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        riddles >> what am i >> Khan I. Bal's Riddles: Vollume 5
        
(Message started by: alien2 on Oct 13th, 2018, 6:54am)
Title: Khan I. Bal's Riddles: Vollume 5
Post by alien2 on Oct 13th, 2018, 6:54am
It is a moving day. Oh well. A woman is moving into another apartment. There are four packed boxes each with one of three sizes, be it small, medium or big. There is a small, medium and big box. What size is the 4th?

P.S. Nothing unusual 'bout this riddle - when you think about it. Just fill the missing fact (considering that there are no additional objects in the riddle).






Title: Re: Khan I. Bal's Riddles: Vollume 5
Post by Grimbal on Oct 16th, 2018, 6:08am
[hide]Same size as the other one there.[/hide]
Title: Re: Khan I. Bal's Riddles: Vollume 5
Post by alien2 on Oct 16th, 2018, 6:58am

on 10/16/18 at 06:08:14, Grimbal wrote:
[hide]Same size as the other one there.[/hide]

Huh? Sorry, Grimbal, I don't follow . . .
Title: Re: Khan I. Bal's Riddles: Vollume 5
Post by Grimbal on Oct 17th, 2018, 7:11am
There are 3 sizes.  The fourth box must be the same size as one of the 3 others.  So just point vaguely at the 3 other boxes, and say "same size at the other one over there".  It should be correct, sort of.
Title: Re: Khan I. Bal's Riddles: Vollume 5
Post by alien2 on Oct 17th, 2018, 7:42am
Nope. Nah. The answer does not leave room for interpretation, ergo there can be only one solution, and a logical one too. Yes. There is something I (deliberately) failed to mention, about the boxes, of course. It is your task to figure out: what, exactly? Just think of the boxes, as though you are under some enchantment.  
Title: Re: Khan I. Bal's Riddles: Vollume 5
Post by dudiobugtron on Oct 18th, 2018, 5:17pm

on 10/13/18 at 06:54:15, alien2 wrote:
There are four packed boxes each with one of three sizes, be it small, medium or large. There is a small, medium and big box. What size is the 4th?

There is no 4th size.  Unless 'big' and 'large' are different sizes.
Title: Re: Khan I. Bal's Riddles: Vollume 5
Post by alien2 on Oct 19th, 2018, 4:33am
That's a fine idea. Not quite what I had in mind. Nope. Not at all. The 4th box is either small, medium or big.

I removed the "large" part (and plausible confusion).
Title: Re: Khan I. Bal's Riddles: Vollume 5
Post by alien2 on Oct 23rd, 2018, 5:55am
Feng shui, anyone? That was a bit misplaced clue. Nonetheless, it could direct you on the right path.  
Title: Re: Khan I. Bal's Riddles: Vollume 5
Post by dudiobugtron on Oct 23rd, 2018, 5:24pm
Do we know what shape the boxes are?

ie: Are they cubes?  Do they all have the same relative proportions? etc...
Title: Re: Khan I. Bal's Riddles: Vollume 5
Post by alien2 on Oct 24th, 2018, 5:26am
They're cubes. In comparison, the big box is rather big whilst the small one is rather small. Yes. Visualization is important and the difference in sizes is evident.

Visualize! Visualize the darn boxes! (Properly.)
Title: Re: Khan I. Bal's Riddles: Vollume 5
Post by Vondell on Nov 5th, 2018, 5:17pm
The box is multi-collapsible (if that is a word) and can be folded into any size.  Therefore, it is whatever size its user needs it to be.
Title: Re: Khan I. Bal's Riddles: Vollume 5
Post by alien2 on Nov 6th, 2018, 4:26am
A logical conclusion. However, highly speculative and not applicable to this particular situation. Your imagination is commendable, and to some degree even an alternative answer, and yet too complex considering its foothold in a multi-box that wasn't mentioned in the original riddle.  

One ought to consider all four boxes, rather than the one in question, in order to solve the puzzle.
Title: Re: Khan I. Bal's Riddles: Vollume 5
Post by alien2 on Nov 15th, 2018, 8:53am
Visualize the boxes, place the boxes, play with them, but: be careful you don't break anything, hoping that a box does not fall . . .  
Title: Re: Khan I. Bal's Riddles: Vollume 5
Post by dudiobugtron on Nov 15th, 2018, 4:02pm
[hide]The boxes are rooms in her house.  She has an open plan living room/kitchen/dining room (large), a bedroom (medium), and bathroom (small) which have all been packed.  The fourth room is the laundry, which is also small.  (With a strangely low roof since it is a cube: perhaps her living room has a mezzanine floor to access the bedroom?)[/hide]

Or perhaps this is actually a zen puzzle.  Is there really a fourth box?
Title: Re: Khan I. Bal's Riddles: Vollume 5
Post by alien2 on Nov 16th, 2018, 6:12am

on 11/15/18 at 16:02:33, dudiobugtron wrote:
(...)

Or perhaps this is actually a zen puzzle.  Is there really a fourth box?

There is. The question is, where it is (temporarily placed), exactly? Left, right, up, down . . .  
Title: Re: Khan I. Bal's Riddles: Vollume 5
Post by alien2 on Nov 17th, 2018, 11:09am
A clue: Humpty Dumpty.
Title: Re: Khan I. Bal's Riddles: Vollume 5
Post by Grimbal on Nov 19th, 2018, 3:56am

on 11/15/18 at 16:02:33, dudiobugtron wrote:
Or perhaps this is actually a zen puzzle.  Is there really a fourth box?

If there is a box but there is no puzzler to see it, is it still a box?  
A box is a box because someone may use it to put something inside.  If nobody knows about the box, why would it be called a box?
Title: Re: Khan I. Bal's Riddles: Vollume 5
Post by alien2 on Nov 19th, 2018, 7:07am

on 11/19/18 at 03:56:56, Grimbal wrote:
If there is a box but there is no puzzler to see it, is it still a box?  

(...)

According to animism it is? A self-aware box may contradict what seems to be obvious. And remember: no box is an island.
Title: Re: Khan I. Bal's Riddles: Vollume 5
Post by dudiobugtron on Nov 20th, 2018, 3:43pm
Good thinking.  I guess it must be Schrödinger's box:

The fourth box is inside the large box.  It was originally a medium sized box, but if the Geiger counter detecting an atom decayed during the move, then the box was cut down to small size. Otherwise, it stayed a medium box.  Unless we open the large box, we can't know for sure.
Title: Re: Khan I. Bal's Riddles: Vollume 5
Post by alien2 on Nov 21st, 2018, 5:28am
An ingenious approach. However, it somewhat lacks clarity regarding this particular instance. All four boxes are packed and ready to go, that is to say, no box is in another. I do commend your imagination, emphasizing, again, that a certain arrangement of the four boxes is of utter most importance. Surely, there must be a certain way you can't or at least shouldn't arrange the boxes . . .  
Title: Re: Khan I. Bal's Riddles: Vollume 5
Post by Grimbal on Nov 21st, 2018, 9:18am
The 4th should be just the size of a quarter, shouldn't it?
Title: Re: Khan I. Bal's Riddles: Vollume 5
Post by Grimbal on Nov 21st, 2018, 9:19am
"The ways of the Living 4th are beyond our understanding… But fear not. You are in the hands of something much greater and much better than you can imagine."
-- Qui-Gon Jinn

The answer: the 4th is much greater and much better than you can imagine.
Title: Re: Khan I. Bal's Riddles: Vollume 5
Post by alien2 on Nov 21st, 2018, 10:01am

on 11/21/18 at 09:18:29, Grimbal wrote:
The 4th should be just the size of a quarter, shouldn't it?


I think you got it, but I can't be sure. Nope. Please be specific. Starting get dumb . . .
Title: Re: Khan I. Bal's Riddles: Vollume 5
Post by Grimbal on Nov 22nd, 2018, 6:29am
Let's try it like this:
if the 4th box is also one forth (1/4) of the total volume then it must be a medium-sized box.

x = 1/4(s+m+b+x)
where x in {s,m,b} with s<m<b

You can infer
4x = s+m+b+x

If x=s then
4s = s+m+b+s
2s = m+b
but s<m<b so 2s<m+b.  A contradiction.

If x=b then likewise
4b = s+m+b+b
2b = s+m
but b>m>s so 2b>s+m.  A contradiction.

This leads to the conclusion that x=m.  The 4th box is medium.
Title: Re: Khan I. Bal's Riddles: Vollume 5
Post by alien2 on Nov 22nd, 2018, 6:30am
Haw can boxes be arranged so that they take not a lot of space and you don't trip on them? This was THE clue.
Title: Re: Khan I. Bal's Riddles: Vollume 5
Post by alien2 on Dec 15th, 2018, 7:39am
Going "up" or down? And there's another clue, perhaps a key. Tower is yet another key.

Yes, this riddle has a big omitted fact. Sorry about that.

So, how exactly are the four boxes stacked?
Title: Re: Khan I. Bal's Riddles: Vollume 5
Post by dudiobugtron on Dec 17th, 2018, 7:42pm
Oh, I get it.  The fourth box is [hide]Elevator[/hide] sized.  Surprisingly satisfying answer for what seemed like a 'guess what I'm thinking' riddle!
Title: Re: Khan I. Bal's Riddles: Vollume 5
Post by alien2 on Dec 18th, 2018, 1:17pm
Sorry, Dudiobugtron, but now I am puzzled! Explain, please?
Title: Re: Khan I. Bal's Riddles: Vollume 5
Post by Grimbal on Dec 20th, 2018, 8:50am
In essence Alien2 is asking "What was I thinking?".
Title: Re: Khan I. Bal's Riddles: Vollume 5
Post by alien2 on Feb 8th, 2019, 12:08pm
Just in case there was some confusion, the boxes were stacked, one on top of another. You DON'T put a big box on top or else it'd fall! Man! What a ride! Glad to be here! Courtesy of Madhouse Wuforium Sangarnity Herbiofloss. (I am still writing my epic fantasy. Always inspired by this great forum.)
Title: Re: Khan I. Bal's Riddles: Vollume 5
Post by Grimbal on Feb 11th, 2019, 12:13am
Assuming the mover is well organized, he will put the smallest box on top.  So the last 4th box to be stacked is small.
Title: Re: Khan I. Bal's Riddles: Vollume 5
Post by alien2 on Feb 11th, 2019, 10:29am

on 02/11/19 at 00:13:41, Grimbal wrote:
Assuming the mover is well organized, he will put the smallest box on top.  So the last 4th box to be stacked is small.

It is!


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