Tanga Times - September 10, 2007 by pyrok
Tanga Times - September 10, 2007 by pyrok
Tonight’s Tanga Times is all about sliding puzzles. One the most famous is “The 15 Puzzle,” which was like the Rubik’s Cube (during the 1980s) of the late 1870s. The 15 square tiles were numbered 1 to 15 and the goal was to arrange them in the correct order inside a four-by-four grid. Another popular one, called Dad’s Puzzle (here’s an image), involves moving a large square tile from one corner to another, by rearranging other, smaller tiles around it. It was named for the head-of-household (1870s -remember?) who would be responsible for figuring out how to move a piano (the large block) from one corner of a room to another. Supposedly Dad’s Puzzle was the inspiration for this notoriously difficult version of the sliding puzzle called Quzzle. It requires 84 moves and this link includes a counter for the number of moves you make. So if you have a lot of time to kill, check it out or at least give it a try. I’ve started it several times but haven’t even come close to solving it yet.
There are all kinds of web-based sliding puzzles out there. Just do a search on them. But for your convenience, here are some others that I’ve found:
This site has web-based versions of some of the old, wooden ones your grandparents may have enjoyed.
Now for this week’s chance for points. I think last week’s format for earning points worked really well so I think that will continue to be my normal mode for now. So, like last week, the first “challenge” will be a FTP (first-to-post) and the second will be a random drawing with the cut-off being the time that robrizob’s Tuesday Tanga Times is posted.
- FTP – 10 points
In a far away land, it was known that if you drank poison, the only way to save yourself is to drink a stronger poison, which neutralizes the weaker poison. The king that ruled the land wanted to make sure that he possessed the strongest poison in the kingdom, in order to ensure his survival, in any situation. So the king called the kingdom’s pharmacist and the kingdom’s treasurer, he gave each a week to make the strongest poison. Then, each would drink the other one’s poison, then his own, and the one that will survive, will be the one that had the stronger poison.
The pharmacist went straight to work, but the treasurer knew he had no chance, for the pharmacist was much more experienced in this field, so instead, he made up a plan to survive and make sure the pharmacist dies. On the last day the pharmacist suddenly realized that the treasurer would know he had no chance, so he must have a plan. After a little thought, the pharmacist realized what the treasurer’s plan must be, and he concocted a counter plan, to make sure he survives and the treasurer dies. When the time came, the king summoned both of them. They drank the poisons as planned, and the treasurer died, the pharmacist survived, and the king didn’t get what he wanted.
What exactly happened there?
There are probably a variety of explanations that can be used here. The first viable one gets the points. Hint: Pay attention to the last sentence of the story and make sure your explanation includes an answer to why the king didn’t get wat he wanted.
- Random drawing – 10 points
Please include your Tanga user id with your answer and email your answer to: pyroktanga@gmail.com
Figure out the pattern and then come up with what the next 2 words could be (common, American words only):
moral, friend, weed, fence, race
There are, of course, several answers that could be correct. I’ll accept any that fit the pattern and can be considered common, American words.
Good luck to all!
pyrok