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The Guardian
a day ago
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Can you solve it? The deductive decade – ten years of Monday puzzles
Forgive me the indulgence of celebrating ten years of this column. Toot toot! I began posting biweekly brainteasers at the end of May 2015, originally addressing you folk as 'guzzlers' – Guardian puzzlers. The cringy coinage didn't stick, but the column did, and here we are a decade and 260 columns later. Some data. Total page views are now 38 million, which averages out at about 150,000 views per puzzle – a whopping number, I'd say. Thanks to everyone for the encouragement and support. For today's offerings I decided to go back through the archive and repost ten of my favourites. Some may be familiar, others not. Please graze, maybe even guzzle – and here's to the next ten years! 1. Bat and ball Three friends (A, B and C) are playing ping pong. They play the usual way: the winner stays on, and the loser waits their turn again. At the end of the day, they summarise the number of games that each of them played: A played 10 B played 15 C played 17. Who lost the second game? 2. Tricky trams Why are the tram's overhead cables positioned to make a zigzag, rather than straight line? 3. Read the question 3. What is never odd or even? 4. Catch the cat A straight corridor has 7 doors along one side. Behind one of the doors sits a cat. Your mission is to find the cat by opening the correct door. Each day you can open only one door. If the cat is there, you win. If the cat is not there, the door closes, and you must wait until the next day before you can open a door again. If the cat was always to sit behind the same door, you would be able to find it in at most seven days, by opening each door in turn. But this mischievous moggy is restless. Every night it moves randomly either one door to the left or one to the right. Although if it is behind the first or last door, it has only one option for where it can move. How many days do you now need to make sure you can catch the cat? 5. Mystery number I have a ten digit number, abcdefghij. Each of the digits is different, and a is divisible by 1 ab is divisible by 2 abc is divisible by 3 abcd is divisible by 4 abcde is divisible by 5 abcdef is divisible by 6 abcdefg is divisible by 7 abcdefgh is divisible by 8 abcdefghi is divisible by 9 abcdefghij is divisible by 10 What's my number? [To clarify: a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, and j are all single digits. Each digit from 0 to 9 is represented by exactly one letter. The number abcdefghij is a ten-digit number whose first digit is a, second digit is b, and so on. It does not mean that you multiply a x b x c x…] 6. Disappearing cub This picture has not been doctored. Explain why the reflection has a yellow lion cub. 7. Crazy triangle Show that there is a triangle, the sum of whose three heights is less than 1mm, that has an area greater than the surface of the Earth (510m km2). 8. Deck dilemma Your friend chooses at random a card from a standard deck of 52 cards, and keeps this card concealed. You have to guess which of the 52 cards it is. Before your guess, you can ask your friend one of the following three questions: is the card red? is the card a face card? (Jack, Queen or King) is the card the ace of spades? Your friend will answer truthfully. What question would you ask that gives you the best chance of guessing the correct card? 9. The question with no question (a) All of the following. (b) None of the following. (c) Some of the following. (d) All of the above. (e) None of the above. [Just to reassure you, nothing has been omitted here.] 10. Triangle fold Find a way to fold a square piece of paper into an equilateral triangle. The triangle can be of any size. I'll be back at 5pm UK with the solutions. PLEASE NO SPOILERS Instead please recommend your favourites from the 260 you have read here over the years. Sources: 1. Adrian Paenza, 2. Kvantik magaizine, 3. Des MacHale, 4. New York Times. 5. John Conway, 6. Matt Pritchard, 7. Trần Phương, 8. Henk Tijms, 9. Parabola, 10. The Paper Puzzle Book. I've been setting a puzzle here on alternate Mondays since 2015. I'm always on the look-out for great puzzles. If you would like to suggest one, email me.
Forbes
02-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Forbes
NYT ‘Connections' Hints For Tuesday, June 3: Clues And Answers For Today's Game
Find the links between the words to win today's game of Connections. Each day's game of NYT Connections goes live at midnight local time. Before we get to today's Connections hints and answers, here are Monday's: Hey there, Connectors! I hope your week is off to a great start. Starting today, I'm going to switch things up a little bit here. I've been thinking about this for a while and today's the day to make the change. No need to worry though! I'm adding an extra set of hints, with one word for each group. I think it makes the most sense to slot this set of hints between the first bunch (which is often a little more cryptic) and revealing the official description for each category. There's another little change I'm making, but… we'll get to that. Let's see how things go. I'd appreciate your feedback on this either on Discord (more on that in a moment) or via email at [my first name @ my full name dot net]. I'm just trying to make this column as useful as I can for you all! Before we begin, we have a great little community on Discord, where we chat about NYT Connections, the rest of the NYT games and all kinds of other stuff. Everyone who has joined has been lovely. It's a fun hangout spot, and you're more than welcome to hang out with us. Discord is also the best way to give me any feedback about the column, especially on the rare (or not-so-rare) occasions that I mess something up. I don't look at the comments or Twitter much. You can also read my weekend editions of this column at my new newsletter, Pastimes. Today's NYT Connections hints and answers for Tuesday, June 3 are coming right up. Connections is a free, popular New York Times daily word game. You get a new puzzle at midnight every day. You can play on the NYT's website or Games app. You're presented with a grid of 16 words. Your task is to arrange them into four groups of four by figuring out the links between them. The groups could be things like items you can click, names for research study participants or words preceded by a body part. There's only one solution for each puzzle, and you'll need to be careful when it comes to words that might fit into more than one category. You can shuffle the words to perhaps help you see links between them. Each group is color coded. The yellow group is usually the easiest to figure out, blue and green fall in the middle, and the purple group is usually the most difficult one. The purple group often involves wordplay. Select four words you think go together and press Submit. If you make a guess and you're incorrect, you'll lose a life. If you're close to having a correct group, you might see a message telling you that you're one word away from getting it right, but you'll still need to figure out which one to swap. If you make four mistakes, it's game over. Let's make sure that doesn't happen with the help of some hints, and, if you're really struggling, today's Connections answers. As with Wordle and other similar games, it's easy to share results with your friends on social media and group chats. If you have an NYT All Access or Games subscription, you can access the publication's Connections archive. This includes every previous game of Connections, so you can go back and play any of those that you have missed. Aside from the first 60 games or so, you should be able to find our hints Google if you need them! Just click here and add the date of the game for which you need clues or the answers to the search query. Scroll slowly! Just after the hints for each of today's Connections groups, I'll reveal what the groups are without immediately telling you which words go into them. Today's 16 words are... And the hints for today's Connections groups are: Need some extra help? Be warned: we're starting to get into spoiler territory. Let's take a look at one word for each group. Today's Connections word hints are… Today's Connections groups are... Spoiler alert! Don't scroll any further down the page until you're ready to find out today's Connections answers. This is your final warning! Today's Connections answers are... Since I was so close to my 100th win in a row at this point, it seems like a good time to move my little streak tracker and emoji result thing to after the walkthrough of my thought process. I know some of you were hoping for me to reach that 100-win streak and, well, we'll see what happened as part of that journey today. My first attempt was with a group of SHOWBOAT, POSTURE, CHARM and SWAGGER. I was one away from a group there. I swapped out POSTURE for GRANDSTAND and was still one away! Uh oh. I eventually realized that CHARM was the odd one out and ditched that for POSTURE. That finally got me the yellows. I made a silly mistake with the next group by accidentally including SELF-CARE with the greens instead of HUNKY-DORY (SWELL doesn't really git with those, since it's more of a positive state than "just fine" in my book). Now I was really in trouble. A 97-game streak on the line. The nerves were rattling. Thankfully, I was able to spot the purples on the smaller grid and I was able to exhale. I didn't get the connection for the blues (I don't think I'd heard of a TENNIS bracelet before). Did not care one bit about not recognizing the connection at that point. That meant I had a 98th win in the books. No perfect game obviously. I'm just happy to keep this thing rolling. For the record, here's how I fared: 🟨🟨🟦🟨 🟨🟦🟨🟨 🟨🟨🟨🟨 🟪🟩🟩🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟪🟪🟪🟪 🟦🟦🟦🟦 That's all there is to it for today's Connections clues and answers. Be sure to check my blog tomorrow for hints and the solution for Wednesday's game if you need them. P.S. The YouTube algorithm has been doing a great job lately of surfacing new music I enjoy from artists I've never heard of before. I liked this performance very much. I'll be sure to check out more of Jenny Scara's music: Have a great day! Stay hydrated! Call someone you love! Please follow my blog for more coverage of NYT Connections and other word games, and even some video game news, insights and analysis. It helps me out a lot! Sharing this column with other people who play Connections would be appreciated too. You can also read my weekend editions of this column at my new newsletter, Pastimes.
The Sun
17-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Sun
Leo weekly horoscope: What your star sign has in store for May 18
OUR much-loved astrologer Meg sadly died last March but her column will be kept alive by her friend and protégé Maggie Innes. Read on to see what's written in the stars for you today. Sign up for the Mystic Meg newsletter. Your info will be used in accordance with our Privacy Policy LEO JULY 23 - AUG 23 1 You can be even more sociable than usual, encouraged by the Sun. If you've been considering joining or starting a special group, now is the perfect moment. You see the absolute best in everyone, which makes you a gifted leader and teacher. Love is more open to change than you might imagine, so be brave and make that suggestion. Luck may come from "B" roads. DESTINY DAYS If you're missing someone, Monday is the perfect day to let them know. On Wednesday, believe what you see rather than what you're told. Read all messages twice on Thursday. What is your star sign's element? In astrology, the elements — Air, Water, Earth, and Fire signs — serve as foundational principles that influence the characteristics and behaviours associated with the twelve star signs. Earth signs: Taurus, Virgo, and Capricorn The Earth signs are grounded in the tangible and practical aspects of life, embodying the stable and nurturing qualities of their element. These signs are known for their pragmatism, reliability, and strong connection to the physical world, often excelling in matters that require patience and persistence. Air Signs: Gemini, Libra, and Aquarius The Air signs are characterised by their intellectual, communicative, and social nature. This reflects the light and dynamic essence of their elemental influence. Overall, these signs tend to excel in the realms of ideas, relationships, and innovation, bringing a breath of fresh air to their interactions and thought processes. Water Signs: Cancer, Scorpio, and Pisces The Water element signs are profoundly impacted by their element. With each astrological sign, water gives way to emotional depth, strong intuition, and a capacity for deep empathy and connection. Fire Signs: Aries, Leo, and Sagittarius Fuelled by the element of Fire, these fire signs in astrology are known for their passion, boldness, energy, enthusiasm, courage, and a zest for life that often leads them to adventurous and creative endeavours. LUCKIEST LINKS As a Fire sign ruled by the Sun, all colours connected to it resonate with Leo luck. Gold is your metal, and sunflowers and marigolds, the bigger and brighter the better, bring fortune wherever they are found. Logos of lions, tigers, and all kinds of cats are lucky symbols, and honey is your special food. Grow orange and lemon trees if possible, and holiday in volcanic areas like Sicily or Iceland. Hot and happening cities such as Mumbai and Barcelona are also excellent choices. Fabulous is the home of horoscopes, with weekly updates on what's in store for your star sign as well as daily predictions. hook up with for the steamiest sex to what it's like to .
Irish Times
13-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Times
Irish Times chess columnist JJ Walsh retires after 70 years: ‘Everything has to come to an end. I'd rather go out on top'
Jim (JJ) Walsh's first chess column in The Irish Times appeared on July 21st, 1955. On the front page of the newspaper there were reports that the price of a telegram was doubling and former second World War allies were bickering over the fate of a divided Germany. As he recalls, he was in the right place at the right time. His father owned a pharmacy next door to The Irish Times, then based on D'Olier Street. Mr Walsh learned how to play chess after convalescing in hospital when he was 12 years old. He was a student at Belvedere College in Dublin and had developed tuberculosis (TB). READ MORE He was a good player, though, by his own admission, no grandmaster, but his enthusiasm and ability impressed the features editor Jack White. White wanted a weekly chess column to accompany the bridge column on the same page. Mr Walsh protested that he was no journalist either, but he gave it a go. In 2016, he became the longest-running chess columnist in history surpassing the 61 years and six months by Hermann Helms of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle. In a more fractured media landscape, Mr Walsh's 69 years and 10 months may never be surpassed. Mr Walsh surpassed 15,000 columns in 2021. As of last weekend it was puzzle number 15,896. Photograph: Dan Dennison/The Irish Times Chess has given him so much, he says. He met his wife Maureen through chess and they travelled the world. She died in 2009 from Parkinson's disease. He went to Moscow to play chess in 1956 along with an Irish civil servant who was paranoid that he would be discovered travelling behind the Iron Curtain and lose his job. Because so few people travelled to the Soviet Union in those days, Mr Walsh offered his reminiscences from the trip to the now defunct Sunday Dispatch newspaper in Britain. They insisted on dressing him in a heavy overcoat and fur hat for his photograph, as if it had been taken in Moscow.. Mr Walsh found himself in demand during the epic match between the Soviet Union's Boris Spassky and the United States' Bobby Fischer in Reykjavík, Iceland in 1972. Interest in this Cold War clash was unsurpassed in the history of chess. The minutiae of every game, move-by-move, that the pair played was telexed to newsrooms around the world from Iceland and Mr Walsh was called in to interpret them. 'It was like a knitting pattern to the subeditors. They hadn't a clue. So anyway, the chief subeditor would ring me to come in and he would send me home in a taxi around midnight.' His weekly column morphed into a daily chess puzzle in 1972, and since then, he has been submitting one to The Irish Times, six days a week, 52 weeks of the year, 53 years and counting. Mr Walsh surpassed 15,000 columns in 2021. As of last weekend it was puzzle number 15,896. In the beginning he would work out six weeks' worth of chess puzzles, 36 in total, and post them to The Irish Times. In latter years he learned to work a computer programme and would put the puzzles on a memory stick and hand them to his good friend and neighbour Colm Fitzpatrick, the former manager of The Irish Times print works. Mr Fitzpatrick emailed the puzzles to The Irish Times. The now 93-year-old is retiring this month from his column. He would have loved to have made it to 70 years, he says. But, it's a good time to call it quits, Mr Walsh says, with his retirement falling in the same week as a new Pope in the Vatican and Joe Duffy retiring from RTÉ's Liveline programme. He gets tired very quickly now, he says, and is afraid of making mistakes. 'I gave a man my number. He used to ring me up. He would say: 'There's a mistake in this morning's paper.' I would look and tell him he put the board the wrong way around.' Chess is a game of infinite possibilities and Mr Walsh has drawn his inspiration over the years from multiple sources. He kept notebooks of all his own chess games from 1945 to 2002, the last year he played competitively. He has 1,000 books on chess in an upstairs room of the house, which he is sadly no longer able to access himself because of his physical fragility. 'Everything has to come to an end,' he says. 'I'd rather go out on top.' Mr Walsh's historical chess columns will continue to feature on The Irish Times Bulletin page for the near future
Wall Street Journal
11-05-2025
- Wall Street Journal
Notable & Quotable: David Souter
From Paul A. Gigot's Potomac Watch column, July 27, 1990. Justice Souter died May 8 at 85:
