ON HOW TO PLAY WITH MATCHES

New Zealand Listener, Volume 2, Issue 47, 17 May 1940, Page 16

ON HOW TO PLAY WITH MATCHES

p | OST plaintive appeal to reach the Puzzle Editor this week was a telephoned request for more puzzles about matches. "With those others," said the voice, "you have to think too hard. Now with matches you‘ can just sit down and play; like with the one about the Cannibals." As we have nothing suitable immediately available, we can only suggest that puzzlers may like to send something for the satisfaction of this lost soul. He was last heard of trying to place six matches so that each match touches every other match, Perhaps he would like to try the famous old game of Piling the Matches. You take a handful of wooden matches and drop them in a disorderly heap. The non-inflammable end of another match is sliced to provide a point or a fine, flat surface, as required; and this is used to try and pick all the matches out of the pile, one at a time, without moving any of the other matches. If any match is moved before the pile is completely reduced, you must start again with a fresh pile, no matter how slight the movement. The game can be made into a competition, and forfeits make it more interesting. For puzzlers who prefer a more athletic sort of mental recreation, we have this week a fair selection of problems, covering everything from pups and pigs to our old enemies ABC, and their allies DEF. PROBLEMS Boffin Mr. Boffin enjoys helping his son Clarence with his homework, but~ he had a setback one evening. "See," said Clarence, "I’ve been given a length to multiply by 2, and was told to check it by dividing by 2, and it comes quite different!" Clarence’s sum was set out thus: ‘mile 7fur. 39 poles Syds. 1ft. Qins. x2 2) 4 0 0 0 0 6 2 0 0 0 0.3 Mr. Boffin went through the working several times, but could find no mistake. Can you help him? -(Problem from R.G.) Paddy the Pup Two friends set out at the same time to meet each other, from two points 12 miles apart. Sunley walks at 344 m.p.h., while Sadly, who suffers from high blood pressure, takes it easily at 214 m.p.h. Sunley has a dog which, finding his master’s pace too slow, runs ahead at 10 m.p.h. to meet Sadly. When he reaches Sadly, he at once turns round and runs back to Sunley. When he reaches Sunley he turns round and runs back to Sadly, and so on until Sadly and Sunley meet. The speeds of all three are constant, and the dog is assumed to take no time to turn round.

Now, if the dog’s name is Paddy, how far does he travel altogether?--(Problem from R.W.C.). The Pig in the Poke An Irishman wanted to send an Easter gift to his friend the priest. So he put some pigs in a crate, carefully marking the number on the label. A dishonest porter helped himself from the crate and added a mark to the label making the total tally. The carrier who took delivery of the animals also helped himself and again added something to the label to make the total tally with the contents of the crate. How many pigs were sent? How many did each of the men take? How did each make the numbers tally? Nothing was altered or erased.

Appleton to Duckborough Strung along a main highway at varying distances are four small towns named Appleton, Butterville, Corncentre, and Duckborough. In the centre of each is @ monument, and the distances between towns are measured very carefully from one monument to another. It was found that the distance from Corncentre to Duckborough equalled the distance from Appleton to Butterville, plus half the distance between Butterville and Corncentre. The distance from Butterville to Corncentre was equal to the distance between Duckborough and Corncentre plus the distance between Butterville and Appleton. The distance from Appleton to Butterville was 17 miles, 7 furlongs, 9 chains, 3 rods, 5 yards, 1 foot, 6 inches. What was the distance from Appleton to Duckborough? -(Original problem from P.J.Q.). Over the Counter A retailer buys a number of counters at 49 for 2d. He sells them-half at 24 for 1d, and half at 25 for 1d. Does he gain or lose?--(Problem from R.G.).

ANSWERS (See issue of May 3) To and Fro: Every one agrees it was 7 p.m. Ohm!: Five-sixths, or .8333 repeater. Ten units: Divide the long side of the rectangle (five units) into two sections of three and two units, and divide the three-unit section into four with one line bisecting it along the horizontal longitude, and two lines dividing the bisected halves diagonally. This gives four triangles from the three-unit section and a square remains in the shape of the twounit section. The right angles of each of the four triangles can now be fitted against each corner of the square, fulfilling the conditions of the problem. Double Acrostic: ‘ RibbentroP Initia L V ictori A E xtan T R evers E Trick: Foreign coins were concertied, Consider the almighty dollar, how wondrous are its ways. The Odd, Odd Square: G. Tisbury says that when the pieces are fitted to form a square they match exactly, but when they are put into an oblong there is a minute inexactitude in the fitting. This accounts for the extra square. This correspondent also sends an answer to Trick, Sorry, it is wrong. With that com- bination he could change the 10/- note, (7/6d in half-crowns, 6/- in florins, and one 6d). H.G.L. agrees with this theory, and proves it mathematically by working out the areas of the triangles and parallelogram. Tane comes to the same conclusion. A Matter of Marriages: Since Albert’s sister was a year older than Phyllis, his sister was Vera or Bessie. But Albert was a draper, while Vera’s brother was a doctor. So Albert’s sister was Bessie. Albert married a brunette, hence it must have been Phyllis. The doctor was Charles or William, but the doctor examined Charles, so the doctor was William; that is, Vera’s brother. So he must have married Bessie. Therefore Charles married Vera. (Puzzle and answer from R.G.). Wine, Water, Etc. (In issue of April 12): To elaborate the brief note on a catch in this problem in our last issue, we quote G. Tisbury’s comment in full: "The obvious reply is 8/4. This would be correct but for the fact that equal volumes of water and alcohol, when mixed, occupy less space than when separate. The explanation is: the molecules of the two liquids accommodate themselves to each other, and thus diminish the volume of the mixture. Fifty pints of water added to 50 pints of alcohol result in a mixture of only 94 pints. Therefore, the correct answer to the problem is 3/11."