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  • Unit Two
  • Creative Thinking Puzzles

Creative Thinking Puzzles

In groups, try to solve the different puzzles presented below.  Although it will be tempting, do not check your answer until you are all agreed on a correct solution (and all understand it).  You will have to push yourself to think differently to solve these puzzles - if you find yourself looking at the puzzle in one way, and it's not helping, do the best you can to look at the problem in a new way.  Every detail matters. 

Puzzle #1: A Strange Punishment

Picture
Four men are sentenced to be punished.  However, their kind leader offers them a way out - if they are clever enough:

  • He arranges for them to be buried up to their necks in the sand in the desert (as shown in the diagram) in a straight line, with three on one side of a  brick wall, and one on the other, each wearing either a black or white hat.
  • The wall cannot be seen through (i.e. A and B can only see their own sides of the wall). 
  • They cannot turn their heads to see the people behind them. 
  • The men are blindfolded when they are buried, and know that there are two white hats and two black hats, but they do not know who is wearing which colour. 
  • C can see B, and D can see C and B. 
  • No communication is permitted between them.

In order to escape punishment, one of them must call out and correctly identify the colour of their hat within ten minutes.

After 1 minute, one of them calls out. Which one, and why is he so confident about the colour of his hat?
See the Solution to Puzzle #1

Puzzle #2: The Sequence

Can you work out what the next letter in this sequence is?

CYWOWTNLITS?
See the solution to Puzzle #2

Puzzle #3: Water, Gas, and Electricity

Picture


Provide supplies of Water, Gas and Electricity from each of their plants shown in the figure, to each of the houses A, B and C (by drawing them in).

No connections can cross each other.
See the Solution to Puzzle #3
Copyright © 2015 Greg Callaham