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Author Topic:   Mikey's Riddles topic
mike the wiz
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Posts: 4752
From: u.k
Joined: 05-24-2003


Message 1 of 63 (415214)
08-08-2007 7:33 PM


THE RIDDLE OF THE IRREFUTABLE BEGINNING
Objective: find mikey's date of birth.
I am time. And if I am time then when I stand still time stops. And if places are months then we shall proceed;
I have walked very far now, but not so far. This year I stopped walking after a while, at the shop that sold ice-cream. I reckon I had passed a few shops before I reached that one, since the time that marked my beginning. The second shop I passed was number 29. Ofcourse, the first shop is the one that sells hot pasties and coffee and you can sit inside, it is the first of these type of shops. I suppose this ice-cream shop is the opposite really, but I come from a shop such as the former.
But what number was the first shop? I can't seem to remember. But if lower is higher and higher is lower then I suppose it is higher than the shop I have stopped at.
Now how many years have I passed these shops that I can remember? And if coins are years and pennies are pounds and vice versa, then pennies are years. Now I have 24 pounds on me.
Now my mother says I passed these shops twice more but that I can't remember.
There are three shops that sell hot pasties and such. And on an odd year, I came from the first shop which is of this type.
No complaining that the puzzle isn't fair, it's the author's right to make it as hard as possible, be vague, and cloud the issue, and leave you guesswork.(logic-table puzzles are too easy, this one requires a bit of guessing aswell).
Edited by mike the wiz, : typo

Replies to this message:
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 Message 6 by Codegate, posted 08-09-2007 2:07 PM mike the wiz has replied

  
Parasomnium
Member
Posts: 2224
Joined: 07-15-2003


Message 2 of 63 (415222)
08-08-2007 8:40 PM
Reply to: Message 1 by mike the wiz
08-08-2007 7:33 PM


Best guess...
mike the wiz writes:
if places are months then we shall proceed;
The shops are places that stand for the months.
This year I stopped walking after a while, at the shop that sold ice-cream.
A month in the summer. August?
The second shop I passed was number 29.
The second month, February, has 29 days in a leap year.
Ofcourse, the first shop is the one that sells hot pasties and coffee and you can sit inside,
Because it is cold outside, in a winter month.
I suppose this ice-cream shop is the opposite really, but I come from a shop such as the former.
This month is a summer month, but you were born in a winter month.
But what number was the first shop? I can't seem to remember. But if lower is higher and higher is lower then I suppose it is higher than the shop I have stopped at.
The number of the winter month is higher than the number of this summer month? December?
Now how many years have I passed these shops that I can remember? And if coins are years and pennies are pounds and vice versa, then pennies are years. Now I have 24 pounds on me.
You remember 24 years.
Now my mother says I passed these shops twice more but that I can't remember.
Two more years which you don't remember.
There are three shops that sell hot pasties and such. And on an odd year, I came from the first shop which is of this type.
2007 - 26 = 1981, which is an odd year.
The first month of the winter that begins in 1981?
December 1981, that's my best guess. I don't know how to pinpoint the day.
And frankly, it's way past my bedtime, so I can't think straight anymore.

This message is a reply to:
 Message 1 by mike the wiz, posted 08-08-2007 7:33 PM mike the wiz has replied

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mike the wiz
Member
Posts: 4752
From: u.k
Joined: 05-24-2003


Message 3 of 63 (415232)
08-08-2007 9:16 PM
Reply to: Message 2 by Parasomnium
08-08-2007 8:40 PM


Re: Best guess...
December 1981, that's my best guess
It's not correct, but it doesn't matter. I enjoyed your reasonings. Very clever.
This shows me that this riddle is not that easy to guess at, but you didn't fail completely. That's all I will say though, because I don't want to give it away.

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Answers in Gene Simmons
Junior Member (Idle past 6073 days)
Posts: 8
Joined: 08-08-2007


Message 4 of 63 (415317)
08-09-2007 1:08 PM


OK good one Mike. Since you made it clear that we have to guess, I can see the logic actually coming out multiple ways as long as you satisfy all of the statements. Now I can find a few answers but each seems to require me to pick one statement that is ambiguous enough to discard.
Here is one way that you can work it:
I have walked very far now, but not so far.
But what number was the first shop? I can't seem to remember. But if lower is higher and higher is lower then I suppose it is higher than the shop I have stopped at.
Taking those two together, I would say that there is a finite number of shops and when you get to the end, you start at the beginning. So you could be walking around the same block over and over. You have walked far because you have passed the same shops a few times. You have not walked so far because you are also looking at the street numbers on the shops. Basically, the street numbers are the modulus numbers.
Now my mother says I passed these shops twice more but that I can't remember.
By the modulus number, no you cannot keep track. However, mother nature would of course use natural numbers. So you have already been around the block twice.
There are three shops that sell hot pasties and such.
No, there is only one. You have passed it three times but in natural numbers, you are counting it as separate shops.
Cheating though it may be, I do have to go to work now so that is what I am going to leave you with. What I do not have is the number of store on the block (which modulus to use) yet. However, if I am on the right track, I can place your birthday as February 1967 or your son;s birthday as August of 1997.

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mike the wiz
Member
Posts: 4752
From: u.k
Joined: 05-24-2003


Message 5 of 63 (415318)
08-09-2007 1:28 PM
Reply to: Message 4 by Answers in Gene Simmons
08-09-2007 1:08 PM


Hi AIGS, welcome to the forum. Well done for having a go, I'm enjoying people's play.
I can place your birthday as February 1967 or your son;s birthday as August of 1997.
It's not those dates but it was very interesting seeing how you reasoned, which is half the fun of these riddles, as it shows how people can come up with all sorts of creative and clever ways of trying to solve the problem.
CLUE: the logic might work more obviously, with certain guesses.

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Codegate
Member (Idle past 818 days)
Posts: 84
From: The Great White North
Joined: 03-15-2006


Message 6 of 63 (415326)
08-09-2007 2:07 PM
Reply to: Message 1 by mike the wiz
08-08-2007 7:33 PM


First week of January, 1981.
I think Pars had it mostly right.
The first shop you passed (before shop 29) was the first shop that sold the hot pasties. Also, on an odd year you came from the first shop that sells hot pasties so you came from the first shop (Jan).
I'm taking a wild guess that the number of the first shop is the actual day of the month you were born on. All we have is the cryptic if higher is lower and lower is higher bit. The shop you have stopped at is August (the current month as well as the opposite of Jan). I'm interpreting this to mean that the number of the first shop is actually lower (because higher is lower) then the current shop. The current shop number is 8 (August 8 is the posting date). So the number of the first shop is 1-7.
How convoluted can I get. Probably complete gibberish, but my brain really hurts now

This message is a reply to:
 Message 1 by mike the wiz, posted 08-08-2007 7:33 PM mike the wiz has replied

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mike the wiz
Member
Posts: 4752
From: u.k
Joined: 05-24-2003


Message 7 of 63 (415328)
08-09-2007 2:11 PM
Reply to: Message 6 by Codegate
08-09-2007 2:07 PM


Brilliant effort.
First week of January, 1981.
It's not correct, but all I can say is that you can solves this now - just that bit of extra inner-Sherlock is required!

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Replies to this message:
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Parasomnium
Member
Posts: 2224
Joined: 07-15-2003


Message 8 of 63 (415348)
08-09-2007 4:20 PM
Reply to: Message 7 by mike the wiz
08-09-2007 2:11 PM


Another guess
mike, in his riddle, writes:
if coins are years and pennies are pounds and vice versa, then pennies are years. Now I have 24 pounds on me.
Years and days are interchangeable? The number of years coincides with the number of the day of the month?
That would make it January 24th, 1981.
Edited by Parasomnium, : spelling

This message is a reply to:
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Replies to this message:
 Message 9 by mike the wiz, posted 08-09-2007 4:43 PM Parasomnium has replied

  
mike the wiz
Member
Posts: 4752
From: u.k
Joined: 05-24-2003


Message 9 of 63 (415350)
08-09-2007 4:43 PM
Reply to: Message 8 by Parasomnium
08-09-2007 4:20 PM


Re: Another guess
It's not the 24th of January 1981 Para'. But your efforts are not in vain. I feel we are on the verge of a breakthrough.
My dear fellow-Sherlocks, can you but for a moment in your life as transitionals , stop your thoughts and place your magnifying glasses once again upon this piece of information, in the hopes of dissecting it thoroughly;
riddle writes:
But what number was the first shop? I can't seem to remember. But if lower is higher and higher is lower then I suppose it is higher than the shop I have stopped at.

This message is a reply to:
 Message 8 by Parasomnium, posted 08-09-2007 4:20 PM Parasomnium has replied

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Parasomnium
Member
Posts: 2224
Joined: 07-15-2003


Message 10 of 63 (415358)
08-09-2007 5:15 PM
Reply to: Message 9 by mike the wiz
08-09-2007 4:43 PM


Yet another guess
if lower is higher and higher is lower then I suppose it is higher than the shop I have stopped at.
If lower is higher and higher is lower, you have turned something upside down. If what you have turned upside down is now higher than the shop that you've stopped at, which I presume stands for August, or 8, then the only number I can think of is 6, which upside down is 9, higher than 8.
January 6th, 1981?

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Parasomnium
Member
Posts: 2224
Joined: 07-15-2003


Message 11 of 63 (415374)
08-09-2007 7:28 PM


A riddle for Mike
Here's a riddle for you, Mike.
Once, in my youth, I took part in a game with a group of people, consisting of six individuals carefully selected as being the best of a class, plus one individual who was just a smart person, but no genius. No one knew who this person was, except the person himself.
Elementary in this game was that we should come up with a strategy that would eliminate this person in one go. Each of us was, in turn, to say a word that would have some connection to the other words already spoken, without consulting with each other before we spoke the words. Of course, the first one to speak would have no word to connect with.
The first word spoken was "Iodine". Then, in quick succession, the following words were spoken: "Gold", "Vanadium", "Aluminium", "Rubidium", "Cobalt", "Bismuth".
We then knew who the smart person was. Do you?

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mike the wiz
Member
Posts: 4752
From: u.k
Joined: 05-24-2003


Message 12 of 63 (415391)
08-09-2007 9:32 PM
Reply to: Message 11 by Parasomnium
08-09-2007 7:28 PM


Re: A riddle for Mike
Well, I was never top in the class, so I'll just go with the one who said, "Iodine".
The reason is that, he started with "Iodine", and after "Bismuth" was stated, he remained silent, but it was his turn to come up with a word with a connection to the others spoken.
Well, it's all I could think of. I'm good at making riddles, but not particularly good at solving them unless Ipunish my brains some.
(It wasn't January 6th 1981) -- I'll give the answer tomorrow, you might decide to have another crack at it.

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Minnemooseus
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Posts: 3941
From: Duluth, Minnesota, U.S. (West end of Lake Superior)
Joined: 11-11-2001
Member Rating: 10.0


Message 13 of 63 (415394)
08-09-2007 9:53 PM
Reply to: Message 11 by Parasomnium
08-09-2007 7:28 PM


Re: A riddle for Mike
...a word that would have some connection to the other words already spoken
If, say word two has no connection to word one, how is word three supposed to have a connection to words one AND two?
That said, Rubidium has a connection to Iodine (same row in periodic table) that no other element has. As such it is the anomalous item. But I don't think that is what you're looking for.
Moose
Added by edit: If the question comes down to "Which element does not belong in this group?", the answer is Iodine, the only non-metal.
Reference: http://www.corrosionsource.com/...eriodic/periodic_table.gif
Edited by Minnemooseus, : See above.

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Answers in Gene Simmons
Junior Member (Idle past 6073 days)
Posts: 8
Joined: 08-08-2007


Message 14 of 63 (415400)
08-09-2007 11:31 PM


Drum roll please...
OK, if you are going to answer it tomorrow, then I will take one more crack at it.
Now how many years have I passed these shops that I can remember? And if coins are years and pennies are pounds and vice versa, then pennies are years. Now I have 24 pounds on me.
That will be 24 years ago, which puts us back to 1983. Which satisfies this condition:
And on an odd year, I came from the first shop which is of this type.
Now consider this part:
The second shop I passed was number 29. Ofcourse, the first shop is the one that sells hot pasties and coffee and you can sit inside, it is the first of these type of shops. I suppose this ice-cream shop is the opposite really, but I come from a shop such as the former.
Well, 1993 was not a leap year, so that lets out February 29th as a possible date. So we can look at either January or March as possible months. Also, knowing that the ice cream shop is the opposite of the hot pasties shop, we look to see what is six months after those dates. That gives us either July 29th or August 29th.
Here is where I have to guess:
Everybody likes ice cream pretty much all the time but it is always more welcome in hotter weather. So I will go with August for that.
The mystery date is March 29, 1983
Edited by Answers in Gene Simmons, : cleaner formatting

He who knows only his own side of the case knows little of that. -- John Stuart Mill

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Minnemooseus
Member
Posts: 3941
From: Duluth, Minnesota, U.S. (West end of Lake Superior)
Joined: 11-11-2001
Member Rating: 10.0


Message 15 of 63 (415442)
08-10-2007 4:27 AM
Reply to: Message 11 by Parasomnium
08-09-2007 7:28 PM


Re: A riddle for Mike
Each of us was, in turn, to say a word that would have some connection to the other words already spoken,...
Minnemooseus, in message 13 writes:
If, say word two has no connection to word one, how is word three supposed to have a connection to words one AND two?
I now presume that the seven people would continue to give words (elements?) until someone gave an invalid word (or they could run out of elements). Then what I said above would kick in - the next person would be unable to give a word that has a connection to ALL the words. Therefore, whomever said "Bismuth" would be the merely smart person.
I have no idea what "Bismuth" is the odd word out.
Moose

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