(Untitled)

[chocomancer]

Little Charlie Welles in the Big Mansion
A puzzle for children and adults, courtesy of the Cake Club

Comments

[block handwriting, not disguised]

[quarter_english]

I am assuming that "the nearest chair" means the shortest accessible distance, not a direct line; that the shelves do not face both sides of a given aisle, and that "at least four" means "the fifth shelf or further from the center aisle." Also, I am assuming that the "center aisle" is the one with apparent north-south orientation, not the one with east-west orientation, and that Charlie is not color-blind.

With those choices for any variables, Charlie should look at the shelves equivalent to 151 through 156 on the diagram. The window should be visible from there, and the red chair on the left is quite close.

If shelves line both sides of an aisle, he could also look at any shelves between 1 and 6 which are facing 151 through 156. Also, 115 through 120 and any shelves which might be facing them are possibilities, assuming that the clues allude to accessible paths and not merely the chairs which would be closest if there were no shelves in the way. The fourth unit of shelves in any series of possibilities can be included in the solution if necessary (i.e. 151-157).

There is some other purpose to this puzzle?

[Not signed.]

Still unsigned but undisguised

[chocomancer]

Don't tell me you've never seen this shelving arrangement before.

[block handwriting, not disguised]

[quarter_english]

The numbering system is a common one when convenient storage is a necessity.

[Also unsigned, but disguised]

[perfectrecord]

An impressive analysis of this riddle. However, you overlooked one important factor: the amount of detail that the boy was able to see through the window. Could he really see "rain falling on the lawn" from the western half of that aisle? If the library were located on the second or third story, he would most likely need to be much closer to the window to view through it at an angle that would display the ground level.

[block handwriting, not disguised]

[quarter_english]

That depends on whether or not he is intended to have physically seen the rain hitting the lawn, or only rain falling over where he already knows the lawn to be. It isn't as if lawns are in the habit of getting up and walking away.

In any case, something suggests to me that the library is on the first level.