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        riddles >> general problem-solving / chatting / whatever >> Question about a Riddle
        
(Message started by: Agentjames on Jan 22^nd, 2007, 1:07am)

Title: Question about a Riddle
Post by Agentjames on Jan 22^nd, 2007, 1:07am

My friends and I started looking into brain teasers and riddles and I am trying to figure out about one that involves starting off with a group of people sitting in a circle. Then, one person will spin a pen or cell phone and then another person will “use the pen” and “read the spinners mind” to tell everyone who the pen is “pointing” at. The object is for the group of people who do not know the game to figure out how the “mind reader” and the spinner pick the same person. Often times, the spinner will write down the “selected” person’s name on a card and then show the group the card after the “mind reader” tells the group the answer. This serves as proof that there really is a formula\trick to it. Does anyone know what I am talking about and also can someone please point me to a place where I can find solid multiplayer riddles and brain teasers for college age people.

Thank you in advance and I am sorry if this post is not in the proper forum. I’m new here.

Title: Re: Question about a Riddle
Post by towr on Jan 22^nd, 2007, 2:20am

Having cards with everyones name on it might work. Often when the trick is done in a way "I predicted it long beforehand", they may have various cards hidden in different places, and just pull out the appropriate card.

Title: Re: Question about a Riddle
Post by Whiskey Tango Foxtrot on Jan 22^nd, 2007, 6:42am

I'm sure the trick is really just that the people who have played the game before already have a system for their actions each time.

The style of play seems to imitate that of Mao (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mao_%28game%29). If you like the "mind reading" game you will probably like Mao as well.

Title: Re: Question about a Riddle
Post by azalia on Jan 22^nd, 2007, 11:32am

I know of two variations of that game. In one, the chosen one is whoever speaks first after the bottle is spun. In the other, an accomplice (not necessarily the bottle spinner) sits in a way that imitates the posture of the chosen one. Or the unknown accomplice, whom nobody is paying attention to could just give a subtle signal when the guesser starts to look at or point towards the right person.

Title: Re: Question about a Riddle
Post by Icarus on Jan 22^nd, 2007, 5:55pm

There are so many ways that this could be done, it's hard to pick just one.

It reminds me of a trick I learned once and used to entertain a group of kids for a week. I would draw a tic-tac-toe grid, and while my accomplice's back was turned, I had someone select a square. Then the accomplice came in, and I started pointing at squares at random. When I came to the right square, he would announce it. I let the kids make guesses about how it was done, then we would do it again in such a way as to prove that the guess was wrong. In the entire week, no one figured out how it was done.

The trick was this: when pointing to the first square, I would imagine that the square itself was divided into 9 smaller squares, and would point to the corresponding small square. My accomplice would see where I was pointing in the imaginary grid, and know which box to wait for as I went through my random pointing.

In the situation here, there are countless subtle ways that they could communicate their choices: glances (not necessarily at the chosen person - instead, they might glance at the person two to the left of the correct one, or something similar), subtle positioning of the fingers (I've done that one before too) or of the whole body. Since everyone in the group is in on the trick, it may not even be the chooser who communicates to the "mind reader" what the choice is.

Title: Re: Question about a Riddle
Post by Grimbal on Jan 23^rd, 2007, 5:37am

It could even be you don't have to define any secret code, especially with children. When you are pointing at the right squares, they will look at the assistant with much more intensity and expectation than if you point at the wrong one. :)