Solutions to Chork's Puzzles


Solutions to the puzzles on the Chork's Puzzle site!

Tuesday, January 09, 2007

Puzzle 50 Solution

Solution to this puzzle will not be released so people can continue figuring out the puzzle. However, the final answer will be released. Well done b3virq3b for solving this commemorative puzzle.

Answer: halloffamegiocs

Puzzle 49 Solution

Note that 9 people are giving 7 different answers, and at most 1 answer is correct, so there are at least 6 liars.

Suppose there are 6 liars. Then Debbie and Gilly are telling the truth and the 7 other villagers present are liars. But 7 > 6, so this assumption is wrong.

Suppose there are 7 liars. Then Ben is telling the truth and the 8 other villagers present are liars. But 8 > 7, so this assumption is wrong too.

Suppose there are 8 liars. Then the 9 villagers present are all liars. but 9 > 8, so we rule out this assumption.

Suppose there are 10 liars. Then Andy and Isaac are telling the truth, so there are at most 9 liars. But 9 < 10 so this assumption is wrong.

Suppose there are 11 liars. Then Eric is telling the truth, but that means there are at most 10 liars. 10 < 11 so this assumption is wrong yet again.

Hence, the only correct answer is that there are 9 liars, and only Jessie and Kevin who were not present are truthtellers.

Answer: 9

Puzzle 48 Solution

There are ten 'issues' over there. Reading ten issues aloud gives you your answer.

Answer: Tennis Shoes

Puzzle 47 Solution

The statues sound like a good lead and are worth inspecting. Hovering your mouse between they and worth in the line "Are they worth inspecting" reveals a hidden link to the following page: http://rikipedias.blogspot.com/ which allows you to inspect the statues.

Now, looking at the first letters of the plates, you might possibly form some words, so if you sort them out in the right order as below, you will get the desired question:







Reading vertically down by columns, you get: What is the seventh letter of the alphabet? And the answer to that tells you the correct lever to pull.

Answer: G

Puzzle 46 Solution



After drawing the smallest box with the 3 circles, work out the angles as shown above. Looking at the VERTICAL dotted line, we can see that the side length of the square is equal to the length of the vertical dotted line and the length of 2 radii of the circles.

The vertical dotted line is given by 10cos15. 2 radii form a diameter. So the side length of the square is: 10cos15 + 10 = 19.66 to the nearest cm.

Answer: 19.66

Saturday, December 09, 2006

Puzzle 45 Solution

Solving the puzzle gives the question:

Some gemstones symbolize birth months. What is the colour of the amethyst, the birthstone of February?

The amethyst is purple.

Answer: purple

Puzzle 44 Solution

Step 1 : Armin + Bob go to the MRT station with the umbrella.
Duration: 4 min

Step 2: Bob returns to school with the umbrella.
Duration: 4 min

Step 3: Chork + Don go to the MRT station with the umbrella.
Duration: 10 min

Step 4: Armin returns to school with the umbrella.
Duration: 3 min

Step 5: Armin + Bob go to the MRT station with the umbrella.
Duration: 4 min

Total duration: 25 min

Answer: 25 min

Puzzle 43 Solution

Your completed Hanjie should look like this:



Answer: jack-o-lantern

Tuesday, October 31, 2006

Puzzle 42 Solution

The total number of sweets up to bag x is given by x(x+1)(x+2)/6. Using this formula, we equate:
x(x+1)(x+2)/6 < 42 million. ie x(x+1)(x+2) < 252 million. Without solving the cubic equation, we can estimate the value of x+1 by taking the cube root of 252 million, which gives us 631.6

Since x+1 < 631.6, the largest integer x value satisfying the above equation is 630. Hence Chork can pack 630 bags of gems in all.

Answer: 630

Monday, October 30, 2006

Puzzle 41 Solution

Note that the numbers 1-0 on the keyboard form diagonal "columns" on the keyboard, each with 3 letters/symbols below them.

To solve the code, look up the number which the symbol lies above on the keyboard. For instance, ! lies above 1, @ above 2, # above 3 etc and move down that many positions along the "diagonal column" to reach the designated letter. So !1 will be Q, !2 will be A and !3 will be Z

Solving the code, we get: "What is the atomic number of the noble gas which is in the same period as chlorine?"

The noble gas is argon with 18.

Answer: 18

Wednesday, October 25, 2006

Puzzle 40 Solution

The last person will make a count of the total number of black and white hats. If there is an even number of black hats, he will say "black". If there is an odd number of black hats, he will say "white". Thus, the next person in line will work out the number of black hats in front of him and determine whether his hat is black or white. Similarly, everyone else in line can work out whether his hat is black or white based on the previous answers.

Here is an example. Lets say the last person counts 80 black hats and 19 white hats. He says "black" which means there are an even number of hats. The next person in row will count the number of black hats.

Let's say he has a black hat. Then he will count 79 black hats before him. But the number of black hats (including his own) is supposed to be even, so he deduces he has a black hat.

If he has a white hat, he will count 8o black hats before him. Thus, he must not have a black hat or else the last person would have counted an odd number of black hats. He deduces he has a white hat.

Hence, all the remaining 99 wise men can work out their hat colour in this fashion.

Answer: 99

Puzzle 39 Solution

Note that it was a trip to USA. The US $100 note is a portrait of Benjamin (Franklin), the US $10 note is a portrait of Alexander (Hamilton) and the US $2 note is a portrait of Thomas (Jefferson). So Chork in fact had US $112 with him which was just enough for him to get 4 spy kits. Thus one kit costs $28.

Answer: $28

Friday, October 20, 2006

Puzzle 38 Solution

Name the shapes and take note of the first letters of the shapes.

Trapezium
Rectangle
Isoceles triangle
Circle
Kite

Octagon
Rectangle

Trapezium
Rectangle
Equilateral triangle
Angle
Trapezium

There you go, a Halloween customized puzzle. (:

Answer: Trick or Treat

Puzzle 37 Solution

Take note of the first letters of the italicised words and you will get the first goddess, Artemis.

Next, note that the statements are either Physics or Chemistry statements. classify them according to physics and chem. (Bolded statements are physics statements)

Electric potential of a point is the work done by external force in moving a unit positive charge from infinity to that point.
Reduction of a primary amide using LiAlH4 in dry ether gives a primary amine.

Condensation polymerisation is the combination of monomers with the elimination of small molecules.

For an object undergoing uniform circular motion, speed of the body is constant but velocity is not.
Diffraction is the bending of waves through an aperture or around an obstacle
When charging a capacitor, the energy does not increase instantaneously.
Eddy currents are induced currents circulating in solid conductors when there is a change in flux linkage.

Metals emit electrons when electromagnetic waves of sufficiently high frequency are incident on their surfaces.

Chlorine is a stronger oxidising agent than iodine.
Inertia is the property of a body that resists change in its state of rest or motion.

Simple harmonic motion is the motion of a body whose acceleration is directly proportional to its distance from a fixed point, and is always directed towards that point.
Le Chatelier's Principle states that when a system in equilbrium is disturbed, the equilibrium will shift to annul the effect of the change.

Now, the hint is that chemistry is associated with long and draggy (ie a dash) and physics is associated with short and to the point (ie a dot). By replacing physics statements with a dot and chemistry statements with a dash, we get

.- / - / .... / . / -. / .-

Decoding in morse code, we get the next goddess, Athena.

Answer: Artemis, Athena

Puzzle 36 Solution

Taking note of the first letters of the statements, we have: "Goddess of Desire and Beauty" which gives us the name of the first goddess, aphrodite.

Now, we note that some of the statements are errorneous. Bolded statements are correct.

Girls are generally born with more fat cells than boys.
Ornithology is the study of marine animals. (It is the study of birds)
Decibels is the unit of measurement for the frequency of sound. (The unit is hertz)
Dynamos were invented by Ernest Rutherford. (It is invented by Michael Faraday)

Epsilon, the 5th letter of the Greek alphabet, is used as the symbol of the permittivity of a medium.
Stratosphere is higher up in the Earth's atmosphere than mesosphere. (Stratosphere is lower)
Strontium is more chemically reactive than calcium.

Ohm is the unit of measurement for reactance.
Filaments in light bulbs are usually made of nickel. (The material is tungsten)
Deimos is a moon orbiting the planet Uranus. (Deimos orbits Mars)
Electroscopes are used to measure static charge.
Solder is an alloy of copper and zinc. (It is an alloy of lead and tin)

Infra-red has a higher frequency than microwaves.
Radius is a bone in the forearm.
Ethology is the study of insects. (It is the study of animal behaviour)
Argon is the most common noble gas found in the air we breathe in.

Nb is the chemical symbol for niobium.
Dimenhydrinate is the scientific name for a drug used to prevent hair loss. (It is used to prevent nausea and motion sickness)
Bacillus are straight and rod-shaped.

Etymology is the study of word origins.
Ailurophobia is the fear of dogs. (It is the fear of cats)
Ungulates are animals with toes. (They are animals with hooves)
The explosion that is said to have begun the universe is the Big Bang.
Yttrium has atomic number 39.

Now, according "1" to correct statements and "0" to incorrect statements, we have:
1000
101
10010
1101
101
10011

Converting the binary numbers to base 10, and then transforming it to alphabets, we get Hermes.

Answer: Aphrodite, Hermes