Have just produced this little video to promote Paranormality…..
The book can be pre-ordered here.
OK, onto the Friday Puzzle….three rather unusual questions for you this week….
1) According to the Bible, who killed 25% of the world’s population?
2) In one of the books I own the end is in the first half, and the prefix in the second half. The foreword comes after the epilogue, but the index comes before the introduction. What is the book?
3) What is it that elephants make that no other animal can?
As ever, please do NOT post your answers, but feel free to say if you think you have solved them and how long it took. Solutions on Monday.
Advertisement
Like this:
One blogger likes this post.
January 21, 2011 at 5:33 am |
Think I got them all – about a minute, minute & a half
January 21, 2011 at 5:34 am |
I think I’ve solved the first and third, but not the second.
January 21, 2011 at 5:35 am |
I got number 1 and 2 straight away, I think.
Number 3 possibly too, though I’m not quite as sure about that answer.
January 21, 2011 at 5:39 am |
Took me about 2 minutes to solve all three. The last one being the most difficult (because too vague)
January 21, 2011 at 5:40 am |
Im not hot on the Bible, but I think I have number 1. 2 and 3 were easy. Under 1 minute.
January 21, 2011 at 5:45 am |
Solved them as I read them.
January 21, 2011 at 5:46 am |
Yup, got them right away. A nice diversion….
January 21, 2011 at 6:04 am |
Isn’t there multiple answers to 2?
January 21, 2011 at 12:43 pm
And 3 for that matter, but I think you know if you got it. The first one took me a while, because I got tied up on God killing people and Noah and stuff, but was actually quite a good puzzle.
January 21, 2011 at 6:06 am |
Got them pretty much as I read them.
January 21, 2011 at 6:23 am |
Got 2 & 3 straight away – took a couple of minutes to get 1.
January 21, 2011 at 6:38 am |
Instantaneous for all three.
January 21, 2011 at 7:06 am |
Got them as I read them.
January 21, 2011 at 7:07 am |
1) I already knew this one
2) Clever one. I got it in seconds
3) Still thinking…
January 21, 2011 at 12:46 pm
3) got an answer now.
January 21, 2011 at 7:38 am |
I got 1 and 3 but I’m not sure about 2.
January 21, 2011 at 7:40 am |
1) I think I got this one
2) I can think of at least two answers to this one
3) A bunch of answers to this one…all related
January 21, 2011 at 7:46 am |
1 and 3 are simple. 2 has several answers I think. Hmm
January 21, 2011 at 7:50 am |
No. 3 still bothers me, but I get there eventually. The first two were almost too straightforward. V easy.
January 21, 2011 at 7:52 am |
Edit: Oh, how obvious! No. 3 is (probably) solved as well.
January 21, 2011 at 7:52 am |
1. Got this just from general knowledge. You don’t have to read too far into the bible…
2. I come from Lichfield. As do some other famous people.
3. I have a very literal mind.
January 21, 2011 at 9:28 am
Oh for crying out loud. Can someone delete this?
January 21, 2011 at 5:08 pm
What’s wrong with that? The instructions were to show your workings, rather than just posting “I got it in less than a second”. Have I divulged too much? If so, apologies.
January 21, 2011 at 7:25 pm
Nothing wrong with those hints I think – and those are definitely hints, not answers, so I don’t see why they should be deleted. The comment page would be pretty boring if everyone just posted “got it in X minutes”.
Personally I solved 2 and 3 in a few seconds, but was stuck on no.1 so came looking for hints. Solved no.1 after seeing Superdave’s hint.
January 21, 2011 at 9:27 pm
Dave vs. Dave!
But actually, Superdave, the instructions say only: “feel free to say if you think you have solved them and how long it took.” (In addition, of course, to “please do NOT post your answers.”)
You can post your workings on the Monday post.
January 21, 2011 at 8:08 am |
Got the first one as soon as I read it. Number two I’m pretty sure about and number three I have an answer but I don’t like it because knowing about critters the answer that I think is the “right” answer may technically not be right or somewhat miss leading…. I’ll probably spend the weekend thinking or over thinking this one as I was totally wrong last week…lol….
January 21, 2011 at 3:49 pm
Number three reminds me of some of the older elephant jokes… like What do you find between elephant’s toes? or Why did the elephant wear one red shoe, one blue shoe, one green shoe and one yellow shoe?
January 21, 2011 at 8:59 am |
1. easy
2. no idea
3. got it… after thinking a few minutes about another (less obvious) answer, but it turns out that giraffes (at least) make them too.
January 21, 2011 at 10:02 am
On 3, the answer I’m thinking of can only be made by elephants. Giraffes would stand no chance
January 21, 2011 at 9:06 am |
1 and 2 are fairly obvious, but the third could be any number of things.
January 21, 2011 at 9:07 am
On second thought, I came up with an answer to 3 as well.
January 21, 2011 at 9:12 am |
First one worked out just as I finished reading. No point thinking past 1st answer I got.
Second one was same but needed another read to double check.
Remembered last one from childhood so already known
January 21, 2011 at 9:20 am |
hmm…my first thought was ‘I have absolutely no idea’ then I looked at the posts and thought hey, it can’t be difficult, and I looked at the questions again and got them in a minute. How weird is that? Because several people said it’s easy I found it easy afterwards.
January 21, 2011 at 9:28 am |
1. definitely got in a few seconds.
2. Got fairly quickly.
3. Have a few possibilities … unless I’m missing something different. I don’t understand Nab’s comment on #3 at all, so we are definitely thinking along different lines.
January 21, 2011 at 9:31 am |
1 and 2 no problem. Several possible answers for 3, none of which are particularly clever or interesting, so I’m hoping I’ve missed something.
January 21, 2011 at 9:31 am |
Wow, non-mathematical puzzles… where which I’m traditionally weak. Didn’t know the 3. I think I have the answers for 2) and 3) after a few seconds, but the first one, I’m not sure I’m going to be able to solve, unless I google it, which is a problem because I risk to find the solution, not the data for finding it
January 21, 2011 at 9:33 am |
2 and 3 are traditional, I’ve not seen 1 before.
I pretty immediately got the (I presume) intended answer to 1 is, but it is far from clear that 25% is a correct calculation. If you read on to the next chapter, it becomes clear that there are additional people, and it is not evident that the murdering takes place before those people were around.
January 21, 2011 at 9:47 am |
1. Had heard before. It is good though.
2. A few minutes.
3. Instantly (if I’m correct)
January 21, 2011 at 10:05 am |
Far too easy this week. I prefer something that makes me think outside the box.
Q1: I read it, thought ‘Eh?’, then read it again and ‘Of course!’
Q2: Common riddle but I haven’t seen this variation before.
Q3: Purely Logical.
Quite quick today, easily under 3 minutes.
Can we have another one, please?
January 21, 2011 at 10:06 am |
1. I was convinced I had the answer, but then I thought about the “25%” bit and realised that my answer was wrong – all in all I guess it took me 5 minutes
2. Very old. Cleverly worded, but still old. It took me about minus 20 years, which was roughly when I first heard a variant of it
3. I can think of two answers that fit the wording of the question, but I guess only the second one is “funny” (for some value of funny). about 2 or three minutes, I think
January 21, 2011 at 10:07 am |
1 neraly instantaneously, 2 also nearly instatntaneoulsy, 3 not sure what the questioner thinks makes the biggest land animal unique.. and i suspect that it should be possible to find an insect having similar capabilities… so lost interest
January 21, 2011 at 10:10 am |
Think I have number 1. Got No 2 straight away and I have several answers for number 3 although I think one answer is more right than the others. About a minute and a half.
January 21, 2011 at 10:23 am |
I knew the 1st, 2nd took me a few minutes. Third one: In a matter of seconds I thought up a couple of answers, not sure they were what you meant though
January 21, 2011 at 10:26 am |
These are more riddles than puzzles. Got the answer to all of them instantly – probably because several similar riddles exists with same characteristics. Nice with some non-mathematic enigmas.
January 21, 2011 at 10:42 am |
i thought about it for 10 seconds but i don’t have a clue on all 3 questions…. i’m puzzled….
January 21, 2011 at 10:44 am |
Unusually for me, I got each one pretty much as I read them. Maybe 5-10 seconds after 1&3. And while I was reading 2.
With each, it’s the kind of thing where when you have the answer, you’ll know it’s right.
January 21, 2011 at 10:50 am |
1) Not as big a deal as you may think!
2) If it’s what I think it is, the chapters and content come before everything else mentioned.
3) Depends how specific you want to get. I have a sneaky answer, that could easily be adapted into “What do X make that no other animal makes?”, so it might not be what Richard’s looking for. There’s another possible answer that literally translates as “elephant”, but since other animals can also make it, that’s probably not what he’s looking for either.
January 21, 2011 at 10:54 am |
Done, done and done. Fun, fun and fun. The last has several answers IMHO but all are quite funny.
ps leave the spoilers out, people, I have fallen in the trap of putting clues in my comments and I have been (quite rightly) told off about it. Not needed, not fun, we all know how clever you are… hee hee
January 21, 2011 at 10:59 am
Oh, took less than a minute.
January 21, 2011 at 11:01 am |
I got them all in a few seconds, I’m pretty sure I’ve heard them all before
January 21, 2011 at 11:04 am |
1: random guess
2: even bigger random guess.
3: pretty sure about this one.
January 21, 2011 at 11:07 am |
The 3rd one has triggered a very specific line from Monty Python and the holy grail. If my answer is correct I’m sure you’ll know which one i’m refering too!
January 21, 2011 at 6:52 pm
Does it have anything to do with dead indians?
January 21, 2011 at 11:10 pm
Okay, now I’m trying to work out what Holy Grail reference could relate to the answer I have. When Richard posts the answer on Monday, please put up an explanation!
January 21, 2011 at 11:22 am |
2&3 were easy, 1 took about 3 or 4 minutes ….
January 21, 2011 at 11:30 am |
I didn’t time it, but I’m positive I got all three in less than a minute.
January 21, 2011 at 11:44 am |
1: I think that I know what the answer is getting at, but not sure of the details.
2: I worked this one out.
3: I have a very silly answer for this one. Looking forward to hearing the right answer though.
January 21, 2011 at 11:57 am |
Got number 2 straight away. Don’t know if I will get 1.
3 will require some thought.
January 21, 2011 at 11:59 am |
First two are easy. I am sure the third is a pun on words though, so I am not going to bother with it, as I am not a native English speaker.
January 21, 2011 at 12:20 pm |
Way too easy. Solved as read.
January 21, 2011 at 12:45 pm |
Quick! Get the picture back before Elephant Head comes on and starts singing!
January 21, 2011 at 11:13 pm
Stop! In the name of love…
January 21, 2011 at 1:14 pm |
Got #2 and #3 almost immediately, but had no idea on #1, as I really dont know much about biblical stories.
Googled it, and then thought: Oh.
There’s no way I would have been able to think of the answer on my own.
January 21, 2011 at 1:40 pm |
I thin kI have the answers, nevertheless I think there asre several answers foe the third question.
January 21, 2011 at 1:43 pm |
Last week was my first attempt, I got the answer, and thought I would do OK on here
And now I’ve come back down to earth with a bump…
January 21, 2011 at 1:48 pm |
I got 1 and 3 nearly instantly. 2 took me a long time, and I only got it through a hint in the comments.
January 21, 2011 at 2:12 pm |
Well these have given me something to think about over the weekend. The downside being I know I will kick myself on Monday if I haven’t worked them out by then!
January 21, 2011 at 2:16 pm |
1&2 still thinking but have vague idea after reading comments number 3 easy in 5 secs
January 21, 2011 at 2:21 pm |
1 minute. C D E ?
January 21, 2011 at 2:54 pm |
3 was easiest, then 2, then 1. 2 minutes. A nice change from the mathematics.
January 21, 2011 at 4:01 pm |
I thought the first one was obvious, but the other two I suspect are going to be the sort of puzzles I hate the answers to, because multiple things could fit if you look at it the right way.
January 21, 2011 at 4:08 pm |
Yay! Easy ones without a lot of math!
January 21, 2011 at 4:21 pm |
Solved as I read them. WAY too easy again!
January 21, 2011 at 4:48 pm |
Got them as I read them. Way too easy.
January 21, 2011 at 5:51 pm |
Easy peasey this week (I hope)
January 21, 2011 at 6:43 pm |
I got three instantly, my answer might not be “the right one,” but it’s simple, cheeky and undeniably true. I puzzled over one for ages (not having read much of the Bible) but then read iviehoff’s comment and got it with a groan. I’m still working on two though…
January 21, 2011 at 6:46 pm |
1) As a riddle, the answer to this is easy. As a math puzzle, however, the question gets it exactly wrong. The question should have been, “According to the Bible, who killed 25% of God’s chosen people?” in order to have a (ahem) prayer of there being a right answer. Formulating a question for which an answer actually exists took me about a minute. Guessing the wrong answer to the existing question happened as I read the riddle.
2) This is an old riddle. I’d already heard it, so I don’t think I should count my time for it.
3) Elephants make at least three things that no other animal can, and depending on your definition of “make,” may make another two or more.
January 25, 2011 at 10:27 am
I think you may have the wrong answer for #1. The question is, mathematically, exactly right. According to the Bible, exactly 25% of the entire population of the earth was killed by…
Unless you’re counting animals. Which you shouldn’t.
January 21, 2011 at 7:07 pm |
I’m making an assumption about the first one, but I’m pretty sure it’s right. Don’t know if there’s some other way of answering that wouldn’t require me to research it to verify….
Number two I had to read carefully, but it only took a second once I did.
Number three is stunningly easy, though Thomas Weigel, above, is correct that there could be a number of correct answers. And honestly, I’m thinking that my answer may not be correct anymore, or for much longer.
January 21, 2011 at 7:16 pm |
1) Aha, i think i got an idea… but i didnt calc it to the end, mathematically.
2) Easy ? I dont know whether that book i mean have an epilog, prefix…
3) There are so many things… But i know what an elephant NOT can do, as the only one mammanial.
January 21, 2011 at 8:37 pm |
I think have the answers and it took me a little over a minute. I found number two was the hardest. Perhaps I should eat more grains?
January 21, 2011 at 9:21 pm |
I think I have good answers to all the three just in the time it takes to read them and have a first instinct. I like these.
January 21, 2011 at 9:33 pm |
Ummmm, I’m hoping I have the answers lol Can’t wait to see the results.
January 21, 2011 at 10:54 pm |
1 – easy
2 – I have an answer that, if right, is really stupid
3 – easy
January 21, 2011 at 10:59 pm |
Straightforward but cute riddles. Got them all without much thought. Or at least I got answers which satisfy the constraint questions. They might not be the “right” ones.
January 21, 2011 at 11:58 pm |
The first took about a minute of thought. I was already familiar with the other two.
January 22, 2011 at 12:11 am |
[...] It’s the Friday Puzzle! Have just produced this little video to promote [...] [...]
January 22, 2011 at 1:20 am |
Solved them as I was reading them…I seem to recall similar puzzles from when I was a kid, so I guess that would be classified as unfair knowledge…
January 22, 2011 at 4:21 am |
I got #1 and #2 right away. I’ll have to think about #3.
January 22, 2011 at 4:25 am |
Oh! I see #3. Now
January 22, 2011 at 4:27 am |
Very cute!
January 22, 2011 at 10:33 am |
I have read somewhere that there is one place where success comes before work. That helped me solve one of these. Google helped for the other one. For the remaining one- well, I decided to wait for Monday.
January 22, 2011 at 12:35 pm |
No idea for number 1, but 2 and 3 are kinda easy…
January 23, 2011 at 8:36 am |
3 is obviously elephant poo
January 23, 2011 at 12:19 pm |
I’ve got 1 and 2, both almost immediately. I’ve got an answer for 3, but I’m not certain it’s any good.
January 23, 2011 at 2:57 pm |
I got the first one straight away, and I *think* I got the third. I don’t have the slightest idea about the second.