|
|
Go to page 1~2 [Next] | ||||||||||
Ollie1235 Special user England 533 Posts |
Heres a puzzle type thing that I heard not to long ago...
Fred and George live in different countries, Fred lives in England and George lives in America. Fred needs to send George a valuable item. However if the people at the post office see that it is valuable they will take it and the item will not get to George. One way to send the item is to send it in a box with a padlock, because the post office will not check padlocked boxes. However when George receives the box this means that he will not be able to open the box because he doesn't have the keys. The only way to send the item is through the post office. How does Fred send George the item without the postoffice getting it? I'll post the answer in a day or so. ollie. |
|||||||||
Dr_Stephen_Midnight Inner circle SW Ohio, USA 1555 Posts |
If I had this actual quandary, I would mail the keys separately, a few days before or after.
I'm sure that's not the 'clever' answer, though. Steve
Dr. Lao: "Do you know what wisdom is?"
Mike: "No." Dr. Lao: "Wise answer." |
|||||||||
Rupert Bair Inner circle ? 2179 Posts |
Draw a padlock on a box? lol.
|
|||||||||
Michael Baker Eternal Order Near a river in the Midwest 11172 Posts |
The sender (Fred) puts the item in the box, locks it, and mails it to the recipient (George). Fred retains the key for the lock.
George adds another lock to the box and mails it back to Fred. George retains the key to the second lock. Fred removes the original lock (with his retained key) and mails it back to George who then opens the second lock with the key he retained. George can now open the box to get the item.
~michael baker
The Magic Company |
|||||||||
Ollie1235 Special user England 533 Posts |
Quote:
On 2005-01-20 12:58, Dr_Stephen_Midnight wrote: I forgot to mention that the peopke at the post office consider the key valuable and therefore keeps it. Anyway it looks like Michael's got it right. Anyone else have any more of these 'puzzles'? ollie |
|||||||||
JohnDoh New user 85 Posts |
Try the "Puzzle Me This" forum, it's chock full o' riddles.
|
|||||||||
Partizan Inner circle London UK 1682 Posts |
Send it in a padded envelope. This way the mental cannot get in or out!
"You cannot depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus."
- Mark Twain |
|||||||||
prospero Special user Elsewhere 572 Posts |
This is an encryption quandary! I refer you to PGP and public-key encryption.
|
|||||||||
Daegs Inner circle USA 4291 Posts |
Well, not exactly public-key...
This doesn't translate directly to encryption because two padlocks are on at the same time, and you can't double encrypt something and have the lower encryption still be able to decode... |
|||||||||
irossall Special user Snohomish, Washington 529 Posts |
That's a lot of mailing and a lot of postage paid. Steve had the most logical, easiest and cheapest method. But then again, this is a puzzle not a real life scenario.
Iven
Give the gift of Life, Be an Organ Donor.
|
|||||||||
Michael Baker Eternal Order Near a river in the Midwest 11172 Posts |
The problem with Steve's method is that the post office may steal the key if not locked in a box, as value is a discretionary issue, and then the whole problem is back to square one.
If the puzzle were worded that the post office steals everything not locked, the two lock solution is valid, but possibly not the only solution. Two keys to the same lock is only possible if Fred and George had been able to premeditate their solution and aquire and divide up keys in person, rather than through the mail. Postage cost is also a relative issue if the item being mailed is indeed, valuable, or if money were no object.
~michael baker
The Magic Company |
|||||||||
Jordini Inner circle 2765 Posts |
What if he used one of those new "3D printers?"
OR it could be a combination lock and the code could be 1 1 2 3 5 8 13 21 Because it's a cool code (and ya'll should know what's so cool about it) |
|||||||||
RiffClown Inner circle Yorktown, Virginia (Previously Germany) 1579 Posts |
Rob "Riff, the Magical Clown" Eubank aka RiffClown
<BR>http://www.riffclown.com <BR>Magic is not the method, but the presentation. |
|||||||||
Ollie1235 Special user England 533 Posts |
Quote:
On 2005-01-21 13:35, Jordini wrote: fibonacci sequence? ollie |
|||||||||
Michael Baker Eternal Order Near a river in the Midwest 11172 Posts |
Quote:
On 2005-01-21 16:40, Ollie1235 wrote: Yup.
~michael baker
The Magic Company |
|||||||||
irossall Special user Snohomish, Washington 529 Posts |
Quote:
On 2005-01-21 13:35, Jordini wrote: So the next number is 34 and 55? why is it a "cool" code. Seems easy to figure out and a code should not be easy to figure out or am I missing something here? Iven
Give the gift of Life, Be an Organ Donor.
|
|||||||||
Niko Special user England 599 Posts |
SOMEONE'S been reading the Da Vinci Code
When you do something right, people won't be sure you've done anything at all.
|
|||||||||
Jordini Inner circle 2765 Posts |
SUCH a good book. Dan Brown is my hero. BY THE WAY all you Da Vinci Code fans, Ron Howard is making a film about this book. He was just granted permission to film in the Louvre, and he cast Tom Hanks as the part of Robert Langdon! Should be good. HMmmm I think I'll start another thread about it.
|
|||||||||
Niko Special user England 599 Posts |
Heheh. When will it be made!
Don't know how they'll film all the flashbacks and make it make sense. It'll be tough. Or even if they give clues in the film as to the code for the cryptex etc. If any of you have seen Scary Movie 2 - The professor Guy should SO play Sir Leigh Teabing! You know what I'm talking about?
When you do something right, people won't be sure you've done anything at all.
|
|||||||||
DVA Regular user 142 Posts |
Quote:
On 2005-01-23 07:41, irossall wrote: The Fibonacci sequence is "cool" because it exists in nature. Spiral sea shells exhibit the sequence when they are graphed. There are many instances of the sequence all around you at work everyday you just have to look. Do a Google search for Fibonacci Sequence, it really is quite fascinating. |
|||||||||
The Magic Cafe Forum Index » » Not very magical, still... » » A puzzle for you all (0 Likes) | ||||||||||
Go to page 1~2 [Next] |
[ Top of Page ] |
All content & postings Copyright © 2001-2024 Steve Brooks. All Rights Reserved. This page was created in 0.02 seconds requiring 5 database queries. |
The views and comments expressed on The Magic Café are not necessarily those of The Magic Café, Steve Brooks, or Steve Brooks Magic. > Privacy Statement < |