Solve Enjoyable Enigmas with Mr.E's Challenge

[collinsmark]

It is a little worrying how many of these puzzles involve dead guys.

Spoiler

A parachute

Yup.

 

[consciousness]

How quickly can you find out what is so unusual about this paragraph? It looks so ordinary that you would think that nothing is wrong with it at all, and, in fact, nothing is. But it is unusual. Why? If you look at it, study it and think about it, you may find out, but I am not going to assist you in any way. You must do it without coaching. No doubt, if you work at it for long, it will dawn on you. Who knows? Go to work and try your skill. Par is about half an hour. So jump to it and try your skill at figuring it out. Good luck --don't blow your cool.

 

[collinsmark]

How quickly can you find out what is so unusual about this paragraph? It looks so ordinary that you would think that nothing is wrong with it at all, and, in fact, nothing is. But it is unusual. Why? If you look at it, study it and think about it, you may find out, but I am not going to assist you in any way. You must do it without coaching. No doubt, if you work at it for long, it will dawn on you. Who knows? Go to work and try your skill. Par is about half an hour. So jump to it and try your skill at figuring it out. Good luck --don't blow your cool.

Hmm.

Spoiler

I think I know the solution. But I don't want to blurt it out so soon. I'll just say, as a hint, that if I am right, this post maintains this "unusual" condition.

 

[Jonathan Scott]

Hmm.

Spoiler

I think I know the solution. But I don't want to blurt it out so soon. I'll just say, as a hint, that if I am right, this post maintains this "unusual" condition.

Spoiler

Apart from the word "the"

 

[consciousness]

I see that you guys have figured it out!

 

[collinsmark]

Spoiler

Apart from the word "the"

Spoiler

Oooh. My bad.

 

[collinsmark]

How quickly can you find out what is so unusual about this paragraph? It looks so ordinary that you would think that nothing is wrong with it at all, and, in fact, nothing is. But it is unusual. Why? If you look at it, study it and think about it, you may find out, but I am not going to assist you in any way. You must do it without coaching. No doubt, if you work at it for long, it will dawn on you. Who knows? Go to work and try your skill. Par is about half an hour. So jump to it and try your skill at figuring it out. Good luck --don't blow your cool.

Okay, I'll blurt it out now before moving on.

Spoiler

The entire paragraph does not contain the letter 'e'. (My previous attempt at writing a reply which also did not contain the letter 'e' failed because I looked right over the word "the" that I used. Writing a coherent paragraph without a single 'e' is harder than I thought.)

 

[collinsmark]

Back to morbid.

Two men are dead in a cabin, recently dying traumatic deaths. The cabin is in the wilderness. There are no roads to the cabin, nor nearby harbors that would allow one to reach the cabin by boat. There are no nearby runways or helicopter pads. There isn't even a footpath available to get to or from the cabin. There are no tunnels either. The two men were young and healthy immediately before their deaths. As a matter of fact, when they walked through the cabin door that morning, after having a nice breakfast and coffee, they felt bright and refreshed.

How did these men die?

 

[lisab]

Back to morbid.

Two men are dead in a cabin, recently dying traumatic deaths. The cabin is in the wilderness. There are no roads to the cabin, nor nearby harbors that would allow one to reach the cabin by boat. There are no nearby runways or helicopter pads. There isn't even a footpath available to get to or from the cabin. There are no tunnels either. The two men were young and healthy immediately before their deaths. As a matter of fact, when they walked through the cabin door that morning, after having a nice breakfast and coffee, they felt bright and refreshed.

How did these men die?

They were beat to death by a wild pack of e's!

But seriously...traumatic deaths? Hmm.

Spoiler

Did they get picked up in the cabin by a tornado and dropped from a great height?

 

[Enigman]

Spoiler

cabin was in a ship and a storm hit?

 

[lisab]

Spoiler

cabin was in a ship and a storm hit?

Ooooo you're good

 

[Enigman]

They were beat to death by a wild pack of e's!

I resent that accusation...of incompetency obviously...when $\mathcal E$ strikes, no one traces it back to M$\mathcal E$, I am that good...
$\mathcal E$

 

[collinsmark]

They were beat to death by a wild pack of e's!

But seriously...traumatic deaths? Hmm.

Spoiler

Did they get picked up in the cabin by a tornado and dropped from a great height?

There are no tornadoes necessary for this one.

Spoiler

cabin was in a ship and a storm hit?

Similarly, there are no storms necessary either. [Edit: nor did they arrive by sea. If you wish, there are no oceans or lakes anywhere near the cabin.]

There may or may not have been a storm/tornado involved, but it's not particularly relevant. All said though, the cabin is probably not in pristine condition (that's a hint).

For this riddle, I'll entertain any yes or no questions. But be warned, this riddle has high likelihood of producing seemingly contradictory answers to some yes or no questions, depending on the particular wording of the question.

 

[Enigman]

Back to morbid.

Two men are dead in a cabin, recently dying traumatic deaths. The cabin is in the wilderness. There are no roads to the cabin, nor nearby harbors that would allow one to reach the cabin by boat. There are no nearby runways or helicopter pads. There isn't even a footpath available to get to or from the cabin. There are no tunnels either. The two men were young and healthy immediately before their deaths. As a matter of fact, when they walked through the cabin door that morning, after having a nice breakfast and coffee, they felt bright and refreshed.

How did these men die?

...Attempt 2:

Spoiler

Cabin in an aircraft and it crashed?

 

[collinsmark]

...Attempt 2:

Spoiler

Cabin in an aircraft and it crashed?

Yes, that's the correct answer.

Spoiler

They are in an airplane cabin. The airplane crashed.

 

[Ibix]

OK - another dead body, adapted from one of Captain W.E. Johns' Biggles short stories set in the late '40s or early '50s.

A fourteen year old girl leaves school alone on foot at her usual time. She is later found dead, on her usual route home, killed by a single blow to the head. The only habitation close by is a manor house. No one there saw or heard anything suspicious. The only thing out of place at the crime scene is an expensive box of chocolates on the ground nearby. The police are stumped.

At the invitation of Inspector [strike]Lestrade[/strike]Gaskin, Biggles goes to have a look around. While they are at the crime scene, he notices the 20-ish daughter of the family who own the manor house walking up and down the garden holding hands with a man in RAF uniform. Gaskin comments that it was the daughter's birthday the day of the murder, and Biggles immediately suggests arresting the man in uniform. Why?

 

[collinsmark]

OK - another dead body, adapted from one of Captain W.E. Johns' Biggles short stories set in the late '40s or early '50s.

A fourteen year old girl leaves school alone on foot at her usual time. She is later found dead, on her usual route home, killed by a single blow to the head. The only habitation close by is a manor house. No one there saw or heard anything suspicious. The only thing out of place at the crime scene is an expensive box of chocolates on the ground nearby. The police are stumped.

At the invitation of Inspector [strike]Lestrade[/strike]Gaskin, Biggles goes to have a look around. While they are at the crime scene, he notices the 20-ish daughter of the family who own the manor house walking up and down the garden holding hands with a man in RAF uniform. Gaskin comments that it was the daughter's birthday the day of the murder, and Biggles immediately suggests arresting the man in uniform. Why?

I had a dream last night that I solved this. Gwahhh! Why can't I remember the specifics of my dream.

(There's a good chance the solution involves zombies.)

 

[billiards]

OK - another dead body, adapted from one of Captain W.E. Johns' Biggles short stories set in the late '40s or early '50s.

A fourteen year old girl leaves school alone on foot at her usual time. She is later found dead, on her usual route home, killed by a single blow to the head. The only habitation close by is a manor house. No one there saw or heard anything suspicious. The only thing out of place at the crime scene is an expensive box of chocolates on the ground nearby. The police are stumped.

At the invitation of Inspector [strike]Lestrade[/strike]Gaskin, Biggles goes to have a look around. While they are at the crime scene, he notices the 20-ish daughter of the family who own the manor house walking up and down the garden holding hands with a man in RAF uniform. Gaskin comments that it was the daughter's birthday the day of the murder, and Biggles immediately suggests arresting the man in uniform. Why?

Not sure if I've got the hang of these but my guess:

Spoiler

pilot dropped chocolates out of plane on way to his girlfriend's birthday party, hit poor girl on the noggin

 

[Enigman]

Okay thread's lagging...time for a reboot:
So... Chess:
Anand currently is getting his a** kicked¹ and Kasparov's probably grinning ear to ear...
but that has nothing to do with this Enigma.

What is the maximum number of knights that can be arranged on a standard chess board such that not one of them threatens any other or is threatened by any other? ie. no one faces a check.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
¹ (as of now, if at the time you are reading this it doesn't hold true...I'm a happy man)

 

[billiards]

Okay thread's lagging...time for a reboot:
So... Chess:
Anand currently is getting his a** kicked¹ and Kasparov's probably grinning ear to ear...
but that has nothing to do with this Enigma.

What is the maximum number of knights that can be arranged on a standard chess board such that not one of them threatens any other or is threatened by any other? ie. no one faces a check.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
¹ (as of now, if at the time you are reading this it doesn't hold true...I'm a happy man)

Spoiler

32. All the dark squares (or all light squares)

 

[Enigman]

Spoiler

32. All the dark squares (or all light squares)

Correct. This one was a different take on the 8 queens puzzle, place 8 queens such that none of them threaten any other, there are more than one solutions. (and if you can do it then try doing it under 43 secs which is my best record...
:superiour irritating smirk:*)

Next one:
Find a number such that it is three times the sum of its digits.
-----------------------
*I need more emoticons

 

[billiards]

Correct. This one was a different take on the 8 queens puzzle, place 8 queens such that none of them threaten any other, there are more than one solutions. (and if you can do it then try doing it under 43 secs which is my best record...
:superiour irritating smirk:*)

Next one:
Find a number such that it is three times the sum of its digits.
-----------------------
*I need more emoticons

Spoiler

27

I'll stop getting them now.

 

[zoobyshoe]

Consider the numbers 43 and 34. We can say one is the reverse of the other.

Consider an isosceles triangle. The two base angles are the same.

It was determined here at PF that there exists a finite number of isosceles triangles whose base angles are the reverse of their apex angle. The total number of these is <10.

Find them and give the angles.

 

[Enigman]

Spoiler

Let triangle be ABC
base angle (<ABC and <ACB)=(100a+10b+c)
<ABC+<ACB >180 if a>1
:.a=0
Base angle=10b+c
20b+2c+10c+b=180
21b+12c=180
7b+4c=60
b has to be even
4,8
8,1
48,84
81,18

 

[zoobyshoe]

Spoiler

Let triangle be ABC
base angle (<ABC and <ACB)=(100a+10b+c)
<ABC+<ACB >180 if a>1
:.a=0
Base angle=10b+c
20b+2c+10c+b=180
21b+12c=180
7b+4c=60
b has to be even
4,8
8,1
48,84
81,18

Correct!

 

[collinsmark]

Here's a good one. Originally this riddle was phrased such that yes or no questions were pretty much essential. I've tried to rephrase it here, putting as much information I can directly into the riddle's wording. I'll still entertain any yes or no questions, but it might not do any good. The essentials are in the riddle. [Edit: well, except perhaps for that Eureka moment.]

Angus, age 34, is found guilty of heinous, heinous crimes by a full jury -- crimes so heinous that describing them in detail might violate the forum rules. Suffice it to say that the crimes involved murdering many people, including most of his own family (plus he did even more heinous stuff, besides just the murders).

Upon sentencing, the judge says to Angus, "You have been found guilty by a jury of your own peers. I would like to sentence you to life in prison many, many times over, if only I could. Unfortunately that option is not available in this case. You are released without prison time, and without punishment. You may leave the courtroom in the custody of your only surviving relative: your brother Malcolm, who is an upstanding, law-abiding citizen."

Why did the judge not sentence Angus to prison?​

Here's a few clarifications that might help.

• Diplomatic immunity has nothing to do with this riddle.
• The situation happens in a first world country that prides itself on its fair judicial system (the specific country is not relevant). The country (and its legal system) is not corrupt, respects victims' rights and the rights of the innocent, does not torture, does not falsely imprison, does not engage in cruel and unusual punishment, etcetera, etcetera.
• There's nothing broken in the prison system. It's not completely filled with prisoners or anything like that. There are other people still going to prison for other crimes.
• Nobody in the courtroom (including Angus and Malcolm) is facing a terminal illness.
• Angus is not in political office, or in a position of political power.

 

[zoobyshoe]

Spoiler

Would Angus be a conjoined twin, fused to his brother, Malcom?

 

[collinsmark]

Spoiler

Would Angus be a conjoined twin, fused to his brother, Malcom?

Correct! (Golly, I didn't think someone would get the answer so quickly.)

 

[zoobyshoe]

Correct! (Golly, I didn't think someone would get the answer so quickly.)

Spoiler

Mysteries at the Museum has a segment on these guys:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chang_and_Eng_Bunker

that I've seen a few times. Once I concentrated on determining the reason imprisonment wasn't an option in this case, this situation soon occurred to me.

 

[Enigman]

Next one:
Rearrange the following letters to make one word:
NEW DOOR

 

[billiards]

Next one:
Rearrange the following letters to make one word:
NEW DOOR

Spoiler

one word

 

[zoobyshoe]

Spoiler

one word

Good one!

 

[Enigman]

Next one:
There are 3 crates in front of you. One crate contains only apples. One crate contains only oranges. The other crate contains both apples and oranges.

And each crate is labeled. One reads "apples", one reads "oranges", and one reads "apples and oranges".

But the labeling machine has gone crazy and is now labeling all boxes incorrectly.

If you can only take out and look at just one of the pieces of fruit from just one of the crates, how can you label ALL of the crates correctly?

 

[Enigman]

Another one:

The hour and minute hands are at equal distance from the 6 hour, what time will it be exactly?
---------------
Previous one was too easy. And Sam Loyd was one of the greatest puzzle makers in history...

 

[billiards]

Next one:
There are 3 crates in front of you. One crate contains only apples. One crate contains only oranges. The other crate contains both apples and oranges.

And each crate is labeled. One reads "apples", one reads "oranges", and one reads "apples and oranges".

But the labeling machine has gone crazy and is now labeling all boxes incorrectly.

If you can only take out and look at just one of the pieces of fruit from just one of the crates, how can you label ALL of the crates correctly?

Spoiler

• take label off "apples and oranges box"
• take fruit out of "apples and oranges" box.
• if apple: take label off "apples" box and put on the old "apples and oranges" box.
• take label off the "oranges" box and put on the old "apples" box.
• put the "apples and oranges" label on the old "oranges" box.

if you pick an orange then ammend above instructions by interchanging the word "apples" for "oranges" and vice-versa.