3 Tricks

Having spent the majority of my adult life sitting on a bar stool, I have managed to pick up a few tricks to entertain myself and the unfortunate bastard who happens to be pouring drinks for me. Here are a few puzzles that have been known to break the proverbial ice between some hot waitress or patron and I. All you really need are some smooth lines and a box of matches or toothpicks.

For this one, you place out 10 matches like the picture below, creating 4 equal sized squares. You then give your companion the option to move and place (not remove) ONLY 3 sticks to a different spot creating a formation of only 3 equal sized squares. And just so you know, the new squares will be the same size as the present squares so no overlapping the sticks.

Here we have 27 matches placed in a pattern of 3x3. If you add the total number of sticks in each row you will get a grand total of 9 sticks. That is horizontally, vertically, and diagonally. You must alter the number of sticks in each spot and recreate the pattern staying with the 3x3 format and still retain the sum of 9 sticks per row. Get it? This one is pretty easy to figure out.

Lastly, and this is my favorite, we have the Man Hole. You need to lay out your matches as per the pattern below. The 2 squares represent 2 manholes. You know the holes on the street that lead into the sewer. The 3 sticks laid out after that represent 3 speed bumps, or what we refer to here in Indonesia as ‘Polisi Tidur’ (sleeping police). 2 manholes and 3 speed bumps. Now you have to move (not remove) only 2 sticks to change this pattern in to ONE Man Hole. The bar tender in India who showed me this trick gave me one hint, “Sir, this is a non-veg one”. Basically that means it is a bit dirty.

I have the pictures of the answers safely stored on my HDD and I will post them if there is some demand. What fun is it if no one actually tries this shit? If you do have it figured out then go ahead and post a picture on your blog. Please spare me the long drawn out verbal explanation in my comment box. If the answers escape you and you are going mad trying to figure this out then please let me know so I can enjoy the fact that I have frustrated and caused the suffering of another human being. Please…