This is a cross-post from MSE: https://math.stackexchange.com/questions/4900281/the-50-game-between-two-players-selecting-numbers-between-1-and-10-inclusive Let's play a game with two players, with player 1 going first. The players take turns selecting a number between 1 and 10 inclusive. The person who says the number that makes the sum reach or exceed 50 wins. Who wins? Let's go backwards in increments of 11 from 50, we have 50, 39, 28, 17, 6. So player 1 selects 6 on the first turn and then always counters player 2 selecting $k$ with $11 - k$, hitting 50 and so winning the game for player 1 ..read more

About the puzzle: This puzzle is a crossover of "connect the dots" puzzles and crossword puzzles. It requires the solver to place dots on the graph using crossword-like clues. Then, dots must be connected in order (1st to 2nd, 2nd to 3rd and so on). However, you can place dots in any order you like. Every dot/point on the graph has 2 clues: one for X coordinate and one for Y coordinate. Each clue refers to something that has a numerical part in its name or other parameters. Clues may consist of several parts which are combined via mathematical operators such as: x, +, /, ^, -, $\sqrt{}$ (sqrt ..read more

This is an acrostic puzzle which uses cryptic clues. If you're unfamiliar with either or both of those, you can click the associated link. A complete answer should give the quote, author and source, as well as solutions and explanations of the cryptic clues. As always, I've created an interactive version that will autofill from the grid to the clues and vice versa. Have fun! An accessible version for the visually impaired can be found here ..read more

A friend of mine has the following puzzle which we can't figure out how to solve: ADEFBCDGBCDGABC DGABCDADEFGDEFA BCBCAEFGCDEADEF ABDFGACFGACFGAD EFACDEFCFGADEAC DEGBFADEFGBCG A DEGACDEFBCEFABC DFGCADEFGACDEG. Hint 1) Hint 2) Hint 3) Hint 4) Can anyone help us solve this puzzle ..read more

"Hey Pat, thanks for arranging this day trip on the railroad for our scout troop." "My pleasure, friend. My friend at Union Pacific owes me a favor. I love the sound of the horn and the feel of the track passing underneath." "You even put together an activity for the scouts...that's really above and beyond. What's the destination?" "I already told you...look at the activity." "Pat..." As you may have guessed by now, the activity doesn't say "we're going to Durango", or anything so simple. Nope, it's the weirdest screed I've read since Pat sent me those cursed flags...looks like ChatGPT wrote t ..read more

I have an interesting real life problem that can be turned into an interesting puzzle pertaining to a tournament that can be represented in this way: I have 24 people which are assigned numbers 1 to 24. A team of them are in groups of three. ex: (1,2,3) is a team. Obviously, groups such as (1,1,3) are not possible. 4 games can arise from these teams, ex: (1,2,3) vs (4,5,6), (7,8,9) vs (10,11,12), (13,14,15) vs (16,17,18) and (19,20,21) vs (22,23,24). There will be 4 of these games per round as there are always 8 teams, and 7 rounds in the entire tournament. The problem comes when these restric ..read more

I just got back into cubing for fun, not speed. There was an interesting solving method I used to like and can't remember the name of. I believe it started with solving all the corners, then solving the left and right sides by moving the unsolved edge to change to the top layer and spinning the vertical middle layer up and down for the most part. The last part was solving the edges in the vertical middle layer which I think was the only time you really needed to memorize an algorithm. Does this method have a name I could look up ..read more

This is part 60 of the puzzle series Around the World in Many Days. Each part is solvable on its own. Dear Puzzling, This crossword is a combination of straight crosswords clues, cryptic clues and printer’s devilry. In five cases, the answer is too long to fit the grid and one letter must be removed. Letter removals produce real words found in the UKACD. In these five clues, highlight one letter of the clue at the same position as the deleted letter in the answer. For example, if the fourth letter of the answer was removed, highlight the fourth letter of the clue. Today I have visited yet anot ..read more

I've had this metallic puzzle for a very long time (actually it's a replica since the original was lost). It was bought in a shop were I was told long ago that it must have a solution. The question is, topologically speaking, does it have solution? Just need to know whether it has a solution to avoid wasting more time ..read more

Consider the following L-shaped 3-dimensional object made up of three unit cubes joined at their faces: Use 10 of the above L-shaped pieces to make the following shape ..read more