Solve Enjoyable Enigmas with Mr.E's Challenge

[lisab]

WW1 solution:

Spoiler

Oh, obviously it was called world war 1 until after world war 2 started.

Spoiler

Right. It would be like referring to your first wife as "My first wife", while you're still married to her .

 

[collinsmark]

WW1 solution:

Spoiler

Oh, obviously it was called world war 1 until after world war 2 started.

Yes, that's correct.

 

[collinsmark]

Here's another one.

A man is running home, but he's afraid to get there, because there is another man already there who is wearing a mask and doing a "job."

What is the masked man's occupation?

Hint: there is a diamond involved.

[Oh, wait, we haven't got a final answer for Zooby's egg question yet, haven't we. Sorry about that.]

 

[Office_Shredder]

For the raw egg:

Spoiler

walk off the concrete to where there's grass, and drop it there. You never promised you would drop it where you're standing

 

[zoobyshoe]

Spoiler

Drop the egg on the feet of the person you made the bet with? Depending on his reflexes he might catch it or else well, some things are worth losing a bet for...

Spoiler

This might work. There's yet another answer, though.

Another answer to raw egg-

Spoiler

I thought about the possibility of hard raw eggs and the ostrich came to mind. The trick is to procure an ostrich egg (from some where!). You can can throw it on concrete and it probably won't break. Apparently it requires a hammer and a drill to break!

Spoiler

This might work. There's yet another answer, though.

For the raw egg:

Spoiler

walk off the concrete to where there's grass, and drop it there. You never promised you would drop it where you're standing

Spoiler

This is certainly correct. But there is yet another answer.

Obtuse clue: how high do you have to lift an egg to drop it 4 feet?

 

[zoobyshoe]

WW1 medal:

Spoiler

The medal was dated as being made while the war was still going on. However, the war is referred to as WWI right there on the medal. WWI didn't start to be called WWI until much later in history.

 

[zoobyshoe]

Here's another one.

A man is running home, but he's afraid to get there, because there is another man already there who is wearing a mask and doing a "job."

What is the masked man's occupation?

Hint: there is a diamond involved.

Spoiler

I'm thinking it's a workman wearing a dust mask drilling into masonry with a diamond tipped drill.

 

[zoobyshoe]

Suppose you coat a tennis ball with glue. What is the maximum number of tennis balls that can be attached directly to this sticky surface?

 

[drizzle]

Spoiler

2+6*2? Wild guess though.

 

[Office_Shredder]

Tennis balls:

Spoiler

This is probably totally missing the point, but the kissing number (number of spheres you can place adjacent to a given sphere) in three dimensional space is 12, but it's well known that you can deform a thirteenth sphere to fit it in as well, so I'm going to go with 13

 

[zoobyshoe]

A man died leaving four grown children.

His will left one-fifth of his estate to be divided equally among all law-abiding male offspring. Three-fifths were to be divided equally among all female offspring. The balance was to be divided equally among his grandchildren.

His offspring were Pat, Leslie, Terry, and Mandy. Pat had joined the Navy. Leslie gained local notoriety for getting many women pregnant. Terry got a job in a hospital and married a nurse. Mandy had been convicted of murder and was in prison.

After the estate was settled, Mandy's son had inherited exactly twice as much as anyone else. Explain.

 

[Office_Shredder]

Spoiler

Pat, Leslie and Terry are women, Mandy is a man and gets none. Then Mandy's son gets 2/5th, and each of Pat, Leslie and Terry get 1/5th. As to how Leslie has gained local notoriety... she's a fertility clinic doctor

 

[zoobyshoe]

Spoiler

Pat, Leslie and Terry are women, Mandy is a man and gets none. Then Mandy's son gets 2/5th, and each of Pat, Leslie and Terry get 1/5th. As to how Leslie has gained local notoriety... she's a fertility clinic doctor

Spoiler

Correct!

 

[zoobyshoe]

No one has yet gotten the tennis balls or egg drop right.

On the egg drop: it's what Office Shredder would consider a "wiseass" answer. It's correct by virtue of sticking to the technical parameters of the bet while violating an important expectation the bet creates. All the answers given so far have been in this vein, but there's (at least) one more really good one you guys haven't seen.

 

[drizzle]

Are we supposed to count the sticky one too?

 

[zoobyshoe]

No. Just the ones you stick to it.

 

[jhae2.718]

You are standing on a hard concrete floor and you have no cushioning to use. You bet someone you can drop a raw egg 4 feet without it breaking. You promise you won't even drop it on your feet. How do you win this bet?

Spoiler

Throw it up >4 feet and catch it? Assuming you consider the return-to-ground part of the trajectory a "drop". Either that or hold it in your hand >4 feet and fall down while holding it.

 

[zoobyshoe]

Three three digit numbers sum to 900. Each of the three digit numbers is composed of three of the numbers from 1 to 9. No number is used twice.

What are some possible values for the three three digit numbers?

 

[drizzle]

No. Just the ones you stick to it.

Spoiler

18??

 

[zoobyshoe]

You have three figures, a circle, a square, and a triangle.

You are told that

2 squares + 1 triangle + 1 circle = 17

1 square + 2 triangles + 1 circle = 14

1 square + 1 triangle + 2 circles = 13

What is the value of the individual figures?

 

[zoobyshoe]

Spoiler

18??

Spoiler

Sorry, no.

 

[drizzle]

 

[zoobyshoe]

Spoiler

Throw it up >4 feet and catch it? Assuming you consider the return-to-ground part of the trajectory a "drop". Either that or hold it in your hand >4 feet and fall down while holding it.

Spoiler

These are both correct. Still there is one important one out there no one has seen.

 

[jhae2.718]

Three three digit numbers sum to 900. Each of the three digit numbers is composed of three of the numbers from 1 to 9. No number is used twice.

What are the three three digit numbers?

Spoiler

Either I'm misunderstanding the question, or aren't there many solutions? (159, 478, 263)
and (259, 173, 468), for example, are both solutions they way I am reading the problem.

 

[jhae2.718]

You have three figures, a circle, a square, and a triangle.

You are told that

2 squares + 1 triangle + 1 circle = 17

1 square + 2 triangles + 1 circle = 14

1 square + 1 triangle + 2 circles = 13

What is the value of the individual figures?

Spoiler

Square = 6, Triangle = 3, Circle = 2

 

[zoobyshoe]

Spoiler

Either I'm misunderstanding the question, or aren't there many solutions? (159, 478, 263)
and (259, 173, 468), for example, are both solutions they way I am reading the problem.

Spoiler

You are correct! I've re-written the problem to reflect the fact there is more than only one right answer.

 

[zoobyshoe]

Spoiler

Square = 6, Triangle = 3, Circle = 2

Spoiler

Correct!

 

[drizzle]

The tennis balls:

Spoiler

1

 

[jhae2.718]

You are standing on a hard concrete floor and you have no cushioning to use. You bet someone you can drop a raw egg 4 feet without it breaking. You promise you won't even drop it on your feet. How do you win this bet?

Spoiler

Take your shoe off, put the egg inside, and drop it four feet.

 

[zoobyshoe]

You bet someone you can drop a raw egg 4 feet without it breaking.

You can fulfill this pretty easily without moving or catching the egg, or magic or special effects, by simply taking advantage of something you haven't promised.