Brain Teasers are Back!


This photo shows a tomb that the author of the book excavated.
Note the figures carved in relief above the triangular entrance.
I first saw these specific stones and that carving, about 50 years ago when they were lying in a heap, although there was a watchman on site who was happy to describe their significance.

I think we’re now at 8 points for a solution…

Figures carved in “relief” as illustrated above, are quite rare, Those shown above, pre-dated previously known reliefs in this region by c.1,000 years.

The book is non-fiction (obviously), outlining the work of a group of archeologists over a period of years until 1968 - although I believe their work continued for a short while thereafter.

The northern/western extent of their field work was Kuwait (or rather an island off the coast of Kuwait), whilst the eastern extent included the Buraimi Oasis and the Oman coast facing the Gulf of Oman.

They found a lot more than they were initially looking for !

We are now at 7 points for a solution…

I think the island is Falaika Island, about 20k off the coast in the Persian Gulf.

The book could be “Looking for Dilmun” by Geoffrey Bibby.

The island most certainly is Falaika and the book most definitely is 'Looking for Dilmun" by Geoffrey Bibby.

Nicely deduced.

Dilmun had been ‘lost’ for a few thousand years, but its existence was hinted at during the 1700’s and 1800’s. It is believed to have covered the area from the North end of the Gulf (Kuwait) down to Bahrain and into Saudi Arabia, and existed from c.3,000 BC (ie shortly after The Flood) until 500 BC. The Danish archeology team, of which Bibby was a leading member, extended their searches into Qatar, the Trucial States and Oman where they discovered the Umm an Nar and Makan cultures during the 1960’s which co-existed and traded with Dilmun and the Indus Valley.

I became interested back in 1968 when I first went to the Trucial States and visited Buraimi (the structure photographed above was a pile of rubble at that time) and Umm an Nar (we had to swim across the creek to get there !). We visited many of these site a few weeks back, including Bahrain - believed to be the heart of Dilmun.

Well done YNWA !

:+1:

This and a win on Saturday and it’ll be a great year for you!

What a year!!! A big win in the Brain Teasers and a Euro trophy :clinking_glasses:

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Rectangles and Squares.

In this game, the aim is to divide the grid of cells, into rectangular and square boxes. The number shown on the grid defines the area of the box containing that number, as measured by the number of cells.

I have shown the concept in the figure in the next post. But don’t rely on that illustration being part of the correct solution. It simply shows the concept that each rectangular box or square box must contain the number of cell quoted within the box.

Mainly for fun, but if you can post your solution in this thread, so much the better.

Similar, but a little bit more effort needed.

but relaxing, nonetheless !

My solution for the 7x7 Rectangles and Squares

I will post the 10x10 board in the next day or so.

Cheers
Don

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I enjoyed that, very relaxing. Off to bed now.

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“Dots and a Loop”

In “Dots and a Loop”, the task is to connect the red dots horizontally and/or vertically so as to make a single connected loop. Numbers in the grid state how many lines surround that number. There will be no lines adjacent to a “0”, a single line adjacent to a “1”, two lines adjacent to a “2” and three lines adjacent to a “3”. There can be any number of lines adjacent to a blank square. The final loop must not cross itself and there are no branches.

I have illustrated a couple of acceptable lines in the picture in the following post, but these do not necessarily form part of my solution.

As an example, you can see that the “2” has a line either side, and the “3” has three lines around it. These lines are not necessarily part of my solution. But you need to build up a picture in which all the lines are joined together to form a “Loop” encircling all the numbers.

I hope the rules and guidelines are clear ?

On re-reading the “rules” for “Dots and a Loop” I became concerned that there might be an element of ambiguity in the reference to “…and there are no branches”.

I was even more horrified when I re-read my second post at the words… " in which all the lines are joined together to form a “Loop” encircling all the numbers." These words in bold, are mis-leading and unecessary.

So I have posted my solution below, to put to rest any doubts for those who might have tried it. My sincere apologies to all who tried and became frustrated or confused.

I will post another one later. The basic rules are the same, but as indicated above, it is just a Loop we are after, in which the lines around any square with a number, must match that number.

Cheers (I must have had a few too many when I posted), Don

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Phew…

“Dots and a Loop”

In “Dots and a Loop”, the task is to connect the red dots horizontally and/or vertically so as to make a single connected loop. Numbers in the grid state how many lines surround that number. There will be no lines adjacent to a “0”, a single line adjacent to a “1”, two lines adjacent to a “2” and three lines adjacent to a “3”. There can be any number of lines adjacent to a blank square. The final loop must not cross itself.

Hopefully, the rules set out and amended above will be adequate, especially if read in conjunction with the solution to the 7x7 version above.

Now, I’ve got to try the one above myself…just to make sure it works !!

It does work , Which is thankfully reassuring!

And I can see only one solution, which is as it should be !

My attempt, after going slightly insane…

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