| Easy | Medium | Hard | Extreme |
There are 5 equal squares in the figure above. Move 1 matchstick so you still have 5 equal squares.
15 October 2017
558. Move 1 and still have 5 squares
There are 5 equal squares in the figure above. Move 1 matchstick so you still have 5 equal squares.
14 October 2017
557. Turn the direction
| Easy | Medium | Hard | Extreme |
Your challenge is to turn the 4 matchsticks around so they are all facing the other way. The rules are:
1. Turn any 3 matchsticks in each move
2. You have 4 moves to achieve this.
08 October 2017
556. Letters and Numbers
| Easy | Medium | Hard | Extreme |
Replace the letters with numbers to make the addition true. To help you to get going it can be revealed that L=8, A=9 and C=5.
2 1 2 4
+ 9 3 7 8
----------
1 1 5 0 2
(By just looking at the leftmost letters it should be clear that F can only be 1)
07 October 2017
555. Change the 3:4:5 ratio to 1:3:8
| Easy | Medium | Hard | Extreme |
Place 6 matchsticks inside a 4X3 rectangle as shown above. The rectangle is divided into 3 parts in the ratio 3:4:5
Move only 1 matchstick inside the rectangle to change the ratio to 1:3:8
01 October 2017
554. Count the 4-sided figures
| Easy | Medium | Hard | Extreme |
Ho many four-sided figures (squares and rectangles) do you count in the layout above?
There are 14 in total:
1. ABDF
2. ABCG
3. ICDE
4. GIEF
5. GCDF
6. HJKL
7. MNOP
8. QRST
9. HJZY
10. YZKL
11. UNVL
12. QXKW
13. YI2L
14. IZK2
1. ABDF
2. ABCG
3. ICDE
4. GIEF
5. GCDF
6. HJKL
7. MNOP
8. QRST
9. HJZY
10. YZKL
11. UNVL
12. QXKW
13. YI2L
14. IZK2
30 September 2017
553. Mathematical: 5 minus 9 is not 7
| Easy | Medium | Hard | Extreme |
TAKE AWAY 3 matchsticks to make the above equation true.
24 September 2017
552. Change the ratios
| Easy | Medium | Hard | Extreme |
Place 6 matchsticks inside a 3X3 square as shown above. The square is divided into 3 parts in the ratio 2:3:4
Move only 1 matchstick inside the square to change the ratio to 1:3:5
23 September 2017
551. Route map: 1- and 2-way roads
| Easy | Medium | Hard | Extreme |
Shown in the puzzle above are one- and two-way roads. In total, how many different routes are there from point A to point J? You may only move in the direction of the matchstick heads and only travel on the same road once during the route.
There are 12 routes in total:
1. ABCFJ
2. ABEFJ
3. ABEHJ
4. ADEBCFJ
5. ADEFJ
6. ADEHJ
7. ADGHEBCFJ
8. ADGHEFJ
9. ADGHJ
10. ABEDGHJ
11. ABCFEDGHJ
12. ABCFEHJ
17 September 2017
550. Move 3 to form 4 squares
| Easy | Medium | Hard | Extreme |
There are 5 equal squares in the layout above. Move 3 matchsticks to have only 4 squares equal in size.
16 September 2017
549. Divide the square into 2 parts
| Easy | Medium | Hard | Extreme |
5 matchsticks, placed horizontally and vertically, divide the square into 2 equal parts as shown above. The 2 parts are equal in shape and size. Another obvious solution would be 1 vertical and 4 horizontal matchsticks based on the same principle.
But there is another clever solution! In what other way can you place the 5 matchsticks inside the square to divide it exactly into 2 parts equal in shape and size?
(AB)² = (BC)² + (AC)²
(AB)² = 16 + 9
AB = √25
AB = 5
10 September 2017
09 September 2017
547. Pathway with 14 matchsticks
| Easy | Medium | Hard | Extreme |
This puzzle is similar to numbers 492 and 502.
14 matchsticks are used to form a pathway as shown above. The challenge is to start at a point, move in the direction of the matchstick heads and visit each of the 7 matchsticks only once.
A solution is not possible in the existing figure above, but by changing the direction of only 1 matchstick it can be achieved. Which matchstick would you change and can you find the pathway?
The direction of matchstick 3 is changed.
One pathway is to start with matchstick 1 and end with matchstick 14.
One pathway is to start with matchstick 1 and end with matchstick 14.
03 September 2017
546. Change to two
| Easy | Medium | Hard | Extreme |
Somebody writes the above on a piece of paper. The answer is obviously 1, but what action can you perform to make the answer 2?
02 September 2017
545. Divide into two identical pieces
| Easy | Medium | Hard | Extreme |
Add 10 matchsticks to the square above to divide it into 2 pieces. The 2 pieces must be equal in size and shape.
01 September 2017
544. Move 3 to form 2 squares
| Easy | Medium | Hard | Extreme |
Move 3 matchsticks to form 2 squares.
An easy one, but how quickly can you solve it?
27 August 2017
543. Four to two triangles
| Easy | Medium | Hard | Extreme |
Move 4 matchsticks to create 2 triangles. The rules are:
1. The 2 triangles must be equal in size.
2. No other triangles other than the 2 in your solution are allowed.
26 August 2017
542. One third
| Easy | Medium | Hard | Extreme |
Rectangle A is one third of the size of rectangle B with 6 and 14 matchsticks used in A and B respectively.
Transfer 1 matchstick from B to A which means you now have 7 matchsticks in A and 13 matchsticks in B. Create 2 new shapes, not necessarily rectangles, with shape A still one third of the size of shape B.
20 August 2017
541. The TOWN named OE
| Easy | Medium | Hard | Extreme |
Ōe is a town in Yamagata, Japan.
Remove 2 to leave 1. (Yes, think differently about this one!)
19 August 2017
540. Two triangles
| Easy | Medium | Hard | Extreme |
Move 3 matchsticks to create 2 triangles. The triangles may differ in size.
13 August 2017
539. Rectangle 4X3: Remove 4 to leave 10 squares
| Easy | Medium | Hard | Extreme |
TAKE AWAY 4 matchsticks to leave 10 equal squares.
12 August 2017
538. Mathematical: 5 plus 1 is not 2
| Easy | Medium | Hard | Extreme |
MOVE 3 matchsticks to make the equation true. Can you find all 3 solutions?
06 August 2017
537. Reduce the area to 8
| Easy | Medium | Hard | Extreme |
This puzzle is similar to but different from number 479.
If the length of 1 matchstick is 1 unit, the area of the shape above is 12 square units. Move 8 matchsticks to reduce the area to 8 square units.
05 August 2017
536. Seven sections
| Easy | Medium | Hard | Extreme |
Add 3 matchsticks to the layout above to create 7 sections with each section holding 1 broken matchstick each.
30 July 2017
535. Smallest number
| Easy | Medium | Hard | Extreme |
TAKE AWAY 3 matchsticks to form the SMALLEST possible number.
29 July 2017
534. Count the triangles
| Easy | Medium | Hard | Extreme |
How many triangles in the figure above?
There are 15 triangles in total.
Size 1X1: 3 (BED, CFE and EJH)
Size 2X2: 4 (AFD, CKH, BJG and ENM)
Size 3X3: 4 (AKG, COM, BNL and ERQ)
Size 4X4: 3 (AOL, CSQ and BRP)
Size 5X5: 1 (ASP)
Size 1X1: 3 (BED, CFE and EJH)
Size 2X2: 4 (AFD, CKH, BJG and ENM)
Size 3X3: 4 (AKG, COM, BNL and ERQ)
Size 4X4: 3 (AOL, CSQ and BRP)
Size 5X5: 1 (ASP)
23 July 2017
533. Reversed Tic-Tac-Toe
| Easy | Medium | Hard | Extreme |
You are playing REVERSED Tic-Tac-Toe. This means the LOSER is the first player with 3 in a row (horizontal, vertical or diagonal).
The next move is yours. Where would you place the broken matchstick with head to guarantee yourself a win?
You can place the broken matchstick with head on any of the open places as long as it does not form a row (horizontal, vertical or diagonal).
Below is one example:
Place your broken matchstick in the middle top row as shown above. The other player can now only play position 3. (1 or 2 would make him/her a loser). Thereafter your move could be 1 or 2.
Below is one example:
Place your broken matchstick in the middle top row as shown above. The other player can now only play position 3. (1 or 2 would make him/her a loser). Thereafter your move could be 1 or 2.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)