HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: keith@cco.caltech.edu (Keith Allan Schneider)
Newsgroups: rec.puzzles
Subject: Re: 20 question stories
Date: 7 Sep 92 23:31:20 GMT
Organization: California Institute of Technology, Pasadena

sflinter@cs.tcd.ie (Stephen Flinter) writes:

>In article <1992Sep7.053657.24367@ccu1.aukuni.ac.nz> rossw@ccu1.aukuni.ac.nz (Ross Williamson) writes:
>>
>>	I'm looking for a collection of logic puzzles.
>>What they are is a story which you can tell people and then they ask
>>you questions about the problem trying to solve the question you 
>>pose them.  Similar to 20 questions but these can last for days ie.
>>
>[Puzzle details omitted]
>>	Is there a list of these around they are alway a good laugh and
>>a lot of fun to do.
>>	

>I enjoy doing this type of puzzle quite a lot.  The best
>ones tend to be those with very short, cryptic situations, and
>you have to spend a few minutes just figuring what's going on.
>Here are a few of my favourites, and any new ones would be
>much appreciated.  I will post solutions in a few days if
>the demand is there.

>1. "The music stopped, and then she died..."

She was a blindfolded tightrope walker who, during a circus act, would hop
off the rope onto a platform when the music stopped playing.  Her evil husband
(or whatever) stopped the music prematurely, and she lept to her death.

>2. "He pushed his car to the hotel, and knew he was bankrupt"

Monopoly?

>3. There is a small group of stones and a carrot in the
>middle of an untouched wheat field.  How did they get there?

>4. A man, heading towards a field, knows he will die when he
>arrives.  How come?

>5. A man is lying dead in the middle of a field clutching a
>twig in his hand.  How come?

>(Just typing these made me realise that there are a lot of
>fields here!!)

>6. A person goes into the desert, cuts off one arm and
>buries it.

>7. Two people order vennison.  One rushes outside and
>commits suicide.

Did he realize that he was actually eating another human or something?

hmm...
keith
Newsgroups: rec.puzzles
From: isaak@aurora.com (Mark Isaak)
Subject: Re: The Bug Wedding
Summary: SPOILERS
Reply-To: isaak@aurora.com (Mark Isaak)
Organization: The Aurora Group
Date: Wed, 9 Sep 92 02:15:24 GMT

In article <1992Aug28.135509.3818@ncsu.edu> mgtaylor@eos.ncsu.edu (Mary Molly G Taylor) writes:
>Each answer is some type of insect:
>1.  Who was the bride?
	The damselfly.
>2.  Who gave the bride away?
	Not daddy longlegs, surely; that's not an insect.  Probably the
	head louse.
>3.  What relation was the maid of honor?
	ant.
>4.  Who were the bridesmaids?
	Ladybugs.
>5.  Who made the decorations?
	No one.  They were bought from the drugstore beetle by the lacewings.
>6.  Who played the music?
	Warble flies and blow flies.
>7.  Who danced at the wedding hop?
	Skippers, tumbling flower beetles, and a harlequin bug.  (It was a wild
	affair.)
>8.  Who performed the wedding ceremony?
	A clerid.
>9.  Who built the Bride & Groom's house?
	Sawflies, carpenter ants, mason wasps, and a crane fly.
>10.  Who baked the wedding cake?
	An ambrosia beetle.
>11.  Who lit the candle?
	A firefly.
>12.  Who kept the bride and groom awake?
	Bark beetles.
-- 
Mark Isaak           "Every generation thinks it has the answers, and every
isaak@aurora.com      generation is humbled by nature." - Philip Lubin
Newsgroups: rec.puzzles
From: isaak@aurora.com (Mark Isaak)
Subject: Re: Audible Puzzles or Nonsense Questions
Summary: Misdirection.
Reply-To: isaak@aurora.com (Mark Isaak)
Organization: The Aurora Group, Palo Alto, CA
Date: Fri, 4 Sep 92 15:10:39 GMT

In article <12683@grayt> grayt@Software.Mitel.COM (Tom Gray) writes:
>Can anyone give more examples of audible puzzles like this that
>rely on the listener trying to make sense of a nonsense question?

Perhaps these are the kind of puzzle you have in mind?

(1) [Place a penny, nickle, and dime on the table.]  Billy's mother
had three children.  [Point to the penny.]  She named the first one
Penny.  [Point to the nickle.]  She named the second one Nick.
[Point to the dime.]  What did she name the third one?

(2) Say "shop."  Spell "shop."  Repeat the word "shop" five times.
What do you do when you come to a green light?

(3) Suppose you're driving a bus.  At the first stop, two people get
on.  Three more get on at the next stop.  At the next stop, one
boards and two exit.  [Etc., for a few more stops.]  What is the
name of the bus driver?
-- 
Mark Isaak           "Every generation thinks it has the answers, and every
isaak@aurora.com      generation is humbled by nature." - Philip Lubin
From: williams@ab.wvnet.edu (Tom Williams)
Newsgroups: rec.puzzles
Subject: <None>
Date: 7 Sep 92 15:26:29 GMT
Organization: Alderson-Broaddus College

In article <kleber.714930734@husc10>, kleber@husc10.harvard.edu (Gwydden) writes:
> 
> "Which is correct:
>  The yolk (pause) of the eggs (pause) *is* white
> or
>  The yolk (pause) of the eggs (pause) *are* white
> ?"
> 
> people get caught up trying to resolve the number disagreement, and
> miss that the yolk is yellow...
-- 

          Another variant I've seen: "How do you pronounce the word for
          the white part of an egg -- yoLk or yoke?", to which the
          answer is, "Albumen".

                                                -Tom Williams
                                                 Alderson-Broaddus College
                                                 WILLIAMS@AB.WVNET.EDU
Newsgroups: rec.puzzles
From: Lyon_Jim@Tandem.Com (Jim Lyon)
Subject: Re: redundancy
Followup-To: rec.puzzles
Organization: Tandem Computers, Inc
Date: Wed, 9 Sep 1992 21:10:25 GMT

Let us not forget:  The El Camino Highway

-- Jim Lyon                          "... where the work is NonStop,
   Lyon_Jim@Tandem.Com                    and we do everything twice."
Newsgroups: rec.puzzles
From: carl@SOL1.GPS.CALTECH.EDU (Carl J Lydick)
Subject: Re: oxymorons
Reply-To: carl@SOL1.GPS.CALTECH.EDU
Organization: HST Wide Field/Planetary Camera
Date: Sun, 13 Sep 1992 18:14:01 GMT

In article <G4vDr*r30@prolix.apana.org.au>, dac@prolix.apana.org.au (David Andrew Clayton) writes:
>In article <1992Sep5.151100.6020@cs.rose-hulman.edu>, Bart Goddard writes:
>
>> How about "computer science"    (I _KNOW_ it's really black magic:-))
>>           "safe sex"            (isn't very safe)
>>           "defensive driving" 
>>           "politically correct" (nothings correct about politics)
>>           "President Perot"
>>    
>
> *****                                                     **           
> **  **                                                                 
> **  **   ****   *****          *** **   **  **   ****     **     ****  
> *****       **  **  **         *******  **  **  **        **    **     
> ** **    *****  **  **         ** * **  **  **   ****     **    **     
> **  **  **  **  *****          **   **  **  **      **    **    **     
> **  **   *****  **             **   **   *****  *****      **    ****  

And let's not forget broadcast journalism.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Carl J Lydick | INTERnet: CARL@SOL1.GPS.CALTECH.EDU | NSI/HEPnet: SOL1::CARL

Disclaimer:  Hey, I understand VAXen and VMS.  That's what I get paid for.  My
understanding of astronomy is purely at the amateur level (or below).  So
unless what I'm saying is directly related to VAX/VMS, don't hold me or my
organization responsible for it.  If it IS related to VAX/VMS, you can try to
hold me responsible for it, but my organization had nothing to do with it.
Newsgroups: rec.puzzles
From: steppe@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu (Top Changwatchai)
Newsgroups: rec.puzzles
Subject: Re: big number (SPOILER)
Date: 6 Sep 92 20:26:26 GMT

In article <1992Sep2.083354.14099@wisipc.weizmann.ac.il> dany@kalanit.wisdom.weizmann.ac.il (Nabutovsky Dan) writes:
>
>   What does following line of digits mean or signify:
>	 8549176320
>
>   Dan

This was on our HKN pledge quiz.  Spoiler follows (q to skip):


Take the single-digit numbers, spell them out, and arrange them in alphabetical
order.  Concatenate this list, and you get 8549176320.  Ta-da.

Top


-- 
steppe@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu
"I'm gonna live forever or die trying."
Newsgroups: rec.puzzles
From: karr@cs.cornell.edu (David Karr)
Subject: Re: 4 color atlas
Organization: Cornell Univ. CS Dept, Ithaca NY 14853
Date: Wed, 9 Sep 1992 15:02:20 GMT

In article <88198@netnews.upenn.edu> weemba@sagi.wistar.upenn.edu (Matthew P Wiener) writes:
>In article <1992Sep1.185224.25875@cs.cornell.edu>, karr@cs (David Karr) writes:
>>I believe it was proved by computer in the late 70s.
>
>>						       That is to say,
>>a group of people wrote a computer program that printed out reams of
>>paper that purported to be a proof of the theorem.
>
>This is a silly and somewhat insulting description of what happened.

Probably inaccurate, too; I wasn't being too careful there.  In 
particular, I don't know if they ever actually printed it out.

What I was doing was trying to imagine what the proof *would* have
been like if it were presented like a published proof according to the
standards that existed then.  As you point out, such a requirement is
indeed silly and inappropriate.

Notice that I didn't put quotes around the word 'proof.'  I meant to
use the word 'purported' in the same sense newspapers use 'alleged,'
as in, "The alleged crime victim said..."

>>There was (and I think still is) some controversy about this proof
>>method because supposedly no human being has ever been considered
>>to truly have understood and verified the proof.  It is simply
>>too long.
>
>The controversy was pretty much ridiculous, made possible by people
>not knowing anything about computers having mouths.  Such people are
>getting rarer and rarer in the mathematics community.

I recently saw an article published by the MAA on this topic.  My
understanding is that the controversy is now not over just using a
computer, but using methods that explicitly assign a (high)
probability to the truth rather than a certainty.  I believe there
are still skeptics, however.

And a *little* skepticism is not bad.  You can't just dash off a
computer program, have it print out "theorem is true," and say you're
done.  For example, ten years ago I wrote a simple program to compute
the probabilities of various outcomes when rolling dice in Risk, and
only this year found the bugs that caused the output to be wrong.

This brings us down to the question of how you know a computer program
is correct.  This was a hot topic back in 1976 (or at least 1978 when
I heard of it) and remains so.  Though back in 1978 I was a skeptic on
the other side (I thought the correctness of programs would be
obvious).

-- David Karr (karr@cs.cornell.edu)


Newsgroups: rec.puzzles
From: sb102760@ntuvax.ntu.ac.sg
Subject: Re: 20 question stories
Organization: Nanyang Technological University - Singapore
Date: Tue, 8 Sep 1992 00:54:01 GMT

In article <1992Sep7.053657.24367@ccu1.aukuni.ac.nz>, rossw@ccu1.aukuni.ac.nz (Ross Williamson) writes:
> 	I'm looking for a collection of logic puzzles.
> What they are is a story which you can tell people and then they ask
> you questions about the problem trying to solve the question you 
> pose them.  Similar to 20 questions but these can last for days ie.
> 
> 	' There is a man in a desert he is hung by his neck from a
> gallows.  His feet are 5 feet off the ground there is no way he could
> have got to this position by jumping or climbing.  All you notice is
> that there is a puddle of water at his feet.
> 	Question : How did he die ??  '
> 
> 	And then people ask questions like 
> 	'Did he climb the gallows to the noose?'
> 	To which the answer is 
> 	'no'

He climbed on to a block of ice and put the noose round his his neck. Still
alive, he waited for the ice to melt => no support => he plunged to the
ground => the noose tightened => ...

BTW, do I have to subscribe explicitly to this newsgroup ?

ET
From: Heather_Premeau@edtng.uwp.edu (Heather Premeau)
Newsgroups: rec.puzzles
Subject: Re: 20 question stories
Distribution: world
Date: 12 Sep 92 02:19:23 CST
Organization: Electric Dreams: The Next Generation BBS

The Man got up there by standing on a piece of ice 5' tall.  In the desert
that cant make it too long causing him to strangle to death...
    Now if you ask me why he did not get down while he had the chance all I
can say is maybe there was a gun pointed at hime at the time!
                    Hello....Bye bye...Heather

-- Via DLG Pro v0.992
From: Edward_Lunny@mindlink.bc.ca (Edward Lunny)
Newsgroups: rec.puzzles
Subject: oxymorons
Date: 5 Sep 92 13:59:56 GMT
Organization: MIND LINK! - British Columbia, Canada
Distribution: world

I'm interested in oxymorons. ie words that seemingly contradict each other,
Jumbo shrimp, for example. If anyone has any to share i'd like to see them.
Also I'm not exactly sure if this is the right group to do so but when I saw
the discussion on redundancy it seemed appropriate.
Thanks///
From: carl@SOL1.GPS.CALTECH.EDU (Carl J Lydick)
Newsgroups: rec.puzzles
Subject: Re: redundancy
Date: 11 Sep 92 19:52:18 GMT
Reply-To: carl@SOL1.GPS.CALTECH.EDU
Organization: HST Wide Field/Planetary Camera

In article <1992Sep11.171124.26204@umbc3.umbc.edu>, shimoff@umbc4.umbc.edu (Eliot Shimoff) writes:
>Or, if nobody's said it yet (I jumped right into the middle of this),
>the classic DOS Operating System.

That's great.  A redundancy and an oxymoron at the same time! :-)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Carl J Lydick | INTERnet: CARL@SOL1.GPS.CALTECH.EDU | NSI/HEPnet: SOL1::CARL

Disclaimer:  Hey, I understand VAXen and VMS.  That's what I get paid for.  My
understanding of astronomy is purely at the amateur level (or below).  So
unless what I'm saying is directly related to VAX/VMS, don't hold me or my
organization responsible for it.  If it IS related to VAX/VMS, you can try to
hold me responsible for it, but my organization had nothing to do with it.
From: steppe@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu (Top Changwatchai)
Newsgroups: rec.puzzles
Subject: Re: Logic Problem: How I Got Into College (SOLUTION)
Date: 8 Sep 92 04:00:48 GMT

In article <Bu0KzA.FMr@usenet.ucs.indiana.edu> bodom@silver.ucs.indiana.edu (Brian Odom) writes:
>How I got into college
>Difficulty level: hard
>
>Abe Froman, the guidance counselor, at Fillmore High, was proud to help 12 
>... 
>Brian T Odom

Solution follows (q to skip):


SAT    First    Last        School
---    -----    ----        ------
1440   Faith    Connell     Yale
1430   Nigel    Rains       North Carolina
1410   Ivan     Farmer      MIT
1400   Tammi    Snyder      University of Pittsburgh
1390   Donald   Siebert     Carnegie Mellon
1360   Rich     Blake       Stanford University
1350   Lynda    Powell      Cornell
1330   Alyssa   Long        Fairfield University
1310   Cathy    Quinn       Ohio State
1290   Louis    Atkins      Harvard
1270   Paula    Ingram      Boston University
1260   Saul     Roth        Purdue

At first I thought that Lynda and Tammi were interchangeable, but the boyfriend
clues (#1 and #3) helped me distinguish between them.

Top

-- 
steppe@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu
"I'm gonna live forever or die trying."
From: dm66+@andrew.cmu.edu (Dana Radka Moudry)
Newsgroups: rec.puzzles
Subject: Re: big number [spoiler]
Date: 6 Sep 92 02:24:46 GMT
Organization: Sophomore, Physics, Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, PA

Excerpts from netnews.rec.puzzles: 2-Sep-92 big number Nabutovsky
Dan@kalanit.w (77)


>    What does following line of digits mean or signify:
> 	 8549176320

>    Dan


....alphabetical order.... 






Ciao
      Dana
From: Rev_Bud_Bergen@edtng.uwp.edu (Rev Bud Bergen)
Newsgroups: rec.puzzles
Subject: Re: 20 question stories
Distribution: world
Date: 10 Sep 92 20:00:33 CST
Organization: Electric Dreams: The Next Generation BBS

In a message dated Thu 10 Sep 92 18:47, Jmkaraka@eos.ncsu.edu (john Martin 
wrote:

 JM> Newsgroups: rec.puzzles
 JM> Path: cs.uwp.edu!uwm.edu!rpi!gatech!taco!jmkaraka
 JM> From: jmkaraka@eos.ncsu.edu (JOHN MARTIN KARAKASH)
 JM> Subject: Re: 20 question stories
 JM> Message-ID: <1992Sep9.230720.12015@ncsu.edu>
 JM> Originator: jmkaraka@c00088-100lez.eos.ncsu.edu
 JM> Lines: 39
 JM> Sender: news@ncsu.edu (USENET News System)
 JM> Reply-To: jmkaraka@eos.ncsu.edu (JOHN MARTIN KARAKASH)
 JM> Organization: North Carolina State University, Project Eos
 JM> References:  <1992Sep7.053657.24367@ccu1.aukuni.ac.nz>
 JM> Date: Wed, 9 Sep 1992 23:07:20 GMT


> 
|>  I'm looking for a collection of logic puzzles.
|> What they are is a story which you can tell people and then they ask
|> you questions about the problem trying to solve the question you 
|> pose them.  Similar to 20 questions but these can last for days ie.
|> 
|>  ' There is a man in a desert he is hung by his neck from a
|> gallows.  His feet are 5 feet off the ground there is no way he could
|> have got to this position by jumping or climbing.  All you notice is
|> that there is a puddle of water at his feet.
|>  Question : How did he die ??  '
|> 
|>  And then people ask questions like 
|>  'Did he climb the gallows to the noose?'
|>  To which the answer is 
|>  'no'
|> 
|>  Is there a list of these around they are alway a good laugh and
|> a lot of fun to do.
|>  
|>  Does someone want to try and solve this one ??
|> 
|> Please help me :)
|> 
|>

 JM>  I don't know of a source but I have a couple you might like:

 JM> 1) he died because he didn't see the sawdust

 JM> 2) John and Linda are dead.  There is glass and water on the floor.

 JM>  You notice how a lot of these puzzles have corpses in them!

 JM>  If anyone wants to play, I'll only post the yes/no replies rather
 JM> than
 JM> the situation.

 JM>  -john 'not just another tom, dick, or harry' karakash-
[B
Did the ice melt?

Or, a person goes ten miles south, ten miles east and ten miles north to
end up where he started.  What color were the bears?
 

-- Via DLG Pro v0.992

I ADORE MY|           CONTACT ADDRESSES
  /\_/\   | UseNet: Rev_bud_bergen@edtng.uwp.edu
  \C64/   | BBS   : Electric Dreams The New Generation | Rev Bud-CoSysOp
   \ /    |       | 414/654-9158
From: bhatt@src.honeywell.com (Devesh Bhatt)
Newsgroups: rec.puzzles
Subject: Re: The ULTIMATE problem!!! (SOLUTION)
Date: 14 Sep 92 18:28:41 GMT
Reply-To: bhatt@src.honeywell.com
Organization: Honeywell Systems & Research Center

OA> A very bright and sunny Day
OA> The Priest didst to the Verger say:
OA> "Last Monday met I strangers three
OA> None of which were known to Thee.
OA> I ask'd Them of Their Age combin'd
OA> which amounted twice to Thine!
OA> A Riddle now will I give Thee:
OA> Tell Me what Their Ages be!"

OA> So the Verger ask'd the Priest:
OA> "Give to Me a Clue at least!"
OA> "Keep Thy Mind and Ears awake,
OA> And see what Thou of this can make.
OA> Their Ages multiplied make plenty,
OA> Fifty and Ten Dozens Twenty."

OA> The Verger had a sleepless Night
OA> To try to get Their Ages right.
OA> "I almost found the Answer right.
OA> Please shed on it a little Light."
OA> "A little Clue I give to Thee,
OA> I'm older than all Strangers three."
OA> After but a little While
OA> The Verger answered with a Smile:
OA> "Inside my Head has rung a Bell.
OA> Now I know the answer well!"

OA> Now, the question is:

OA> How old is the PRIEST??

****** SOLUTION FOLLOWS *********



























The priest is 50.

From 1st and 2nd paragraphs, it is clear that the sum of the three strangers'
ages is an even number known to Verger.  The product is 2450.

2450 divides into factors 7, 7, 5, 5, 2.  Some combinations are:

Strangers ages     sum
--------------     ---
50   7    7        64  *
25  14    7        46
5   14   35        54
5   70    7        82
2   35   35        72
10   5   49        64  *
5    5   98       108

Notice that only 2 combinatons marked * have the same sum.  Any other sum is
unique and the verger would have known the answer after the 2nd paragraph.

Now the priest's age must be 50 to allow a unique choice (49, 10, 5) for the
stranger's ages.  More than 50 would still allow two choices.

BTW: It did not seem to be too hard a problem.  I guess it is all in your
     perspective.

Devesh.
Newsgroups: rec.puzzles
From: jkenton@world.std.com (Jeff Kenton)
Subject: Re: 4 color atlas
Organization: Kenton Systems Corporation, Weston MA
Date: Fri, 11 Sep 1992 14:17:17 GMT

In article <1992Sep11.042521.21615@cs.cornell.edu> karr@cs.cornell.edu (David Karr) writes:
>
>As we used to say at work, "I've fixed the last bug" is never a true
>statement when talking about any substantial program.
>

If we accept your statement that you always have at least one bug
left, and add to it the (obviously true :-) observation that you
can always make your program shorter, we conclude that any program
can be reduced to a single line of buggy code.



-- 
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
=			Jeff Kenton	(617) 894-4508			=
=			    jkenton@world.std.com			=
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Newsgroups: rec.puzzles
From: russotto@eng.umd.edu (Matthew T. Russotto)
Subject: Re: 20 question stories
Date: Mon, 07 Sep 92 17:35:38 GMT
Organization: College of Engineering, University of Maryland, College Park

In article <1992Sep7.135235.13333@cs.tcd.ie> sflinter@cs.tcd.ie (Stephen Flinter) writes:

>1. "The music stopped, and then she died..."

Life support system.  Power failure.  Enough said
>
>2. "He pushed his car to the hotel, and knew he was bankrupt"
Nuclear war (which is what knocked out his car).  The hotel was
blocking the view of the nearest explosion.  (nuclear war bankrupts
you real fast :-) )
(OK, so that's a silly answer)

>4. A man, heading towards a field, knows he will die when he
>arrives.  How come?

He's a parachutist, heading down from above.  Of course, his parachute
didn't open.

>7. Two people order vennison.  One rushes outside and
>commits suicide.

Are you sure it wasn't albatross?  This one comes up a lot.
-- 
Matthew T. Russotto	russotto@eng.umd.edu	russotto@wam.umd.edu
Some news readers expect "Disclaimer:" here.
Just say NO to police searches and seizures.  Make them use force.
(not responsible for bodily harm resulting from following above advice)
From: dsbb@ns1.cc.lehigh.edu (D. SPENCER BEECHER)
Newsgroups: rec.puzzles
Subject: Re: I need the answer to a common problem
Date: 9 Sep 92 21:08:28 GMT
Organization: Lehigh University

In article <67850@hydra.gatech.EDU>, gt2807a@prism.gatech.EDU (Benjamin H. Cowan
) writes:
>
>  I'm sure what I need is in the FAQ for this group, but I don't have a copy
>of it.  However, I'm sure many of you know the answer.  I need the answer
>to the "Three Guys Getting Over-charged at the Hotel and the Bell Boy Takes
>Two of the Five Dollars/Where is the Missing Dollar?" problem.
>
>Thanx much,
>Ben...

The answer is (if I recall the puzzle correctly):

Each of the men paid nine dollars for the room (10 - 1).
This totals twenty seven (30 - 3).
The cash drawer at the hotel recieved 25, and the
bellhop got 2.

Adding the bellboy's two to the twenty seven that the three men paid
is like going into a store with five dollars and buying a three dollar
item, then saying, "I have this item worth three dollars, and the store
has three dollars that was mine in the cash drawer, that's six dollars
of total value, less the two dollars the clerk gave me back for my
five leaves four dollars total value, but I walked in with a five
dollar bill.  What happened to the other dollar and who got ripped
off?
-- 
                   _ _     _ _     _ _
  -Spence         [O.O]   )x.x(   )O.O(
                    O       O      -*-