Thanks to everyone who engaged with the Mad Hatter puzzle. The solution is now available. There is a link at the bottom of the puzzle page:
#3: Kidnapped by the Mad Hatter
A coloured hat puzzle!
Published: 16/03/2015
Difficulty: **
Maths knowledge required: None
And HERE is a direct link to the solution.
Having finally finished writing my thesis, I once again have the chance to update the site.
First up, a new puzzle. It is not original – I heard it from a fellow trainee teacher a few years ago, and a quick search confirms that it has popped up in numerous places – but I think it is a particularly good one.
Thinking caps on…
#3: Kidnapped by the Mad Hatter
A coloured hat puzzle!
Published: 16/03/2015
Difficulty: **
Maths knowledge required: None
OK. That business with the pirates was just a warm-up. The next puzzle is a bit more challenging.
It is based on something that I found myself wondering about one day. Is there a fair question that you can use as a tiebreaker to separate two quiz teams with identical knowledge? See the page for the exact details of the puzzle.
I have a solution, but there may well be others. I have given it a three-star rating for difficulty, but perhaps it is not as tough as that.
#2: The Ultimate Tiebreaker
A logic puzzle that I came up with myself.
Published: 10/12/2014
Difficulty: ***
Maths knowledge required: None (though familiarity with some other logic puzzles may help)
Solution in a week or so.
I have posted the solution for The Pirate Puzzle. After writing it, I discovered that the puzzle is actually a well-established part of the recreational mathematics canon, a fact that I had not been aware of. However, there are some important differences between my formulation and the way that the puzzle is generally stated, as I discuss at the end of the solution page.
I have now put the first puzzle on the Puzzles page. Nothing too difficult to start off with and no maths required*, but one of my favourites nonetheless. Have a go.
* Unless you count very basic arithmetic.