Twenty one points divide and dance,
Twirling and leaping about,
Ladies, Romans and knights of France,
Craving a victor’s rout,
Wrought of wood, ivory or bone,
An exciting yet vicious pursuit,
Ancient, forbidden and crooked,
All in search of the loot.
A die. The standard die has 21 pips (or points), divided up on the six sides of the die which dance around when rolled. Ladies, knights and Romans all played dice as a pastime (though not together). Dice can be made of wood, ivory and bone, among other materials. Dice have been used in Asia since before recorded history and many governments tried unsuccessfully to outlaw the game. Professional gamblers were common and often used loaded dice. Desperate German chaps even bet their own liberty on a single roll of the dice.
A father gathered his three sons and told them he would die soon and needed to decide which son would inherit his land. He gave them the following test.
“Go to the market and purchase something that is large enough to fill my bedroom, but small enough to fit in your pocket. Based on what you bring I will decide which of you is wisest.”
All three sons went to the market in search of something to satisfy their father’s demands. When they returned the father gathered them in his bedroom.
The first son put down pieces of cloth that he had bought and laid them end to end across the room, but it barely covered any of the floor.
The second son laid down hay but there was only enough to cover part of the floor.
The third son showed his father what he had purchased and the father announced, “You are truly the wisest and will inherit my land.”
An Arab sheikh tells his two sons to race their camels to a distant city to see who will inherit his fortune. The one whose camel is slower will win. The brothers, after wandering aimlessly for days, ask a wise man for advise. After hearing the advice they jump on the camels and race as fast as they can to the city. What did the wise man say?
Each son owns a camel, let’s call them Camel A and Camel B. If Camel A is slower, son A gets the fortune. If Camel B is slower, son B gets the fortune. Neither of the sons want to enter the city first because they won’t get the fortune.
When they switch camels, son A is now riding his brother’s camel (camel B) and son B is riding his brother’s camel (camel A). Now, they each want the camel they’re riding to get to the city first. If son A wins the race on camel B, that means his camel, camel A, was slower and he wins the fortune. The same is true for the other way around if the second son wins the race on camel A.
Alan fires a bullet from his hand gun and his friend Wade catches the bullet with his bare hands. The gun shoots actual, deadly bullets. The bullet does not touch anything but air after it leaves the gun and until it reaches Wade’s hand. Wade is uninjured. How does he do it?
Alan fires his bullet from a .25 ACP (Automatic Colt Pistol), which will reach a maximum height of 2,287 feet. He shoots directly upward while standing at the base of Burj Khalifa, a 2,722 foot tall building.
Wade is a window cleaner at that building, waiting at 2,287 feet. When the bullet reaches that height and is about to go back down again, he reaches out with his bare hands and catches it.
Suppose you have twelve eggs and a balance scale. All of the eggs are identical except for one whose only difference is its weight. Using the scale only three times, determine which egg is the odd egg out and whether it is heavier or lighter than the other eggs.
Weigh four against four. If they’re equal, weigh three of them against three you haven’t weighed. If they balance too, weigh the last remaining egg against any of the others to see if it is lighter or heavier. If the three suspects are heavier, weigh one of them against another and the one that goes down is it. If they balance the remaining suspect is heavy. Use the same process if they’re lighter. If the initial four vs four don’t balance, weigh two heavy eggs and a light egg against one heavy egg, one light one and a known normal egg. If they balance weigh the remaining two light eggs against each other. If they balance the unweighed heavy egg is the odd one out. If the side with two heavy eggs goes down weigh them against each other. If they balance it is the light egg on the other side. If the other side goes down it is either because of one heavy egg on that side or because the one light egg on the other side is lighter than the rest. Weigh one of them against a known normal egg to determine which is true.
54325. Rather than being a mathematical solution, the answer is derived by prepending (putting in front of) the value on the left side of the equation with the previous answer. So for 3 you take 25, the previous answer, and put 3 in front, giving you 325. Then you put 4 in front to get 4325 and lastly, put 5 in front to get 54325.