–

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 Also by Theoni Pappas

THE JOY OF MATHEMATICS

MORE JOY OF MATHEMATICS
MATHEMATICAL SCANDALS
MATH STUFF
MUSIC OF REASON
MATHEMATICAL FOOTPRINTS
MATH-A-DAY
MATH TALK
THE MAGIC OF MATHEMATICS
FRACTALS, GOOGOLS & Other Mathematical Tales
MATH FOR KIDS & OTHER PEOPLE TOO!
THE ADVENTURES OF PENROSE
THE FURTHER ADVENTURES OF PENROSE
MATHEMATICAL SNIPPETS
THE MATHEMATICS CALENDARS
THE CHILDREN’S MATHEMATICS CALENDARS
NUMBERS & OTHER MATH IDEAS COME ALIVE
 Puzzles
from
Penrose
the mathematical cat

(a
)

theoni pappas
—Wide World Publishing Tetra—
Copyright © 2013 by Theoni Pappas.
All rights reserved.
No part of this work may be reproduced, copied
or transmitted in any form or by any means without written
permission from both the copyright owner and Wide World
Publishing/Tetra. Without limiting the rights under the
copyrights reserved above, no part of this publication may
be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval
system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means
(electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or
otherwise), without written permission of both the copyright
owner and the publisher of this book.

Publisher:
Wide World Publishing/Tetra
P.O. Box 476
San Carlos, CA 94070
web site: http://www.wideworldpublishing.com

First Printing February, 2013 — ISBN: 978-1-884550-70-6

First e-book format edition 2013 — ISBN: 978-1-884550-71-3

2
 for
all of
Penrose’s
friends

3
4
TABLE of CONTENTS

about Penrose 7
Penrose’s puzzles 11
solutions 131
index of puzzle names 147
acknowledgments 155
about Penrose’s mistress 156

5
6
 About Penrose
When Theoni Pappas, Penrose’s mistress,
first saw him, he was not only the runt of
the litter, but a scaredy-cat that would
dash away when anyone came near him. It
took a bit of time for his mistress to make
him feel safe and comfortable.

Penrose had no idea what was in store for

him in his new home. In fact, when he
learned his mistress was a mathematics
person, he was certain his life would be
very quiet and probably a bit boring around
the house. He quickly learned to the
contrary. Whenever he walked into her
office, he would always find papers and
books scattered around. He often noticed
books opened to drawings, papers scribbled
with strange symbols and forms—all
fascinating looking objects. In the
beginning he had no idea what the
equations and symbols he came across

7
meant, but he began to realize they must be
important to some people.

Penrose would often stretch out on his

mistress’ papers, and as he studied them he

began to discover new and exciting worlds

of incredible ideas. Sure he came across lots
of math problems, but somehow these were
not always tedious computation problems.
8
He found problems that made him think in a
new way. He knew he couldn’t just guess a
number answer — he had to put on his logic
hat. Discovering ideas and using logic is
what Penrose learned to love about
mathematics.

Penrose has made many friends and met

many interesting creatures and people—
from his cat friends, Watson, Maya, Morris
Snowpea, and Maurice to Mr. Abacus,
Fibonacci rabbit, the fractal dragon,
Tangramians, the math-reptiles, and Sorry
Snowflake to name a few. From his many
math adventures with these and other
friends, Penrose began to collect puzzles he
liked. He decided to share some of his
favorite puzzles from his collection in this
book. Some have been around a long time.
Some may seem easy while others require
much thought. He hopes you will enjoy
tackling them.

9
 Favorite
puzzles
from
Penrose

11
 The cat
problem

When Penrose attended

the Cats Galore Cat Show,
he noticed that 1/2 of the
cats were Siamese, 1/4
were Persian, 1/5 were
Abbys, and 1 cat was a
Tabby. How did he figure
out how many cats were in
the show without having to
count them?

12
Which shapes don’t make
good manhole covers?

13
 Which numbers?
“From my mistress’ work I learned
about special properties of numbers.
Do you know which numbers I am
describing below?”

(1) Divide me into any number and

the number remains unchanged.
(2) I am even and I am a prime
number.
(3) I cannot be divided into any
number, yet every number can be
divided into me.
(4) Add me to any number, and the
number remains unchanged.
(5) Add a trillion of me and the sum
is the same as adding just two of
me.

? ? ? ? ?
14
 The numbers in the box
problem
23 5
7
31 13
27
11
Which
number does not
belong in this
box?

15
 Tom & Jerry dilemma

“It was Tuesday, when

my mistress and I went
to see her neighbor’s
sons, Tom and Jerry at
work. When
it came
time for Hmmm?
Tom to go
home, Jerry
wouldn’t let
him. Why?”

16
 Line-up the glasses
problem

1 2 3 4 5 6

“I figured out a way by

moving only one glass of
water that I could line up
the glasses so that full
ones and empty ones
alternate. What did I do?”

17
 Connecting the dots
puzzle
“My cat friend Morris tried and
tried to solve this puzzle, but
he just couldn’t do it. “

Without lifting your pencil,

connect the 9 dots with
just 4 straight lines.

18
 Changing directions

Move 3 red dots so the

stack points downward.

I
figured
this one
out!

Morris
19
 What digits are A & B?
“At first when I saw this
problem I thought to myself,
‘Why are letters mixed with the
numbers?’ This was a tricky
one until I started trying
different possibilities.”

8A B
x A
2B0B
20
 Penrose’s stick puzzle

(1) 24 toothpick-like sticks are joined

to make this figure. Take away 8
toothpicks, and end up with just two
squares.
(2) Starting with the same set of
toothpicks, take away 4 toothpicks
and end up with 5 squares same
size. Now try it again, and get 5
squares, not the same size.
21
 Where did Penrose
put the coin?
“Mr. Abacus gave me this puzzle
to think about. It took me quite
awhile to solve it.”

There are 3 cups and 3 objects—a coin,

a bean, and a shell. Your clues are:
(1) To the left of the white cup is the
black cup.
(2) To the left of the bean is the coin.
(3) To the right of the shell is the gray
cup.
(4) To the right of the gray cup is the
bean.
Under which cup is
the coin?

22
 What comes next?

(a)
?
(b) BCDFGH?KL…
(c) 1,2,4,3,6,8,5, ?, ?, ?
hmm...
Three
puzzles. Let
me think.

23
 The bookshelf problem
“My mistress was constantly
reorganizing her office.”

She had a number of bookshelves. Each

shelf contained 75 books. Then one day
she decided to make room on the
shelves for other objects she collected
such as shells and math solids. So she
added 4 new shelves, and reorganized
the books so that each shelf now had
45 books each.

How many
books does
she have in
her office?

24
 The barber paradox
“I found this old problem in
one of my mistress’ books.”

In a particular village in the Alps,

the barber shaves only those in
the village who do not shave
themselves. But, who shaves the
barber?
This
problem is a bit
confusing.

25
 The marble problem
Watson the cat told Penrose he had
placed two marbles in a bag. Watson
had secretly made sure the two marbles
in the bag were black. Watson was sure
he could trick Penrose with this problem,
so he bet Penrose $5 that Penrose
would not pick a white marble on his
first draw. What did Penrose do in order
to insure a fair game?

Watson

26
Penrose’s six coin puzzle
“This puzzle required that I
put on my Sherlock Holmes’
hat to solve it.”

Six identical looking coins are on

the table. Three weigh exactly 8
grams each, while the other three
weigh 7.9 grams each. Using a
balance scale, how can you identify
two of the lighter coins in just
two weighings.

27
 The candy boxes puzzle
“My mistress loves candies. So
I thought I’d play a trick on
her and change the labels on the
candy boxes. Now no label
indicates the correct contents.”

What is the least number of

candies she must test from which
box(es) to determine which box
has what?
3 chocolates

3 chews

2 chocolates &
1 chew
28
 Heads or tails puzzle

By touching only coins A

and B arrange the coins so
that all columns have the
same sided coins.
I tried
unsuccessfully
to trick Penrose
with this puzzle.

29
 Can you make
this a magic triangle?
In a magic triangle, the numbers
on each side will total the same
amount. Place the numbers 1, 2,3
4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 along the three
sides of the triangle so that each
side totals the same amount. What
amount is this?
?
? ?
?
?

? ? ? ?
30
 Penrose’s hat problem
A box had 1 white hat and 2 gray hats.
Penrose blindfolded his two cat friends.
After placing hats on their heads,
Penrose removed the blindfolds, and
asked—”Do you know the color of the
hat on your head?” Each cat could see
the other’s hat. They looked puzzled.
Finally, Morris said he didn't know. At
which point Watson said he knew. How
did he know?
? ?

Morris Watson

31
 Penrose’s book problem

“One day while reading a good

book, I thought up this
problem.”

Suppose you open a book,

and notice that the facing
page numbers total 57.
What is the page number
on the right side?
It wa
s noise
thos one of loud the
e c k e d
over ro se.
ca
The s st days.
e hou
entir was
u t
just b n was “W h a
e ”
ning gin- that? d the
to te
out, w peek shou ross
hen ac
a lady
?

32
 What time is it?

When Penrose woke up at 10:08am

on Thursday, he accidentally over
stretched and knocked his
mistress’ watch from the dresser.
As he looked at it he noticed it
had stopped working. If it can’t be
fixed, will it ever give the correct
time again? Yes or no, and why.

33
 The matching socks
problem
Penrose loved to snuggle in his
mistress’ sock drawer. One day
when he hopped into the drawer,
he noticed a bag of 5 blue and 5
green socks, He immediately
thought of this problem, “If I
reach in without looking and pull
out a sock, how many times must I
reach into the bag and pull out a
sock to be certain to get two
socks the same color?”

34
 How Penrose places
the x’s.
When Penrose’s mistress is out,
Penrose often likes to look at the
material on her desk. One day
Penrose came across this grid with
an X in one of its squares. He said to
himself, “Is it possible to place X’s in
the other squares of the grid so that
any row, column or diagonal has
exactly two X’s ?” He began to purr
as he placed the last X down. How
did he do it?

x 35
 The garden plot puzzle?

Penrose’s mistress wants to plant

four different vegetables in this
area composed of 5 identical
square plots, as shown below. How
can she divide this area so that
each vegetable has the same size
and shape plot?

36
 The trapezoid puzzle

Penrose saw this trapezoid and

wondered if it could be divided
into two adjacent figures so that
their areas were equal. What do
you think?

37
 The dimes puzzle

“What are you doing, Penrose?”

Watson asked. “I am trying to
rearrange these ten dimes so that
there are 4 coins each in 5
straight lines,” Penrose replied.

HOW DID PENROSE DO THIS?

38
 The jar problem

One day Penrose found two jars

on his mistress’ desk. One could
hold 5 quarts of liquid and the
other 3 quarts. Penrose’s cat
curiosity made him wonder how he
could use these two jars to
measure exactly 1 through 8
quarts of liquid.

How did he solve the problem?

5
3

39
 Penrose
discovers
Lewis
Carroll’s
square
problems

Penrose’s mistress enjoys reading puzzle

books by Lewis Carroll. Penrose found a
Carroll book open to this puzzle, and
thought about the questions:

! 1) How many squares are in

! this diagram?
! 2) Can you trace over the figure
! with a continuous line without
! crossing any lines or lifting
! your pencil?

40
 Penrose’s rectangle
problem
After solving the Lewis Carroll
square problems, Penrose made up
this problem for his cat friend
Snowpea, who also likes
challenges.
How many rectangles are
there in the figure below?

Thanks!
Snowpea This is a good
one, Penrose.
41
Penrose learns a number
in different ways
1
.04÷10
9 0.003
0.25
4
5.4 510
3.3
2
5

3
1000
25%
3
75% 4

2
2x132 3

Penrose, reading some his mistress’

notes, discovered that each number
could be expressed in other ways. For
example, 5 can also be written as 10/2.
Connect the dots which equal the same
number, and discover a hidden design.

42
 Switching places puzzle

Rules:
1. The Penrose pieces can only move to
the right, and the Watson pieces to
the left.

2. A piece can move only one square at

a time.

3. Only different pieces can jump one

! another. For example, a Penrose piece
! cannot jump a Penrose piece.

Find a way to switch the location

of the Penrose & Watson pieces?

43
 Penrose’s “pick any
number problem”

???
Suppose Penrose asked you to pick
any number. Triple it. Now double
it. To this result add the number
of days in June. Now divide this
by 6. Subtract the number you
picked.

What do you always get and why?

44
 Which number doesn’t
belong to the group?
“My friend Moki saw me write this
puzzle, so I gave it to him to solve.”

Penrose, I
like this puzzle. I had
to think about these numbers
for quite awhile before deciding
which number did not belong
with the rest.

12 3 14
21 18
15 36
288 351 45
 Sand piles puzzle

Penrose watched a brother and

sister as they played in a nearby
sandbox. The brother made 3
piles of sand, while his sister made
5 piles. Penrose smiled as he
thought: “if
they add
their piles
together, how
many piles
will there
be?”

46
 Where’s the missing
dollar?
“I baffled Watson with this
problem”

“Three friends ordered 3 large ice

cream sundaes. They each
paid $5. Later the
clerk remembered
the 3 sundaes for
$10 special, and took
$5 from the register.
He gave each friend $1
and kept $2 for himself.
So each friend
paid $4 for a
total of $12,
and the clerk
kept $2. That totals
$14. Where is the other $1 of the
$15?”

47
Find the missing number

2
 189
  = ?
48
 Cutting the cake puzzle

Penrose watched his mistress make

this cake. When it came out of
the oven he wondered, “If you are
allowed to make only three
straight cuts on this round cake,
what is the largest number of
identical pieces you can cut?”

49
 The dice puzzle
“When I first discovered a pair
of dice on my mistress’ desk,
I had no idea what they were
used for. Since then I have
learned about the
Study properties of
these dice, dice, and how
and figure
they fit into the
out how
many pips are field of
hidden. probability.”

50
 The water lily problem
“I love to stretch out by the
pond and watch the carp swim.
One day the water lilies caught
my attention, and I thought up
this problem.”

Suppose these water lilies double

everyday. If the pond became
covered on
April 3,
2012, on
which day
would the
pond be a
quarter
covered?

51
 The penny puzzle

“My cat
friend
Maya
was at
a loss
with
this
puzzle.”
Draw three straight lines in the square so
that each coin is separated by a segment
from the other coins.

52
Maya
 The nonagon and its
diagonals puzzle

How
many
distinct
diagonals does a
nonagon have?

“This problem gave me a lot of

trouble, but I finally figured
out a way to tell how many
diagonals any convex polygon will
have. What do you get?”

53
 A domino puzzle

There are 14 squares in the partial

checkered board below.
Why can’t 7 of these dominos
be used to cover the
the partial checkered
board ?

54
Putting on your logic hat
1) While standing
on a cement
floor, how did
Penrose drop an
egg 2 feet
without breaking
it?

2) An archeologist
found a gold coin dated
46 B.C. How did she
know it was fake?

3) How
many cubic inches of earth
are in a hole whose shape is
a box 1’ wide, 13” long, and
half a foot deep?

55
 Truth & Lies problem
Everyone from
the city of
Truths always
tells the
truth. Those
from the city
<

of Lies always
lie. While
traveling to
the city of
Truths,
Penrose came
to a fork in the road. A native of one of
these cities was at the fork. Penrose
did not know from which city he was. If
Penrose could only ask one question,
what should Penrose ask in order to find
out which path leads to the city of
Truths?

56
 Complicated?

(245×91,286) •⎛⎜ 12 −2.4⎞⎟⎟

⎜⎜ ⎟⎟
3.476 ⎝5 ⎠

This problem
=?
could take a lot of
computational work
unless you see
something.

57
 An old transportation
puzzle
One day at a riverbank I met a farmer
who wanted to get his pig, wolf and a
bunch of cabbage to the other side of
the river. His boat is only big enough to
carry him and either his pig, wolf or
cabbage. If he leaves the pig alone
with the cabbage, the pig will eat the
cabbage. If he leaves the wolf with the
pig, the wolf will eat the pig Only when
the farmer is present are the pig and
cabbage safe from their predators. How
does he manage to get everything to
the other side?

58
 Oh my deer!

“When we were visiting my mistress’

friend in the mountains, I saw a 4’
tall deer eating at the outskirts of a
redwood forest that was 4 miles in
diameter. The deer was startled by a
sonic boom and began running into the
forest.” I wondered
what was the
most number of
miles it could
run into the
forest? 59
 Which is which?
“I found these cards arranged as
shown on my mistress’ desk with a
note that read:

‘Each of the four cards is either white

or gray on one side and has either a
square or a circle on the other side.’ ”

Which card(s)
must you turn
over to decide if
every white card
has a square on
its opposite side?

60
 The truth & lie paradox

There are some places

in the world with
strange laws. In a
village near Baras,
anyone who lied would
be hanged. One day a
stranger came to the
town. He was asked
why he came. What did
the stranger reply so
that the town could not decide
whether to hang him or let him go
free?

This problem
requires your
logic hat.

61
 What’s the
missing
letter in
puzzle 1 puzzle #1?
BCDEHIK?X

“My literary dog friend Hazel

gave me this puzzle.”

Discover how the letters

are arranged?

62
 What’s the
missing
letters in
puzzle #2? puzzle 2
AHI?O?UVWXY

“Here’s the other puzzle

Hazel asked me to solve.”

Discover what these letters

have in common.
What are the missing letters?

63
 Which number am I?

?
When a number is divided
by me, the result is triple
the size of the original
number.
Numbers
can be tricky.

6 7
8 9 …
5
3 4

2
1

64
 The measuring stick
problem

3”
8”

I was playing around in the

backyard with two sticks. One
was 8” long and the other was 3”
long. Using these two sticks,
figure out two different ways to
measure 1”.

65
 Traceable puzzles
Why can you trace over these
patterns without lifting your pencil
or retracing over a path,

and not this one?

66
 The OK problem

OK
OK
K4
The letters O and K are
digits. If the number “OK” is
odd, what digits are O and K?

Okay,
I got it.

67
 The line-up puzzle

1/2ʼ
1/4ʼ
1/8ʼ
Playing around some more with
1/16 sticks, I took a 1/2 foot long stick
and added 1/4’ long stick to its end.
This made the total length of these
two sticks 3/4’. Then I took 1/8’ long,
and added it to the the lined-up
sticks. If I continue to add one-half
the previous length’s stick to the
line-up, the line-up will never
surpass how many feet?

1/2’ 1/4’ 1/8’ . . .

?
68
 Which number am I?

?#
The number ? can never
be divided into any
number?

hmm…???

69
 How did the digits get
there?
• First, ask a friend to pick any three digits
from 0 to 9.
• Next ask your friend to add 4 to the first
choice, and then multiply this sum by 10.
• Now have your friend add the second
choice to this product, and multiply this by
10.
• To this add the third digit picked.
• Finally subtract 400.

The final number is made up of the three

digits your friend picked — all in the order
picked!

How
does this
work?

70
 What day is it —

Sunday,
Monday,
Tuesday,
Wednesday,
Thursday,
Friday or Saturday?
The people of Playland only
tell the truth on Sunday,
Tuesday & Thursday. Which
day of the week is it if a
Playlander says “I told the
truth yesterday?”

71
 The elevator
problem
Penrose met
Mr. Smith on an
elevator. He
learned Mr. Smith
lives on the 50th
story of the
building. If no one
is on the elevator
or it is not raining
when he gets
home from work, Mr. Smith takes
the elevator up to the 43th floor,
and then walks up the stairs to
the 50th floor. Otherwise he takes
the elevator from the ground floor
to the 50th. Why does he walk up
seven flights of stairs when no one
is there or it is not raining?
72
 The sneak preview

Would it be less expensive for you

to take a friend to the movies
three times, or three friends one
time? Why?
Well,
what do you say Penrose.
Are you going to take us all to
the movies?

73
 Toothpick & matchstick
problems
I tried to
stump Mr. Abacus
with this problem,
but he solved it in
no time.

Move three toothpicks to

new locations and end up
with three squares the
same size. Be sure to
use each toothpick as a
side of a square.

Each matchstick here is a

side of one of five squares.
Move two matchsticks to new
locations and end up with
four squares of this size. Be
sure to use each matchstick
as a side of a square.

74
 The inch worm problem

I met Mr.
Inchworm playing
outdoors one day.
Mr. Inchworm
was climbing up a
slippery 30 inch
wall. He’d climbed
5 inches a minute,
then slid back 4
inches.

How many
minutes will it
take the
inchworm to
reach the top
of the wall?

75
 Word puzzle game
One of Penrose’s favorite word puzzle
games is this one first introduced to
readers by Lewis Carroll and called
DOUBLETS.
Here’s how the game works: Change
the first word to the second by
changing one letter at a time in the
first word so that each new set of
letters forms a word. For example CAT
can change to COT, then to DOT, and
finally to DOG. So CAT becomes DOG.

Now figure out how to change:

! ! ! EYE to LID
! ! ! PLUS to MATH
! ! ! READ to BOOK

76
 The missing link

Penrose met Kiara when he was

exploring his neighborhood. He found
her sitting in her yard, and she had just
solved this problem. Kiara explained that
her bracelet had broken into four
pieces. She had asked a jeweler if he
could fix it. The jeweler said he had to
charge her $2 for each link he had to
cut and resolder. He figured that would
cost her $8. She figured out a way it
would only cost $6. How did Kiara solve
the problem?
77
 Square inside a square
puzzle

Mr. Origami asked

Penrose if he could
fold this square piece
of paper and make a
square half its area
appear inside it. How
did Penrose do it?

78
 The timer puzzle

Watson had 3 hourglass timers.

One measured 2 minutes, one 3
minutes, and one 5 minutes.
Watson was wondering if he could
use the timers to measure just 1
minute. How did Penrose solve it?

2 3 5

79
 Musical coins puzzle

Penrose wanted to find a way to

exchange the locations of the
pennies and dimes while following
the rule: move one coin at a
time to the right,
up, down or
diagonally.

Penrose finally did it in only 5

moves? How about you?
80
 Monkey business puzzle

There are only 3 bananas left

on this bunch of bananas
because Penrose’s monkey
friend, Rita, ate half the
bananas on
the bunch
plus half a
banana.
How many
were
originally
on the
bunch?
81
 The six sticks puzzle

These six sticks are all the

same size. Help Penrose
find a way to arrange
them so that they form
only four identical
triangles.

82
 The scale problem
Penrose has 5 stacks of lead weights
and a scale which measures ounces.
The weights look the same, and each
weight is supposed to weigh an
ounce. But, the weights in one of the
stacks each weighs 0.1 ounce less
than those in the other stacks. What
is the minimum number of times
Penrose would have to use the scale
in order to determine which is the
lighter stack?

83
#1 #2 #3 #4 #5
 The triangle puzzle

Take
your time.

Figure out a way to add

two straight lines so that
10 triangles will be
formed.

84
 How were the squares
put down?

Penrose layered four squares the

same size one on top of the other.
They appeared as shown. If the
square numbered 4 was the last to
be placed, in what order were the
other three placed?

85
 Inheritance problem
Penrose wandered into a yacht club
and heard this story. A sailor was
lost at sea. In his will he left his 3
sons his remaining 11 sailboats. The
eldest son was to get 1/2 of the
sailboats. The middle son was to get
1/4 of the sailboats, and the
youngest was to get 1/6. How were
were the sailboats divided so that
none had to be sold?

86
HINT: Someone helps them.
 Shapes & colors puzzle

“This puzzle tripped me up for

a time. Each geometric shape is
a specific color. Figure out a
way to arrange the four
different shapes in a grid so
that each row, column, and
diagonal has no two of the
same shape or color.”

87
 The old
stacking puzzle
How did Penrose relocate the stack
of 5 cards from space A to space
D while following these rules:

• Move one card at a time

to any of the 4 spaces.
• A larger valued card
cannot be placed on top of a
smaller valued card.
5
4
32
1
A B

C D
88
 Star circle puzzle

How many degrees do the

five angle points of this
star total ?

If you solve
this you
deserve a star.
89
 The cube & the angle
problem
Penrose’s mistress drew this
picture of a cube with the angle
shown. After giving it some
thought Penrose figured out the
measure of angle ABC. What is its
measure?

C
A
90
 The EverReady
Bottling Co. puzzle
Today at the EveryReady plant
there was a problem with the
bottling
machine.
OJ
27 bottles OJ OJ OJ OJ OJ OJ
came off the OJ
OJ
OJ OJ
OJ
conveyor belt — OJ OJ OJ OJ OJ
9 full bottles, OJ OJ
OJ
OJ OJ
OJ OJ
9 half full and OJ OJ OJ

9 empty. Without
recapping the bottles and
without giving each customer 3
full, 3 half full and 3 empty
bottles, how can they be divided
so that the next 3 customers each
gets the same amount of juice and
the same number of bottles?
91
 What numbers are we?

When you square 3 you get 9.

When you square 6 you get 36.
But, when you square me or the
number one unit larger than me,
we don’t change.

What
are these two
numbers?

92
The alphabet puzzle

On which row does

the letter O belong?

You might want to

think outside the
box on this one.

93
 What do you get?

(67.5 ÷ ) 3
4
×
1
3
2×(7.5 ÷0.5)
This
looks complicated
Penrose, but knowing
you there’s also
something surprising
here.

94
 Walk around
the house puzzle

This is the floor plan of Penrose’s

home. Can he find a path around the 4
rooms of the house so that he passes
through each doorway only once?

His mistress drew a new floor plan with

another doorway. Why would she want
to add this doorway?

new doorway
95
The rectangle dissection
puzzle
Penrose made this rectangle into a
square by cutting it into two
identical parts which will fit
perfectly to form a square.
4”
How did
he do it?

9”

96
 Making rectangles

I made rectangles
by using any four of
these dots for the
vertices of a rectangle.
Can you find the most
number of rectangles
that can be made? Two
examples are shown by
the dotted rectangles.
97
 Cutting up a square
Penrose came up with this puzzle when
he found a book opened to the topic
polyominoes. Find three other ways to
divide this 4x4
square into
tetromino
shapes.

A tetromino
shape is made from
4 mini squares
joined at the edges.
The edges cannot
overlap as in
figure 1 nor
just meet at
a vertex as in figure 1
figure 2.

figure 2

98
 The small
change puzzle
This bank has $1.05
in coins. I know that
the bank:
•cannot change a nickel
•cannot change a dime
•cannot change a quarter
•cannot change a half dollar
•cannot change a dollar
and none of the coins is a dollar.
Which
coins are in
the bank?

99
 Crossing the
river problem

Penrose and his friends Tim & Jesse, are

rowing their canoe along the right bank of
a stream. Their dads wave to them, and ask
Tim & Jesse for a ride to the left bank. The
canoe can only hold the two boys or one
dad at a time. How do they all get to the
left side of the stream?

100
Matching wits puzzle
“There are 8 triangles formed here from
matchsticks. Remove 4 matchesticks ,
and end up with just 4 triangles this
size.”

101
 The painted cube
Penrose’s friend Mauritus, who is an
artist, made 27 congruent mini
cubes. He stacked these mini cubes
to form a large 3x3x3 cube. He then
painted three of the six faces of this
large cube with black paint, as shown
below. How many of the mini cubes
have only 3 black faces painted? How
many have no black
faces?

102
Symmetry & Secrets

DID HE SEE THE BOOK

“I wrote this message using
horizontal symmetry.
What does it say?”

“The message below is written

using horizontal & vertical
symmetries. What does it say?”

WE CAME TO EAT

103
 The unknown
diagonal problem
A

4”

7”

B
How long is the circle’s
diameter?”

“This is one of my favorite

puzzles because the answer is
before your eyes.”

104
The 2005 penny mystery

How much are 2005

pennies worth?

Let
me think?

105
 Areas of the triangles
problem

The gray and the white rectangles

have the same length and width.
Which of the triangles has the
larger area, the gray or white
one?
Is
this tricky?

106
 Twisty knot problem

“Some knots can be hard to

untie, and others tricky to tie.
This knot puzzle fooled
Watson. Will it fool you?”

Take a piece of rope or

twine. Hold one end in each
hand. Can you figure out a
way to tie a knot without
either hand ever touching the
end of the other hand’s rope?
?

107
 Getting the digits in the
right order
4
=1
+ + =17
+ + + + +
+ + =14
+ + + + +
+ + =11
=6
=12
=13

=17

Choose a digit
from 1 through 9 for
the squares. You can
use a digit more than
once.

Note: The digits in

each row, column and
diagonal must total
108 the numbers shown.
Penrose’s balancing act

What balances Penrose? 109

 The four nines puzzle

Using only 4 nines and

I
any operation
love to do symbols, such as +,
these type of -, x, ÷ , and
problems. parentheses,
make the 4
nines equal 1.

How about
using 3 sevens
to make eight.

110
 Number puzzles

“What
“It’s
do you mean 1 +
elementary,”
1 can equal 10, and
Penrose said,
that 1+1+1 can be
teasing his cat
11?” Watson
friend Watson.
asked.

How can this

be explained?

111
 The water puzzle

Penrose dropped a marble in a jar

of water whose temperature was
58˚ Fahrenheit and another marble
in a jar with water half that
temperature.

Which jar’s marble will reach the

bottom of the jar first?

112
 How many squares?

How
many squares
are hidden in this
diagram?

113
 The perspective puzzle

I told Moki
it all depends
on how you
look at things.

If you looked at these objects

from above, draw the shapes you
would see?

114
 The nines puzzles
“One day I was
checking out
my mistress’
computer case,
when out of
6
nowhere digits
appeared, 2
jumping
excitedly like
0 97 1 3 4 8
jumping beans.”
They shouted, ‘Pick any number of us, and
be sure the digits you pick add up to 9.
Now arrange these digits in any order you
want and form a number. Guess what? The
number you formed is always divisible by 9
with no remainder. For example, if you pick
1,0,1,3,0,1,3, and write the number 3110310,
then 9 divides it with no remainder!”
“I was shocked, but they were right.
Then they asked—’So why does this
always happen, Penrose?’

I also tried it out using 9 ones, and was

surprised by its quotient.” 115
 The betting problem

Penrose decided to test Watson’s

reasoning with this betting puzzle. He
asked, “Suppose, Watson, you begin with
$64, and you must make four bets in a
special way. You must always bet half
of what you have. Now suppose you win
2 bets and lose 2 bets in any order. Is
there a way to end up with more than
$64?”
What happened?

hmm??

116
 Pattern puzzles
(1) 2, 6, 12, 20, __ , __

(2) 123, 456, 789, 101112, __ , __

(3) 0 2 5 9

(4)

?
Discover
the pattern in each
and fill in the
blanks.

117
 The ten digits puzzles

8,5,4,9,1,7,6,3,2,0
Figure out how both
sequences of the ten digits
were arranged.

1,6,2,5,4,9,0,8,7,3

In addition to
using logic to solve
these problems, may
I suggest you also use
a lot of imagination.

118
 Hypercard puzzle

Penrose found an index card cut

like this on his mistress’ desk.
What he saw baffled him until he
really thought about how an index
card could be cut to form this
object. How did Penrose cut &
fold the index card to get this
shape?

119
 The operations problem
”Before I began studying math, I
used to think operations were only
done by doctors. But I soon learned
that mathematicians have their own
types of operations, and they operate
with numbers, variables and other
mathematical objects. +, -, x, ÷ are
the four basic math operations. In
this puzzle all four basic operations
appear.”

Can you figure

out a way to
place one digit
from 1 through 9
in each box so all
the equations in
the diagram are
true statements?

120
 Which doesn’t fit in?
I
looked for
patterns and
. properties to
solve these.
Which doesn’t belong
here and why?
36
VI 90
15

25% of 28

Which one of these five objects

does not belong in this group and
why?

121
 Tangram puzzle
“I first met the Tangramians
while walking on my mistress’
desk. This pile of seven
tangram pieces was shouting
for help to rearrange its
pieces into its original
shape, the square. First, I
figured out how
to make them
form a square
as shown.
Then, for fun, I made them
into this cat.”
Figure out how the 7 tangram
pieces can be used to make
each of the objects below.

122
 Penrose’s flight puzzle
Suppose you’re piloting a flight that
has taken off from San Francisco and
is heading to New York on a flight
path that is 2,750 miles long. The
plane is flying 450 mph and makes a
30 minute stop in Denver to pick up
10 passengers. It then flies to
Nashville and refuels for 20 minutes.
When you reach New York the pilot
announces his or her name, and
thanks the
passengers for
flying today. ?
What’s the
pilot’s name?

123
 The pesty 1 problem

• Pick any whole number. It

doesn’t matter what size it is.
• Add 3 to it.
• Now multiply this sum by 2.
• Subtract 4 from this product.
• Divide this difference by 2.
Finally subtract the number you
first picked from this quotient.

Why
is the final
answer
always 1?

124
 Penrose’s optical
illusions

In the above
drawing which
of the three
drawings of me is
the smallest?
______________
To see my photo
more clearly
squint and hold
the photo at arms
length in front of
you. 125
 How many are there?
“Maya, suppose I know ten kids who
like to bicycle, eight who like to
skateboard, and eight who like to
scooter. One who skateboards also
likes to ride the scooter, two who
scooter also like to bike, one who
likes to bike also likes to skateboard,
and three kids like to to all three
activities.”
Maya, how many kids do I know who
do these activities?
Are you
Your kidding?
answer?
Well,
tell me.

126
 Which has which
whole number?
Cards X, Y, and Z have whole numbers
written on their reverse sides.
• The numbers on cards X & Y total 6
• The numbers on cards Y & Z total 5
• No cards have the same numbers
• No card’s number is greater than 4,
nor less than 2.

X Y Z
Figure out
which whole
numbers are on
the reverse sides
of each card.

127
 The operations puzzle
“Emma Dean is quite a math dog. So
I gave her this puzzle to tackle.”

“See these digits?” Penrose asked Emma

Dean.
4 2 2 2 1 3 6 1 2 0
“Yes, I see them,” replied Emma Dean.
“Can you transform this into an equation
by inserting any of the mathematical
operation symbols and an equal sign
while keeping the same order of the
digits?”
This
requires
some
thought!

128
 Penrose’s age problem

“My cat friends and I leave you

with this problem. I am 5 years
younger than Tom, the big
neighborhood tomcat. Watson is
2 years younger than Tom.
When Kitty was born two
months ago, at birth she was 16
years younger than the combined
ages of Tom & Watson.”

How
many years
old am I?

– x
÷
+ 129
130
 solutions
solutions
solutions
solutions
solutions
solutions
Puzzle alert:
Some of these puzzles may have
more than one correct answer or
way of solving them.
131
 1
3

132
SOLUTIONS
page 12:
The number of cats would have to be divisible by 2, 4 and 5 because
of the fractions 1/2, 1/4 and 1/5. The common denominator would be
20. Testing this as the number of cats, we get (1/2) of 20 is 10;
(1/4) 0f 20 is 5; (1/5) of 20 is 4. So 10+5+4+1(this is the one tabby)
= 20. Trying any other multiple of 20, such as 40, the final sum will
not work out.
page 13:
The square, hexagon, triangle and rectangle don’t make good manhole
covers because their lids can fall through their respective holes. The
circle and the Reuleaux triangle shaped lids cannot fall through
their respective holes because their diameters remain a constant
width.
page 14:
(1) 1; (2) 2; (3) 0; (4) 0; (5) 0
page 15:
All the numbers shown are odd prime numbers, except for 27. A
number is prime if it is only divisible by 1 and itself. 27 has divisors
1, 3, 9, and 27.
page 16:
Tom and Jerry are professional baseball players, but play on
different teams. This particular day their teams were playing each
other. Tom is catcher, and he stopped Jerry from reaching home
plate.
page 17:
Pick up glass #2 and pour its water into glass #5. Then replace
glass #2.
page 18: page 19:
page 20: AxA must equal 9 and AxB must end up being a whole#
from 10 through 19 in order to produce a zero in the product’s tens
place. The only possibilities for AxB are: 3x4; 3x5; 3x6. All other
possibilities end up less than 10 or greater than 19. Trying these out
we find that only 3x5 works. .
We get:  835 page 21: (1) (2)
× 3
133
2505
 SOLUTIONS
page 22: The black cup has the shell. The gray cup has the coin.
The white cup has the bean.
page 23: (b) “J”. Only the consonants are listed in
(a)! ! alphabetic order.

! !
(c) 10, 12 & 7. The pattern is: the first odd number is followed by
the first two even numbers, then the next odd number is
followed by the next two even numbers, and so forth.
page 24: If we know how many bookshelves his mistress has, we
would know how many books she has, since each shelf has the same
number. We can either guess how many bookshelves she starts with
and check the answer or use a little algebra to figure it out. For
example, if we guess she begins with 3 shelves then she will add
four and have 7 shelves. which means 3 times 75 must equal 7
times 45, but it doesn’t. So that guess is wrong.
Using algebra, and letting x stand for how many shelves she starts
with, then x+4 represents how many shelves she ended with. Since
she started with 75 books on each shelf, 75x expresses how many
books she has, and 45(x+4) represents how many books she has
after adding 4 shelves. These two expressions must be equal, since
they both represent how many books she has. So all we have to do
is solve the equation: 75x= 45(x+4)—> 75x=45x+180 —> 30x=180 —>
x=6. So we know she started with 6 shelves and ended with 4 more
or 10. 6•75=450 = 10•45. She has 450 books.
page 25: There is no answer. It’s a paradox. If the barber shaves
himself, he is shaving someone outside the group of “those who don’t
shave themselves.” If he doesn’t shave himself, he is a member of
the group which do not shave themselves — and therefore the
barber should shave himself.
page 26: Penrose insisted that Watson draw first. When Watson
drew a black marble (which was his only option), Penrose said that
his must be white and does not need to draw.

134
SOLUTIONS
page 27: First weigh 2 piles of 3 coins each. The lighter pile has at
least 2 light coins. Then weigh 2 coins from this pile. If they
balance, they are 2 of the light coins. If they don’t balance, the
lighter one along with the one you didn’t weigh are two of the 3
light coins.
page 28: You only have to test one candy from the box labeled 2
chocolates & 1 chew.
If the candy you test is chocolate, you know it cannot have 2
chocolates & 1 chew because the box is mislabeled. Therefore, it
must have 3 chocolates, since all boxes are mislabeled. This means
the box labeled 3 chews must have 2 chocolates & 1 chew and the
box labeled 3 chocolates has 3 chews.
If, instead, the candy you taste from the box labeled 2 chocolates
& 1 chew is a chew, it must have 3 chews. this would mean the
box labeled 3 chews must have 3 chocolates, since the chocolate
box must be mislabeled. So the box labeled 3 chocolates has 2
chocolates & 1 chew.
page 29: Use coin “A” to push the rest of row A one column to the
right. Do the same with coin “B”.
page 30: For amount 20: Sides have 2,9,1,8 —8,3,4,5 — 5,6,7,2.
For the amount 21: Sides have 9,4,2,6 — 6,5,7,3 — 3,8,1,9. For the
smallest amount, 17: Sides have 1,4,9,3— 3,7,5,2 —2,8,6,1.
page 31: If Morris saw Watson wearing a white hat, then Morris
would have known that he had on a gray one because there was
only one white hat. Since Morris could not answer the question,
Watson knew his hat had to be gray.
page 32: The left sided page number is always an even number. Since the
two consecutive pages numbers total 57, their average is 57÷2=28.5. So the
left page is number 28 and the right page number is 29, and checking the
answer we get 28+29=57.
page 33: Yes, it will give the correct time twice a day, at 10:08 in
the morning and at 10:08 at night.

135
 SOLUTIONS
page 34: At most 3 times. If the first two picks were different
colored socks, the third time would make a match with one you
already picked.
page 35: One way is: x x page 36:
x x 1
xx 1 2
x x 4 2
x x 4 3
x x
3
page 37:
Regions A and B have the same area. Look at the diagram next to
them with the two rectangles and two
triangles. The rectangles have the same
area since their widths and heights are
equal. The two triangles have the same 2 3
size bases and the height to these
bases is the same, therefore the A B 1 4
triangles’ areas are also equal making
the white and gray regions equal in
area.
page 39: To get the 3, 5, & 8 qts. measures just use
page 38: those jars. To get the 1 qt. measure, fill the 3 qt. jar with
water and pour it into the 5 qt. jar. Refill the 3 qt. jar,
and fill the 5 qt. jar with this water. That leaves 1 qt. in
the 3 quart jar. Refill the 5 qt. jar, and we have a total
of 6 qts. Empty the 5 qt. jar, and pour the 1 qt. into the
5 qt. jar. Refill the 3 qt., jar, and pour it into the 5
quart. jar. This now makes 4 qts. in the 5 qt. jar. Refill
page 40:
the 5 qt. and use it to fill the 3 qt. jar. This leaves 2 qts.
6 squares
in the 5 qt. jar. Empty the 3 qt. jar, and pour the 2 qts.
from the 5 qt. jar into the 3 qt. jar. Refill the 5 qt. jar.
These two now total 7 qts.

page 41: 12 rectangles (Remember a square is a special rectangle.)

136
SOLUTIONS
page 42: 9 0.003 1
.04÷10 page 43:
0.25
5.4 4
510 Penrose’s friend Dale
3.3 solves this puzzle
2
5 by never choosing
3 moves that put two
similar cats together
1000
25%
75%
3
4 until their final
2x132 3
2 positions.
page 44: Suppose you pick any number,
call it n. When you triple it, it becomes 3n.
Double this, and you get 6n. Adding 30,
it becomes 6n+30. Divided by 6 gives n+5.
Subtract n from this leaves 5, no matter
what number you used for n.
page 45: 14, because all other numbers shown are divisible by 3,
except for 14.
page 46: One pile
page 47: There is no missing dollar. One just needs to keep track of
the amounts paid, and where they are located. $10 dollars is in the
register. Each of the three friends got $1 and the clerk got $2. That
totals $15.
page 48: The only digits when multiplied by themselves produce a 9
are 3 & 7. Try each as the ∆ in the problem, and you will find 7 is
the only one that works.
page 49: One way is:
page 50: Standard dice are designed so that the opposite faces of a
die always total 7. Each die’s 6 faces has pips with the first 6
counting numbers. This means each die has 21 pips total. So three
dice have a total of 63 pips. Subtracting from 63 the 26 of pips
shown on the exposed faces leaves 37 hidden pips. Another way to
solve this is to just add up the pips on the missing sides. One die is
missing a 1,4,5, the next is missing 1,2,4,6; & the last is missing
3,5,6. These total 37.
page 51: Since it double in one day, on April 2 it was half covered.
So on April 1 it was one-fourth or a quarter covered.
137
 SOLUTIONS Drawing in the diagonals and counting them
page 52: page 53: we get: 6+6+5+4+3+2+1=27.
Notice: 6+(6+5+4+3+2+1)=6+three 7s.
Penrose also figured this formula: If “s”
represents the number of sides of a polygon,
then the number of diagonals it has is
(s-3) +[(s-3)(s-2)]/2 which equals (s-3)s/2.
page 54: Each domino must cover a gray and white square. The
figure has two white squares removed, leaving 8 gray and 6 white.
For the dominos to cover all squares there must be the same
number of gray and white squares on the checkered board.
page 55: 1) Penrose held the egg more than two feet above the
pavement before dropping it, so the egg fell the first two feet
without breaking. 2) The coin could not be stamped B.C. (Before
Christ), since it was made before Christ was born. 3) None because
a hole is empty.
page 56: Ask, “Point to the path that leads to the city you come
from.” Regardless whether he is from the city of Truths or Lies, he
will point to the city of Truths.
page 57: The easiest way to do this is to notice that ⎛ 12 − 2.4 ⎞
⎜⎝ ⎟⎠
equals 0, thereby making ?=0 5
page 58: The farmer first takes the pig across. He then returns
and picks up the wolf. He leaves the wolf across, and then takes the
pig back with him. He then leaves the pig at the starting place, and
takes the cabbage over to where the wolf is. He returns and picks
up the pig, and goes where the wolf and the cabbage are.
page 59: Only 2 miles because after the halfway mark the deer
would be running out of the forest.
page 60: Just turnover the white card to be sure it has a square
and the card with the circle to be sure it is not gray. You don’t care
about the gray card or the one with the square. You are just making
sure every white care has a circle and vice versa.
138
SOLUTIONS
page 61: He says, “I came to be hanged.” If the town judges him
to be lying and hangs him, they will have hung a man they believed
was telling the truth. Another paradox!
page 62: This card has only letters with horizontal symmetry, so
the missing letter is “O”.
page 63: the letters are M & T because all the letters pictured
have vertical symmetry (they have identical right and left sides
when folded vertically in half).
page 64: The number is 1/3.
page 65: Mark off 3” twice on the 8” stick. Use the remaining 2”
on the 8” stick to mark off 2” on the 3” stick, leaving 1. Or, mark off
3” three times on the 8” stick, what hangs over the 3” stick is 1”.
page 66: A traceable pattern can have no more than 2 vertices with
an odd number of segments passing through it. One vertex where
the path begins and one where it ends. If it begins and ends at the
same vertex, that vertex has an even number of segments through
it. You can see that the first and second patterns each have two
odd vertices so they are traceable. The third pattern is not
traceable because it has more than 2 odd vertices. In fact it has
four; therefore it is not traceable.
page 67: We see that K+K must equal 4. So K can be either 2 or 7.
Using 2 makes “OK” an even number, which is not allowed. So O=3,
K=7. 37+37=74
page 68: 1 foot
page 69: zero. No amount of zeros will ever produce a number.
page 70: After adding 4 to the 1st picked digit, it ends up being
multiplied by 100 after completing steps 2 & 3. Now, notice that the
2nd picked digit is multiplied by 10 in step 2, and the 3rd digit
remains the same in step 4. By doing this the digits are placed in
the order they were chosen. For example, if you choose 9, 5, and 3,
the process makes 9 become 13 and then 1300, 5 becomes 50 and 3
stays 3, so their sum is 1353. The adding of 4 in the beginning was
done just to confuse you, since it was subtracted later on after it
became 400. 1353-400=953.
139
 SOLUTIONS
page 71: It’s Saturday. For example, it can’t be Friday because he
lies on Friday which would mean he told a lie on Thursday, but that
is a day he tells the truth. Now test it with the other days, and
find out that only Saturday works.
page 72: Mr Smith is very short and cannot reach the buttons for
floors higher than the 43rd.  If there is someone else with him, he
can ask them to push the 50th floor button. Or, if it is a rainy day,
he can use his umbrella to reach the button.
page 73: Take three friends one time because you only pay once for
yourself.
page 74:

page 75: 26 minutes. After 25 minutes, the worm is 25 inches up

the wall. During the 25th minute it climbs over the top and doesn’t
slide back.
page 76: EYE to LID: eye—>lye—>lie—>lid
PLUS to MATH: plus—>pius—>pits—>mits—>mats—>math
READ to BOOK:read—>bead—>bend—>bond—>bonk—>book
page 77: Kiara tells the jeweler to use the part with 3 links, and
cut apart those 3 links and use them to attach the remaining 3
pieces to each end.
page 78: Fold the square in half both vertically and
horizontally as shown. Then fold the vertices
of the square as shown to get the gray square.

page 79: This can be done in many ways. One way is to turn over
simultaneously both the 2 minute and the 3 minute timers. At the
exact moment the two minute timer runs out, lay the 3 minute timer
on its side. It has 1 minute of sand left in it.
page 80:
A B steps: (1) Move C to the left. (2)
Move B diagonally. (3) Move D up.
(4) Move A diagonally to where D
C D
was. (5) Move C diagonally.
140
SOLUTIONS
page 81: There are 7 bananas. The monkey ate 1/2 of the 7 which
is 3 1/2 plus a 1/2 banana left makes 7 in all.
page 82: If you form a tetrahedron with the 6 sticks, the 4
identical triangles are the faces of the tetrahedron.
page 83: Penrose did it in one weighing. Take 1 weight from stack#1
and 2 from stack#2, 3 from stack#3, 4 from stack #4 and 5 from
stack #5. Place all the coins on the scale at once, and the reading
will reveal which stack is counterfeit. Since Penrose weighed 15
coins they should weigh 15 ounces, but since one stack is counterfeit
with each coin weight 0.1 ounce less, the total will be less than 15
ounces. For example, if the total is 3 tenths ounces less, this reveals
the counterfeit stack is stack#3, since we took 3 coins from this
stack. A
Ten triangles: ∆AEG, ∆BFC,
page 84: J B ∆JFI, ∆IHG, ∆CDE, ∆JDG,
I F C ∆BHE, ∆HFD, ∆ABI, ∆AJC
H D
G E

1 page 86: A neighbor of the sailor added

page 85: his sailboat to the 11, making it now 12
4
sailboats. Then 1/2 of the 12 sailboats,
that is 6 sailboats, went to the eldest son.
2
3 The middle son got 1/4 of the boats, that
is 3 sailboats. The youngest got 1/6 or 2
sailboats. 6+3+2 totals 11, and then the
neighbor took his sailboat back.
page 87:

page 88: 1—>B: 2—>D; 3—>C; 2—>C; 1—>C; 4—>B; 5—>D; 4—>D; 1—>B;
2—>A; 3—>D; 2—>D; 1—>D
page 89: This problem requires some geometry knowledge. Each
point of the star is also an inscribed angle of the circle, which
makes its measure half the arc it inscribes. Since the inscribed arcs
of these 5 angles cover the circle which is 360˚, their total is half
this amount or 180˚.
141
 SOLUTIONS
page 90: Angle ABC is 60˚. Since all diagonals of the faces of a
cube are the same size, if you draw in diagonal AC, and consider
triangle ABC, you realize it has to be an equilateral triangle because
its sides are each diagonals of cube’s faces. Since it is equilateral, it
is also an equiangular triangle, making each angle 60˚, since the
angles of a triangle total 180˚.
page 91: From the 27 bottles each customer must get the same
amount of juice & number of bottles. The first customer would get 2
full bottles, 5 half full bottles, and 2 empty bottles. The second
customer would get 3 full bottles, 3 half bottles, 3 empty bottles,
the third customer would get 4 full bottles, 1 half full bottle, and 4
empty bottles.
page 92: zero and one.
page 93: “O” belongs in both rows. All the letters in the top row
have curves in them, so “O” could belong here. But, like “O” all
letters on the bottom row have vertical symmetry. So “O” also
belongs here.
2” 2”
page 94: It comes out to be 1. page 96:
page 95: It is impossible. 3” 6”
2”
Also see explanation for solution page 65. 3”
His mistress wants a new floor plan 3” 3” 6”
so Penrose could find a path. In the new floor plan 2” 2”

the location of the two odd vertices 3”

tells you where to begin and end your 3”

path. There are many ways to find a path

with the new floor plan.

original floor plan a solution for the

is impossible new floor plan new floor plan
odd odd end
odd start
odd odd

odd
142
SOLUTIONS
page 97: 18 rectangles. There are;
6 —>1x1; 3—>2x1; 4—>1x2; 2—>1x3;
2—>2x2; 1—>2x3.
page 98:

page 99: One half dollar, one quarter, and three dimes.
page 100: Tim & Jesse row to the opposite side away from their
dads. Jesse gets off. Tim rows back to the side where their dads
are. Tim gets off and lets his dad row himself to Jesse’s side. Jesse
takes the boat back to where Tim and Jesse’s dad are, and picks up
Tim. Tim and Jesse again row to the opposite side. Tim gets out and
stays with his dad while Jesse rows back to where is dad is. Jesse
lets his dad row over to the opposite side, and Tim brings the boat
back and picks up Jesse.
page 101:
page 102: One has 3 black faces. Four have no black
faces.
page 103: “DID HE SEE THE BOOK” and “WE CAME TO
EAT.”
page 104: If you draw in the other diagonal of the rectangle, you
will see it is a radius of the circle, which is also 7”. So the circle’s
diameter is 14, since it’s twice as long as the radius.
page 105: Pennies minted in the year 2005 are worth one cent.
Therefore, 2005 pennies are worth $20.05.
page 106: Both triangles have the same area because their bases
and heights are the same size. page 108: One
page 107: Cross your arms in front solution is: 4
=1
of you. While your arms are crossed, 1 + 9 + 7 =17
have each hand pick up an end + + + + +
of the rope. Holding the ends, 8 + 3 + 3 =14
uncross your arms. A knot is + + + + +
formed without either hand 4 + 5 + 2 =11
=6
ever touching the end of the 143
=12
=13

=17

other hand’s rope.

 SOLUTIONS
page 109: Add 2 Penroses to each side of the scale in the 2nd
weighing. That makes 2 Penroses and 4 cubes on the left and 3
Penroses and 2 pyramids on the right. We know we can replaced the
left side with 14 pyramids because the 1st weighing says Penrose &
2 cubes equals 7 pyramids. Now remove 2 pyramids from each side
of the 2nd weighing. We now see 12 pyramids balance 3 Penroses.
Therefore 1 Penrose must be 4 pyramids.
page 110: four nines 99÷99=1, some other solutions:
(9+9)÷(9+9)=1 (9-9)+(9÷9)=1 99^(9-9)=1 (9÷9)^99=1
(9÷9)x(9÷9)=1
Here’s how Penrose made 3 sevens to be eight:
7+ (7÷7)=8
page 111: The equations are written in numbers expressed in base
two. 10 written in base 2 means 1 two & 0 ones, which equals 2 in
base ten. 11 in base 2 is 1 two & one 1, which equals 3 in base 10.
page 112: The marble in the jar that is 58˚ Fahrenheit will reach
the bottom first because the water in the jar that is 29˚
Fahrenheit is frozen.
A B C
page 113: There are 11 squares.
1 P K D
In addition to the 6 small number J
2 3
squares shown, there are: BCNM; M
4 5
N 6

PDHE; MNFG; JKLQ; ACEQ. Q H L E

page 114: G F

pencil pyramid top hat cup stairs

page 115: To see why its works look into “casting out nines”.
111111111÷9=12345679; 8 is missing in its quotient.
page 116: You always end up with $36, regardless of what you do.
page 117: (1) 1x2=2; 2x3=6; 3x4=12; 4x5=20; 5x6=30 6x7=42
(2) 131415, 161718 (3) (4)

144
SOLUTIONS
page 118: Look at the English text names of the digits: zero,
one, two three, four five six seven, eight, nine. The first sequence
is arranged alphabetically. The second sequence has the digits
grouped by the number of letters in each word, and then each
group is arranged alphabetically.
page 119: Cut the rectangular card along flap 1
flap 3
the dotted lines. Fold flap 1 up &
perpendicular to the card. Fold flap 2 flap 2
down, under, and flat. Finally, fold flap 3 up
past flap 1, and flat.

page 120: 9 5 4 page 121:

All in the first group
6 3 2 represent the number 6.
25% of 28 is 7.
There are two possible
1 7 8 answers for the 2nd
group. Answer 1: The
page 122: circle because all the
other objects have
straight edges. Answer 2:
is because all the other
objects are convex.

page 123: The pilot’s name is your name.

page: 124: Suppose we pick x. Then you add 3, and we get x+3.
Multiply this by 2 and we get 2(x+) or 2x+6. Subtract 4 and we
get 2x+6-4 or 2x-2. Divide this result by 2, and we get x+1.
Finally subtract the number we started with, namely x, and we
get 1. It made no difference which number we started with.
page 125:
All three illustrations of Penrose are the same size. The
perspective drawing on which the illustrations of Penrose are
placed tricks our minds into thinking the front Penrose is the
smallest illustration. 145
SOLUTIONS
page 126: All three circles total 16 kids.
all the kids who
skateboard are in this
circle, which totals 8. all the kids who
scooter are in this
1 circle, which totals 8.
3 2
3
1 2
4
all the kids who bike
are in this circle,
which totals 10.

page 127: page 127: Since X+Y=6, the possible choices for X & Y
are 6,0; 0,6; 1,5; 5,1; 3,3; 4,2; 2,4. Since Y+Z=5, the possibilities
for Y & Z are 1,4; 4,1; 2,3; 3,2; 5,0; 0,5. But, since no card can be
greater than 4 or less than 2, this eliminates any pair of cards
with 0, 1, 5, and 6. We are also told that the numbers in the pair
must be different, which eliminates 3,3. So that leaves choices
4,2 or 2,4 for X+Y=6, and 3,2 and 2,3 for Y+Z=5.
Thus x=4, Y=2, Z=3.

page 128: There are many solutions. Here are three:

42 + (2 x 21) + 36 = 120 (4-2-2)x(1361)=0 (4+2+2+1+3+6)x1=20
page 129: You can solve this problem using algebra or by logic,
guessing and checking. The combined ages of Tom and Watson
were 16 years when Kitty was born, which means Tom’s age is a
number less than 16, and Watson was 2 years younger than Tom.
So we must select two numbers that total less than 16 and are 2
units apart. 9 and 7 are the only numbers that total 16 and are
two units apart. This means Watson was 7 years and Tom was 9.
Since Penrose is 3 years younger than Watson, Penrose was 4
years old when Kitty was born.

146
SOLUTIONS

INDEX
of
puzzle
names
INDEX
SOLUTIONS

A
age problem, Penrose’s 129
alphabet puzzle, The 93
Areas of the triangles problem 106
B
balancing act, Penrose’s 109
barber paradox, The 25
betting problem, The 116
book problem, Penrose’s 32
bookshelf problem, The 24
C
candy boxes puzzle, The 28
cat problem, The 12
Changing directions 19
coin?, Where did Penrose put the 22
Complicated? 57
Connecting the dots puzzle 18
Crossing the river problem 100
cube, The painted 102
cube & the angle problem, The 90
Cutting the cake puzzle 49
Cutting up a square 98
D
diagonal problem, The unknown 104
digits are A & B?, What 20
digits get there?, How did the 70
148
SOLUTIONS INDEX

digits in the right order, Getting the 108

dice puzzle, The 50
dimes puzzle, The 38
domino puzzle, A 54
E
elevator problem, The 72
EverReady Bottling Co. puzzle, The 91
F
flight puzzle, Penrose’s 123
four nines puzzle, The 110
G
garden plot puzzle?, The 36
H
hat problem, Penrose’s 31
Heads or tails puzzle 29
How many are there? 126
How Penrose places the x’s. 35
Hypercard puzzle 120
I
inch worm problem, The 75
Inheritance problem 86
J
jar problem, The 39
K
knot problem, Twisty 107
149
 SOLUTIONS
INDEX

L
Lewis Carroll’s square problems, Penrose discovers 40
line-up puzzle, The 68
line-up the glasses problem 17
logic hat, Putting on your 55
M
magic triangle?, Can you make this a 30
manholes round?, Why are 13
marble problem The 26
matching socks problem, The 34
Matching wits puzzle 101
measuring stick problem, The 65
missing dollar?, Where’s the 47
missing letter puzzle #1?, What’s the 62
missing letter puzzle #2?, What’s the 63
missing link, The 77
missing number, Find the 48
Monkey business puzzle 81
Musical coins puzzle 80
N
nines puzzles, The 115
nonagon and its diagonals puzzle, The 53
number am I?, Which 64
number am I?, Which 69
number doesn’t belong to the group?, Which 45

150
SOLUTIONS INDEX

number in different ways, Penrose learns a 42

Number puzzles 111
numbers are we?, What 92
numbers?, Which 14
numbers in the box problem, The 15
O
Oh my deer! 59
OK problem, The 67
old stacking puzzle, The 88
old transportation puzzle, An 58
operations problem, The 120
operations puzzle, The 128
optical illusions, Penrose’s 125
P
Pattern puzzles 117
penny puzzle, The 52
penny mystery, The 2005 105
perspective puzzle, The 114
pesky 1 problem, The 124
“pick any number problem”, Penrose’s 44
R
rectangle dissection puzzle, The 96
rectangles, Making 97
rectangle problem, Penrose’s 41

151
SOLUTIONS
INDEX

S
Sand piles puzzle 46
scale problem, The 83
Shapes & colors puzzle 87
six coin puzzle, Penrose’s 27
six segment puzzle, The 82
small change puzzle, The 99
sneak preview, The 73
squares?, How many 113
Square inside a square puzzle 78
squares put down?, How were the 85
Star circle puzzle 89
stick puzzle, Penrose’s 21
Switching places puzzle 43
Symmetry & Secrets 103
T
Tangram puzzle 122
ten digits puzzle, The 118
time is it?, What 33
timer puzzle, The 79
Tom & Jerry dilemma 16
Toothpick & matchstick problems 74
Traceable puzzles 66
trapezoid puzzle, The 37
triangle puzzle, The 84

152
SOLUTIONS INDEX

truth & lie paradox, The 61

Truth & Lies problem 56
W
Walk around the house puzzle 95
water lily problem, The 51
water puzzle, The 112
What comes next? 23
What day is it — 71
What do you get? 94
whole number?, Which has which 127
Which is which? 60
Word puzzle game 76

153
SOLUTIONS
SOLUTIONS
acknowledgements
Thank you to all who have contributed in various
ways to this book.

I would like to give special thanks to Dale Lindley,

who gave so generously of his time, and whose
uncanny talent to zero in on a puzzle’s
shortcomings was so helpful.  His insights,
suggestions and ongoing input on this project were
invaluable. 

In addition to my thanks to Elvira Monroe, Penrose

adds his thanks and special purrs to her. She has
worked with him since he was a kitten, and her
enthusiasm, encouragement, and enjoyment of his
math adventures have added many dimensions to
his character.

Thanks also to the anonymous puzzle makers

whose puzzles through the years have been a
source of enjoyment to so many. Penrose is happy
to include some of them in his collection.

Finally, many many thanks to Penrose’s fans.

Penrose and I have so enjoyed your kind words
and comments over the years.
— Theoni Pappas

155
SOLUTIONS
about Penrose’s
mistress

Theoni Pappas is passionate about

mathematics. A native Californian,
Pappas received her B.A. from the
University of California at Berkeley in
1966 and her M.A. from Stanford
University in 1967. She taught high
school and college mathematics for
nearly two decades, then turned to
writing a remarkable series of
innovative books which reflect her
commitment to demystifying
mathematics and making the subject
more approachable. Through her pithy, non-threatening and easily
comprehensible style, she breaks down mathematical prejudices and
barriers to help one realize that mathematics is a dynamic world of
fascinating ideas that can be easily accessible to the layperson.

Her math calendars and math books appeal to both young and adult
audiences and intrigue the “I hate math people” as well as math
enthusiasts. Three of her books have been Book-of-the Month Club™
selections, and her Joy of Mathematics was selected as a Pick of the
Paperbacks. Her books have been translated into Japanese, Finnish,
French, Slovakian, Czech, Korean, Turkish, Russian, Thai, simplified
and traditional Chinese, Portuguese, Italian, Vietnamese, and
Spanish.

In 2000 Pappas received the Excellence in Achievement Award from

the University of California Alumni Association for her work on books
and other innovative products that deal with mathematics.

In addition to mathematics, Pappas enjoys the outdoors, especially

the seashore where she has a home. There she bicycles, hikes and
swims. Her other interests include watercolor painting, photography,
music, cooking and gardening.