Puzzling Stack Exchange
Puzzling Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [strategy]

A puzzle whose solution is a methodological plan of action for realizing a specific goal.

A puzzle whose solution is a methodological plan of action for realizing a specific goal as effectively as possible. The solution, rather than being an object or word or single action, specifies how to act in a multi-step interaction, basing each action off of previous actions not under your control. Often, this is in a turn-based game played against an adversary.

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Three voting prisoners

Three prisoners have a brief strategy meeting, and then are not allowed to communicate. Each night one of the three has steak for dinner, while the other two have fish tacos. Also each night, each of the three prisoners votes for one of the…
Tyler Seacrest
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Extreme Gerrymandering

It is election season in Puzzlevania. There are two candidates: the incumbent and a challenger. Of the $20$ million citizens, only $1$ percent support the current president; the other $99\%$ favoring the challenger. Here's how the election system in…
Mike Earnest
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The Magic Money Machine

The brilliant scientist you are, you have built a magic money machine, capable of materializing money out of nowhere! Here's how it works: The machine has six boxes, numbered $1$ to $6$, each iniitally containing a single dollar coin. Beneath each…
Mike Earnest
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The total cost of salaries in a company

Story Version (scroll for TL;DR) It's the end of the first quarter of 2017. This means it's the end of the 2016 fiscal year (at least in my country it is). It's time to draw the line. So the CEO did his calculations and said we did a good job so we…
Marius
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Sliding crosses in a 5x5 grid

Well you probably already knew that this was coming after the last two puzzles :) I believe this is the most beautiful one. You are given a 5x5 grid with 3 crosses as shown below. Each turn, you can select a cross and slide it along horizontally or…
Dmitry Kamenetsky
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retsubkcolB Spelled Backwards

How would you enter retsubkcolB spelled backwards into the comment box below and press the "Add comment" button (nothing will happen, as there's only 11 letters) using at most 10 clicks in total? You should end up with something like…
risky mysteries
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3 blindfolded people dividing 9 coins

3 people are blindfolded and placed in a circle. 9 coins are distributed between them in a way that each person has at least 1 coin. As they are blindfolded, each person only knows the number of coins that they hold, but not how many coins others…
Dmitry Kamenetsky
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6 Tries to Guess a Number Between 1-100

After every time you guess, you're told if you're right, too high, or too low. Is there a strategy you can use to guarantee you'll get it on your 6th attempt (or lower)? I know a strategy to get it on your 7th attempt.
warspyking
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What is the strategy to solve Simon Tatham's Twiddle?

Consider the goal 3x3 position: You must reach this position by rotating 2x2 blocks by some multiple of 90 degrees like so: Orientation of each individual number is preserved. What is the strategy to solve this puzzle? How about for larger…
greenturtle3141
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Sink the Submarine

There is submarine somewhere on the number line. Initially (say, at midnight), it is at position $A$, and is moving $B$ units per hour to the right, where $A$ and $B$ are both integers; both $A$ and $B$ are unknown to you. You have an unlimited…
Mike Earnest
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How could Larry get his friends on a plane without knowing their weights?

This riddle was inspired when I watched the latest (as of this post) episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm (S10E4), in which Larry is faced with a dilemma that he never really solved. The dilemma is as follows: Larry is ordering a private airplane to fly…
Bridgeburners
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Higher or Lower Guessing Game. Help settle the debate please

Can you please help settle a debate about the best strategy for this game? At pub trivia when there is a tie for first or second the host uses a guess the right number between 1 and 99. Each person gets an alternate guess and she says higher or…
Michelle
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Amelia Earhart Challenge

Airplanes can hold enough fuel to fly halfway around the world. The only source of fuel is a single airport, which is also the only place planes can take off and land. However, planes can transfer fuel to each other midair. Assume that planes can…
Mike Earnest
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Sliding crosses in a 4x4 grid

You are given a 4x4 grid with 3 crosses as shown below. Each turn, you can select a cross and slide it along horizontally or vertically. It will continue sliding until it hits another cross or a wall. Can you get a cross into one of the squares in…
Dmitry Kamenetsky
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The game of Shafiqa and Habibi

Shafiqa chose a positive integer number $X\le100$, and Habibi is trying to guess the number. Habibi can select two natural numbers $M$ and $N$ less than $100$ and ask about the greatest common divisor $\gcd(X+M,N)$ of $x+M$ and $N$. Can Habibi…
D.A.G.
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