Quizzes & Puzzles 4
Some new problems with which to exercise the brain. But first a look at answers and solutions to Quizzes & Puzzles 3. New problems below.
Quiz 3:1
“Rice, bamboo, papyrus sedge, and sugar cane; what do they have in common?”
They are all some form of grass. Grasses are extremely important for mammal life in general, and that does include humans. Other grasses include (but are not limited to): wheat, rye. oats, barley, and corn (maize).
Quiz 3:2
“For which placental mammal is the difference in size between a mother and her newborn the greatest? (The smallest babies in relation to the size of the mother.)”
The answer is the bear.
Quiz 3:3
An English king, who planned to convert to Islam, sent a secret message to a Muslim ruler. Through the message he actually offered himself and his country in vassalage.
The Muslim ruler's answer is found in Quiz 3:3, in “Quizzes & Puzzles 3”. It's long, and I will not quote it again here.
Who was the English king?
(From where these messages are quoted, will be stated along with the answer, in “Quizzes & Puzzles 4”.)
The answer:
The English king was John Lackland (1167-1216), and his embassy was sent to the Almohad Caliph of Morocco in 1213.
John was the younger brother of Richard Coeur-de-Lion (Richard Lionheart), whom he succeeded as English king in 1188.
The Caliph's reply was quoted from "The Tartar Khan's Englishman" by Gabriel Ronay (London 1978) - who is quoting Matthew Paris, a 13th century English Benedictine monk and chronicler.
John had a dispute with the Pope, Innocent III. England was put under interdict in 1208, and John was excommunicated in 1209. Under threat of French intervention, John submitted to the Pope in 1213. But not until he had explored alternatives, of which one was conversion to Islam.
Puzzle 3:4
We are at the North Pole and have a way to determine how many ice holes, bears and fish there are. We do that by rolling two normal dice. Here are some of our results:
5+2. One hole. Four bears. Two fish.
2+6. No holes. No bears. No fish.
3+5. Two holes. Six bears. Six fish.
We could go on, but that is enough for you to work out our method. So, how many holes, bears and fish are indicated by a throw of, say, 4+3?
Solution to puzzle 3:4:
A throw of 4 + 3 indicates ONE hole, TWO bears, FOUR fish.
Look at one dice with between one and six dots on it. Only one, three, and five have a dot in the centre - that is a hole! So with two dice we can have zero, One, or Two holes.
The other dots on the dice are bears sitting around the hole. Hence ONE means no bears. THREE means two bears. FIVE means four bears.
And of course the fish are UNDER the hole! So count the numbers on the reverse side of the dice (as obverse and reverse always add to seven there is no need to turn the dice over).
ONE means six Fish. THREE means four Fish. FIVE means two fish.
Two, Four and Six do not have a hole and with no hole there can be no bears and no fish!
And now some new quizzes and puzzles.
Quiz 4:1
In the Mediterranean there is an island, whose name is derived from that of a metal, or the metal got its name from the island. What island, and what metal? (It is a major island, of which practically everyone has heard.)
Quiz 4:2
In the past, a well-known poison was often given to horses to make them look young and vigorous when they were to be sold. Small amounts given to a human, makes the hair lustrous; if getting much, it brings death. This poison is often used in murder stories. What is it called?
Quiz 4:3
This time I ask for the name of a musician and composer. He was one of the greatest virtuosos (maybe the greatest) of his musical instrument ever; and during a time of the first half of the 19th century, he was a performing superstar, treated very similarly to the greatest rock stars of today.
As a composer and mentor, his impact on the musical development has been enormous. His son-in-law, one of the greatest composers of another musical genre, has got the (undeserved) credit for some of his musical inventions.
Late in life, seven years before his death, he was ordained as Catholic priest - a result of a lifelong religious interest.
Who was this virtuoso, composer, mentor, and priest?
Puzzle 4:4
This is about Diophantus (approx 250-330 AD), who was the last of the great Greek mathematicians. Unlike other Greek mathematics, which was mainly geometrical in nature, his work did deal with algebra and number theory, and he is sometimes referred to as "the father of algebra".
He is most known for his, "Arithmetica", the oldest known work of algebra, until much later, when Ahmes' Egyptian work from about 1700 BC was discovered, as late as during the middle of the 19th century.
Diophantus had an enormous impact on the development of modern number theory, and the work of Pierre de Fermat (1601–1665), can much be seen as an extension of Diophantus' work. He also influenced the Arabic mathematics, like that of al-Karaji (abt 980–1030).
But here is the problem!
A true story is what someone carved on Diophantus Tomb:
God granted him to be a boy for the sixth part of his life, and adding a twelfth part this, He clothed his cheek with down; He lit him the light of wedlock after a seventh part, and five years after his marriage He granted him a son. Alas! late-born wretched child; after attaining the measure of half his father's full life, chill Fate took him. After consoling his grief by this science of numbers for four years he ended his life.
How old was Diophantus when he died?
You'll find answers and solutions in the next “Quizzes & Puzzles”.
Quizzes & Puzzles has now its own label in my Index, where all issues of the series can be found.
In my INDEX, you can find all my writings on Read.Cash, sorted by topic.
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I find it difficult to understand puzzles and riddles cause I not an expert in it.