Micro Softy 68: An Overcrowded Prison
When every flip counts, can Frenchy find his freedom?Great minds can figure the way out of difficult situations. Can you?
Here’s this week’s Micro Softy.
Frenchy is convicted of insensitive language that a coffee shop barista considered a micro aggression. Frenchy was convicted and sent to the Pokey Nook prison in Paris. Before being placed in isolation, he meets the Warden.
“You are our 100th prisoner. Every day, each of the 100 prisoners here must flip a switch. Prisoner #1 goes first, then #2, etc up to prisoner #100 which is you. There are two switches next to each other. You can switch either one but you can only switch one switch. We’re watching.”
The warden took a deep breath and continued.
“We’re overcrowded here. If we get one more prisoner, we have to start doubling up cells which is no good. Your crime is the least serious of all the prisoners in here. So, if you can tell me with certainty when the next prisoner arrives, I’ll release you to free up your cell. But no guessing. I don’t have the time. If you guess and are wrong, you will be sentenced to a severe paper cut and be required to dip it in lemon juice.”
Frenchy and the other prisoners at Pokey Nook prison flipped a switch each day for 101 days, On the 102nd day, Frenchy announced with certainty the 101st prisoner had arrived. How did he know?
Solution to Micro Softy 67: Three Switches and a Song
Here’s last week’s Micro Softy was also about switching theory.
Wide Clyde is in the basement and wants to figure out which of three switches controls the hot plate upstairs, which is currently off. The other two switches do nothing. Dolph wants to label the hot plate switch with a black Sharpie—but he’s 300 pounds, lazy and only wants to go upstairs only once to identify the right switch.
Here’s how Wide Clyde determines which switch controls the hot plate using only one trip upstairs.
He first turns on switch #1 for four minutes. Then he turns it off. Wide Clyde next turns on switch #2 and immediately goes upstairs. If the hot plate is warm but not on, Wide Clyde knows that switch #1 is the right choice. If the hot plate is on, it’s switch #2 and, if the hot plate is cold, it’s switch #3.
There’s a two-thirds chance Wide Clyde will have to go back downstairs again to turn on the hot plate.
The Monday Micro Softy is a weekly feature of Mind Matters News. Here are the links to all the puzzles and answers to date:
Monday Micro Softy 67: Three Switches and a Song was about switching theory, and here is the solution: He first turns on switch #1 for four minutes. Then he turns it off. Wide Clyde next turns on switch #2 and immediately goes upstairs. If the hot plate is warm but not on, Wide Clyde knows that switch #1 is the right choice. If the hot plate is on, it’s switch #2 and, if the hot plate is cold, it’s switch #3. There’s a two-thirds chance Wide Clyde will have to go back downstairs again to turn on the hot plate. You can find puzzles 55 through 67 here as well.
Monday Micro Softy 66: Reducing Repetitive Repetition requires being BFF’s with numbers, and last week’s Micro Softy was tough and mathy. Here is the solution: Any three-digit number multiplied by 1001 duplicates the number. For example, 214 x 1001 = 214,214. And 13 x 11 x 7 = 1001. So dividing the big number by 13, then 11 and then 7 is the same as dividing by 1001. The original three-digit number always results!
Monday Micro Softy 65: Fathers and sons was about two fathers and their two sons who walked into a Bass Pro Shop in Memphis, Tennessee. Each man bought an AK47 rifle with ammunition and a 75-round drum magazine. But all together, only three AK47’s were sold. How could this be? The solution is there were altogether two fathers (father and grandfather) and two sons (the father and his son) but only three men. You can find puzzles 55 through 65 here as well.
Monday Micro Softy 64: Old Time Phishing was about an investment banker, Geardown Geko, who received anonymous tips forecasting the outcome of future events starting in 1948. The solution is: The winner of Tipper’s phishing lottery. It was a type of phishing where in the end there was a single winner participant, Geko. Someone had to win. Everyone else who bet on the predictions eventually was a loser. You can find puzzles 55 through 64 here as well.
Monday Micro Softy 63: A Beggar’s Tale. Exceptional nerds are psychologists who see through surface actions. Such a skill is required to solve this Micro Softy. The solution to Freaky Bob’s strategy is: If he had taken the $10, he’d have lost repeat customers. Nobody would’ve been entertained. Choosing the $5 kept people coming back with more cash, proving far more lucrative for him in the long run. You can find puzzles 55 through 63 here as well.
Monday Micro Softy 62: The Ordeal of Sisyphus Fats. The best computer programmers and engineers must be good at scheduling. Last week’s Micro Softy tests this ability and the solution is that Sisyphus Fats took 98 minutes to push the large bowing ball to the top of the 100-foot hill. You can find puzzles 55 through 62 here as well.
Monday Micro Softy 61: Micro Softy Take Five was more of a trivia question than it was a puzzle. To solve Micro Softy 61, the answer is the theme for the Mission Impossible movie franchise starring Tom Cruz. You can find puzzles 55 through 61 here as well.
Monday Micro Softy 60: Here’s a puzzle from Gunsmoke Told to “get out of Dodge”after a shooting, a gunslinger does so at a nearly inexplicable time. Can you solve the puzzle?
To solve Microsofty 59, recall that direction of air flow is due to pressure — not size. Which tire is under more pressure? You can find puzzles 56 through 59 here as well.
Monday Micro Softy 55: “It happens every spring.” Baseball, that is. Here’s a puzzle that takes in baseball’s summer. To solve last week’s puzzle, you don’t need to know the distance. Check the problem again for the number you do need to know. You can find puzzles 51 through 54 here as well.
Monday Micro Softy 50: Cutting through the cornbread. How did Yuri Senior cut the cornbread into eight identical portions using only three straight cuts? You can guess the answer to Microsofty 49 if you try the test question yourself at home, using a small mirror. Links to Microsofties 46 through 49 are here as well.
Monday Micro Softy 45: Can Tony beat the fast-food curfew? An early curfew on fast food service motivated a boy to exercise more vigorously. But how fast was he pedaling? To solve Micro Softy 44, recall that Tony doesn’t need to take the individual pills each day, only the prescribed amount of each. You will find links here to Micros Softies 41 through 44 as well.
Monday Micro Softy 40: The fate of a false prophet. He wasn’t actually fired for being a false prophet but for something that his prophecy unintentionally revealed. The solution to Micro Softy 39 lies in considering an alternative possible meaning of a word commonly used in sports. You will also find links to Micro Softies 30 through 39 and their answers here as well.
Monday Micro Softy 29: A funeral lament in four lines. The funeral director was puzzled by Dan’s description of his relationship to the deceased but there was no question that his grief was sincere Here, you will also find links to Microsofties 22 through 29.
Monday Micro Softy 21: Finding More of the Deadly Fentanyl Pills. Here, you will also find links to Microsofties 11 through 20 as well.
Monday Micro Softy 11: What Happened to That Other Dollar? Here you will find links to the first ten Micro Softies. Have fun!
