Richard Wiseman's Blog, page 6

Puzzle 8 – Can you solve it?

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Here is today’s puzzle…..

What phrases are represented here….

1) sta4nce

2) Give Give Give Give Get Get Get Get

3) 1245safety78271

Yesterday I posted this puzzle….

Yesterday I went fishing.  I caught a fish that had a length of 30 inches plus half its own length.

If you haven’t tried to solve it, have a go now. For everyone else, the answer is below….

If the fish was 30 inches long plus half its length, then half of the fish must be 30 inches, making the whole fish 60 inches long.

Follow the blog for more daily puzzles. See you tomorrow!

Puzzle 7 – Can you solve it?

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I can’t believe that we are into a week of puzzle solving already. I hope you are having fun.  Here is today’s puzzle…..

Yesterday I went fishing.  I caught a fish that had a length of 30 inches plus half its own length.

How long was the fish?

Yesterday I posted this puzzle….

My friend Albert is trying to open a safe.  The following numbers are on the safe door….

77 – 49 – 36 – xx

…the next number in the sequence will open the safe.

What number should Albert use to get inside the safe?

If you haven’t tried to solve it, have a go now. For everyone else, the answer is below….

The sequence involves multiplying the two numbers together to get the next number….

7×7 =49

4×9= 36

… and so the number that Albert was after was 3×6=18

Follow the blog for more daily puzzles. See you tomorrow!

Puzzle 6 – Can you solve it?

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OK, here is the new puzzle…..

My friend Albert is trying to open a safe.  The following numbers are on the safe door….

77 – 49 – 36 – xx

…the next number in the sequence will open the safe.

What number should Albert use to get inside the safe?

Yesterday I posted this puzzle….

Erica has two children. One of them is male. What is the probability of her other child also being male?

If you haven’t tried to solve it, have a go now. For everyone else, the answer is below….

Let’s imagine that Erica has two children. Assuming that they were not born at the exact same time, there are four possible combinations….

Male Male

Male Female

Female Male

Female Female

This will give rise to 50% males and 50% females. However, we know that one of Erica’s children is male, therefore she cannot fall into the last category, thus leaving us with…..

Male Male

Male Female

Female Male

All of these options are equally likely, so the chances of her other child being male is one third.

Any other answers? If so, post them below.

Follow the blog for more daily puzzles. See you tomorrow!

Puzzle 5 – Can you solve it?

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OK, here is the new puzzle…..

Erica has two children. One of them is male. What is the probability of her other child also being male?

Yesterday I posted this puzzle….

A camper walks one mile south from their tent. They then walk one mile west and has a little dance with a bear. Then they walk one mile north, and find themselves back at their camp.

What colour was the bear?

If you haven’t tried to solve it, have a go now. For everyone else, the answer is below, along with another puzzle….

The camper had a dance with a white bear because the directions only make sense if he was at the North Pole!

Follow the blog for more daily puzzles. See you tomorrow!

Puzzle 4 – Can you solve it?

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OK, here is today’s new puzzle…..

A camper walks one mile south from their tent. They then walk one mile west and has a little dance with a bear. Then they walk one mile north, and find themselves back at their camp.

What colour was the bear?

Yesterday I posted this puzzle…..

Here are four suspects, and one of them has committed a crime.  They make the following statements, but only one of them is telling the truth.  Who committed the crime?

Jon: James did it.

James: Bob did it.

Sid: I didn’t do it.

Bob: James is lying.

If you haven’t tried to solve it, have a go now. For everyone else, the answer is below, along with another puzzle….

If Sid is innocent, then his statement is true and so the other three suspects are lying. But that means that Bob is also telling the truth, a contradiction. So Sid can’t be innocent and so he must be murderer.

As ever, follow the blog for your daily puzzle. See you tomorrow!

Puzzle 3 – Can you solve it?

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Here is today’s new puzzle…..

There are four suspects and one of them has committed a crime.  They make the following statements, but only one of them is telling the truth.  Who committed the crime?

Jon: James did it.

James: Bob did it.

Sid: I didn’t do it.

Bob: James is lying.

Yesterday I posted this puzzle…..

Your task is to identify the phrase indicated in the following types of words….

YOU JUST ME

In this instance the answer is ‘just between you and me’.

See you get on with these six:

1) SALE SALE SALE SALE

2) STAND

I

3) BRO KEN

4) R | E | A | D | I | N | G

5) TIMING TI-MING

6) THE GORILLAS MIST

If you haven’t tried to solve it, have a go now. For everyone else, the answers are below….

OK, here we go…..

1) FOR SALE

2) I UNDERSTAND

3) BROKEN IN HALF

4) READING BETWEEN THE LINES

5) SPLIT SECOND TIMING

6) GORILLAS IN THE MIST

Feel free to follow the blog for a free daily puzzle. See you tomorrow!

Puzzle 2 – Can you solve it?

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Welcome puzzle-fiends! Here is today’s puzzle…..

Your task is to identify the phrase indicated in the following types of words….

YOU JUST ME

In this instance the answer is ‘just between you and me’.

See you get on with these six:

1) SALE SALE SALE SALE

2) STAND

I

3) BRO KEN

4) R | E | A | D | I | N | G

5) TIMING TI-MING

6) THE GORILLAS MIST

Feel free to say if you think you have solved them, and even offer clues, but please don’t post the answer.

Yesterday I posted this puzzle….

What letter comes next in this sequence….

W, L, C, N, I, T,_

and how about this one?

O, T, T, F, F, S,_

And finally, this one….

A, S, D, F, G, H,_

If you haven’t tried to solve it, have a go now. For everyone else, here are the answers…

W, L, C, N, I, T,_

These are the first letter of the first six words in the sentence….

What Letter Comes Next In These Sequences

and so the next letter is S

O, T, T, F, F, S,_

This the old classic, One, Two, Three. Four, etc., and so the next letter is S (for Seven)

A, S, D, F, G, H,_

And these are the order of the letters on the middle row of a keyboard, so the next letter is J.

Feel free to follow this blog for more daily puzzles. See you tomorrow!

Puzzle 1 – Can you solve it?

[image error]I thought it would be a good time to revisit posting some puzzles. Each day I will post a puzzle and then post the answer the following day. So, here we go with our very first puzzle….

What letter comes next in this sequence….

W, L, C, N, I, T,_

and how about this one?

O, T, T, F, F, S,_

And finally, this one….

A, S, D, F, G, H,_

Feel free to say if you think you have solved it, and even offer clues, but please don’t post the answer.

Oh, and feel free to subscribe to the blog to get a notification of each daily puzzle. See you tomorrow!

Hocus Pocus – the comic that reads your mind!

[image error]I am delighted to announce the arrival of the first issue of Hocus Pocus!

I have teamed up with talented illustrator Jordan Collver and writer Rik Worth to create a comic about magic, mystery, science and the paranormal.

The comic allows you to travel back in time and discover the ‘strange but true’ stories of Victorian mind reader Irving Bishop, pioneering paranormal scientist J B Rhine and Alexander, the mysterious man who knows all. Along the way you will discover the secret science of psychic readings, test your extra-sensory perception and meet a talking horse. Entertaining and educational, it is beautifully printed on heavy card. Not only that, but if you are into magic, you can use the comic to perform several mind reading miracles.

Copies are onside from Travelling Man here

If you are a magician you can get a copy from PropDog here

And the magazines website is here.

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Golden Grolla Award

[image error]I am delighted and honoured that the Masters Of Magic have announced that they will be giving me a Golden Grolla award for my work into psychology and illusion.

Established in 1953, this is one of the oldest awards in the entertainment world, with previous recipients including Federico Fellini, David Copperfield, Dynamo, David Blaine, David Berglas, Arturo Brachetti and Silvan.

This year the other recipient is the multi-talented actor, director and magician, Andy Nyman. Andy co-created the hit stage show ‘Ghost Stories’, has directed several Derren Brown shows, and recently took the lead role in the West-End musical, ‘Fiddler On The Roof’. The two of us met over 20 years ago when we created and performed a Victorian seance show together, and so I am delighted that he is a fellow awardee.

Both awards will be presented at a ceremony in May, and if you are into magic please come along for four days of shows, lectures and talks.