All this week, they have been giving us puzzles to solve on the radio. Many of them were set by G.C.H.Q. - Britain's centre of spying with its headquarters in nearby Cheltenham. Cheltenham is known for two things in particular: the intelligence headquarters and the finishing school for young ladies.
It seems that G.C.H.Q. actually advertises for spies these days rather than just pop round to the school for young ladies at the end of term to eye-up the talent. The puzzles are part of the entrance exam.
Todays puzzle was this: There is a single storied building with 50 straight walls but no ground plan exists for it. How many security cameras would you need to observe every part of the building?
I vaguely began to divide 50 by four and stopped when I could not work out how many corridors connecting the rooms there might be. Then some spark gave the game away by coming up with a possibly correct answer.
If the ground plan was circular and the walls radiated from the middle, you would need one camera in the centre to see every part of the space.
I was looking for a picture of Cheltenham Ladies College to find the above, and saw that an ex-pupil has written a book with the title I have given this post. I wonder if it is still in print...
No ground plan could also mean no ceiling plan, in which case just one camera might also do the job.
ReplyDeleteOn the floor? Cunning.
DeleteSounds much more exciting than First Term at Malory Towers by Enid Blyton.
ReplyDeleteNot to me.
DeleteYou know that I just HAD to Google that title. The first thing that came up were images of Mr. Zog 's sex wax which prevents water penetration and improves puck control. I kid you not.
ReplyDeleteIncluding the warning not to eat or chew.
DeleteVery good advice!
DeleteDo I need some of this wax?
DeleteI shall not be applying for a job at GCHQ.
ReplyDeleteYou've done your bit, Weave.
DeleteWasn't there a UFO sighting there? That's all I know about it, but I'm past being able to solve those puzzles without some help.
ReplyDeleteQuite probably, but it was also probably self-generated. One landed on my neighbour's roof once.
DeleteI can solve for up to four variables, and they signed me out of rehab. Fifty obviously is beyond the pale.
ReplyDeleteThat's at least three more than I can solve.
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ReplyDelete