Tuesday, September 22, 2015

Free Printable Crossword Puzzles Online

Games Reviewer 7:50 AM crosswords puzzles , free puzzles , online puzzles 41 comments :

Research shows that working crossword puzzles on a regular basis can have a powerful effect on how the brain ages. The puzzles are even used to help people recovering from a stroke. Here are five websites for people who like doing crosswords.

Bestcrosswords.com – New Printable Crossword Puzzle Daily

Bestcrosswords.com provides a variety of free daily crossword puzzles in both American and British English. This website also provides online crossword puzzles that one can use to compete against other die hard crossword puzzlers.

Mirroreyes.com /crosswords – Archive with Thousands of Crossword Puzzles

This website provides a new crossword puzzle every day. In addition, they have links to their previous crossword puzzles, dating back to 2000. They also provide free printable word searches.

Varietygames.com/CW – Free Printable Crossword Puzzles and a Printable Crossword Puzzle Maker

Once the standard crossword puzzles are made, why not make a few new ones from scratch? Create clues, fill in the answers, and give the puzzle a title. The website will print out a one-of-a-kind puzzle. The crossword puzzle maker is truly a unique crossword puzzle experience. Writing one’s own crossword puzzle offers a unique perspective and an added mental fitness component that simply working a crossword puzzle does not offer.

Armoredpenguin.com/crossword - Free Printable Crossword Puzzles and a Printable Crossword Puzzle Maker

Armoredpenguin.com is another great site that allows one to work a ready-made crossword puzzles (click on the “user puzzle” or “collection” option on the left). For the extremely creative crossword puzzle enthusiast, they also have a free printable crossword puzzle maker.
If a new puzzle is created, the creator has the ability to name their puzzle, write a description of the puzzle, set the size of the puzzle, choose the language, and several other detailed options.

Onlinecrosswords.net – Nearly 9,000 Free Printable Crossword Puzzles

This website provides seven new free printable crossword puzzles every day. In January 2010, the website boasted of nearly 9,000 puzzles in their database, with new ones being added daily. There are nearly 107,000 words in their database that are included in their many free printable crossword puzzles. The website also states they are in the process of translating their puzzles into French and Spanish.

When has something so fun been so beneficial to the brain? Crossword puzzles bring entertainment for hours and are readily available online. In addition, one can get creative and create a unique puzzle with a crossword puzzle maker.

Saturday, September 5, 2015

Island X

Games Reviewer 9:09 AM brain , island x , jigsaw puzzles , logic , logical games , puzzle , puzzle games , puzzles online , riddlews online 1 comment :

There are three categories of tribes in Island X; a Truther, who always speaks truthfully; a Liar, who always speaks falsely; and an Altetnator, who makes statements that are alternatively truthful and false, albeit not necessarily in that order.

A visitor approaches three inhabitants and asks who is a Truther. They answer as follows:

A says:
1. I am a Truther
2. B is a Liar

B says:
1. I am a Alternator
2. C is a Liar

C says:
1. I am a Truther
2. A is a Liar

Determine the identity of each of the three inhabitants from the information provided in the above statements.

Island X Puzzle Solution

Assume that A is the Truther. If so, then B is the Liar as A's statement asserts. If so, B's second statement is false, so C is the Alternator. This implies that C's first statement is false as also his second statement that A is the Liar, so that C is the Liar which is a contradiction, so that A cannot be the Truther.

Assume that B is the Truther. If so, his first statement is a direct contradiction, implying amongst other things, that B cannot be the Truther.

Assume that C is the Truther. If so, then A is the Liar in conformity with his second statement, so the remaining member B must be the Alternator. This checks out since as a Alternator, B's first statement is true while in his second statement he falsely identified C as the Liar. Both of A's statement are then clearly false, so this establishes the veracity of both the statements of C.

Consequently, (A, B, C) = (Liar, Alternator, Truther)

Monday, August 31, 2015

A Farmer's Good Fortune

Games Reviewer 9:07 AM brain , brain teasers , farmer , farmer-s fortune , jigsaw puzzles , logic , mathematical riddles , puzzle , puzzle games 1 comment :

A farmer from a small community is out of money. After a mysterious desease spread among and killed his lifestock, he now needs to quickly make up for the lost animals. He needs a whole grand.
Knowing that the bank won't lend him any money, he pays a visit to the local loan shark. The outlaw, who's known to have a bit of an obsession with puzzles, proposes a deal.

With the $1,000 he gets, the farmer has to be able to buy a combination of cows, pigs, and sheep, to total exactly 100 heads of lifestock. The combination has to include at least one cow ($100 each), one pig ($30 each), and one sheep ($5 each). The total amount of money spent for the 100 animals has to equal exactly $1,000.

If the farmer manages to accomplish the task, he'll have to return the money with a "friendly" interest rate. Otherwise, he'll get the normal rate, and the threat of a broken pinkie...

How many of each kind of livestock did the farmer buy?

A Farmer's Good Fortune Puzzle Solution

Here's one combination:

 94 sheep =  $470
  1 pig   =   $30
  5 cows  =  $500
-----------------
100 heads = $1000

Are there anymore?

Wednesday, August 26, 2015

A Special Old Guy

Games Reviewer 9:06 AM brain , logic , logic games , mathematical riddles , old guy , play jigsaw puzzles , puzzle , puzzle game , puzzles online 1 comment :

Alvin and Buzz are nerds and like doing nerdy things. So Alvin called Buzz one day...

"Buzz, I've finished tracing my family tree back from the year 500 AD, and I found one quite special guy".

"What's so special about him?" asked Buzz.

"Well, he was x years old in the year x^2 (x squared) and he had a son who was y years old in the year y^3 (y cubed)".

Buzz looked perplexed "Sorry Alvin, but I can't solve for x or y".

"Well, he was your age when his son was born." said Alvin.

"You're right" said Buzz "He was a special old guy! But I still can't solve for x or y".

How old was the old guy when his son was born?

Notes:
Assume that the nerds have the conversation this year, ie 2004 AD.

A Special Old Guy Puzzle Solution

Firstly, we can say that the date of birth (DOB) for the special old guy (SOG) is:
Equation {a}:
DOB(SOG) = x^2 – x

Similarly, for the son of the special old guy (or SOSOG for short):

Equation {b}:
DOB(SOSOG) = y^3 – y

SOG's age when SOSOG was born was:
Equation {c}:
Age(SOG) = DOB(SOSOG) – DOB(SOG) = (y^3 – y) – (x^2 – x)

There are unlimited solutions to equation {c} so we need some assumptions and limits.

We know that SOG must have been between, say 10 years old and 100 years old when SOSOG was born:

Equation {d}:
10 < Age(SOG) < 100

We also know that both SOG and SOSOG were born some time since the year 500 AD:
Equation {e}:
500 < DOB(SOSOG) < 2004.

Based on equation {b} and {e} we can clearly see that there are only 5 solutions for y. They are y = 8, 9, 10, 11 or 12. Any other solutions for y are in breach of equation {e}.
For each of these possible solutions for y there is only a limited number of solutions for x that comply with {d}. They are:

Any other solutions for x and y are in breach of equation {d}.
SOG's age when his son was born can be calculated for each of these possible solutions by using equation {c} as follows:

 x      y     Age(SOG)
----------------------
21      8           84
22      8           42
26      9           70
27      9           18
31     10           60
36     11           60
41     12           76

So there are 7 different solutions, which is why Buzz said he couldn't solve for x and y.
Now comes the lateral part of the puzzle: Alvin informs Buzz that "...he was your age when his son was born". Of course, Buzz knows his own age. He should therefore be able to pick the correct solution from the list of 7 possible solutions shown above. However, he can't. That means that Buzz (and the special old guy) must be 60 because there are multiple solutions for an age of 60, whereas any other age would yield a unique solution. Any other age and Buzz would be able to solve.
A 60 year old father – quite a special old guy.

Friday, August 21, 2015

Switching Logic

Games Reviewer 9:04 AM brain , brain teasers , logic , logical games , play puzzle game , puzzle , puzzles online , riddles online 1 comment :

You are in a basement. In front of you are three light switches, all in their OFF state. These switches are connected to three lightbulbs that are on a wall in the attic, so there's no chance you can see them unless you climb the stairs all the way up. There is a 1-to-1 mapping between the switches and the bulbs.

You are given plenty of time to play around with the switches in the basement, where you can put each individual switch in either its ON or OFF state.

However, you can only go upstairs once to check on the state of the bulbs!

Once you've gone upstairs and checked on the bulbs, you must be able to tell with 100% certainty which bulb is connected to which switch, without having to go down again.

How can you tell which switch is connected to each bulb?

Notes:

You can't put a switch halfway between ON and OFF, hoping that this would make the bulb flicker like a bad neon light...
You can't control the switches from a distance, eg with a string or whatever other form of remote control.
You can't have anyone cooperating with you on the other floor, and that includes your dog who knows how to bark once for a 'yes' and twice for a 'no'.

Switching Logic Puzzle Solution

Turn switch #1 ON. After about five minutes or so, turn switch #1 OFF and turn switch #2 ON.
Then go upstairs and check on the bulbs.

The one ON is obviously #2. The other ones are OFF, but one of them should be very hot by having been ON for five minutes. That's #1, and the remaining bulb is #3.

Sunday, August 16, 2015

Boxes, Beads, and a Blindfold

Games Reviewer 9:02 AM beads , blindfold , boxes , brain , logic , logical games , play jigsaw puzzles , puzzle , puzzle games , riddles online 1 comment :

You have been named as a traitor by the King, the punishment for this crime is death. Although he is a cruel tyrant he gives you one last chance at freedom. When you are finally brought before him he has this to say to you:

"There are 100 beads, 50 black and 50 white. You will be allowed to draw one bead, whilst blindfolded of course. If it is black you will be condemned to death, if it is white you will be set free".

So far so good you think to yourself, at least I have a 50/50 chance.

"The beads will be distributed amongst four boxes by me," he continued. "You must select a box by opening it, draw one bead from it and then present the bead to the court. Thus will your fate be decided".

Upon saying this a cruel smile appears on the King's face and you suddenly break into a cold sweat as you remember that the King is both very wicked and devilishly cunning.

Assuming that the King is incredibly smart, evil, thinks that you are a stupid, uneducated peasant and wants to minimise your chance of freedom, what strategy should you employ, and what is the probability of surviving?

Notes:

The King whilst evil won't cheat.
The trick is to work out how he plans on distributing the beads to minimise your chance of success.
As soon as you stick your hand in one of the boxes you must draw a bead from it.
The boxes and beads light and portable, however you are not allowed to remove them from the area.
The King thinks you are stupid.

Boxes, Beads, and a Blindfold Puzzle Solution

The king puts 1 black bead in 3 of the 4 boxes and all the other beads (both black and white) in the fourth box.

In the kings' view, you will just randomly pick a box because you are so stupid. This gives you barely 1 chance out of 8 to pick a white bead (1/4 to pick that one box containing white beads multiplied with almost 1/2 to pick a white bead out that box).

Assuming each of the four boxes are identical, by picking up each box in turn, you will be able to tell by weight or the rattling noises which one of the boxes contains the mixed beads. Picking the box with the mixed beads will mean that you have a slightly better than 50% chance of living.

Thanks to "Ben Leil" and "Kobold" for posting solutions in the forum

Tuesday, August 11, 2015

Which Chest Is Which

Games Reviewer 9:00 AM brain , chest , logic , logic game , online puzzles , play puzzle game , puzzle , puzzle game , riddles 1 comment :

One day Arthur came to Merlin and asked him, "Show me how to be a wise and good king." Merlin replied, "If you can pass a series of mental tests, I will teach you".

Merlin then showed Arthur three chests, one was labelled GOLD COINS, the second was labelled SILVER COINS, and the last, GOLD OR SILVER COINS. He stated that all the three labels were all on the wrong chests. Given that one chest contained gold, one silver, and one bronze.

How many chests must Arthur open to deduce which label goes on which chest?

Which Chest Is Which Puzzle Solution

Arthur does not need to open any chests.

Since all labels are on the wrong chests, the chest labelled GOLD OR SILVER COINS cannot contain either gold nor silver, so must contain bronze. Thus the chest labelled GOLD COINS must contain silver coins, and SILVER COINS must contain gold.

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