...in which my record on bar tricks is still perfect.
Those of you who know me know that I love puzzles. I spend a lot of time on logic puzzles and chess problems, and although I love the articles I really only subscribe to the Nation so I can do the cryptic crossword puzzles in the back. As far as the regular puzzles you get in the newspaper every day, it used to be a game at Calamity Café to give me a paper and see how quickly I could solve them (solved the jumble once in seven seconds).
My favorite kind of puzzle, though, is your standard bar trick. I love those because you generally have an audience, and I love an audience, and also because frequently you bet the trickster a drink that you can solve his puzzle. I find the prospect of free drinks to be an excellent motivator. I am proud to report that after spending most of my life in bars, and having seen probably 100 of these things, I have never failed to solve one.
I saw one today that I wanted to report to you guys. You start off with six quarters arranged in a pyramid like this:
_____0_____
____0_0____
___0_0_0___
You have to move them, one at a time, until they are arranged in a ring like this:
____00____
___0__0___
____00____
There are three rules for moving them: 1) you can only move one at a time (i.e. you can’t use the one you’re moving to push another); 2) you must slide the quarter, as opposed to picking it up; 3) at the end of each turn, the quarter you moved must be touching TWO other quarters. You have only four moves to accomplish this.
It’s pretty cool once you’ve figured it out. The funny thing is, though, that the solution I found was entirely new. It was not the one the guy showing the trick had expected, but it worked. So we know there are at least two possible solutions. You guys wanna give it a try? See if we can't find a third?
Oh, and I got this not from a bar, but from my newest podcast, called “Scam School.” It’s not only bar tricks. It also has simple cons, advice on picking locks, magic tricks...it's sort of a kinder/gentler Anarchist’s Cookbook, really. It’s on iTunes, and it’s free, so check it out, or go to their website.