puzzles

In the fall of 2017, Mehtaab Sawhney, then an undergraduate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, joined a graduate reading group that set out to study a single paper over a semester. But by the semester’s end, Sawhney recalls, they decided to move on, flummoxed by the proof’s complexity. “It was really amazing,” he said. “It just seemed completely out there.”The paper was by Peter Keevash of the University of Oxford. Its subject: mathematical objects called designs.The study of designs can be traced back to 1850,…

I adore Rube Goldberg machinesas much as the next puzzle-fanatic, but I never had the pleasure of playing the Goldberg-inspired board game Mouse Trap. As I understand it, the gameplay didn’t matter much. The joy was in building a contraption that, with the crank of a gear, set off a chain reaction in which a marble zig-zagged down a staircase, a diver launched into a bucket, and eventually a cage lowered onto a plastic pest. Apparently, when originally pitched, the president of Milton Bradley rejected the idea as “a lot…

Sony revealed The Talos Principle 2 at its PlayStation Games Showcase today. The sequel to the 2015 first-person puzzler promises a greatly expanded scope with “more mind-bending puzzles to solve, more surreal environments to explore, more secrets to uncover, a deeper story to lose yourself in, and bigger questions to boggle your brain.” Developer Croteam describes the sequel as simultaneously familiar and fresh. The game takes place “in an era where humanity as we know it has long gone extinct, but our culture lives on…

The modern matchstick was invented in the early 1800s. The initial iterations suffered from assorted defects like violent flares, rancid chemicals, and a tendency to cause factory workers’ jaws to rot. Once they ironed out the kinks, the little torches spread like wildfire. To distinguish themselves in a new competitive market, many companies began to sell their matchsticks in funky, colorful boxes. Among the attention-grabbing designs that now decorate phillumenists’ collections were boxes with puzzles. Some brands would…

One of the most famous logic puzzles of all time involves a fork in the road, where one path leads to freedom and the other leads to your death. Each path has a guard, and one of them always tells the truth and the other always lies, but you don’t know which is which. You get to ask one yes/no question to one guard to guarantee your road to freedom. What do you ask? It won’t work if you simply ask one of them, “Does your road lead to freedom?” because if they reply, “Yes,” then it could be a truth-teller setting you free…

Feeling Catty Capcom has quietly issued a brand new trademark for the unannounced title Monster Hunter Puzzles: Felyne Islands, suggesting that the Japan-only PSP release, Airu de Puzzle, may be getting dusted off for an all-new worldwide release. The trademark was filed with multiple international licensors. As noted by Gematsu, Airu de Puzzle is a cute, block puzzle title that launched on PlayStation Portable (PSP) way back in 2012). The fun handheld title has players battle it out in typical block-busting…

Then last fall, Milman came up for sabbatical and decided to visit Neeman so the pair could make a concentrated push on the bubble problem. “During sabbatical it’s a good time to try high-risk, high-gain types of things,” Milman said.For the first few months, they got nowhere. Finally, they decided to give themselves a slightly easier task than Sullivan’s full conjecture. If you give your bubbles one extra dimension of breathing room, you get a bonus: The best bubble cluster will have mirror symmetry across a central…

It’s best to solve this week’s puzzle (really, three mini-puzzles) without an introduction. I’ll explain why after you’ve given it a shot.Alex Borstein’s Embarrassing Moment from Catwoman | io9 InterviewDid you miss last week’s puzzle? Check it out here, and find its solution at the bottom of today’s article. Be careful not to read too far ahead if you’re still working on that puzzle!Puzzle #8: The Cognitive Reflection TestA bat and a ball cost $1.10 in total. The bat costs $1.00 more than the ball. How much does the ball…

Photo of mouse renal tubules in vivo, immunostained for plasma membrane protein occludin (green). Many epithelial cells like the ones shown here have rugged boundaries described as interdigitated. It is proposed that interdigitation facilitates the transport of molecules and fluid between cell boundaries. Credit: Kyushu University/Miura LabThe Mathematics of Cell Boundary “Ruggedness”Researchers have uncovered both the mathematical and biological mechanism behind the rugged structures at cell boundaries found in tissues…

“Teslagrad 2's momentum-based platforming makes for speedy fun, even if it doesn't quite have the same spark as its predecessor.” Pros Rich 2D visuals Fast, satisfying movement Creative magnetic abilities Cons Lacking reasons to explore One-note bosses Thin on memorable puzzles…