Puzzles , logic and lateral thinking .

[Faust]

I'm convinced that there is some sort of connection between the ability to solve these things quickly
and being able to write neat , efficient and compact code ...... [ discuss and debate - ]

I can't code like that ...... I write mess , and if it looks like it's going to work , I tart it up and slim it down a bit .
But looking at the work of some other folk , I can see that the true wizards can be devilishly good at it ....

Anyway , I've already wandered off my own topic !
here's the first puzzle that came to mind :-

How many letters would this question contain if the answer wasn't already seventy three ?


Has anybody got any fiendishly difficult ones that they'd like to contribute ?

[HaveaMint]

73

[lsemmens]

You are wrong, the answer is 42. Always has been, and always will be.

[BenTrabetere]

You are wrong, the answer is 42. Always has been, and always will be.

I most definitely agree, 42 is the correct answer, but I am not certain that is the correct question.

Thanks for all the fish.

[BenTrabetere]

Has anybody got any fiendishly difficult ones that they'd like to contribute ?

I do not consider it fiendishly difficult, but I have seen it take some people far too long to answer this question.
Which word is spelled incorrectly in the dictionary?

I get depressed thinking about the number of times I have had to explain the answer to this one.
Mike is an assistant at a butcher's shop. He is 5-feet, 11-inches tall and wears size 10 shoes. What does he weigh?

[Hoser Rob]

You are wrong, the answer is 42. Always has been, and always will be.

I most definitely agree, 42 is the correct answer, but I am not certain that is the correct question.

Thanks for all the fish.

Cool, you actually got the point of that bit. Few do.

[kenetics]

I do not consider it fiendishly difficult, but I have seen it take some people far too long to answer this question.
Which word is spelled incorrectly in the dictionary?

incorrectly.

I get depressed thinking about the number of times I have had to explain the answer to this one.
Mike is an assistant at a butcher's shop. He is 5-feet, 11-inches tall and wears size 10 shoes. What does he weigh?

Meat.
Good ones, made me think.

[lsemmens]

If Mike's parents have three kids, One is a daughter named Mary, One is a Son named William, what is the name of their other child?

[all41]

If Mike's parents have three kids, One is a daughter named Mary, One is a Son named William, what is the name of their other child?

I heard this as a different question.
You put a penny, a nickel, and a dime in someones hand as you ask the question. Mike's parents have three children, the oldest is named Penny as you point to the penny, the youngest is named Nicole as you point to the nickel, and as you point to the dime ask 'what is the third child's name?'
Something about the coins will distract from the obvious answer almost everytime.

[slipstick]

I'll bring this one up again. I posted this a couple of years ago and it led to a lot of discussion. No fair looking up the old thread before you try to solve it.

You are on a game show. In front of you there is a wall with three closed doors. Behind one of the doors is a new automobile; behind each of the other two doors is a live goat. You may choose to open any one of the doors and will win whatever is behind that door as a prize. After you make your selection, and before opening the chosen door, the host of the show, who knows what is behind each door, will open one of the doors which you did not select to reveal a goat. The host then asks you if you wish to change your decision and choose the other closed door. The question is this: should you change your decision? That is, can you improve your odds of winning the new car by choosing the other door instead of the one you originally chose?

[all41]

I'll bring this one up again. I posted this a couple of years ago and it led to a lot of discussion. No fair looking up the old thread before you try to solve it.

You are on a game show. In front of you there is a wall with three closed doors. Behind one of the doors is a new automobile; behind each of the other two doors is a live goat. You may choose to open any one of the doors and will win whatever is behind that door as a prize. After you make your selection, and before opening the chosen door, the host of the show, who knows what is behind each door, will open one of the doors which you did not select to reveal a goat. The host then asks you if you wish to change your decision and choose the other closed door. The question is this: should you change your decision? That is, can you improve your odds of winning the new car by choosing the other door instead of the one you originally chose?

Darn you
I remember that thread. I recall being convinced against my will, after all another old goat would fit right in here.

[Schultz]

Hoser Rob wrote:
Cool, you actually got the point of that bit. Few do.

I guess I'm one of the many who don't. How do you arrive at 42?

[BenTrabetere]

Hoser Rob wrote:
Cool, you actually got the point of that bit. Few do.

I guess I'm one of the many who don't. How do you arrive at 42?

You must read The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams. It reveals the answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe and Everything is ... 42. The answer will make sense once you figure out what the actual question is.

[BenTrabetere]

The question is this: should you change your decision? That is, can you improve your odds of winning the new car by choosing the other door instead of the one you originally chose?

I do not recall the original discussion here, but I do recall Marilyn vos Savant discussing the "Monty Hall problem" at length. You can improve your odds of winning the car by choosing the other door.

[Faust]

Hoser Rob wrote:
Cool, you actually got the point of that bit. Few do.

I guess I'm one of the many who don't. How do you arrive at 42?

42 is generally correct of course , in that it's the universal answer to everything ( as all galactic hitch-hikers know )

But this case is an exception to that .

I haven't seen the true answer come up yet , but rest-assured , it's not 42

[philotux]

If not 12 then 8 maybe?

[HaveaMint]

zero

[gm10]

I'm convinced that there is some sort of connection between the ability to solve these things quickly
and being able to write neat , efficient and compact code ...... [ discuss and debate - ]

I like how nobody is actually discussing and/or debating this.

How many letters would this question contain if the answer wasn't already seventy three ?

Ok, so there's 73 letters in the question, if you remove the letter count for seventy three you get 61. But that's an ambiguous conclusion since any modification to the length of the question changes the answer, thus back to the context of code the correct answer would have to be != 73, but I doubt that's what you're looking for since any of the answers given so far fit that condition. Given the ambiguity of the question and in the context of code I'll therefore respond that the answer is a buffer overflow.

[catweazel]

42 is generally correct of course , in that it's the universal answer to everything ( as all galactic hitch-hikers know )

I find it utterly amazing that it had to be explained.

[catweazel]

I'm convinced that there is some sort of connection between the ability to solve these things quickly
and being able to write neat , efficient and compact code ...... [ discuss and debate - ]

I like how nobody is actually discussing and/or debating this.

How many letters would this question contain if the answer wasn't already seventy three ?

Ok, so there's 73 letters in the question, if you remove the letter count for seventy three you get 61. But that's an ambiguous conclusion since any modification to the length of the question changes the answer

Not to mention fatally wounding the grammar.