It’s Friday Puzzle!

If you are up at the Edinburgh Festival, I shall be talking about the strange science of sleep and dreaming on August 14th.  Do come along, much fun will be had. Details here.

Here is this weeks puzzle.  Two cyclists are racing around a circular track.  Jon can race around the track in 6 minutes and Eric can race round in 4 minutes.  They start the race on opposite sides of the track.  How many minutes will it take before Eric overtakes Jon?

I have produced an ebook containing 101 of the previous Friday Puzzles! It is called PUZZLED and is available for the Kindle (UK here and USA here) and on the iBookstore (UK here in the USA here). You can try 101 of the puzzles for free here.

Answer to the Friday Puzzle….

If you are coming to the Edinburgh Festival, I am performing ‘And the goat remained a goat‘, with musicians The Creative Martyrs at 5pm each day in the Voodoo Rooms. There will be amazing magic, creepy music, rare film footage, and several paranormal happenings (photo by Gordon Rutter).

So, to the puzzle.  On Friday I set this puzzle…..

Can you create a 10-digit number, where the first digit is how many zeros in the number, the second digit is how many 1s in the number etc. until the tenth digit which is how many 9s in the number.

If you have not tried to solve it, have a go now.  For everyone else, the answer is after the break.

It’s the Friday Puzzle!

First, a little plug. If you are coming to the Edinburgh Festival, I am performing a show ‘And the goat remained a goat‘, with musicians The Creative Martyrs (‘darker than the inside of a bowler hat’) at 5pm in the Voodoo Rooms. Based on the real-life adventures of 1930s psychic investigator Harry Price, there will be prestidigitation, creepy music, rare film footage, and paranormal happenings. Here is a photo from one of the lighter moments in the show…

OK, onto the puzzle. Can you create a 10-digit number, where the first digit is how many zeros in the number, the second digit is how many 1s in the number etc. until the tenth digit which is how many 9s in the number.

Solution on Monday!

Photo by Gordon Rutter.

Answer to the Friday Puzzle….

On Friday I posted this puzzle.

I have just made this video containing 10 bets that you will almost win (kinda).  About 1 min in I present one of my favourite puzzles – the vanishing square.

You can download your own version of the puzzle here.

So, the puzzle is….why does a square seem to vanish?

If you have not tried to solve it, have a go now.  For everyone else the answer is after the break.

It’s the Friday Puzzle!

 

A very different type of puzzle this week.  I have just made this video containing 10 bets that you will almost win (kinda).  About 1 min in I present one of my favourite puzzles – the vanishing square.

You can download your own version of the puzzle here.

So, the puzzle is….why does a square seem to vanish?

I have produced an ebook containing 101 of the previous Friday Puzzles! It is called PUZZLED and is available for the Kindle (UK here and USA here) and on the iBookstore (UK here in the USA here). You can try 101 of the puzzles for free here.

Answer to the Friday Puzzle!

On Friday I set this puzzle…

Imagine the Earth is perfectly circular and has a circumference of 24,000 miles.  If you had a piece of rope stretched around it, touching the floor, that rope would also be 24,000 miles long. If you were to add 3 feet to that rope and then make it hover above the ground until it’s a perfect circle again, approximately how far off the ground would it get?

If you have not tried to solve it, have a go now.  For everyone else the answer is after the break….

 

It’s the Friday Puzzle!

Here is a lovely puzzle sent to me by Ashley F.  Solution on Monday.

Imagine the Earth is perfectly circular and has a circumference of 24,000 miles.  If you had a piece of rope stretched around it, touching the floor, that rope would also be 24,000 miles long. If you were to add 3 feet to that rope and then make it hover above the ground until it’s a perfect circle again, approximately how far off the ground would it get?

I have produced an ebook containing 101 of the previous Friday Puzzles! It is called PUZZLED and is available for the Kindle (UK here and USA here) and on the iBookstore (UK here in the USA here). You can try 101 of the puzzles for free here.

Answer to the Friday Puzzle…

On Friday I posted this puzzle…..

What do the following words have in common?

DEFT
FIRST
CALMNESS
CANOPY
LAUGHING
STUPID
HIJACK

If you have not tried to solve it, have a go now.  For everyone else the answer is after the break.

It’s the Friday Puzzle!

Solution on Monday.

What do the following words have in common?

DEFT
FIRST
CALMNESS
CANOPY
LAUGHING
STUPID
HIJACK

I have produced an ebook containing 101 of the previous Friday Puzzles! It is called PUZZLED and is available for the Kindle (UK here and USA here) and on the iBookstore (UK here in the USA here). You can try 101 of the puzzles for free here.

Bug video

David B sent me this and it is rather curious – anyone know why the bug is avoiding the line?

The Magical Match!

I have made a quick video of one of my favourite illusions.  Enjoy!

 

Answer to the Friday Puzzle…

On Friday I set this puzzle….

Imagine a test with 26 questions.  When you get a question wrong you are deducted 5 points.  When you get a question right you are given 8 points.  If you answered all of the questions, and had a final score of 0 points, how many questions did you answer correctly?

If you have not tried to solve it, have a go now.  For everyone else the answer is after the break.

It’s the Friday Puzzle!

Solution on Monday.

Imagine a test with 26 questions.  When you get a question wrong you are deducted 5 points.  When you get a question right you are given 8 points.  If you answered all of the questions, and had a final score of 0 points, how many questions did you answer correctly?

I have produced an ebook containing 101 of the previous Friday Puzzles! It is called PUZZLED and is available for the Kindle (UK here and USA here) and on the iBookstore (UK here in the USA here). You can try 101 of the puzzles for free here.

Answer to the Friday Puzzle….

First, if you are around Edinburgh, I am giving a talk tonight at the International Magic Festival on the psychology of magic and illusion.  Details here.

Second, on Friday I set this puzzle…

A long playing record has a 12 inch diameter.  The unused bit in the middle is about 4 inches in diameter, and there is a smooth outer edge one inch wide around the recording.  If there are 91 grooves to the inch, roughly how far does the needle move during the recording?

If you have not tried to solve it, have a go now.  For everyone else the answer is after the break.

It’s the Friday Puzzle….

Solution on Monday.

A long playing record has a 12 inch diameter.  The unused bit in the middle is about 4 inches in diameter, and there is a smooth outer edge one inch wide around the recording.  If there are 91 grooves to the inch, roughly how far does the needle move during the recording?

I have produced an ebook containing 101 of the previous Friday Puzzles! It is called PUZZLED and is available for the Kindle (UK here and USA here) and on the iBookstore (UK here in the USA here). You can try 101 of the puzzles for free here.