One of last weeks The puzzle asked how many times per day all six digits of a 24-hour digital clock change simultaneously. reader mattcoz replied: “That seemed too obvious, my mind wouldn’t accept that it was that simple.” I take this comment as a challenge.
I know why the puzzle was played too easy: it was about a Digital Clock. An analog clock, on the other hand, is like that primer– those who claim they understood it at first glance are lying. Do you think you are good at telling time? Prove it by solving this week’s tricky puzzle about a distorted analog clock. If it’s too hard, blame him mattcoz. If it’s still too easy, then sundials come next.
Did you miss last week’s puzzle? Listen Here, and find the solution at the end of today’s article. Be careful not to read too far in advance if you haven’t solved last week’s problems yet!
Puzzle #41: Time Skip
If you swap the hour hand and the minute hand on an analog clock, how many possible valid times can it still display? For example, on typical clocks, sometimes both hands point to 12 (corresponding to noon) and sometimes the long hand points to 12 while the short hand points directly to 6 (corresponding to 6:00), but only the former example is used on our modified clock – what time would it show if you swapped the hands at 6:00? It almost looks like 12:30, but the hour hand should be halfway up the 1.
Explanations: The valid times do not have to be these correct Time. Ignore AM and PM, just count the number of valid times once around the clock. The hands move continuously (not discretely) around the dial. The clock has no second hand.
While we’re playing around with the clocks, set your alarm for Monday at 7:30 a.m. because I’ll be back with the solution and a new puzzle. Do you know a cool puzzle that you think should be featured here? Write me a message on X @JackPMurtagh or send me an email at [email protected]
Solution to puzzle no. 40: 1% questions
Kudos to Most dissatisfied for breaking into the 1% club last weeks Teasers.
Question 1: What do the letters V and C stand for in the following order?
VCCCVCCCVCCCCCVCCCCCV CCCCC
The V stands for vowel and the C stands for consonant. There are 26 letters and the Vs are in the same places as the vowels in the alphabet.
Question 2: For a 24-hour digital clock (military time) that displays hours, minutes, and seconds, how often do all six digits change simultaneously in each 24-hour period?
All six digits change simultaneously three times within 24 hours: from 09:59:59 to 10:00:00, from 19:59:59 to 20:00:00 and from 23:59:59 to 00:00:00 :00.
Question 3:
Jamaica + Japan = 124
Argentina + Armenia = 1245
France + Brazil = 23
England + Germany = ?
56. Jamaica + Japan = 124 because Jamaica and Japan contain the same letters in their first, second and fourth positions (J, a and a). France + Brazil = 23 because they have the same letters in the second and third positions (r and a). The letters of England and Germany match in the fifth and sixth positions.