A Mysterious Windfall

A riddle by Isaac Newton:

Four people sat down at a table to play;
They play’d all that night, and some part of next day;
This one thing observ’d, that when all were seated,
Nobody play’d with them, and nobody betted;
Yet, when they got up, each was winner a guinea;
Who tells me this riddle I’m sure is no ninny.

Who are the players?

Hidden in Sight

This puzzling verse, from a contributor named “Maude,” appeared in the Weekly Wisconsin of Sept. 29, 1888:

Perhaps the solvers are inclined to hiss,
Curling their nose up at a con like this.
Like some much abler posers I would try
A rare, uncommon puzzle to supply.
A curious acrostic here you see
Rough hewn and inartistic tho’ it be;
Still it is well to have it understood,
I could not make it plainer, if I would.

(In the second line, “con” means “contribution.”)

What are the concealed words?

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A Curious Exchange

Census Taker: How old are your three daughters?

Mrs. Smith: The product of their ages is 36, and the sum of their ages is the address on our door here.

Census Taker: (after some figuring) I’m afraid I can’t determine their ages from that …

Mrs. Smith: My eldest daughter has red hair.

Census Taker: Oh, thanks, now I know.

How old are the three girls?

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The Canals on Mars

http://books.google.com/books?id=QCy6DzgqcI4C&pg=PA66&lpg=PA66&dq=loyd+mars+%22there+is+no+possible+way%22&source=bl&ots=IDuPPpyYDz&sig=9jj5lsIGw5__uPt-2tPXRd8ZgzM&hl=en&ei=YgxVS_WKDtGXtgf82MWtDA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4&ved=0CBQQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=&f=false

From Sam Loyd:

Here is a map of the newly discovered cities and waterways on our nearest neighbor planet, Mars. Start at the city marked T, at the south pole, and see if you can spell a complete English sentence by making a tour of all the cities, visiting each city only once, and returning to the starting point.

When this puzzle originally appeared in a magazine, more than fifty thousand readers reported, ‘There is no possible way.’ Yet it is a very simple puzzle.

I’ll withhold the answer.

Arms Race

Four missiles are located in the corners of a square 20 miles on each side. All are launched simultaneously, and each homes in on the one on its left at 1 mile per second. How much time will pass before they meet?

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Claws and Effect

From Lewis Carroll’s first textbook in symbolic logic:

  1. No kitten that loves fish is unteachable.
  2. No kitten without a tail will play with a gorilla.
  3. Kittens with whiskers always love fish.
  4. No teachable kitten has green eyes.
  5. No kittens have tails unless they have whiskers.

What conclusion can be drawn from these premises?

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