mscroggs.co.uk
mscroggs.co.uk

subscribe

Puzzles

Light work

"I don't know if you are fond of puzzles, or not. If you are, try this. ... A gentleman (a nobleman let us say, to make it more interesting) had a sitting-room with only one window in it—a square window, 3 feet high and 3 feet wide. Now he had weak eyes, and the window gave too much light, so (don't you like 'so' in a story?) he sent for the builder, and told him to alter it, so as only to give half the light. Only, he was to keep it square—he was to keep it 3 feet high—and he was to keep it 3 feet wide. How did he do it? Remember, he wasn't allowed to use curtains, or shutters, or coloured glass, or anything of that sort."

Show answer & extension

If you enjoyed this puzzle, check out Sunday Afternoon Maths XI,
puzzles about 2d shapes, or a random puzzle.

Archive

Show me a random puzzle
 Most recent collections 

Advent calendar 2023

Advent calendar 2022

Advent calendar 2021

Advent calendar 2020


List of all puzzles

Tags

combinatorics even numbers dice christmas parabolas scales shape circles number multiplication triangles pentagons digital clocks elections arrows speed volume percentages calculus doubling gerrymandering quadratics star numbers shapes probability polygons 3d shapes surds rectangles partitions dodecagons sport area matrices geometric means remainders geometry taxicab geometry coordinates 2d shapes hexagons sum to infinity grids graphs folding tube maps differentiation cube numbers people maths albgebra means crossnumber logic planes decahedra lines addition dominos functions mean wordplay averages multiples integration sums squares consecutive numbers range angles chess money regular shapes division triangle numbers sequences perimeter fractions probabilty games indices cryptic clues palindromes colouring algebra irreducible numbers perfect numbers spheres rugby time integers ellipses digits square roots products quadrilaterals polynomials books ave symmetry balancing numbers trigonometry dates odd numbers geometric mean coins tiling routes advent cubics menace square numbers crosswords complex numbers tournaments binary axes sets unit fractions median prime numbers proportion factors factorials cryptic crossnumbers bases chocolate digital products the only crossnumber expansions determinants floors cards consecutive integers clocks pascal's triangle chalkdust crossnumber tangents crossnumbers

Archive

Show me a random puzzle
▼ show ▼
© Matthew Scroggs 2012–2024