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Topic: Khan I. Bal's Riddles: Vollume 5 (Read 850 times) |
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alien2
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Khan I. Bal's Riddles: Vollume 5
« on: Oct 13th, 2018, 6:54am » |
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It is a moving day. Oh well. A woman is moving into another apartment. There are four packed boxes each with one of three sizes, be it small, medium or big. There is a small, medium and big box. What size is the 4th?
P.S. Nothing unusual 'bout this riddle - when you think about it. Just fill the missing fact (considering that there are no additional objects in the riddle).
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| « Last Edit: Oct 19th, 2018, 4:34am by alien2 » |
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Grimbal
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Re: Khan I. Bal's Riddles: Vollume 5
« Reply #1 on: Oct 16th, 2018, 6:08am » |
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Same size as the other one there.
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alien2
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Re: Khan I. Bal's Riddles: Vollume 5
« Reply #2 on: Oct 16th, 2018, 6:58am » |
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on Oct 16th, 2018, 6:08am, Grimbal wrote:| Same size as the other one there. |
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Huh? Sorry, Grimbal, I don't follow . . .
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Grimbal
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Re: Khan I. Bal's Riddles: Vollume 5
« Reply #3 on: Oct 17th, 2018, 7:11am » |
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There are 3 sizes. The fourth box must be the same size as one of the 3 others. So just point vaguely at the 3 other boxes, and say "same size at the other one over there". It should be correct, sort of.
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| « Last Edit: Oct 24th, 2018, 6:01am by Grimbal » |
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alien2
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Re: Khan I. Bal's Riddles: Vollume 5
« Reply #4 on: Oct 17th, 2018, 7:42am » |
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Nope. Nah. The answer does not leave room for interpretation, ergo there can be only one solution, and a logical one too. Yes. There is something I (deliberately) failed to mention, about the boxes, of course. It is your task to figure out: what, exactly? Just think of the boxes, as though you are under some enchantment.
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| « Last Edit: Oct 17th, 2018, 7:43am by alien2 » |
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dudiobugtron
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Re: Khan I. Bal's Riddles: Vollume 5
« Reply #5 on: Oct 18th, 2018, 5:17pm » |
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on Oct 13th, 2018, 6:54am, alien2 wrote:| There are four packed boxes each with one of three sizes, be it small, medium or large. There is a small, medium and big box. What size is the 4th? |
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There is no 4th size. Unless 'big' and 'large' are different sizes.
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alien2
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Re: Khan I. Bal's Riddles: Vollume 5
« Reply #6 on: Oct 19th, 2018, 4:33am » |
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That's a fine idea. Not quite what I had in mind. Nope. Not at all. The 4th box is either small, medium or big.
I removed the "large" part (and plausible confusion).
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| « Last Edit: Oct 19th, 2018, 4:36am by alien2 » |
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alien2
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Re: Khan I. Bal's Riddles: Vollume 5
« Reply #7 on: Oct 23rd, 2018, 5:55am » |
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Feng shui, anyone? That was a bit misplaced clue. Nonetheless, it could direct you on the right path.
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dudiobugtron
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Re: Khan I. Bal's Riddles: Vollume 5
« Reply #8 on: Oct 23rd, 2018, 5:24pm » |
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Do we know what shape the boxes are?
ie: Are they cubes? Do they all have the same relative proportions? etc...
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alien2
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Re: Khan I. Bal's Riddles: Vollume 5
« Reply #9 on: Oct 24th, 2018, 5:26am » |
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They're cubes. In comparison, the big box is rather big whilst the small one is rather small. Yes. Visualization is important and the difference in sizes is evident.
Visualize! Visualize the darn boxes! (Properly.)
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| « Last Edit: Oct 27th, 2018, 7:03am by alien2 » |
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Vondell
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Re: Khan I. Bal's Riddles: Vollume 5
« Reply #10 on: Nov 5th, 2018, 5:17pm » |
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The box is multi-collapsible (if that is a word) and can be folded into any size. Therefore, it is whatever size its user needs it to be.
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Why is it that people ask for my two cents worth, and then only offer me a penny for my thoughts?
That deal sucks!
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alien2
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Re: Khan I. Bal's Riddles: Vollume 5
« Reply #11 on: Nov 6th, 2018, 4:26am » |
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A logical conclusion. However, highly speculative and not applicable to this particular situation. Your imagination is commendable, and to some degree even an alternative answer, and yet too complex considering its foothold in a multi-box that wasn't mentioned in the original riddle.
One ought to consider all four boxes, rather than the one in question, in order to solve the puzzle.
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| « Last Edit: Nov 15th, 2018, 8:51am by alien2 » |
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alien2
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Re: Khan I. Bal's Riddles: Vollume 5
« Reply #12 on: Nov 15th, 2018, 8:53am » |
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Visualize the boxes, place the boxes, play with them, but: be careful you don't break anything, hoping that a box does not fall . . .
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dudiobugtron
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Re: Khan I. Bal's Riddles: Vollume 5
« Reply #13 on: Nov 15th, 2018, 4:02pm » |
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The boxes are rooms in her house. She has an open plan living room/kitchen/dining room (large), a bedroom (medium), and bathroom (small) which have all been packed. The fourth room is the laundry, which is also small. (With a strangely low roof since it is a cube: perhaps her living room has a mezzanine floor to access the bedroom?)
Or perhaps this is actually a zen puzzle. Is there really a fourth box?
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alien2
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Re: Khan I. Bal's Riddles: Vollume 5
« Reply #14 on: Nov 16th, 2018, 6:12am » |
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on Nov 15th, 2018, 4:02pm, dudiobugtron wrote:
(...)
Or perhaps this is actually a zen puzzle. Is there really a fourth box? |
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There is. The question is, where it is (temporarily placed), exactly? Left, right, up, down . . .
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alien2
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Re: Khan I. Bal's Riddles: Vollume 5
« Reply #15 on: Nov 17th, 2018, 11:09am » |
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A clue: Humpty Dumpty.
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Grimbal
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Re: Khan I. Bal's Riddles: Vollume 5
« Reply #16 on: Nov 19th, 2018, 3:56am » |
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on Nov 15th, 2018, 4:02pm, dudiobugtron wrote:| Or perhaps this is actually a zen puzzle. Is there really a fourth box? |
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If there is a box but there is no puzzler to see it, is it still a box?
A box is a box because someone may use it to put something inside. If nobody knows about the box, why would it be called a box?
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alien2
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Re: Khan I. Bal's Riddles: Vollume 5
« Reply #17 on: Nov 19th, 2018, 7:07am » |
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on Nov 19th, 2018, 3:56am, Grimbal wrote:
If there is a box but there is no puzzler to see it, is it still a box?
(...)
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According to animism it is? A self-aware box may contradict what seems to be obvious. And remember: no box is an island.
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| « Last Edit: Nov 19th, 2018, 7:10am by alien2 » |
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dudiobugtron
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Re: Khan I. Bal's Riddles: Vollume 5
« Reply #18 on: Nov 20th, 2018, 3:43pm » |
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Good thinking. I guess it must be Schrödinger's box:
The fourth box is inside the large box. It was originally a medium sized box, but if the Geiger counter detecting an atom decayed during the move, then the box was cut down to small size. Otherwise, it stayed a medium box. Unless we open the large box, we can't know for sure.
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| « Last Edit: Nov 20th, 2018, 3:44pm by dudiobugtron » |
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alien2
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Re: Khan I. Bal's Riddles: Vollume 5
« Reply #19 on: Nov 21st, 2018, 5:28am » |
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An ingenious approach. However, it somewhat lacks clarity regarding this particular instance. All four boxes are packed and ready to go, that is to say, no box is in another. I do commend your imagination, emphasizing, again, that a certain arrangement of the four boxes is of utter most importance. Surely, there must be a certain way you can't or at least shouldn't arrange the boxes . . .
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| « Last Edit: Nov 21st, 2018, 5:30am by alien2 » |
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Grimbal
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Re: Khan I. Bal's Riddles: Vollume 5
« Reply #20 on: Nov 21st, 2018, 9:18am » |
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The 4th should be just the size of a quarter, shouldn't it?
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Grimbal
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Re: Khan I. Bal's Riddles: Vollume 5
« Reply #21 on: Nov 21st, 2018, 9:19am » |
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"The ways of the Living 4th are beyond our understanding… But fear not. You are in the hands of something much greater and much better than you can imagine."
-- Qui-Gon Jinn
The answer: the 4th is much greater and much better than you can imagine.
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| « Last Edit: Nov 21st, 2018, 9:20am by Grimbal » |
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alien2
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Re: Khan I. Bal's Riddles: Vollume 5
« Reply #22 on: Nov 21st, 2018, 10:01am » |
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on Nov 21st, 2018, 9:18am, Grimbal wrote:| The 4th should be just the size of a quarter, shouldn't it? |
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I think you got it, but I can't be sure. Nope. Please be specific. Starting get dumb . . .
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| « Last Edit: Nov 21st, 2018, 10:05am by alien2 » |
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Grimbal
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Re: Khan I. Bal's Riddles: Vollume 5
« Reply #23 on: Nov 22nd, 2018, 6:29am » |
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Let's try it like this:
if the 4th box is also one forth (1/4) of the total volume then it must be a medium-sized box.
x = 1/4(s+m+b+x)
where x in {s,m,b} with s<m<b
You can infer
4x = s+m+b+x
If x=s then
4s = s+m+b+s
2s = m+b
but s<m<b so 2s<m+b. A contradiction.
If x=b then likewise
4b = s+m+b+b
2b = s+m
but b>m>s so 2b>s+m. A contradiction.
This leads to the conclusion that x=m. The 4th box is medium.
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| « Last Edit: Nov 22nd, 2018, 6:29am by Grimbal » |
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alien2
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Re: Khan I. Bal's Riddles: Vollume 5
« Reply #24 on: Nov 22nd, 2018, 6:30am » |
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Haw can boxes be arranged so that they take not a lot of space and you don't trip on them? This was THE clue.
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| « Last Edit: Nov 22nd, 2018, 6:31am by alien2 » |
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