The names of two countries are sequentially spelled out but disguised in each of 10 sentences. Can you decode the names of all 20 countries? Example: Consider the following sentence:
Interpol and the FBI discover hidden marksmen.
The sentence disguises the names of two countries—POLAND and DENMARK—as seen below:
InterPOL AND the FBI discover hidDEN MARKsmen.
Now, find the two countries disguised in these 10 sentences.
1. Vladimir and Olga are Soviet names.
2. Have you ever heard an animal talk in dialect?
3. In letters to the press we denounced the wholesale ban on luxury imports.
4. Evening classes may help an amateur to improve his painting.
5. Children put on galoshes to go out in the rain.
6. Rash decisions may cause trouble, so thorough analysis is a necessity.
7. I first met Ben in his magnificent mansion; later he downplayed his digs, calling it “a fine palace.”
8. If your exhaust pipe rusts, you just have to shrug and accept it.
9. Such a display could be either grand or rather vulgar.
10. Give the dog a bone and give him a little water.
Please email your solution to John Kador at [email protected] using the subject line “Hidden Countries.” Deadline is July 1, 2015. One entrant with the most compelling solution (or a creative alternative) will receive a signed copy of John Kador’s How to Ace the Brainteaser Job Interview. Good luck to all.
Brainteaser #2: Parking Lot
What is the number of the parking space hidden by the parked car?
Solution to the previous Puzzler: Pulley Puzzle
To recap: Equal weights are suspended by a pulley-rope combination. If the structure is allowed to move to equilibrium, what is likely to happen?
Solution: A) The right-hand weight travels down. The winner is Robert Petrik, Ekeanyanwu and Associates, Ameriprise Financial Services, in Little Rock, Ark., who applied his military experience to good purpose. Bob writes:
Having had the experience of extracting battle tanks out of the muck with only another battle tank at my disposal, I rapidly learned the meaning of “mechanical advantage.” By doubling the number of “lines” to the weight on the left, you have created a mechanical advantage that allows the weight on the right to have twice the pull as the weight on the left. Imagine each of your weights representing a tank weighing 25 tons. The tank on the right will have twice the pulling advantage as the tank on the left, allowing the tank on the right to be able to pull the tank on the left out of the muck. The answer is A, the right-hand weight will travel downward. The tank on the right will also travel twice as far as the tank on the left.
Solution to Parking Lot
The answer is 87. The parking spaces are in numerical order. Just turn the puzzle upside down. This puzzle is adapted from a test administered to elementary school students in Hong Kong. It’s an example of a puzzle that requires “out of the box” analytical skills. Many kids solve it quickly because they haven’t yet been trained out of looking at a situation from all sides. Many adults find it quite a struggle, and the stronger their math skills, the more of a struggle the puzzle seems to be. Thanks to Craig Pearsall from the Semester at Sea program for sharing this puzzle.
