Reply To: Puzzles
I have a solution to the math puzzle in today’s news (2025-10-19).
Harry and or an elf can edit this out so as not to spoil it for anyone else.
He or elf can replace it with “[correct solution]” or “[utter garbage]”, as the case may be.
(I’m really only posting this to find out which.)
The solution rests on the assumption that the puzzle-creator is not an idiot.
This is a big assumption, when comparing to some other puzzles that have passed our way.
The line segment seems to meet the top of the rectangle at a random point, but since
the puzzle-creator is not an idiot, that point must not be relevant to finding the answer.
The segment also passes through a corner on the left-most square, so that must be the relevant thing.
There are no dimensions, absolute or relative, given in the figure. Since the puzzle-creator
is not an idiot, this means that they are not needed to find the answer. So consider the limiting
case in which the rectangle is 3 squares wide and 2 squares tall. In that case, three of the squares
lie flat against the bottom of the rectange, and the line segment is at a 45° incline.
Therefore, the answer is 45°.
(There is another limiting case, in which the rectangle is twice as wide as it is tall.)