Monday, March 30 -- "Piece of Cake": First, cut the cake vertically into two pieces. Second, cut the cake vertically at a 90-degree angle to the first cut so you now have four equal pieces. Finally, cut the cake horizontally rather than vertically, thus splitting the cake into four upper slices and four lower slices, resulting in the required 8 slices with just 3 cuts.
Tuesday, March 31 -- "Tour of Europe": Blue and gold. The shirt and pants color correspond to the flag of the country: Scotland and Greece have blue and white flags, Denmark's flag is red and white, while Sweden's flag is blue and gold.
Wednesday, April 1 -- "Murder Most Fowl": 21. Simply add the day it attacked to the month of the year (January = 1 and so forth) to get the answer. So 17 + 4 (April) = 21.
Thursday, April 2 -- "See the Light": Walter is a lighthouse keeper. He knows there is great danger, as the light going out could lead to ships crashing on the rocks.
Friday, April 3 -- "Liar, Liar!": Agatha is telling the truth, Adella and Alice are lying. The question can be answered by considering the options as to who is telling the truth and who is lying, and looking for a non-contradictory set of statements: if Adella is telling the truth, Agatha is lying, which means that Alice is telling the truth (since it is then a lie that Alice is lying). That leads to a contradiction whereby Adella is both telling the truth and lying at the same time! However, if Adella is lying then Agatha is telling the truth and Alice is lying: this is now a consistent state of affairs and hence the answer
Monday, April 6 -- "A Fare Puzzle": The landau cab driver had taken Sherlock and Dr. Watson to their desired location correctly, so he must have been able to hear their request to take them to Victoria when they first got on board. It is stated that the cab driver did not turn around at any point until they had arrived, so lip-reading their request to go to Victoria can be ruled out.
Tuesday, April 7 -- "Attachment Puzzle": Although there are various ways to attach the candle to the door, the most efficient method is to empty all the thumbtacks out of their box, and then pin the box to the door with the thumbtacks. Next, put the candle in the box and light it. Thus the problem of wax dripping on the floor is avoided, the risk of the candle falling out of the box is minimized, and it can be adjusted to emit light in the desired direction.
Thursday, April 9 -- "Crack the Code": "How often have I said to you that when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth?" (said by Sherlock Holmes in "The Sign of Four")
Friday, April 10 -- "What's the Connection?": Zeitgeist is the odd one out. The others all contain the names of countries within them (sCHADenfreude, vaGABONd, inCUBAtion, and antiperspIRANt).
Monday, April 13 -- "Off the Rails": The surgeon is Algernon's mother. (Many of you may have heard this before; it's a classic lateral-thinking puzzle based on gender stereotyping and people assuming surgeons are always male)
Tuesday, April 14 -- "Think Tank": The gentleman put a hole in the tank, draining out the water, thereby making it considerably lighter.
Wednesday, April 15 -- "A Lemon Entry": Door #1: orange; Door #2: brown; Door #3: blue; Door #4: purple; Door #5: yellow
Thursday, April 16 -- "The Safe House": 2758
Friday, April 17 -- "Forever Faithful": Jones was a priest who had married several women to their husbands in marriage ceremonies. The large number of female friends were members of his congregation at Church.
Tuesday, April 21 -- "As Easy as Riding a Bike": 536 times (Attempt 1: big wheel 13 times, little wheel 39 times; Attempt 2: big wheel 9 times, little wheel 27 times; Attempt 3: big wheel 112 times, little wheel 336 times)
Wednesday, April 22 -- "The Red-Headed Gang": Only two people can sit on the shorter sides of the table, while depending on the spacing, either two or three could sit on the longer sides. Therefore, the total number around the table is either 4 + 4, 4 + 5, or 4 + 6. Only one of these numbers is odd, therefore there must be 9 members in the gang.
Thursday, April 23 -- "Subtraction": Only once. to get 190. After that, you are subtracting 7 from 190 and so on.
Friday, April 24 -- "Elementary, My Dear Watson": WHITEHOUSE is the name of the person Sherlock is tracking. In this puzzle, the code is the atomic numbers of several elements. To solve the code, look up the element in the periodic table and write down its symbol to get W + H + I + Te + Ho + U + Se for tungsten, hydrogen, iodine, tellurium, holmium, uranium, and selenium respectively.
Monday, April 27 -- "'Weight' and See": Yes. Given an average weight of 155 lbs., the three together weigh 465 lbs. Subtracting the weights of the first two criminals leaves 149 lbs., which is therefore the weight of the third suspect. As we know, the person who committed the crime weighed no more than 150 lbs., so the third suspect could be the criminal.
Tuesday, April 28 -- "Musical Murders": Bea is in danger. Sherlock realizes that the mad maestro is playing the name of each victim on his fiddle after killing them; therefore, only orchestra members whose names can be played on the violin (containing the letters A-G) are in danger. Hence, Eula and Gale are safe, but Bea is in danger.
Wednesday, April 29 -- "Arise, Sir Sherlock": (possible) An accomplice had been sitting in the large garden behind the property in a hot-air balloon ready to take flight. The two men ran to the upstairs window, whereupon the accomplice lifted the balloon into the air, threw the men a rope for them to hold onto, ascending as slowly as he could while the two men climbed aboard, then made their escape. The sentry did not hear the noise from the hot-air balloon's burners due to the cat fight and, being positioned right by the front door, only saw the house when he looked up, having no vision of the balloon rising into the sky and making its getaway.
Thursday, April 30 -- "Colorful Chemicals": Solution X - Orange - Chicken; Solution Y - Pink - Onions; Solution Z - Yellow - Fish
Friday, May 1 -- "Time is of the Essence": Sherlock finished his work at 12:29.
Monday, May 4 -- "Character Count": 5.3. The first digit is the number of consonants in the character's name and the second digit is the number of vowels.
Tuesday, May 5 -- "Crack the Code": "MY ALLY IS THE FORCE, AND A POWERFUL ALLY IT IS. LIFE CREATES IT, MAKES IT GROW. ITS ENERGY SURROUNDS US, BINDS US. LUMINOUS BEINGS ARE WE, NOT THIS CRUDE MATTER. YOU MUST FEEL THE FORCE FLOW AROUND YOU. HERE, BETWEEN YOU, ME, THE TREE, THE ROCK, YES, EVEN BETWEEN THE LAND AND THE SHIP." --Yoda
Wednesday, May 6 -- "Gathering Sticks": Since OC = 8, OCTA = 8 x 8 = 64, and OCTIL = 8 x 64 = 512, then OCTILLA = 8 x 512 = 4096.
Thursday, May 7 -- "Lego Wars": Han built the AT-AT, which had 1345 pieces, in 3 hours; Leia built the Millennium Falcon, which had 1569 pieces, in 4 hours; Luke built the Imperial Star Destroyer, which had 1432 pieces, in 2 hours.
Tuesday, May 12 -- "At the Farm": Pigs. The animals they see follow the order of the Chinese Zodiac, from the snake onward (there were no dragons in Victorian England).
Wednesday, May 13 -- "Get Your Skates On": 32 collisions.
Thursday, May 14 -- "The Telephone Exchange": There are only two possibilities: 7589 and 7598. 1836 was a leap year (it is divisible by four); therefore, Mycroft's day of birth was February 29, so the final two digit sum is 29 - 12 = 17.
Friday, May 15 -- "Age Problem": 66 years old. 66 + 33 (1/2 of 66) + 22 (1/3 of 66) + 9 (3 x 3) = 130 = 6 score + 10.
Monday, May 18 -- "I Say, a Book!": "The Sign of Four" (The number given in the sine of 4 degrees, which when said sounds like "the sign of four")
Tuesday, May 19 -- "What's Next?": SON, and thus the puzzle starts with "WAT" and ends with "SON." There are three separate letter sequences: the first letter moves down the alphabet one at a time (W, V, U, T), the second letter moves down the alphabet three letters at a time (A, X, U, R), and the third letter moves up the alphabet five letters at a time (T, Y, D, I), leading to the answer "SON."
Wednesday, May 20
Logic Puzzles
-- Monday, March 30 -- "Golly Gee": 1. Golden Gate; 2. Good grief; 3. Greta Garbo; 4. Gas guzzler; 5. George Gershwin; 6. Great-granddaughter; 7. Gas gauge; 8. Generation gap; 9. Golden goose; 10. God's gift
Tuesday, March 31 -- "Just 1 Letter, Please": 1. Special K; 2. U-Turn or U-Boat; 3. Rated R; 4. G-forces; 5. T-shirt; 6. V; 7. I; 8. B-side; 9. Mr. T; 10. K Street; 11. A; 12. X
Thursday, April 2 -- "Movie Collage": 1. Forrest Gump (obviously); 2. Terminator (Forrest's eye); 3. Jumanji (the game board); 4. Edward Scissorhands (left background); 5. Harry and the Hendersons (right behind Forrest's ear); 6. ET (the flying bicycle); 7. Wayne's World ("No stairway" sticker on bench); 8. Back to the Future 2 (hoverboard in lower left corner); 9. Gremlins (Gizmo under bench); 10. Raiders of the Lost Ark (golden statue on the bench); 11. Neverending Story (Auryn symbol on his necklace); 12. Space Jam (sticker under his elbow); 13. Honey, I Shrunk the Kids (kids on his knee); 14. Jurassic Park (Barbasol shaving cream can); 15. Hook (hook hand on the right edge); 16. Home Alone ("Wet Bandits" graffiti on bench); 17. Short Circuit (Johnny #5 robot); 18. Dumb and Dumber (Harry and Lloyd on the moped); 19. Pulp Fiction (Jules and Vincent in background); 20. Goonies (gold coin in his pocket); 21. Mars Attacks (Martian head in upper right corner); 22. Ghostbusters (Slimer behind the bench); 23. Last Action Hero ("admit one" ticket on left side of bench); 24. Batman ("Wayne Enterprises" logo on chocolate box); 25. Titanic (pendant around Edward's neck); 26. Big Lebowski (Forrest's jacket pocket); 27. Predator (writing on left side of bench, middle board); 28. ??????????
Friday, April 3 -- "Finish the Saying": 1. ...skin deep; 2. ...flock together; 3. ...louder than words; 4. ...knocks twice; 5. ...thicker than water; 6. ...tell no tales; 7. ...better than one; 8. ...make good neighbors; 9. ...to tango; 10. ...is his castle; 11. ...credit is due; 12. ...the best policy; 13. ...the root of all evils; 14. ...in love and war
Monday, April 6 -- "April in History": 756 BC -- Romulus and Remus, 1492 -- King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain, 1564 -- William Shakespeare, 1606 -- Union Jack, 1775 -- Paul Revere, 1860 -- Pony Express, 1861 -- Fort Sumpter, 1896 -- Athens, Greece, 1912 -- Southampton, England, 1936 -- The kidnapping and murder of the Lindbergh baby, 1945 -- Cerebral hemorrhage, 1947 -- Jackie Robinson, 1961 -- Yuri Gagarin, 1968 -- Memphis, Tennessee, 1975 -- Vietnam War, 1986 -- USSR (Ukraine), 1993 -- Waco, Texas
Tuesday, April 7 -- "Portmanteaus": 1. electronic and mail, 2. charcoal and broil, 3. car and hijack, 4. gasoline and alcohol, 5. guess and estimate, 6. parachute and trooper, 7. McDonald's and mansion, 8. marionette and puppet, 9. smoke and fog, 10. squirm and wiggle, 11. spoon and fork, 12. binary digit, 13. Frankenstein and food, 14. motor and pedal, 15. slovenly language, 16. capsule and tablet, 17. cybernetic organism
Wednesday, April 8 -- "Borrowed from Irish": 1. Bog, 2. Colleen, 3. Galore, 4. Leprechaun, 5. Loch / lake, 6. Baltimore [Baile an t' mhor = Baile ("town") an t' ("the house") mhor ("big")], 7. Shanty, 8. Slob, 9. Brogue, 10. Bard, 11. Smithereens
Thursday, April 9 -- "What Do They Have in Common?": 1. vice presidents of the US, 2. angles, 3. famous paintings, 4. yo-yo tricks, 5. branches, 6. endangered species, 7. keys, 8. olives, 9. teeth, 10. countries that have changed their names, 11. grades, 12. marsupials, 13. titles
Friday, April 10 -- "Follow the Rules"
1. F A I T H F U L F R I E N D S 2. F A I ET H F U L F R I _ N D S 3. A A I E T H A U L F R I N D S 4. A A I E _ H A U L T F R I N D S 5. A A R I E H A R U L T F R I N D S 6. A A R I E H A R U L T O F R I N D S 7. A A R I E H A R D L T O F R I N D S 8. A A R _ E H A R D L T O F R I N D S 9. _ A R E H A R D L T O F R I N D _ 10. A R E H A R D _ T O F _ I N D
(FAITHFUL FRIENDS) ARE HARD TO FIND
Monday, April 13 -- "Finish the Quote": 1. "...take it", 2. "...give me liberty or give me death", 3. "...cannot stand", 4. "...a bad peace", 5. "...ninety-nine percent perspiration", 6. "...it is not illegal", 7. "...and leave a trail", 8. "...my education", 9. "...by the content of their character"
Friday, April 24 -- "Where's Grandma?": 1. California; 2. New York; 3. Texas; 4. Tennessee; 5. Connecticut; 6. Florida; 7. New Jersey; 8. Georgia; 9. Colorado; 10. Virginia
Monday, April 27 -- "2-minute Madness: Monopoly": 1. Atlantic Avenue; 2. Baltic Avenue; 3. Boardwalk; 4. Connecticut Avenue; 5. Illinois Avenue; 6. Indiana Avenue; 7. Kentucky Avenue; 8. Marvin Gardens; 9. Mediterranean Avenue; 10. New York Avenue; 11. North Carolina Avenue; 12. Oriental Avenue; 13. Pacific Avenue; 14. Park Place; 15. Pennsylvania Avenue; 16. St. Charles Place; 17. St. James Place; 18. States Avenue; 19. Tennessee Avenue; 20. Ventnor Avenue; 21. Vermont Avenue; 22. Virginia Avenue
Tuesday, April 28 -- "What a Pair": 1. Tom and Jerry; 2. Bacon and Eggs; 3. Fred and Ginger; 4. Wayne and Garth; 5. Ben and Jerry; 6. Mutt and Jeff; 7. Dick and Jane; 8. Jack and Jill; 9. Penn and Teller; 10. Calvin and Hobbes; 11. Barnes and Noble; 12. Skull and Bones
Wednesday, April 29 -- "Geographical Double Entendres": 1. Plains; 2. Cork; 3. Needles; 4. Sisters; 5. Limerick; 6. Sandwich; 7. Snake; 8. Easter; 9. Truth or Consequences; 10. Bologna
Thursday, April 30 -- "What Do They Have in Common?": 1. types of drums; 2. characters from The Office; 3. types of bread; 4. brands of soap; 5. shades of blue; 6. breeds of horses; 7. US Olympic gold medal-winning swimmers; 8. breeds of cats; 9. famous horses; 10. types of knots; 11. TV doctors; 12. types of figure skating jumps; 13. mountains in the Appalachians; 14. types of metaphor
Friday, May 1 -- "May in History": 1453: Constantinople; 1607: Jamestown; 1792: New York Stock Exchange; 1804: Lewis and Clark; 1859: Chiming of Big Ben; 1881: Red Cross; 1916: Norman Rockwell; 1925: Darwin's theory of evolution; 1934: Bonnie and Clyde; 1953: Climbing Mt. Everest; 1961: Alan Shepherd; 1970: Ohio; 1980: Smallpox; 1992: Congress voting to give themselves raises; 2011: Navy SEALS
Monday, May 4 -- "Star Wars Quotes": 1. Princess Leia Organa (A New Hope); 2. Darth Vader (A New Hope); 3. Han Solo (Empire Strikes Back); 4. Yoda (Empire Strikes Back); 5. Anakin Skywalker / Darth Vader (Return of the Jedi); 6. Din Djarin / Mando (The Mandalorian); 7. Qui-Gon Jinn (The Phantom Menace); 8. Jango Fett (Attack of the Clones); 9. Padme Amidala (Revenge of the Sith); 10. Han Solo (The Force Awakens); 11. Chirrut Imwe (Rogue One); 12. K-2SO (Rogue One); 13. Obi-Wan Kenobi (A New Hope); 14. Kuill (The Mandalorian); 15. Admiral Ackbar (Return of the Jedi); 16. Pretty much everyone
Tuesday, May 5 -- "Star Wars Logic Puzzle": FC-520 -- made by Dengar -- costs 550 credits G-290 -- made by Tarkin Industries -- costs 625 credits Lectron 6 -- made by Mandalorian Optics -- costs 600 credits MX-827 -- made by Barada Klaatu -- costs 575 credits
... and this new set of binoculars ended up in the possession of some Tusken Raiders on Tattooine shortly after Toro encountered Din Djarin, the bounty hunter known as "Mando."
Wednesday, May 6 -- "Odd Man Out": 1. T-16 Skyhopper (not a rebel ship); 2. Arrakis (not a SW planet); 3. Orson Krennic (not a rebel leader); 4. Leia Organa (not a male human); 5. Jakku (not a SW alien race); 6. IG-88 (not a rebel droid); 7. Brunswik (not an Ewok); 8. Plo-Koon (not bounty hunter); 9. Rectus (not a Sith lord); 10. Rogue One (not the first episode of a trilogy); 11. Steven Spielberg (not a SW film director); 12. Peter Mayhew (not an Anakin Skywalker actor); 13. Sarlacc (not gambling / game); 14. Porg (not a dangerous alien monster)
Wednesday, May 13 -- "The Presidents' Jobs": 1. George W. Bush; 2. Barack Obama; 3. John F. Kennedy; 4. Abraham Lincoln; 5. Thomas Jefferson; 6. Lyndon Johnson; 7. Harry Truman; 8. Woodrow Wilson; 9. Herbert Hoover
Thursday, May 14 -- "Finish the Equation": 1. Quarts in a Gallon; 2. Wonders of the Ancient World; 3. Inches in a Foot; 4. Signs of the Zodiac; 5. Letters of the Alphabet; 6. Days Has September, April, June and November; . Inches in a Yard; 8. Ways to Leave Your Lover; 9. Weeks in a Year; 10. Minutes in an Hour; 11. 90 Degrees in a Right Angle; 12. 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
Friday, May 15 -- "Character Study": 1. Gone with the Wind (Clark Gable); 2. The Wizard of Oz (Judy Garland); 3. Star Wars franchise (Carrie Fisher); 4. The Shawshank Redemption (Tim Robbins); 5. Bonnie and Clyde (Warren Beatty); 6. Back to the Future franchise (Michael J. Fox); 7. The Graduate (Anne Bancroft); 8. The Sound of Music (Julie Andrews); 9. The Silence of the Lambs (Jodie Foster); 10. It's a Wonferful Life (James Stewart); 11. The Breakfast Club (Judd Nelson); 12. Blade Runner (Harrison Ford); 13. To Kill a Mockingbird (Gregory Peck); 14. Citizen Kane (Orson Welles); 15. The Godfather franchise (Al Pacino); 16. Ferris Bueller's Day Off (Alan Ruck); 17. Fight Club (Brad Pitt); 18. Terminator (Linda Hamilton); 19. Alien franchise (Sigourney Weaver); 20. Die Hard (Bruce Willis)
Monday, May 18 -- "Name that Musical": 1. Annie; 2. Bye-Bye Birdie; 3. Wicked; 4. The King and I; 5. Fiddler on the Roof; 6. Evita; 7. Hair; 8. Hamilton; 9. The Phantom of the Opera; 10. Les Miserables; 11. My Fair Lady; 12. Jesus Christ Superstar; 13. The Sound of Music; 14. Oklahoma; 15. Grease
Tuesday, May 19 -- "Poetic Mystery": 1. "Do not go gentle into that good night" by Dylan Thomas; 2. "The Road Not Taken" by Robert Frost; 3. "The Charge of the Light Brigade" by Alfred, Lord Tennyson; 4. "Because I could not stop for death" by Emily Dickinson; 5. "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" by TS Eliot; 6. "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" by Maya Angelou; 7. "My Papa's Waltz" by Theodore Roethke; 8. "The Tyger" by William Blake; 9. "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" by Samuel Taylor Coleridge; 10. Sonnet 18 by William Shakespeare; 11. "Ode on a Grecian Urn" by John Keats; 12. "To a Mouse" by Robert Burns; 13. "The Raven" by Edgar Allan Poe; 14. "O Captain! My Captain!" by Walt Whitman; 15. "Harlem" by Langston Hughes