Here's something for you to do over the holiday weekend. The name of the game is "Petals Around the Rose" and it drove me nuts for about a week. (Yep, I know, there are solutions available, but I was relentless in figuring the damn thing out on my own.)
Here's the layout: Five dice are rolled and you have to work out the number of petals around the rose. It's kinda like the baffling "I like apples but not bananas; I really love beer but not wine; give me a Cadillac but never a Ford" game. (Petals is also similar to the "owa tagoo siam" puzzle I faced in the Boy Scouts 40 years ago.)
Some people have a way of thinking outside the box and catch on immediately. Others (like me) are too linear, look for a mathematical pattern, and end up feeling frustrated, anxious, and depressed.
The best help I can offer is to tell you the solution is in the name of the puzzle, the number has to be even (though it could be zero), and the math is really simple.
I'm I being too obscure? Intentionally trying to obfuscate? Yep, and it's part of the game--give hints, broad, if necessary, but never the answer.
Try it here.
If you have trouble with the site, or want a more attractive setting, try this.
BTW, lots of people are talking about the puzzle. And apparently, Bill Gates tried it and wasn't successful.
How long did it take you?
ooo first try. Acording to the background that must mean im not too smart. Also your tip kinda gave it a away for me but hey who knows.
It took me only long enough to find the solution using Google. I just KNEW someone wouldn't be able to keep a secret and I thought going straight to that someone was the most productive way to attack this puzzle.
Simple...though I did look to Google for better clues, after I ran out of paper...and time.
1=0
2=0
3=2
4=0
5=4
6=0
Now add.
I don't think it's so much a matter of intelligence, or lack thereof, but of your ability to think logically and determine patterns. It took me a few tries, but I used those to test different theories.
Thanks to my annoying habit of reading the entire page, "Danny S." here ruined the game for me. Sweet.
Nice work, Danny-boy.
Danny's row of figures didn't make any more sense than the puzzle itself, initially. I tired of trying to figure the puzzle out and sure didn't want to spend an equal amount of time on Danny's response. Maybe I'm dense :-) -- or need to get a life.
AngryatDanny: Danny didn't give it away (and it's way off base).
Jack: Turn off your PC, go outside, and plant some corn. (Yep, that's a dumb hint.)
Note to self: Corn won't grow in 100+ Arizona heat. Must plant cactus.
Bill Gates, huh? Hee hee, snort. Wanna know how he learned programming? As a highschool student at Lakeside Academy, he was allowed to use the computer lab at the University of Washington. There, he used to go through the waste baskets, grabbing discarded printouts produced by university students.
The quicker you figure it out ... OK, the IQ of a doorknob here. Didn't cheat either. But then I always look for heuristic alternatives to the standard mathematical paradigm.