~feeds_feedburner_com | Bookmarks (197)
-
Finger Math - Futility Closet
From Wikimedia user Cmglee, two digital arithmetic techniques: Above: To multiply a positive single-digit integer by...
-
"Nott Shott" - Futility Closet
A duel was lately fought in Texas by Alexander Shott and John S. Nott. Nott was...
-
Ambiguous Latin - Futility Closet
In Christopher Marlowe’s play Edward II, one of the king’s gaolers receives a message reading Edwardum...
-
Unquote - Futility Closet
“Stilpo having escaped the burning of his city, in which he had lost wife, children, and...
-
"Lessons of Noblemen" - Futility Closet
According to the Guardian (March 1872), Lord Palmerston once dictated this sentence to 11 British cabinet...
-
Sharp Dealing - Futility Closet
An episode from P.T. Barnum’s childhood in Bethel, Connecticut: ‘What is the price of razor strops?’...
-
Quickie - Futility Closet
Punctuate this expression so that it makes sense: Time flies you cannot they pass at such...
-
Coming and Going - Futility Closet
If Socrates was born, Socrates became either when Socrates existed not or when Socrates already existed;...
-
Monsky's Theorem - Futility Closet
A square can be divided into an even number of triangles of equal area — but...
-
Going Up - Futility Closet
A puzzle by Virginia McCarthy: A 20-story office building has one busy elevator. On a recent...
-
Uh-Oh - Futility Closet
Every unjust act is inexpedient; No unjust act is expedient; No expedient act is unjust; Therefore...
-
A Bad Night - Futility Closet
He was prettily and fantastically troubled, who, having used to put his trust in dreams, one...
-
All in the Family - Futility Closet
This curious epitaph is found at Martham Church in Norfolk: Here Lyeth the Body of Christr....
-
Fast Rites - Futility Closet
The Moscow Radio announced that five million Russians filed past Josef Stalin’s bier in 72 hours....
-
Query - Futility Closet
“If the northern hemisphere were land, and all the southern hemisphere water, ought we to call...
-
The Banner of St. George - Futility Closet
A “simple but pretty little puzzle” by Henry Dudeney: If this flag measures 4 feet by...
-
What Indeed - Futility Closet
The French phrase ouate de phoque (“seal’s cotton wool”) sounds like what the fuck in English....
-
Moveable Feast - Futility Closet
Because it depends partly on the phase of the moon, the date of Easter Sunday can...
-
Matching Sums - Futility Closet
A puzzle by Russian mathematician Sergei Berlov: Here are two decagons. Suppose that a positive integer...
-
Horseplay - Futility Closet
I just found this in a 1950 issue of Pi Mu Epsilon Journal: Question: How many...
-
Card Games - Futility Closet
Suppose your dog eats the ace of spades and you’re forced to play poker with a...
-
Dammit I'm Mad - Futility Closet
Demetri Martin composed this palindromic poem as part of a project for a fractal geometry class...
-
Hand to Hand - Futility Closet
An odd incident from the memoir of Lt. John Worsham of the 21st Virginia Infantry —...
-
Double Duty - Futility Closet
These verses can be interpreted to support either the Stuarts or the Hanovers, according as they’re...