Hope you have had a good week. Imagine arranging 6 glasses in a row and filling three of them with water like this….
Every time you pick up a glass it counts as a move. What is the smallest number of moves that needs to be made in order to leave the glasses alternating full and empty?
As ever, please do NOT post your answers, but feel free to say if you think you have solved it and how long it took. Solution on Monday.
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March 25, 2011 at 6:31 am |
Sadly, a trivial answer. I wonder if my heavy drinking improves or degrades my Friday Puzzle abilities.
March 25, 2011 at 6:34 am |
10 seconds, but the ease made me wonder if I adn missing something.
March 27, 2011 at 1:59 pm
Same to me! Too easy to be true?
March 27, 2011 at 2:49 pm
i agree… i like the mirror/ other side of table ideas…
March 25, 2011 at 6:39 am |
In about 30 seconds, I have two answers, depending on whether the line has to be Full-Empty-Full-Empty-Full-Empty or can be Empty-Full-Empty-Full-Empty-Full.
March 25, 2011 at 8:46 am
just go around the talbe and watch the row from the other side, or count form right to left… (So i seen no differece between Full-Empty-Full-Empty-Full-Empty or Empty-Full-Empty-Full-Empty-Full)
March 25, 2011 at 8:53 am
Good point!
March 25, 2011 at 10:16 am
Or use a mirror.
March 25, 2011 at 6:39 am |
In fairness there’s only so many decent puzzles to use, at least there’s no ambiguity in the wording, or puppies!
March 25, 2011 at 6:40 am |
15 sec. 1 longer solution, then aha!
March 25, 2011 at 3:49 pm
Same here. Funny how the “aha” solution just dropped in after I stopped pondering.
March 25, 2011 at 6:41 am |
Solved, it drownded on me after twelve seconds…
March 25, 2011 at 6:41 am |
I wouldn’t be publishing my time unless it was quick ;0)
Are you familiar with the Proff’s sneaky ways; it may help? He could ‘take on’ the Real Hustle gang.
March 25, 2011 at 6:43 am |
There are very few rules and this made it easier.
March 25, 2011 at 6:44 am |
Easy peasy lemon squeezy. Solved before I got to the end. Which, as I teach my students, isn’t always the best exam technique.
March 25, 2011 at 6:46 am |
If my solution is right, I got it in under ten seconds.
March 25, 2011 at 6:47 am |
It took me 15 seconds. Assuming my answer is correct
March 25, 2011 at 6:48 am |
In the spirit of the question and thinking laterally – a small number. Thinking very laterally by using a syphon, no ‘moves’! Is zero a ‘small number’ though?!
March 25, 2011 at 6:52 am
…don’t want to be negative, but those glasses aren’t full
March 25, 2011 at 10:30 am
Ha!
March 25, 2011 at 6:48 am |
If I have a bendy straw I can do it in zero!
Seriously though – v easy this week.
March 25, 2011 at 6:50 am
A bendy straw and a large mouth?!
March 25, 2011 at 6:55 am
or a sponge…
March 25, 2011 at 6:07 pm
Same smart zero move solution,
but with a straight straw and a large capacity cheeks tank
or an extra bottle of this shiny blue water.
But if the water is this kind of blue, I wouldn’t drink it.
March 25, 2011 at 6:52 am |
I think it can be done in 15145 moves.
//
March 25, 2011 at 8:11 am
Can you please list them here? I got lost after the 834th move.
March 25, 2011 at 8:54 am
This response genuinely made me laugh out loud.
March 25, 2011 at 10:41 am
I wonder if there any pattern to whether it can only be an odd or even number of moves…
March 25, 2011 at 8:58 pm
You’re not supposed to post your answer!
March 25, 2011 at 6:55 am |
yaaa
March 25, 2011 at 6:55 am |
Took me less than 10 seconds the first time and about 2 seconds the 2nd time I tried it Might try it a 3rd time but feel my watch hasnt got enough decimal points
March 25, 2011 at 6:57 am |
A couple of seconds… This puzzle is a classic!
March 25, 2011 at 6:58 am |
10 seconds…
March 25, 2011 at 7:02 am |
A second or two.
March 25, 2011 at 7:05 am |
Some seconds, but then about a minute wondering if i am missing something.
March 25, 2011 at 9:06 am
Man! there is a better answer possible!
I did not see that earlier
March 25, 2011 at 9:07 am
nice puzzle
March 25, 2011 at 7:07 am |
about 10 seconds.
March 25, 2011 at 7:12 am |
Fairly easy one this week…
March 25, 2011 at 7:15 am |
a few seconds
March 25, 2011 at 7:16 am |
If the quiz stays this easy forget it.
March 25, 2011 at 7:19 am |
2
March 25, 2011 at 7:19 am |
3 seconds… but is it a trick question? Can it be done in one move?
March 25, 2011 at 8:54 am
Yes.
March 25, 2011 at 10:15 am
Sigh (again).
Which part of “as ever, please do NOT post your answers” did you not get?
March 25, 2011 at 7:20 am |
Sorry!
I do hope I’m wrong.
March 25, 2011 at 9:54 am
It’s ok – you are.
March 25, 2011 at 7:27 am |
A few seconds, which makes me think I am missing something and will be slapping my forehead come Monday morning.
March 25, 2011 at 7:27 am |
i saw the two first sentences and knew the way without knowing the whole puzzle. and read the whole puzzle, instant.
March 25, 2011 at 7:42 am |
I am one of the ‘did it in 2 seconds’ group for the first time ever! Hope it is the correct solution :S
In an unrelated matter, what has happened to the blog on the iPad? Its gone all weird and I couldn’t get to this comments section. Had to get on the pc to post this.
March 25, 2011 at 7:43 am |
Kind of straight away – so quick that I wonder if I missed something…
March 25, 2011 at 7:47 am |
10 seconds to come up with 2 answers (depending whether the alternation begins with a half-full or empty glass (i liked the earlier comment about the glasses not being full!), and then a couple of minutes looking for the trick – now intrigued to ow whether there is one!
March 25, 2011 at 7:48 am |
A couple of seconds only for this classic.
March 25, 2011 at 7:50 am |
one .. I guess there’s none with zero?
March 25, 2011 at 8:10 am |
1 (326)
I’m more concerned that it is FRIDAY! When did that creep up on me. That means yesterday was Thursday and tomorrow is Saturday… which seat do I choose??? Front or back… ARRRRRRGGH!
March 25, 2011 at 8:12 am |
Rather trivial one today, I didn’t pour more than 5 seconds into arriving at the solution.
March 25, 2011 at 8:15 am |
I think this must be the easiest Friday puzzle yet – I think it took only a few seconds to solve
March 25, 2011 at 8:15 am |
Alternating “full and empty” has a different answer to alternating “empty and full”.
March 25, 2011 at 8:19 am |
I thought I had it immediately, but while getting ready to post this I came up with a better one (the best possible). So call it two minutes.
–Dave
March 25, 2011 at 8:32 am |
easy answer in less than ten seconds. If there’s a harder answer I refer you to Occam’s Razor
March 25, 2011 at 8:44 am |
had the answer instantaneously…
Then i noticed:
“Every time you pick up a glass it counts as a move.”… that means if you just pusch the glasses to slide over the talbe the answer would simply be “0″?!?
(hope i didn’t blabed the “right answer… (if so i’m sorry
)
March 25, 2011 at 8:50 am
finally i discovered after a few minutes the intended answer…
March 25, 2011 at 8:46 am |
It must be easy if I can get it unless …
Well about 10 seconds
March 25, 2011 at 9:05 am |
Seriously – 2 seconds. This was the easiest puzzle by far.
March 25, 2011 at 9:10 am |
I got it immediately – I’ve seen it before.
More interesting puzzle: Replace the water with rum then it’s just 3 moves to end up with empty-empty-empty-empty-empty-[-hic!-]-empty.
(And me being slightly tipsy!.)
March 25, 2011 at 9:12 am |
I assume everyone with the “under a minute” solution is wrong
I got that solution as well, but then came up with a even “lesser” way.
March 25, 2011 at 9:18 am |
At first I thought I had misread something, it was so easy, but quickly scanning the comments, it seems that either it really is easy, or many other people have misread it as well.
March 25, 2011 at 9:19 am |
got it really fast ~5 – 10 seconds.
March 25, 2011 at 9:25 am |
I got an answer in about 20 secs, seems quite simple so hoping I haven’t been fooled by a devious wiseman twist.
March 25, 2011 at 9:31 am |
Thought I had it in 2 seconds then a minute later realised you could do it in even less moves.
Think it’s a pretty good puzzle
March 25, 2011 at 10:28 am
“fewer”, please.
March 25, 2011 at 9:39 am |
0.7834 seconds
March 27, 2011 at 11:46 pm
0.7829 seconds
March 25, 2011 at 9:47 am |
10 seconds for the wrong answer, about 20 more for the right one. So 30 secs in total.
March 25, 2011 at 9:50 am |
Solved straight away (but I must admit I have seen it before
)
March 25, 2011 at 9:55 am |
Took me less than a second…
March 25, 2011 at 9:59 am |
Every time *YOU* pick up a glass it counts as a move…
Does it count as a move if *YOU* don’t pick up the glass…?
March 25, 2011 at 10:12 am |
If I got the right answer, I got it in seconds. However, I created a different problem and solution from the information provided. I imagined the glasses were filled with alcohol; I have lifted three and left the array as empty, empty, empty, empty, empty and empty. Cannot remember what the problem was.
Maybe someone can do this one in fewer moves?
March 25, 2011 at 10:21 am |
Solved before I got to the end. It ~can’t~ be that easy can it? Maybe I’m just getting smarter…
Or, consider this, the Evil Professor Wiseman (and oh, the possibilities with that name. Wiseman… Wise Man… coincidence? …where was I? Oh, yes) the Evil Professor Watchman slips an easy one in there every once in a while to pump up our confidence “See, honey? I told you I wasn’t a complete idiot like your Mother says. I solved the Whats-his-name puzzle in 5 seconds!” This results in Twittering and Facebooking galore of the puzzle “Hey guyz every1 sez it’s hard but I got it EZ, U should try 2.” thus raising the hit counts in the week following as eager putative egg-heads slavishly anticipate the next Friday puzzle so that they can impress prospective new girlfriends and employers with their mental prowess (always a big turn-on, I hear) Come next Friday though (insert ominous musical sting here) the Fiendish Dr. Wiseguy unleashes an evil puzzle based around a combination of math, linguistics (both domestic and foreign), geometry, lateral logical thinking and the ability to foresee probabilities into another dimension, in colour.
Well played, sir, but I’m on to your little trick.
March 25, 2011 at 10:39 am |
About three seconds.
March 25, 2011 at 10:47 am |
I forgot my stop watch this week, but I reckon I found the correct answer within 1-2 milliseconds (a little slow this week, sadly).
Silly kidding aside, I found a not-straight-forward-but-not-trivial answer, took me a minute or two after being a bit stuck with a straight-forward solution.
I hope I didn’t hint too much.
Good weekend, professor!
March 25, 2011 at 10:57 am |
Seemed easy to me. Wonder if I’m missing something?
March 25, 2011 at 10:58 am |
Got it as I was reading the puzzle (so possibly a negative amount of time consumed in the solution process)
March 25, 2011 at 11:17 am |
About 3 seconds or so. Am I missing something?
March 25, 2011 at 11:29 am |
For the first time ever, I actually worked out the answer before I’d finished reading the question. They usually take me ages.
March 25, 2011 at 11:33 am |
The glasses are all full – some of them with water, some of them with air…
March 25, 2011 at 11:50 am |
Answer after 10 secs, I need 2 moves
20 seconds later, I realized 1 move is enough
March 25, 2011 at 12:01 pm |
Two moves. Two seconds.
March 25, 2011 at 11:15 pm
one move too many…
(too late to worry about posting nominal answer – )
March 25, 2011 at 12:02 pm |
Are you allowed to pour in/swap with adjacent glasses only? Am I missing something because the only thing I’m puzzled about is the rules of movement
March 25, 2011 at 12:08 pm |
Not so fast ladies, read mittfh’s comment: He’s on the money!
March 25, 2011 at 12:22 pm |
Obvious answer straight away. The sneaky way that Richard probably meant, that means 1/2 as many moves, hit me after about 30 seconds.
March 25, 2011 at 12:57 pm |
I found 3 solution. The first and second one are the “typical” answer. The 3rd one is a tricky one, and solve the problem in the smallest number of movement. Sure.
March 25, 2011 at 1:08 pm |
Can I use a pump? Joking asside, it’s a fun but easy answer. Took a few seconds to get past the more obvious, and less efficient solution.
March 25, 2011 at 1:24 pm |
5 seconds. It seems too easy. What am I missing?
March 25, 2011 at 3:20 pm
I guess I did miss something! My husband showed me how to solved it in half as many moves I had.
March 25, 2011 at 2:16 pm |
Simpler than you think. I’ve actually seen this one before, so it took me about 2 seconds to solve, including reading the question (I saw the illustration and already started picturing it before I read the text).
March 25, 2011 at 2:43 pm |
Easy one, I think …
March 25, 2011 at 2:47 pm |
It took me about a minute. Good puzzle – I like it when I’m forced to think laterally when solving a problem.
March 25, 2011 at 3:05 pm |
Got it in 10 seconds or so. Never done one of these before though so might be wrong!
March 25, 2011 at 3:22 pm |
Quite well known, I think. A good puzzle for those who didn’t know it before.
March 25, 2011 at 3:24 pm |
Ok, I got it, two ways, 30 seconds
March 25, 2011 at 3:45 pm |
About 20 seconds to get to my second and final solution. I’m still assuming it is THE solution that will come up after the weekend.
March 25, 2011 at 4:15 pm |
About a second to get the answer. Nice little puzzle, though.
March 25, 2011 at 4:39 pm |
You’ll need 14 shirts. Damn it, am I too late again?
March 25, 2011 at 4:40 pm |
Two seconds. Four, in fact, but just to be sure.
March 25, 2011 at 4:55 pm |
Easy one. Thought I had the answer before I finished reading the question… then realized there was a better one. cute puzzle.
March 25, 2011 at 5:25 pm |
Maybe I am cheating but got it straght away before I had finished reading the puzzle
March 25, 2011 at 5:41 pm |
is it allowed to poor the water in an other cup?
then i saw it in 2 seconds.
March 25, 2011 at 5:44 pm |
I think I’ve got it but… I could be wrong ;D
March 25, 2011 at 5:47 pm |
Took me a little less than a minute. I had an obvious number within a few seconds, then I wondered if I could reduce it. Thinking about the wording of the puzzle and what it did *not* say lead me to the answer.
Mike.
March 25, 2011 at 5:59 pm |
Can glasses be switched? Or must you leave the glasses in place and only pour the liquid from one glass to another?
March 25, 2011 at 6:03 pm |
Richard and his lateral thinking.
March 25, 2011 at 6:15 pm |
Oh, there is a less than zero moves solution :
you’ll have to travel time backward .
(hint : ^Z^Z^Z^Z)
March 25, 2011 at 7:00 pm |
5 seconds
March 25, 2011 at 7:34 pm |
I assume I’ve got it, but it can’t possibly be this easy, so I must be wrong.
March 25, 2011 at 8:43 pm |
I suppose cut and paste is not an option? In that case zero moves with a bendy straw, one move without.
March 25, 2011 at 11:27 pm |
Less than 30 seconds. Next time I’ll use a stopwatch so I can be more accurate. Now I think I’ll see if I can download Paranormality on my kindle.
March 25, 2011 at 11:37 pm |
Are the glasses up against eachother or is there space between then ? This would change the answer
March 26, 2011 at 12:15 am |
[...] It’s the Friday Puzzle! Hope you have had a good week. Imagine arranging 6 glasses in a row and filling three of them with water like [...] [...]
March 26, 2011 at 1:46 am |
I’ve seen this one before, so I got it instantly.
March 26, 2011 at 4:22 am |
I got an answer right away, but it seems to easy. In fact, I have two answers depending on the interpretation of the question.
March 26, 2011 at 9:08 am |
it took me 2 seconds. the picture alone put the concept in my head, i just had to finish reading the question and test it in my mind to find the answer
March 26, 2011 at 9:35 am |
I got it immediately, seems pretty obvious
March 26, 2011 at 9:39 am |
<4 seconds 1st try
haha easy this week
March 26, 2011 at 3:29 pm |
this was way to easy, i got it without even reading the question i knew exactly what it was
March 26, 2011 at 5:58 pm |
I got this one quickly
March 26, 2011 at 9:34 pm |
Like several others, I got the answer between seeing the illustration and getting to the end of the description. Maybe 2 seconds.
I then spent five minutes reading through the comments and despairing at the participants who for some reason are unable to show consideration for others by posting their answers.
March 27, 2011 at 12:41 am |
My wife worked it out almost instantly.
I see what I missed now
March 27, 2011 at 11:46 am |
Isn’t the solution easy? I knew what to do isntantly.
March 27, 2011 at 12:46 pm |
2 Solutions. instantly after reading.
March 27, 2011 at 2:03 pm |
Instantly, but it seems too easy. Maybe I misunderstood something.
March 27, 2011 at 2:54 pm |
2 seconds
March 27, 2011 at 10:44 pm |
Recoginsed the picture before reading the puzzle so already had the answer when I finished reading.
Just joining in with the general paranoia now in thinking Richard has tricked me and it isn’t that simple!!!
April 3, 2011 at 8:59 am |
Luckily about ten seconds………any longer and I would have moved on!