Category Archives: Puzzles

Puzzle #50: Cat and Mouse Tale

Posted on February 1, 2014 by Alok Goyal

This is a nice puzzle for children that I picked from the book “Moscow Puzzles” (Puzzle #88). See the figure below: Cat has decided to take a nap. He dreams he is encircled by 13 mice: 12 gray and 1 … Continue reading →

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Puzzle #49: Two Minute Test – The Absent Minded Bank Clerk

Posted on January 26, 2014 by Alok Goyal

This is a simple gem I found again in a Martin Gardner book – More Mathematical Puzzles and Diversions, Chapter 14, Puzzle #8. I urge all the adults who try this puzzle to put this as a 2-minute challenge for … Continue reading →

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Puzzle #48: The Twelve Matches

Posted on January 18, 2014 by Alok Goyal

Martin Garder books have an unending supply of great puzzles, and here is another one from Mathematical Puzzles and Diversions, Chapter 12, puzzle #6. Given that a match is one unit long, it is possible to arrange 12 matches on … Continue reading →

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Puzzle #47: Each Digit Only Once

Posted on January 11, 2014 by Alok Goyal

Got this puzzle from my cousin sister (Ankita) and her husband (Mohit) who live in Seattle and are both very smart puzzlers. Found it to be very intriguing and in full transparency, have not solved it yet. So I will … Continue reading →

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Puzzle #46: A Classic…Fork in the Road

Posted on January 4, 2014 by Alok Goyal

This is a classic puzzle, many of you have probably done it at some point in time. I was fortunate to have been introduced to this puzzle by none other than Prof. Edgar W. Dijkstra, who taught me a course … Continue reading →

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Puzzle #44: Thinking Outside the Box

Posted on December 14, 2013 by Alok Goyal

This is a nice cute puzzle with a “small” trick – I took this from the book “The Moscow Puzzles” by Boris A. Kordemsky (Puzzle #175). In the diagram, 3 matches are connected with balls of plastic to make an … Continue reading →

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Puzzle #43: The Triangle Duel

Posted on December 8, 2013 by Alok Goyal

Yet another wonderful puzzle from the Martin Gardner collection. This one is from “More Mathematical Puzzles and Diversions”, Chapter 5, Puzzle #9. This one involves probability, and hence difficult for children who do not understand probability at all. Three men, … Continue reading →

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Puzzle #42: How Wide is the River

Posted on November 30, 2013 by Alok Goyal

Seems like the puzzle collections from the Martin Gardner books is unlimited, and also of outstanding quality. While flipping through one of the books (Mathematical Puzzles and Diversions), I found another gem in Chapter 12. Some people have told me … Continue reading →

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Puzzle #41: Yet Another Handshake Puzzle

Posted on November 23, 2013 by Alok Goyal

This is yet another handshake puzzle, and again from one of the Martin Gardner collections. This one is from Second Book of Mathematical Diversions and Puzzles…Martin Garder, Page 55 Here is the puzzle: Prove that a t a recent convention of biophysicists … Continue reading →

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Puzzle #40: White-Tailed Cats

Posted on November 16, 2013 by Alok Goyal

This is another puzzle from the same book as I posted last time – “Professor Stewart’s Cabinet of Mathematical Curiosities”. This puzzle appears on Page #31 of the book. Here is the puzzle: ‘I see you have got a cat,’ … Continue reading →

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