Digital Wilderness

This puzzle appeared in the April 1960 issue of Popular Science.

(Click on thumbnail for enlargement)

Answer will be posted on Saturday.

Via Boing Boing

[UPDATE: Here's the answer: The ages of the three people are 25,3, and 3. Anyone know how that's derived? I'll post that tomorrow.]

[UPDATE #2: Here's the logic behind the answer:

There are 8 sets of possible ages (derived from factoring 225), shown below with their sum in parentheses:

225, 1, 1 (227)
9, 5, 5 (19)
75, 3, 1 (79)
25, 9, 1 (35)
45, 5, 1 (51)
15, 5, 3 (23)
25, 3, 3 (31)
15, 15, 1 (31)

The census guy knows the house number, but he needs to ask another question. This must be because he doesn’t have enough info from the house number and the fact that the product of the ages is 225. This must mean that the ages sum to 31, since there are 2 sets of ages that could sum to 31: 25+3+3 and 15+15+1. By asking if the person answering the door is the oldest he can elimiate 15+15+1 where there is no unique oldest person.]

The students in a math class took an exam. They all got different grades, ranging from A to F. Rachel received neither an A nor an F. Pat got a lower score than Rachel. Bill was beaten by Sue. Andy beat Rachel but not Bill.

Who received what grade?

Here are a few riddles, hopefully one of which will stump you! Answers will come on Sunday, if no one has figured them out by then. Good luck and enjoy!

[UPDATE: Someone pointed out that there was no "question" for riddle #2. Oops, I seem to have left out part of it. Full riddle is posted now]

Jane has twice as many sisters as she has brothers.
Her brother James has five more sisters than he has brothers.
How many boys and girls in the family?

(Hint: There are no more than 10.)

Below is a list of sayings/titles, but with a twist…some words are missing, with only the first letter present. Can you guess the sayings?

Examples:
16= O in a P
Answer: 16 ounces in a Pound

26= L of the A
Answer: 26 Letters of the Alphabet

Answers will be posted in the next day or two

[UPDATE: Answers to the riddles are now posted here]

Riddle #6
It’s more powerful than God.
It’s more evil than the devil.
The poor have it.
The rich need it.
If you eat it, you’ll die.
What am I?

Riddle #7
The one who makes it sells it.
The one who buys it doesn’t use it.
The one who’s using it doesn’t know he’s using it.
What is it?

Answers will be posted in a day or two.

[UPDATE: Answers to the riddles are now posted here]

Since I’m going to be gone for a few days and won’t be able to blog, I thought I’d leave a few riddles. Answers will be posted when I return, so I hope no one loses sleep over these in the meantime. Enjoy!

Riddle #1
Two boxers are in a boxing match (regular boxing, not kick boxing). The fight is scheduled for 12 rounds but ends after 6 rounds, after one boxer knocks out the other boxer. Yet no man throws a punch. How is this possible?

Riddle #2
Is it legal for a man in California to marry his widow’s sister? Why or why not?

Riddle #3
If Susan is 10, Arabella is 20, and Jim and Neal are both 5, but Richard is 10, how much is Jennifer by the same system?

Riddle #4
If 2 hours ago it was as long after one o’clock in the afternoon as it was before one o’clock in the morning. What time would it be now?

Riddle #5
If you were to put a coin into an empty bottle and then insert a cork into the neck, how could you remove the coin without taking out the cork or breaking the bottle?

[UPDATE: Answers to the riddles are now posted in the comments and here]

Can You Find 19 Books of the Bible in the Following Paragraph:*

SOMEONE SHOWED ME THIS STORY AND REMARKED THAT THERE ARE TWENTY BOOKS OF THE BIBLE HIDDEN HERE. HE CHALLENGED ME TO FIND THEM. SURE ENOUGH THEY’RE ALL HERE. STILL THIS THING’S A LULU, KEPT ME LOOKING SO HARD FOR THE LONGEST TIME. SOME OF YOU WILL GET BOGGED DOWN WITH FACTS OTHERS ARE HIT BY THEM LIKE THEY WERE SOME KIND OF REVELATION OR SOMETHING. YOU MAY GET IN A JAM, ESPECIALLY SINCE THE NAMES ARE NOT CAPITALIZED AND OFTEN LEAP THE SPACES BETWEEN THE WORDS. THIS MAKES IT A REAL JOB TO FIND THEM BUT IT’LL PROVIDE A MOST FASCINATING FEW MINUTES FOR YOU. YES, THERE ARE SOME REALLY EASY ONES TO SPOT, BUT DON’T GET A BIG HEAD CAUSE TRUTHFULLY YOU’LL SOON FIGURE THAT IT WOULD TAKE MOST FEDERAL JUDGES AND PREACHERS NUMBERS OF HOURS TO FIND THEM ALL. I WILL ADMIT THAT IT USUALLY TAKES A MINISTER TO FIND ONE OF THEM AND THAT IS NOT UNCOMMON FOR THERE ARE TO BE LOUD LAMENTATIONS WHEN IT IS POINTED OUT. ONE LADY SAYS THAT WHEN SHE IS CONFRONTED WITH PUZZLES LIKE THIS, SHE BREWS A CUP OF TEA TO HELP HER CONCENTRATE BETTER, BUT THEN THIS GALS A REAL PRO! VERBS, NOUNS, AND ALL THAT STUFF ARE HER THING. SEE HOW WELL YOU CAN COMPETE RELAX! THERE REALLY ARE NINETEEN NAMES OF BIBLE BOOKS IN THIS STORY. IF YOU FAIL TO FIND THEM THERE’S A PENALTY YOU’LL HAVE TO GO FLY A KITE, SIT ON A BANANA, HUM THE BATTLE HYMN OF THE REPUBLIC, OR HOSE A DOG (A MEAN ONE) GET TO IT!!

*Hint: It might help to read the paragraph first before looking for the bible books. Some clues are contained within the reading.

I’ll post the results in a day or two.

With thieves I consort,
With the vilest, in short,
I’m quite at my ease in depravity;
Yet all divines use me,
And savants can’t lose me,
For I am the center of gravity.

Who or what am I?

As the legend goes, this puzzle was written by a lady in California in response to an offer from a gentleman in Philadelphia that he would pay anyone $1,000 who could write a puzzle he could not solve. He failed to do so and paid the $1,000. The answer is one word, and it appears only four times in the Bible (KJV).

Adam, God made out of dust
But thought it best to make me first.
So I was made before man
To answer God’s most Holy plan.
A living being I became
And Adam gave to me my name.
I from his presence withdrew
And more of Adam never knew.
I did my Maker’s law obey
Nor ever want from it astray.
Thousands of miles I go in fear
But seldom on earth appear.
For purpose wise which God did see,
He put a living soul in me.
A soul from me God did claim
And took from me the soul again.
So when from me the soul had fled
I was the same as when first made.
And without hands, or feet, or soul,
I travel on from pole to pole.
I labor hard by day, by night
To fallen man I give the great light.
Thousands of people, young and old
Will by my death great light behold.
No right or wrong can I conceive.
The scripture I can not believe
Although my name therein is found
They are to me an empty sound.
No fear of death doth trouble me
Real happiness I’ll never see.
To Heaven I shall never go
Or to Hell below.
Now when these lines you slowly read
Go search your Bible with all speed.
For that my name is written there
I do honestly to you declare.

NOTE: I haven’t verified that the word only appears four times. Found this on the web somewhere and I’m posting it as is…