hisapprentice | [Puzzle 014]

[Sometimes, in the wake of a foundation-shattering event, all anyone can do is stare at what remains.

That is not true for Luke this time, and hasn't been in the entire two weeks since all of himself came rushing back. All things considered, he's been as upbeat and energetic as ever. Helpful, too - so many others seemed devastated in the aftermath, he felt and still feels like he ought to make up for it somehow.

The first thing he does with the free time in his Monday is go to the bakery and get a dozen of something. Donuts or cupcakes or similar things, anything sweet and delicious. Those treats are going to people he knows, if he can find them, especially the ones that haven't shown their faces of late.

Then it's time for the real substance of his day.

A puzzle.

He handwrites it out first, then reads it out for the benefit of anyone stymied on the writing front.]

A family gathers in a room for a party. In this family, there is a mother, a father, a son, a daughter, a brother, a sister, an auntie, an uncle, a niece, a nephew, and 2 cousins. However, there are only 4 people in the room. What are their relations to each other?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

You don't want to be a gentleman? I guess not everybody does, but what else is there to be that might even match that caliber of person?

No, it's not that, it's just... I didn't realize that solving puzzles had anything to do with being a gentleman. I thought it was just about having good manners and dressing nicely.

Puzzles aren't the only part of being a gentleman, but being a gentleman includes solving puzzles!

I never knew that. Maybe I'm not cut out to be a gentleman after all...

What? Of course you are! You've just got to work on it, that's all.

Which means I need to be able to solve this riddle, right?

I could give you a different one.

... that definitely means I'm dumb.

[He didn't say an easier one! Just different.]

Why do you keep saying that? There are so many different sorts of puzzles, everyone's got to have a favorite and one they dislike the most or aren't really good at.

But if I just give up on this one and try a different one instead, that would feel kind of like cheating. Like taking the easier way out or something.

Well, you could always come back to this one later. A little warm-up exercise puzzle can't hurt, right?

I guess so... just as long as I don't give up on this one completely.

Heh, all right then. Something to get you ready for the challenge!

"Eight people are playing a unusual game. In this game, one person has to get a message across to seven other people.

It takes one minute to pass along the message, and each time the message is spoken, it can only have one recipient. Using these rules, what's the shortest amount of time in minutes for the message to pass to all seven other players?"

Um...

[Give him a few moments here while he starts scribbling a few things down on paper. This one is a lot easier to envision in his head...]

... three minutes?

I don't know why you're so hard on yourself about the first one, because you got that one exactly.

I did?

[He sounds a little flustered now.]

But this one wasn't as hard. All I had to do was write it down on paper and make a diagram, and then it was easy to figure out.

What stopped you from doing that with the first one, then?

I didn't really know how to diagram it out. This one was a lot easier that way.

Sometimes you just get a little bit of mess-up-and-try-again with puzzles like the first one. Go on, try drawing it.

[Another moment of silence on Emil's end while he does what Luke suggests. Then...]

... I'm not sure this is going to work. How should I draw it? Just write their names down on the paper?

Sure, if that's what you want to do. There are all sorts of different ways to solve any one puzzle, as long as the answer is found through logic and deduction.

Logic and deduction... right...

Sometimes trial and error gets you just as far.

I think I might end up just having to do that instead.

Well, go on. You can have all the time you want!

[It's not like lives depend on this one or anything.]

[Voice]

knightofratatosk - 2013-10-02 03:16 (UTC) - Expand

hisapprentice - 2013-10-02 16:13 (UTC) - Expand

knightofratatosk - 2013-10-05 01:28 (UTC) - Expand