"NUTS!"

Evening Post, Volume CXII, Issue 11, 13 July 1931, Page 16

"NUTS!"

I \ \ INTELLECT SHARPENERS | | All rights reserved. ! I , (By T. L. Briton.) [

" Readers with a little ingenuity will find in this column an abundant store of entertainment and amusement, and the solving of the problems (should provide excellent mental (sxhilaration. While some of the "nuts" may appear harder than others, it .will be found that none will require ' a sledge-hammer to crack them. WITHOUT THE PAWNS. The reader who does not play chess need not pass this little problem for that reason, for if he merely knows how the board is set up, iio skill 6r knowledge of the play is needed. As everyone- is aware, the board consists of sixty-four, squares eight by eight, thirty-two pieces being used, sixteen for each player. To simplify the problem the pawns will be removed, leay-. ing. eight pieces on each- side, namely, a king, a queen, two bishops, two knights, and two rooks, sixteen in all, each occupying. one of. the sixty-four squares, eight being on the outer line of the board, the remainder being in a similar position on the opposite side. The question is in how many different ' ways can the board be correctly set up .with tho sixteen pieces? . The arithmetic of this.is very "simple, but it is quite possible that an incorrect answer will result even from choss devotees, for there is a little point to be obBervctf which may trip the unwary. A TEST OF SKILL. '''. ■■ It will possibly test the ingenuity of the would-be solver to find the correct translation of the following -jumble of words, none of which, as written, areto be found in any dictionary of: tho language. All the letters employed, however, are those, forming the original words with the addition, in sundry^ places, of a few "redundarits," and'the' two sentences from which the cryptograph is formed are< good plain English.- It should' be noted, that, a proper division into,, words has not been observed, and punctuation has been ignored except the full ■ stops, the first being after the word XP.TYQRC. JEH TEREMTZ CAFPOX JAEGASSQXJEMG NIX EB DELAX JEC NQCROZ YLT JERCESQDEY JEVNOQC SEZ JOD TONX YLIX RAS SEC JENE KAM.TIX ■ ZAHQ ■ JPAR ' GOTZ XPJYQRC. ROFECX NATSNIS ZEG ASSEM NETTIRWN OZEHJT REPAPX ZGNIP PARWF-. JOAETZ TERAG - JICROYBEH JTES QUFOK NIHC JIHWZ SEMOX CEBELB JIS IVYJL ' NOR.E JTFAG NIEBJYL REXP JbRP DETAZ ERTER. JAYLTZ SOMNET TIXRWQ NINI JALPEG.A QUGN. AZL. ;■■ ': . ' ... •' '' V. ; A BENZINE tfANK. A large tank in ,an. oil-store-had. been filled with benzino to its full capacity, but by leakage it lost in twenty days exactly seven one-hundredths of its contents. This leakage was noticed and measured by an attendant when ho went to complete a sale of three . hundred and one gallons which quantity he then drow off, leaving the tank exactly half full. An interesting question is suggested by theso low particulars, namely, if the whole capacity of the ■ oil-store is 91,600 gilllone (nine, one,'six, nought, nought),'can the reader find by a very simple arithmetical process how many, tanks of the size of the one described could be filled with benzine from tho quantity that could be stored in the shed when it is full to its maximum capacity? Though this question is one which is possiblo to be correctly answered without, resource to pen or pencil, yet it is quite possible that the would-bo solver will bo tripped unless ho reads the statement carfully. AOUKIOUS FOEMULA. There is a curious formula in elementary arithmetic which enables anyone knowing it to correctly determine. any number secretly written down by another person and known to him only, b/ merely asking a few indirect questions concerning it, which can be satisfacorily answered by "yes" or "no," neither the questions nor the answers giving any inkling to anyone not knowig tho formula. To get tho most fun out of this curious puzzle, tho number selected should bo a small one, say, under one hundred, so that it may bo dealt with montally without effort, and rendering pen or pencil unnecessary. Supposing, for example, tho number written down is 50 tho person demonstrating tho formula will ask of the holder o'C the secret number, six questions ono after the other and all precisely tho same, the auswers "yes" of "no" being sufficient for the performer to immediately declare what the actual number is. Does the reader know how simply this can be done'? IN ROWS AND COLUMNS. . Here is an interesting puzzle with counters that should give tho reader perhaps half an hour of intellectual amusement, particularly1 if he adopt "trial" methods to achieve the object. Make a sixteen square numbering the cells 1 to .16 reading from left to right horizontally, starting at the top lefthand corner, and try to discover in how many different ways four counters can be placed, one in a cell, so that there will not be'more than one of them in the same row or column. Placing them diagonally is one way, but although there are two diagonals, it will bo really only one way that that position niay count, neither will a reversal in any ' other manner nor a reflection of a position'count as a different way. It may surprise the reader to know that are only > a few 'arrangements under these stipulations, fewer than one dozen and if the reader will .' spend a little time v in discovering all of them, the time should pass quickly and "enjoyablw SOLUTIONS. . A Novel Competition.—Twenty-three and a half days, but if the distance had \been in a straight line,'tho shortest time possible would be 86. What is the Cost?-—lf an article is marked for sale at thirty-three and a

third per cent, upon cost price, and sold at a reduction of ten per cent, on the latter price, the profit would be twenty per cent., not twenty-three -;and a half as several readers have written to say. The cost of tho article in question was therefore 10s. . Three Lengths of Roads.—Twelve and a half, ten, and sove.ii and a half respectively. • Five Orphans.—Ten and a half, fivo and a quarter, three iincl a half, and one and three-quarters. Equal Fines. —Two pence-decimal two

ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. "Calculus."—Ratio can exist only between quantities of the same kind, aud there cannot be-a ratio between five minutes and three pence, or between three pounds and five quarts; (2) milk and water are of the same "kind," viz., fluids; .(3) ■ any. side of a triangle may be called ■ its base. .

"Wager."—A dealer's finances do not remain in "statu quo" if he buys ' -. 'thirty articles at the rate of seven for live shillings, and sells fifteen at the rate of three for two ■ shillings, and lit'teen at the rate of four for three shillings, though superficially it may appear so. You > are therefore both wrong, but neither loses.

Correspondence 'should be addressed care of P.O. Box 1023.