Easy math puzzles
Poll
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| | 17 votes (32.07%) | ||
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| | 12 votes (22.64%) | ||
| | 4 votes (7.54%) | ||
| | 6 votes (11.32%) | ||
| | 5 votes (9.43%) | ||
| | 12 votes (22.64%) | ||
| | 10 votes (18.86%) |
53 members have voted
October 31st, 2026 at 2:49:41 PM
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Tick tock
:strip_icc()/pic9889096.gif)
Solve the Halloween rebus puzzles.
2) Frankenstein
3) Trick or Treat
4) Count Dracula
6) Hellfire
8 ) Bloody Murder
12 ) The lesser of two evils
14) Haunted house
16) Werewolf
17) Life after death
18) The root of all evil
20) Six feet underground
Have you tried 22 tonight? I said 22.
October 31st, 2026 at 6:02:41 PM
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5 - Over My Dead Body
October 31st, 2026 at 6:08:30 PM
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#1 Pumpkin
Spirits ????
Witch, i.e., which?
Last edited by: gordonm888 on Oct 31, 2026
So many better men, a few of them friends, are dead. And a thousand thousand slimy things live on, and so do I.
October 31st, 2026 at 6:31:23 PM
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1) Pumpkin
2) Frankenstein
3) Trick or Treat
4) Count Dracula
5) Over my dead body
6) Hellfire
7)
8 ) Bloody Murder
9)
10)
11) Spirits
12 ) The lesser of two evils
13)
14) Haunted house
15) Witch
16) Werewolf
17) Life after death
18) The root of all evil
19)
20) Six feet underground
Have you tried 22 tonight? I said 22.
October 31st, 2026 at 6:33:30 PM
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Spellbound ?
So many better men, a few of them friends, are dead. And a thousand thousand slimy things live on, and so do I.
October 31st, 2026 at 6:38:43 PM
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Quote: gordonm888
Spellbound ?
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Very, very close.
Have you tried 22 tonight? I said 22.
October 31st, 2026 at 6:46:19 PM
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Quote: GialmereQuote: gordonm888
Spellbound ?
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Very, very close.
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Books of spells?
#10 Nightmares
So many better men, a few of them friends, are dead. And a thousand thousand slimy things live on, and so do I.
October 31st, 2026 at 6:51:22 PM
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1) Pumpkin
2) Frankenstein
3) Trick or Treat
4) Count Dracula
5) Over my dead body
6) Hellfire Work
7) Spell book
8 ) Bloody Murder
9)
10) Nightmares
11) Spirits
12 ) The lesser of two evils
13)
14) Haunted house
15) Witch
16) Werewolf
17) Life after death
18) The root of all evil
19)
20) Six feet underground
Have you tried 22 tonight? I said 22.
October 31st, 2026 at 7:09:24 PM
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#13 Headstone
#19 maybe: Death Cry ??
# 9 Baltic can mean cold or icy or frozen and the object looks like an oven or stove or range but I can't seem to get it
So many better men, a few of them friends, are dead. And a thousand thousand slimy things live on, and so do I.
October 31st, 2026 at 7:18:59 PM
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Quote: gordonm888
#13 Headstone
#19 maybe: Death Cry ??
# 9 Baltic can mean cold or icy or frozen and the object looks like an oven or stove or range but I can't seem to get it
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9) You're at least in the ballpark.
13) Correct
19) This one is a seldom used idiom. A toughie.
1) Pumpkin
2) Frankenstein
3) Trick or Treat
4) Count Dracula
5) Over my dead body
6) Hellfire
7) Spell book
8 ) Bloody Murder
9)
10) Nightmares
11) Spirits
12 ) The lesser of two evils
13) Headstone
14) Haunted house
15) Witch
16) Werewolf
17) Life after death
18) The root of all evil
19)
20) Six feet underground
Have you tried 22 tonight? I said 22.
November 1st, 2026 at 2:48:57 AM
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Puzzle failed. The timer on your bear trap hits zero. You hear a click...
...will, of course, not be shown on 1970s television. Freeze frame on timer hitting zero, then cut to Rod Serling and roll the credits.
1) Pumpkin
2) Frankenstein
3) Trick or Treat
4) Count Dracula
5) Over my dead body
6) Hellfire
7) Spell book
8 ) Bloody Murder
9) Coven*
10) Nightmares
11) Spirits
12 ) The lesser of two evils
13) Headstone
14) Haunted house
15) Witch
16) Werewolf
17) Life after death
18) The root of all evil
19) Scream blue murder**
20) Six feet underground
* This tricky one shifts gears. "Baltic" refers to the actual sea. "Sea" is a sort of homonym of the letter "C". C + Oven = Coven.
** While most Americans will use the expression "bloody murder", most Brits will say "blue murder". Strange since Brits often say "bloody this" or "bleedin' that".
--------------------
Son: What's mom gonna be?
Me: Mad
Me: Mad
Have you tried 22 tonight? I said 22.
November 1st, 2026 at 2:52:27 AM
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Still in play...
Quote: WizardQuote: Gialmere
A group of 5 people want to keep their secret documents in a safe. They want to make sure that, in the future, only a majority (≥3) can open it. So they want to put some locks on the safe and all of the locks have to be opened to gain access. Each lock can have multiple keys; but each key only opens one lock.
How many locks are required at the minimum?
How many keys will each member carry?
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I thought I posted this yesterday but it appears it didn't take.
My follow up question is what is the general solution for p people where n are needed to open the safe? For example, what if there were 25 people with 15 needed to open the safe.
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Have you tried 22 tonight? I said 22.
November 1st, 2026 at 5:21:29 AM
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Trick or treat
Life after death
Love of money
"No great mind has ever existed without a touch of madness." -- Aristotle
November 2nd, 2026 at 6:17:57 AM
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I think the answer to 18 should be "The love of money," which is a wordplay from this bible verse.
"For the love of money is the root of all evil" -- I Timothy 6:10
This is also one of the most frequently misquoted bible verses, with most people omitting the "the love of" part.
"For the love of money is the root of all evil" -- I Timothy 6:10
This is also one of the most frequently misquoted bible verses, with most people omitting the "the love of" part.
"No great mind has ever existed without a touch of madness." -- Aristotle
November 2nd, 2026 at 9:38:30 AM
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If a fair coin is flipped n times (where n is large), what is the expected absolute deviation between the number of tails and n/2?
I'll just tell you my formula for an estimate. You will see a constant term in it. My real question is there an expression for this contant.
Standard deviation * 0.7966 = 0.3983 * n1/2.
I'll just tell you my formula for an estimate. You will see a constant term in it. My real question is there an expression for this contant.
Standard deviation * 0.7966 = 0.3983 * n1/2.
"No great mind has ever existed without a touch of madness." -- Aristotle
November 2nd, 2026 at 3:18:45 PM
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Quote: WizardIf a fair coin is flipped n times (where n is large), what is the expected absolute deviation between the number of tails and n/2?
I'll just tell you my formula for an estimate. You will see a constant term in it. My real question is there an expression for this contant.
Standard deviation * 0.7966 = 0.3983 * n1/2.
link to original post
I’m thinking it’s (2pi)^-.5 =~ 0.3989 = the height of the normal distribution. I believe a version of this problem was asked/answered/explained on this thread a few years ago
Last edited by: Ace2 on Nov 2, 2026
It’s all about making that GTA
November 2nd, 2026 at 4:32:21 PM
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Quote: Ace2
I’m thinking it’s (2pi)^-.5 =~ 0.3989 = the height of the normal distribution. I believe a version of this problem was asked/answered/explained on this thread a few years ago
link to original post
Thank you!
"No great mind has ever existed without a touch of madness." -- Aristotle
November 3rd, 2026 at 8:53:26 AM
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Doug and Carol are both pool sharks who never miss a shot. They are playing a new game they just invented which uses the balls numbered 1-9. The object is to be the first player to sink three balls whose numbers sum to 15. They alternate turns and get only one shot per turn.
Doug breaks the rack, scattering the balls, but none of them are sunk. It's now Carol's turn.
Does she have a winning strategy to pursue?
Assume that:
a) Only a target ball is sunk on a turn.
b) Both players can sink any ball still on the table.
Have you tried 22 tonight? I said 22.
November 3rd, 2026 at 9:12:25 AM
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No. In effect, the game is, they alternate choosing numbers from 1-9 until one of them has 3 that sum to 15.
Arrange the numbers in a 3 x 3 magic square:
8 1 6
3 5 7
4 9 2
It becomes a game of tic-tac-toe.
Carol sinks the 5 first, as otherwise Doug sinks the 5, and it becomes impossible for Carol to force a win.
Doug then sinks any of the even numbers, and the game continues until all of the balls are sunk and nobody has 3 that sum to 15.
November 3rd, 2026 at 9:15:14 AM
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Quote: Gialmere
Doug and Carol are both pool sharks who never miss a shot. They are playing a new game they just invented which uses the balls numbered 1-9. The object is to be the first player to sink three balls whose numbers sum to 15. They alternate turns and get only one shot per turn.
Doug breaks the rack, scattering the balls, but none of them are sunk. It's now Carol's turn.
Does she have a winning strategy to pursue?
Assume that:
a) Only a target ball is sunk on a turn.
b) Both players can sink any ball still on the table.
link to original post
Off the top of my head, haven't thought about it too much, but I'd start with the 5. That leaves 4 pairs of balls to win the game and those pair involve all 8 other balls. For a 3-ball win, Doug can wait for Carol to commit and sink a second ball, then Doug spoils it. And only one 5-ball win is possible, which Doug can spoil on his next shot by sinking any ball 1-4. So she's really looking for a 4-ball win, where there is an option possible on the last ball that Doug has no way to spoil. I don't think it's possible, just not enough combinations.
Interesting game though. Like playing "201" with darts, you could probably do a similar game with pool balls.
