |
I have three answers – figured one out quickly (it’s probably not really a valid answer), and the other two after some thought. (one of which I needed help..!)
July 19, 2009 at 10:03 pm |
I took about a minute to get off the monorail then two quick lateral turns and there was the answer.
July 20, 2009 at 2:01 am |
Immediately!
July 20, 2009 at 6:41 am |
Got it in two minutes
July 22, 2009 at 4:14 pm |
I never get these sorts of puzzles, except I saw the solution in seconds for this one.
July 31, 2009 at 4:13 pm |
Got there in the end and found some other [less elegant] solutions along the way.