bonanova

archlordbr solves it first. Nicely done everyone.

Hugo found the answer I had in mind and gets the coveted bonanova Gold Star: Tuckleton and bushindo get Honorable Mention for great out-of-box humor. Thanks all! Note to Tuckleton: I visted Stockholm recently and actually saw the building where Nobel Prizes are awarded. Sadly, I did not think to pick up your nomination form.

Thanks EDM. Nope, sorry.

The March Hare and the Mad Hatter were sipping tea when someone came from behind and placed his hands over the Hatter's eyes. Guess Who? said the newcomer in a thin, flat voice. I have no use for practical jokers, the Hatter answered, rather coldly. Nor have I, said the stranger, his hands still covering the other's eyes. At this point the Hatter took up the challenge with a series of questions: Would you, by chance, be in a black suit this evening? I would, but not by chance, by design. Then I presume you're a member of all the posh clubs? Sorry, no. Never been invited. Surely you're better than average? Indeed! Not spotted, I hope? Knock wood. Married? No, quite happy! Who is behind the Mad Hatter?

Good point; it's stated ambiguously. It's the normal case of "three in a row" where the direction can be horizontal, vertical or diagonal.

In both quickies, A, B and C are individually either Knights [truth tellers] or Knaves [liars]. A says: "B and C are of the same type." You ask C: "Are A and B the same type?" What does C answer? . .C says: "B is a Knave." B says: "A and C are of the same type." Of what type is A?

Standard tictactoe is a draw if both sides play optimally. In wildcard tictactoe, each side may play either X or O, whichever is to his advantage. The first to complete a row of three like symbols wins. In this variant, best play does not lead to a draw. So, which side is sure to win?

And old puzzle says that a chemist found that a certain chemical reaction took 80 minutes when he wore a jacket. When he was not wearing a jacket the same reaction always took an hour and 20 minutes. Can you think of an explanation for this? Of course you can; so that's not the question being asked here. Go ahead and blurt it out if you like; but don't expect any credit. Here's today's puzzle: In a related study, the chemist found that a different chemical reaction took 85 minutes when he wore his jacket. When he did not wear his jacket the same reaction always took an hour and 15 minutes. Can you think of an explanation for this?

det has the right answer. Here's another way to solve it

Fast forward a couple decades as the baseball Yankees Core Four reminisce at the 2040 Old Timer's Game... Andy Pettite: Remember that game back in 2012 against the Red Sox when I gave up a lead-off home run to Pedroia and then retired the next 27 batters? The closest I ever came to a perfect game. Derek Jeter: Yeah I think so, it was a special game for me, too. I led off the game and batted in every inning! I went 5-for-5 and raised my average 10 points in a single game. Mariano Rivera: And I watched the whole game from the bull pen, hoping to get another save. But Andy finished strong, and Girardi never called me. Jorge Posada: I don't recall the exact final score, but with Jeet coming up nine times, I can't imagine there would have been a save situation. [Leading by no more than three runs when the closer enters the game.] Dustin Pedroia, in town for the game, got into the discussion later, at Pete's Tavern: Save? You have to have the lead to have a save. In my first at-bat I got the winning hit. You guys never scored! Is there a way to reconcile the memories of these 60-something ball players?

That defines terms. Using them, let us consider two spectral distributions of light. [1] rich in 510nm light. We observe a similarity of [1] to watered lawns and we call it Green. [2] rich in 475nm light. We observe a similarity of [2] to emeralds and we call it Blue. At all times. Nimrod, however names things conditionally: OP says... For example he defines colors called "grue" and "bleen" such that: -------Grue = green for any object observed before the apocalypse, but blue if it is not observed before the apocalypse. -------Bleen = blue if observed before the apocalypse, green if not observed before the apocalypse. Let's assume what is meant is not [as stated] that Grue applies to any object seen before the apocalypse, rather to objects we would call green objects - objects that under white illumination reflect spectral distribution [1]. Nimrod thus names his colors conditionally: it [A] has been seen or has not been seen before the apocalypse. He calls [1][A] and [2] Grue, and he calls [2][A] and [1] Bleen. We call [1][A] and [1] Green, and we call [2][A] and [2] Blue. You say To-MAY-toe; I say To-MAH-toe, and what happened to the paradox? After the apocalypse he uses different words. Nowhere is it suggested that the length of a meter changes or that spectrometers cease to function.

The question presupposes the chair's existence; it couldn't be asked in an empty room. So the response "What chair?" seems best. What can the teacher say -- "Oh, I'm sorry, I guess there is no chair here to discuss."? He must respond "This chair." And those words [re]affirm its existence.

Take the quantities 1/x2 and x. They have limits of infinity and zero as x goes to zero. What about their product? (1/x2) x (x) = 1/x. The limit is infinity. Change the quantities: (1/x) x (x2) = x. The limit is zero. Change the quantities again: (1/x) x (x) = 1. The limit is unity.

Every integer has a next-highest integer.

Dej Mar Thanks for adding this great poetic version of the puzzle!

CMYK values are used in print media for the density of four inks: cyan, magenta, yellow, black. RGB values are used in displays for the brightness of three phosphors: red, green and blue. For a given bit depth, four parameters produce more combinations than three. The number of combinations is of importance only if there are too few, not if there are too many. If "ease" is an issue, keeping a constant bit depth for C M Y K R G and B is best.

littlej has it.

Last month we asked for a particular on a chessboard. We'll simplify, and deal in this puzzle with a robotic King. This robotic King moves, as Kings do, one square at a time, along the four compass points, at a rate of one square per second. His journey is from QR1, the lower left square, to KR8, the upper right square, and back [retracing his exact path, and seeing to it that his trip takes the shortest possible time.] Immediately upon return, he repeats the journey, taking a different path. The King notes that it takes only about a half-day to travel all possible paths between the points. Being a robot, the King never has to pause to rest. Nevertheless, when he finishes, he does meander off his chessboard down to Morty's Tavern to enjoy a cold one with Alex and the boys. One evening over a cool pint, Alex wondered aloud to the King, If ye spent not a half day but an entire year on these Kingly expeditions, how large of a square do ye think ye could explore? Davey overheard and quickly thought 8 x 365 / .5 and guessed, Maybe a 5000 x 5000 square? Ian thought a little longer, scribbled down SQRT [64 x 365 / .5] and quessed, Maybe a 200 x 200 square? But Alex just winked, and suggested that the King might want to ask the BrainDenizens.

The question is, "Where should you sit to have the greatest chance of survival?"

Four knights occupy the corners of a chessboard. At each tick of a clock, they move [in the manner of knights] to a new square. After 16 ticks, They've returned to their starting points.Every square on the board has been visited.The center line [between ranks 4 and 5] has not been crossed. Give one of the paths. E.g. a1 xx xx xx xx xx xx xx xx xx xx xx xx xx xx xx a1

Assuming the probability of success is affected by choices that are made, what should we assume about how choices are made? They are made at randomThey are made following a best strategy If, as seems likely, [2] is intended, then is part of the puzzle to find a best choosing strategy? i.e. might the OP be stated: Assuming a player is experienced and well skilled in this game, what is the best outcome he can achieve?