dave_j

OK, so I've thought up another puzzle. This is a three glasses of wine puzzle and somewhat easier to explain than some others.

Acme Chemicals is holding interviews.

Batman arrives at ten o'clock, 1 hour late for his interview.

The Joker arrives at ten o'clock, 1 hour early for his interview.

Both interviews are to be held simultaneously, explain.

Oakvillian

Timezones, innit. Batman was on vacation from Gotham in Salt Lake City, UT, and ACME held his interview there. The Joker was at home in Gotham, which of course is a parallel universe's New York, on Eastern time. 9:00 in Utah and 11:00 in New York are both 16:00 Zulu.

Souvy

if a man speaks in a forest, where no woman can hear him, is he still wrong?

Oakvillian

Blimey. I wouldn't have got that without Google's help for what the sequence represents, but it's a very elegant puzzle. The answer is 121, 10000. The sequence is the representation of the decimal number 16 in number bases descending from 10.
16 base 10
17 base 9
20 base 8
22 base 7
24 base 6
31 base 5
100 base 4
121 base 3
10000 base 2.

dave_j

Yes.. because he was told not to enter the forest in the first place.

DandNHill

Good thinking. You’ve been trained well!!!

Souvy

It's called being married to a woman. I recognise the signs.

Q: Why do men usually die before their wives do?

A: Because they want to.

Novocastrian

Yup. I was set that puzzle in 1968 (well pre-internet) by my S-level Advanced Maths teacher, a man called Frank Budden.

Only two of us solved it.

I later learned that he'd first set the question as quiz master in an international maths championship held in Praque the previous year.

What a bastard, and what a teacher.

dave_j

Thought of another. This is a four wine glass puzzle but straightforward for all that and easier than some.

So.. What's the next letter in the sequence?

P Q L A M _

Answers on a postcard please..

Souvy

Z

Right to left on three rows of a keyboard.

Oakvillian

I found this one on the internet, so claim no responsibility, but I was trawling around for interesting puzzles as a result of this thread.

A miller had a 40lb rock that he used to weigh bags of flour on a balance scale. He lent it to his friend the butcher, but when the butcher returns the rock he says "I'm so sorry, I dropped the rock and it broke into four pieces."

"No, really, that's excellent news," replies the miller. "I can now use the balance to measure any whole number of pounds of flour between 1 and 40."

How heavy were the four segments of rock?

Novocastrian

I know that one, but I'll let others have a go.

Bloody Frank Budden.

dave_j

Had to work it out but straightforward.

Stone 1=1lb allows wieghing of: 1lb.

Stone 2=3lb allows weighing of:
3-1=2, 3=3, 3+1=4

Stone 3=9lb allows weighing of:
9-3-1=5, 9-3=6, 9-3+1=7, 9-1=8, 9=9, 9+1=10, 9+3-1=11, 9+3=12,
3+1=13.

Stone 4=27lb allows weighing of:
27-9-3-1=14, 27-9-3=15, 27-9-3+1=16, 27-9-1=17, 27-9=18, 27-9+1=19,
27-9-1+3=20, 27-9+3=21, 27-9+3+1=22, 27-3-1=23, 27-3=24, 27-3+1=25,
27-1=26, 27=27, 27+1=28, 27+3-1=29, 27+3=30, 27+3+1=31, 27+9-3-1=32,
27+9-3=33, 27+9+1-3=34, 27+9-1=35, 27+9=36, 27+9+1=37, 27+9+3-1=38,
27+9+3=39, 27+9+3+1=40.

DandNHill

Oh dear 😕

dave_j

Another puzzle from the wine glass but shouldn't tax the brain too much.

My first is to be found in the visible spectrum, or that part derived from the Coleoptera.

My second would be my pig, or would be if viewed from behind or backwards if you prefer.

My third is alphabetically unknown.

So of which cult TV series am I thinking?