Before we get to this Monday’s Micro Softy, here are some distractions. Great analytical minds can reason around distractions and get to a problem’s solution.
It Happens Every Spring is a fun 1949 movie that mixes baseball with science fiction. A scientist invents a formula that, when applied to an object, causes it to repel wood. So he rubs it on a baseball and becomes an all-star pitcher in the major leagues. He doesn’t throw hard, but that’s okay. When the batter swings his wooden bat, there is little or no contact. Fans and sports writers are amazed.
“It Happens Every Spring” starred one of old Hollywood’s icons, Ray Milland. And, with the movie in mind, here’s this week’s Micro Softy.
Baseball happens every spring. So what doesn’t occur in spring, but occurs exactly once in June and July, and exactly twice in August?
We’ll give the answer next Microsofty Monday.
Hint: The answer has to do with you, but nothing to do with baseball.
Solution to Micro Softy 54: A Plane Problem
Here’s last week’s puzzle: Senator Kornn left Washington when Governor Friar, whom he disliked, was visiting. Ironically, both boarded planes at the same time — Kornn from DC’s Reagan Airport, Friar from Dallas-Fort Worth — each flying to the other’s city. Mid-flight, Kornn spotted Friar’s plane speeding past in the opposite direction. Seeing he was only a quarter of the way to Dallas, he grumbled, “Harrumph! His plane’s faster than mine.”
How many times faster was Friar’s plane going than Kornn’s?
Here’s the answer. Friar’s plane has gone ¾ of the distance and Kornn’s ¼. Since Friar’s plane had covered three times the distance as Kornn’s, Friar’s plane was going three times as fast. It’s that simple.
For my fellow nerds, here’s the general math. Suppose Kornn had gone fraction x of the way. That means Friar had gone (1-x) of the way. So Friar’s plane is going (1-x)/x as fast as Kornn’s. For our problem, x=1/4 and 1-x = ¾.
Notice, as was given in the hint last week, the distance between the airports doesn’t need to be known to solve the problem.
Here are the puzzles from the last four weeks:
Monday Micro Softy 54: A Plane Problem for Aspiring Engineers The senator is leaving Washington to avoid the governor and their planes are headed in opposite directions. To solve last week’s puzzle, consider alternative motives for the masked men who are breaking down the door. It may not be what we first think.
Monday Micro Softy 53: Kicking In the Door To solve this puzzle, you will need to sharpen your abductive reasoning skills. There are actually two possible solutions to last week’s puzzle, depending on how you interpret the pattern of the arithmetic.
Monday Micro Softy 52: Elon Musk parody asks: Are you a genius? The puzzle comes from a parody X account but it is a genuine stumper. Last week’s puzzle is easy to solve if we recall how many parents a child needs and of what type…
and
Monday Micro Softy 51: A tale of two auto mechanics I recognized the two mechanics when I went to the garage… To solve Microsofty 50, about cutting a loaf of cornbread into eight pieces by making three slices, try thinking in three dimensions.
The Monday Micro Softy is a weekly feature of GeekPlanet News. Here are the links to all the puzzles and answers to date:
Monday Micro Softy 50: Cutting through the cornbread. How did Yuri Senior cut the cornbread into eight identical portions using only three straight cuts? You can guess the answer to Microsofty 49 if you try the test question yourself at home, using a small mirror. Links to Microsofties 46 through 49 are here as well.
Monday Micro Softy 45: Can Tony beat the fast-food curfew? An early curfew on fast food service motivated a boy to exercise more vigorously. But how fast was he pedaling? To solve Micro Softy 44, recall that Tony doesn’t need to take the individual pills each day, only the prescribed amount of each. You will find links here to Micros Softies 41 through 44 as well.
Monday Micro Softy 40: The fate of a false prophet. He wasn’t actually fired for being a false prophet but for something that his prophecy unintentionally revealed. The solution to Micro Softy 39 lies in considering an alternative possible meaning of a word commonly used in sports. You will also find links to Micro Softies 30 through 39 and their answers here as well.
Monday Micro Softy 29: A funeral lament in four lines. The funeral director was puzzled by Dan’s description of his relationship to the deceased but there was no question that his grief was sincere Here, you will also find links to Microsofties 22 through 29.
Monday Micro Softy 21: Finding More of the Deadly Fentanyl Pills. Here, you will also find links to Microsofties 11 through 20 as well.
Monday Micro Softy 11: What Happened to That Other Dollar? Here you will find links to the first ten Micro Softies. Have fun!
