Monday Micro Softy 57: My Mother’s Mother-in-Law
Can you figure out this relativity puzzle?Part of the trick to solving Monday Microsofty 56 is to decide whether or not to give it a high five.
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Monday Micro Softy 55: “It Happens Every Spring”
Baseball, that is. Here’s a puzzle that takes in baseball's favorite season, summerTo 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.
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Micro Softy 54: A Plane Problem for Aspiring Engineers
The senator is leaving Washington to avoid the governor and their planes are headed in opposite directionsToday’s Micro Softy tests whether you are clever enough with math to code computers or be an engineer. Here’s the story: Senator Kornn did not like Governor Friar. Both were from Texas. When Kornn learned that Governor Friar was visiting Washington, DC, Kornn said “This town’s not big enough for the both of us.” So Kornn decided to leave DC for that period. Kornn and Friar get on planes at the same time. One was at Reagan International Airport in DC and the other was at the Dallas Fort Worth (DFW) Airport. So each was flying to the other’s airport. Both planes took off at the same time. After a while, Kornn looked out of his first-class window and saw Read More ›
Monday Micro Softy 53: Kicking In the Door
To solve this puzzle, you will need to sharpen your abductive reasoning skillsThere are actually two possible solutions to last week’s puzzle, depending on how you interpret the pattern of the arithmetic.
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Monday Micro Softy 52: Elon Musk Parody Asks: Are You a Genius?
The puzzle comes from a parody X account but it is a genuine stumperLast week’s puzzle is easy to solve if we recall how many parents a child needs and of what type…
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Monday Micro Softy 51: A Tale of Two Auto Mechanics
I recognized the two mechanics when I went to the garage…To solve Microsofty 50, about cutting a loaf of cornbread into eight pieces by making three slices, try thinking in three dimensions.
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Micro Softy 49: Mirror Mirror On the Wall…
A man is rather surprised to discover that he is the owner of a rather strange sort of mirrorTo answer Micro Softy 48, consider: How might Freddy be moving his car from place to place without exerting much physical energy at all?
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Monday Micro Softy 48: Why Is Freddy Pushing His Car Around?
And, despite being a heavy smoker, he doesn't get winded…The answer to Microsofty 47 lies in considering whether it is an advantage for the outfielder to catch the ball, given the rules of the game.
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Micro Softy 47: Baseball: Is This an “Intentional” Error? Why?
This is an incident that merits a Micro Softy; it has happened more than once in major league baseballThe solution to last week’s Micro Softy turns on the difference it makes that one train leaves two minutes after than the other.
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Monday Micro Softy 46: Three Loving Brothers in New York State
Why did Mario, who was just trying to economize on Uber trips, end up visiting Luigi five times as often as he visited Bob?A hint for solving Micro Softy 45: Average speed is independent of the distance to the store.
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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.
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Monday Micro Softy 41: King David’s Sons’ Puzzling Inheritance
Solomon must figure out how to divide an oddly shaped piece of land equally among his brothers and himselfIn Micro Softy 40, the critical question is not whether the watchman’s prophecy comes true or not; it’s how he came to learn the information anyway.
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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 revealedThe solution to Micro Softy 39 lies in considering an alternative possible meaning of a word commonly used in sports.
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Monday Micro Softy 39: Astounding Sports History
A player you've never heard of played for three major league sportsA hint for the solution to Pitcher’s Lament (38): When Lefty took the mound, he noticed the runner on third base had a big lead.
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Monday Micro Softy 38: A Pitcher’s Lament
How can Lefty Wright be the winning pitcher in an exciting game without throwing a single pitch?Micro Softy 37 is easier to guess if you think about what the two teams have in common that might change the opening ceremonies somewhat…
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Monday Micro Softy 37: A Unique Baseball Game
Something was missing from the game played on June 30, 1997, that occured in every MLB game for decades beforeThe answer to Micro Softy 36 lies in considering the problem from a number of angles…
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Monday Micro Softy 36: A Glass Half Empty? Half Full? Too Big?
The professors on a research expedition must make sure that each glass of rationed water is exactly half fullHere’s our thirst-quenching Micro Softy for this week. Three professors were on a trip through the Sahara Desert. They had an NSF grant to study the sleep patterns of the Saharan Grasshopper (Heteracris littoralis). They brought exactly enough drinking water with them to last for four days. To stay hydrated, each was allowed a half glass of water every hour during each sixteen-hour workday. The professors shared the water glass shown in the picture. To make sure the water lasted the entire four days, the professors made sure each portion of water filled the glass exactly halfway. There were no markings on the glass. How can they do this? We’ll give an answer next Monday right here on MindMatters.ai. Solution Read More ›
Monday Micro Softy 35: A House With a View
A billionaire, used to getting what he wants, demands a house where all the walls' windows offer a view in the same directionThe solution to Monday Micro Softy 34 is quite simple if we pay attention to the exact measurements of the poles and the wires.
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Micro Softy 34: Two Poles and a Wire
Given the measurements, how far apart must the poles be to make sure the power line does not touch the ground?For a solution to last week’s Micro Softy, look at the last week of the previous year.
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Monday Micro Softy 33: How Fast Can a Person Age?
Can a person go from being five this year to being seven next year?The solution to Micro Softy 32 is to remember what types of functions derivatives apply to.
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