Mathspp Blog

logic — Logical puzzles and challenges

N queens problem

This article shows how to solve the N queens problem in 20 lines of code.

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Problem #064 – infinite mathematicians with hats

How can an infinite number of mathematicians figure out their own hat colours?

logic mathematics sequences
Problem #063 – arbitrarily many primes in arbitrarily big intervals

Can you prove that there are arbitrarily many primes in arbitrarily big intervals?

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Problem #062 – sliding coins

Can you align all of the coins on the right edge of the board?

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Problem #061 – flower garden

Three mathematicians discuss a beautiful flower garden and the coloured flowers within.

logic mathematics
Problem #060 – realtor commissions

Two realtors discuss who's netting the award for highest average commission, but it isn't clear who the winner is...

logic mathematics
Problem #059 – marching pegs

How can you swap the coloured pegs if they can only march forward?

logic mathematics
Problem #058 – identifying light bulbs

Please help me identify these 100 light bulbs by turning ON and OFF their switches.

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Solving Wordle with APL

Join me in solving the word game Wordle in (Dyalog) APL.

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Look-and-say sequence

We discuss the look-and-say sequence, its behaviour, variations of it, and a Python implementation.

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TIL #038 – look-and-say sequence growth

Today I learned that the length of the terms of the “look-and-say” sequence has a well-defined growth rate.

logic mathematics sequences
Problem #055 – horse racing

25 horses racing, and you have to find out the fastest ones!

logic mathematics
Problem #053 – weighing the odd one out

Can you find the fake ball by weighing it?

logic mathematics
Solving Wordle with Python

In this article we try to crack Wordle, a variation of mastermind played with (English) words.

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Problem #048 – trick or treat

Can you help these kids trick or treat their entire neighbourhood in this Halloween special?

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Problem #047 – surgery gloves

How can two doctors operate two patients with only two pairs of latex gloves?!

logic
Problem #045 – 1, 2, 3

Figure out the number I'm thinking of with a single question!

logic mathematics
Problem #044 – send more money

Can you solve this simple-looking arithmetic challenge?

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Problem #043 – Rubik's cube scrambling

If I scramble a Rubik's cube for long enough, will it solve itself?

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Problem #042 – mine captcha

Can you solve this little minesweeper puzzle?

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