4
LITTON’S PROBLEMATICAL RECREATIONS
Problem 42
WHITE TO PLAY AND MATE IN TWO MOVES. Neither your rook nor king
previously moved. Following your announced mate in two moves, your
opponent, black, offered to bet $1000 that it was impossible. You accepted
with pleasure. Your move.
Ans: International chess laws provide that when neither K nor R
has moved and there are no obstruction pieces, K may
move 2 squares toward R while R occupies the square
over which K passes, provided K is neither in check nor
passes through a threatened square. Therefore: 1. Pawn is
promoted to rook. Now regardless of black’s response, 2.
White castles on the king’s file! Checkmate. Purists take
note: the promoted rook has not moved as it is on its
“natal” square. Blame, not us, but the rules which permit
this esoteric loophole.
Problem 43
There are at least two ways of representing 20, using three 3’s and standard
mathematical symbols. Find one.
Ans: ( 3!)! or ⎛ 3 + 3 ⎞
( )( 3!) ⎜⎝ 3 ⎟⎠
3!
Problem 44
What operation can be performed three successive times on a solid cube, so
that each stage, the surface area is reduced in the same proportion as the
volume?
Ans: Turning
Problem 45
A simple substitution cipher message was worked out on a black-board and
accidentally erased. A few fragments remain, however. The word G Q K X Y
J has escaped erasure with X identified as R and Y as B. Also the word P K
Z X D V can be made out with Z identified as L. The only other legible word
is K V J Z D C. What word does this represent?
Ans: ASYLU
Problem 46
A safe has three dials shown above. It will open only when a three-letter
word is indicated by the dials even in permuted form. What is that word?
Ans: PYX (a religious vessel)
Problem 47
The following pairs are members of a certain relation: (Sacramento, Carson
City), (Pierre, Bismark), (Juneau, Olympia), and (Albany, Hartford).
Moreover, the reversals of the first two pairs are also members, while those
of the latter two are not. What is the relation?
Ans: (x,y) is a member only if y is the nearest state capital to
state capital x.
Problem 48
A lighthouse shows successive one-second flashes of red, white, green,
green, white, red. A second lighthouse does the same only with two-second
flashes. The six-second sequence of the first lighthouse is repeated steadily,
as is the twelve-second sequence of the other lighthouse. What fraction of
the time do the two lights show the same color if the given sequences start at
the same time?
Ans: 1/6
Problem 49
Wink your right eye, and your mirror image winks its left. Hold out your left
hand, and the image holds out its right, Since the mirror reverses everything
in the horizontal direction, why not the vertical? For example, why doesn’t the
mirror show you standing on your head?
Ans: The mirror really reverses nothing but “apparent polarity”,
and it does this in every direction. Hold your right arm
high and your left arm low, and the image with appear to
do the opposite –a vertical “reversal”. Object and image
are exact replicas, point for point, by orthogonal
projection through the mirror, with reversal of “polarity” in
all directions.
Problem 50
Four players played a hand of hearts at $1 a point (pairwise payoffs). Dave
lost $10 to Arch, $12 to Bob, and $20 to Chuck. How many hearts did poor
Dave take in?
Ans: 4
Problem 51
“12’3 4567.” I thought. “I’ll woo my lady fair
With 6154723.” Alas, at greater cost
My rival (6147 352!) staked out his claim
With orchids dear to maidens’ hearts 1’67 4532!
There are four anagrams to decipher in this cryptogram.
35467 12!
Ans: It’s love, violets, vile sot, I’ve lost.
Problem 52
“ABCD EF FG HCHI CF C JCK EL MNLI?” an apprentice poetician asked
Archimedes O’Toole. (Question enciphered by simple substitution.) “How
about February 29th for openers?” reported Arch. What was the apprentice’s
question?
Ans: What is so rare as a day in June?