Friday, May 15, 2009

MzzLily Asked a Question

A man buys 10 trees. He leaves instructions for them to be planted in 5 rows with 4 trees in each row. How is this possible?

This question comes from MzzLily.

55 comments:

  1. Of the existing rows, those with 4 trees presently will have an additional 2 trees added??????

    ReplyDelete
  2. Right I've just scribbled some stuff down and here's my answer. They've gotta be planted in five rows that overlap each other so you end up with something that looks like a 5-point star right?

    ReplyDelete
  3. split each tree in 2... they will grow normally ^^

    ReplyDelete
  4. Ad Williams's answer is really good. I think he might be right!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Something like this i suppose

    1
    2 3 4 5
    6 7
    8
    9 10

    if u can vision it probably
    the 5 lines are
    - 1369
    - 2345
    - 5789
    - 2680
    - 1470

    ReplyDelete
  6. Yeah, brilliant, Ad. Two concentric pentagons forming a star.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I think there have to be existing rows. But Ad Williams is a lot more creative than I.

    ReplyDelete
  8. hmm, my spacing for the number was removed,
    anyways, draw a 5 pointed star. with it pointing north.
    At the intersection when 2 lines crossed, make a point, you should have a total of 10 points
    from top down, left to right, assign a number to it. you should have the numbers as written in he previous comment.

    Join the lines
    (=


    PS I know the description of method sux, but my brain kinda slow at the moment, unable to put my ideas into words (=

    ReplyDelete
  9. xxxx
    xxxx
    xx
    xx

    Two vertical rows, two horizontal rows, and one diagonal row. The puzzle did not say that the rows couldn't overlap.

    ReplyDelete
  10. ................X
    .
    .
    X.........X.......X.........X
    .
    .........X.............X
    .
    ................X
    .
    ....X.........................X

    ReplyDelete
  11. He went back and bought ten more trees. :D

    ReplyDelete
  12. It's in a U shape. Four trees from top left to bottom left, then another three accross the bottom, then another three to form the last arm of the U.

    ReplyDelete
  13. OK my answer only had three rows. Dang!

    ReplyDelete
  14. i'm just plain confused like Brittney lol

    ReplyDelete
  15. This is the field.
    XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
    XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
    XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
    XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
    XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
    XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
    XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
    XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
    XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
    XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
    XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

    This is the field with the trees.
    XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
    XXXXXXXXXoXXXXXXXXXXXX
    XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
    XXoXXXXoXXXoXXXXoXXXXX
    XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
    XXXXoXXXXXXXXXoXXXXXXX
    XXXXXXXXXoXXXXXXXXXXXX
    XXoXXXXXXXXXXXXXXoXXXX
    XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
    XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
    XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
    The "o" represents the trees.
    This good representation?

    ReplyDelete
  16. hmmmm... ooh how about buy 10 get 10 free??

    ReplyDelete
  17. He already had ten trees.

    ReplyDelete
  18. he gave instructions to the trees???????????????how is this possible???????//so the answer is that trees cannot plant themselves

    ReplyDelete
  19. Not sure..... I like Ad Williams's answer best

    ReplyDelete
  20. David - Nothing personal, but that representation is almost as hard to get as the question itself.

    Personally, I think it's either the star and/or Pizza Girl's solution.

    Hope I don't dream about tree-planting...

    ReplyDelete
  21. The star formation is the correct answer. A five-point star.

    ReplyDelete
  22. They trees are each planted at the intersections of the lines in a pentagram

    ReplyDelete
  23. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  24. The star thing is cool and seems to work, but I suppose it could be he just already had some trees.

    The star formation is way more brilliant though.

    ReplyDelete
  25. (Click below for the scribbled answer!)

    http://satireandice.blogspot.com/2009/05/youre-star.html

    ReplyDelete
  26. wow, whoever thought of that star answer, bravo!

    the best think i could up with was

    -- "5 Rows" is the name of the town he wants them planted them in, and there are only two available rows in that town, so there are enough tree for two rows of four plus two left over for hanging his hammock

    ReplyDelete
  27. What is this?

    FUNEX
    SVFX
    ILFMNX
    (To Marilyn Vos Savant.)

    ReplyDelete
  28. hm, interesting.... so...what-s the combination?

    ReplyDelete
  29. the star idea seems the best, good work

    ReplyDelete
  30. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  31. X
    X
    X
    X X X X
    .........X
    .........X
    .........X

    ReplyDelete
  32. It's a star. My husband got it in about ten seconds. My brain doesn't work like that.

    ReplyDelete
  33. he had already got 10 more trees! m.p.d.

    ReplyDelete
  34. TdeS: it has to be five rows, and thats only three

    ReplyDelete
  35. Hello ... new reader loved the blog ...
    as the question ad_willians and agree with his theory of the stars of five points.

    ReplyDelete
  36. Ad Williams is right, thumbs up.
    What makes it tricky and confusing is the terms "row" because we usually thinks that a row as up down line.

    Regards,
    Just read this blog and can't wait to find more brainteaser. Thanks a lot.

    ReplyDelete
  37. Dude, Mike...40 comments? And that's the fewest over the last 4 posts, topping out at 67? What is going on? I've been gone for a while, and the place explodes. You need to ask some really tricky math questions or something :)

    ReplyDelete
  38. Hey Abe,
    I got mentioned at blogs of note: http://blogsofnote.blogspot.com/2009/05/question-of-day.html, that's what happened. So, what you're seeing is a huge inrush of new readers (Yay!!!!). It's been a bit overwhelming.

    I'll be posting some of the questions people have been submitting over the next few days, but don't worry. I'll post a nice tricky math problem soon just for you.

    ReplyDelete
  39. easy, he stole the rest

    ReplyDelete
  40. The answers of star formation is the best and also the correct one!

    ReplyDelete
  41. The 5-point star is a brilliant idea.

    ReplyDelete
  42. MzzLilly was kind enough to already post the answer. A 5 point star is the answer.

    ReplyDelete
  43. Where do we find your answers Mike?

    ReplyDelete
  44. I give my answer in the comments, which gives others a chance to read and make their own guess before finding the answer. I may need to change that policy given the number of comments I'm receiving. But for now, just look for my comments to find the answer the next day.

    ReplyDelete
  45. *
    * * * *
    * *
    *
    * *
    May be so? Star with pentagon inside.
    Trees in tops of petagon and tops of star.

    ReplyDelete
  46. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  47. A man buys 10 trees. He leaves instructions for them to be planted in 5 rows with 4 trees in each row. How is this possible?I admire the answer that Ad placed because it SEEMS to make sense but if you look at the question, it requires that EACH ROW has FOUR trees.

    Even if Ad made it into a star, not ALL rows will have FOUR trees. So, it's kinda null and void, don't you think? Since the question asked for 5 rows with 4 trees each aka

    XXXX

    XXXX

    XXXX

    XXXX

    XXXX

    Although, I do like Ad's answer. Keep it up.

    ReplyDelete
  48. i thought of a pentagram with ten intersections and four points along each of the five lines so five rows of four creating a pentagram of ten points. ad williams got it first! you'd think he'd have something better to do...i really don't and i'm not even particularly inclined to exhibiting my wits

    ReplyDelete
  49. he just bought the trees, it's not saying the trees were cutted! and how is that possible? u can't plant a fully grown tree. xD

    ReplyDelete
  50. Draw a Star with 5 sides, and place the stars on the ends and intersections....

    ReplyDelete
  51. 1
    / \
    2----3----4----5
    \ / \ /
    6 7
    /\ /\
    / \ / \
    / 8 \
    / / \ \
    / / \ \
    9 / \10
    i tried hard to make it.i hope u understand.thank you

    ReplyDelete

Leave your answer or, if you want to post a question of your own, send me an e-mail. Look in the about section to find my e-mail address. If it's new, I'll post it soon.

Please don't leave spam or 'Awesome blog, come visit mine' messages. I'll delete them soon after.

Enter your Email and join hundreds of others who get their Question of the Day sent right to their mailbox


Preview | Powered by FeedBlitz


The Lamplight Manor Puzz 3-D
Are you looking for a particular puzzle, riddle, question, etc? Or do you want to find the answer today rather than wait till tomorrow!
Google