3 Logic Puzzles to Chase Away the Winter Blues
3 Logic Puzzles to Chase Away the Winter Blues
The air is frigid, and snowflakes drift on the wind, draping the landscape in a frosted blanket of white. You sit watching with a warm drink under your nose… Nowhere to go and nothing left to do. You feel boredom creeping its way into your peaceful snow day. “There must be something to keep one’s mind occupied?” you muse, as your eyes scan the surrounding room. Suddenly something catches your eye…”Ah ha! Boredom won’t win this day!” Now you know how you will pass the time….
Logic Puzzles!
I’m sure that you probably have done one of these head scratching puzzles as a child in school, and maybe now you are a master at them! I personally love puzzles of all types, and these 3 are some of my favorites from Fantastic Book of Logic Puzzles by Muriel Mandell and Illustrated by Elise Chanowitz. Let’s get started!
The Martian Rub
After his spaceship landed on Mars, astronaut Jonathan Mark disembarked and approached the first Martian he saw. “Am I headed for the geological dig? He asked.
The Martian rubbed his stomach.
Mark knew that Martians could understand some Earth-talk, but were not able to speak it. And astronaut Mark, like so many Earthlings, could neither speak nor understand Martian gestures. He didn’t know whether rubbing the stomach meant yes or no. But by asking one additional question, Mark was able to find out.
What was that question?
The Search for Doman
This was astronaut Jose Perez’s fourth visit to Mars and he had learned to speak Martian. He wanted to find his Martian friend Doman, but in order to locate him he had to know what group Doman belonged to. The Three groups in the area were: Uti, Yomi, and Grundi.
The Uti always told the truth.
The Yomi always lied.
The Grundi sometimes told the truth but sometimes lied.
Perez needed information. Three Martians, Aken, Bal, and Cwos, each of whom belonged to a different group, agreed to help him.
He asked each one of them two questions: What group do you belong to? What group does Doman belong to?
- Aken said: I am not an Uti. Doman is a Yomi.
- Bal said: I am not a Yomi. Doman is a Grundi.
- Cwos said: I am not a Grundi. Doman is a Uti.
What group does Doman belong to?
Tsientsien Don’t Eat
Jonathan Mark gathered three specimens of Martian plant and animal life to bring back to Earth: a garble, a farfel and a tsientsien. But Mark was worried. His vehicle for local travel was not big enough to hold more than himself and one specimen. Mark knew that garbles will eat farfels if given half a chance, and farfels will eat tsientsien. Garbles, however, don’t eat tsientsien, and tsientsien don’t eat. All the other astronauts were away from the ship.
How could Marl transport the garble, the farfel and the tsientsien one at a time so that they would all be safe?
Can you solve the puzzles?
So what do you think? Did you solve them or were you stumped? Leave your answers to each puzzle in the comments below, and let’s work through them together!
I hope you all enjoyed these 3 little puzzles, and if you would like to see more of these in the future, let us know!
