• NPR Sunday Puzzle (Jan 29, 2012): An Equation for 2012

    Updated: 2012-01-29 06:41:00
    : Blaine's Puzzle Blog Weekly discussion on the NPR puzzler , brain teasers , math problems and . more Saturday , January 28, 2012 NPR Sunday Puzzle Jan 29, 2012 An Equation for 2012 NPR Sunday Puzzle Jan 29, 2012 An Equation for 2012 Q : Write the digits from 1 to 9 in a line . If you put a plus sign after the 2, a times sign after the 4, and plus signs after the 6 and 8, the line shows 12 34 x 56 78 9, which equals 2003. That's nine years off from our current year 2012. This example uses four arithmetic symbols . The object is to use just three of the following arithmetic operations : addition , subtraction , multiplication and division , in a line from 1 to 9 to get 2012 exactly . The operations should be performed in order from left to right . There are no tricks to this puzzle . Can

  • Cast Donuts

    Updated: 2012-01-26 21:43:00
    : skip to main skip to sidebar Brian's Damn Puzzle Blog A chronicle of my descent into the realm of the . puzzle-obsessed January 26, 2012 Cast Donuts Well , I finally got my hands on the latest Hanayama Cast Puzzle , Cast Donuts My favorite puzzle store in the Boston area , nbsp Eureka Puzzles Games had them in stock briefly a month ago , but I moved too slowly and they sold out before I could get down there . Fortunately , they restocked recently so I called up to have them hold one for me , and I headed down there as soon as I could . nbsp David Leschinsky , the owner of Eureka , was there , and it was great getting a chance to speak with . him Cast Donuts is a really cool looking puzzle : two donuts are linked together , and the goal is to separate them . You'll quickly see that each

  • NPR Sunday Puzzle (Jan 15 and 22, 2012): Two Week TV Title Challenge

    Updated: 2012-01-15 10:15:57
    : Blaine's Puzzle Blog Weekly discussion on the NPR puzzler , brain teasers , math problems and . more Saturday , January 14, 2012 NPR Sunday Puzzle Jan 15, 2012 Two Week TV Title Challenge NPR Sunday Puzzle Jan 15, 2012 Two Week TV Title Challenge Q : This is a special two-week creative challenge . Combine the titles of some TV shows , past or present , into an amusing sentence or statement . Here are 3 examples : TODAY SISTERS NAME THAT TUNE FATHER KNOWS BEST , DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES BEWITCHED MY THREE SONS ONE DAY AT A TIME , I'VE GOT A SECRET MURDER , SHE WROTE THE F.B.I . Entries will be judged on their sense , naturalness of syntax , humor , originality , familiarity of the TV shows named , and overall effect . No more than three sentences per entry , . please Not much to say , but

  • NPR Sunday Puzzle (Jan 8, 2012): Make a Game of Finding Car Parts

    Updated: 2012-01-09 01:16:02
    : Blaine's Puzzle Blog Weekly discussion on the NPR puzzler , brain teasers , math problems and . more Sunday , January 08, 2012 NPR Sunday Puzzle Jan 8, 2012 Make a Game of Finding Car Parts NPR Sunday Puzzle Jan 8, 2012 Make a Game of Finding Car Parts Q : Name four parts of a car that are also terms used in a particular game . One of the parts is spelled in three letters , two of them in five letters each , and one has six letters . Two places a car might go are also terms used in the game . What game is it , and what are the terms Musical Hint : Wake Up Little Susie Posted by Blaine at 2:18 AM Email This BlogThis Share to Twitter Share to Facebook Labels : lists npr 13 comments : Blaine said . Here's my standard reminder . don't post the answer or any hints that could lead directly to

  • M-Box

    Updated: 2012-01-05 22:30:00
    : skip to main skip to sidebar Brian's Damn Puzzle Blog A chronicle of my descent into the realm of the . puzzle-obsessed January 5, 2012 M-Box Recently , Jeff Chiou of MagicPuzzles.org was kind enough to loan me a few of his puzzles , one of which was M-Box by Hideaki Kawashima of the Karakuri Creation Group . Check out Jeff's review here This particular box was made available by lottery a few months ago November , I think which means that if you're interested in purchasing the box , you can enter your name in a drawing , and if you win you get to purchase the box . This is the Karakuri's way of addressing the problem of too much demand for some of the boxes with limited availability . I was tempted to enter the drawing for this one , since it was pretty reasonably priced , but I think I

  • 2011 Karakuri Club Christmas Presents (Part 3)

    Updated: 2012-01-04 22:30:00
    : skip to main skip to sidebar Brian's Damn Puzzle Blog A chronicle of my descent into the realm of the . puzzle-obsessed January 4, 2012 2011 Karakuri Club Christmas Presents Part 3 This next Karakuri Club Christmas present was created by Tatsuo Miyamoto His works tend to be mechanically quite unique , which is why I kept him on my list from last year . This puzzle box appears to be some kind of an water pump , oil pump , or . something The horizontal bar teeters back and forth , and is attached to the two arms that go into the box . There is also a handle on the front that tilts from side to side . The note inside the package recommends playing with this puzzle on a . table I was a bit stumped by this one at first , but came up with an idea for how it may work and ended up being correct

  • 2011 Karakuri Club Christmas Presents (Part 2)

    Updated: 2012-01-03 22:30:00
    : skip to main skip to sidebar Brian's Damn Puzzle Blog A chronicle of my descent into the realm of the . puzzle-obsessed January 3, 2012 2011 Karakuri Club Christmas Presents Part 2 Up next in my series of posts about the 2011 Karakuri Club Christmas Presents , Akio Kamei Kamei has been making puzzle boxes for quite a while and founded the Karakuri Creation Group , so it is always interesting to see what he comes up with This year's puzzle was a real treat , I really enjoyed . it It has a fairly simple exterior appearance , with grooves around all of the edges to make it a bit harder to tell what is going on . The first move isn't too hard to find , but you quickly realize that you're going to need to put your thinking cap on to solve this one . You could idly fiddle with it and figure it

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