tRace Perfect

200 Over and Out

2011-08-11T01:00:00.000+01:00

This is the 200th and final tRace Perfect puzzle. For over 6 months I have been creating one puzzle every day. The monthly winners have donated $300 to various charities. The 200 tRace Perfect puzzles will remain online for everyone to play and solve. If you want to be part of the exclusive 200 tp club, you must solve all 200 puzzles. Thank you all for playing tRace Perfect. That is all :)
See Also: http://www.traceperfect.com/

link to this puzzle

Infinite Monkey Theorem

2011-08-10T01:00:00.000+01:00

Give a monkey a keyboard and enough time and it will eventually produce the complete works of William Shakespeare. But how long might it take? Probably much much longer than the existence of the universe. This didn't stop some scientists from actually trying it. They ended up with a well urinated and defacated keyboard.
See Also: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infinite_monkey_theorem

link to this puzzle

Leaning Tower of Pisa

2011-08-09T01:00:00.000+01:00

The leaning tower of Pisa is the freestandng seven bell tower of the cathedral. The story goes that Galileo Galilei dropped two canon balls of different weight from the top of the tower, to demonstrate that they would still reach the ground at the same time. At its worst, the tower leaned 5.5 degrees. Engineers have now stabilised it at 3.99 degrees. The foundations were laid on the 9th of August 1173.
See Also: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leaning_Tower_of_Pisa

link to this puzzle

Wallpaper Groups

2011-08-08T01:00:00.000+01:00

Any two-dimensional repetitive pattern falls in 1 of 17 distinct groups called the Wallpaper Groups. Patterns are beautiful. You can find them in nature, architecture, art, wallpapers, bathroom tiles and toilet paper.
See Also: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wallpaper_group

link to this puzzle

Gruen Transfer

2011-08-07T01:00:00.000+01:00

In designing shopping malls, the ambient should mesmerize consumers to slow them down and lure them into buying the products. This is called the Gruen Transfer, after Victor Gruen, a pioneer designer of shopping malls.
See Also: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gruen_transfer

link to this puzzle

Poor Metal Gallium

2011-08-06T01:00:00.000+01:00

Gallium is a silvery metal element that is brittle when solid but melts in your hands. It is a very rare occurence in nature. Gallium arsenide is used to make LEDs (light emitting diodes).
See Also: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gallium

link to this puzzle

July Winner

2011-08-05T01:00:00.000+01:00

The July winner of the random draw is zanzibar. Instead of claiming the t-shirt, zanzibar nobly opted for tRace Perfect to donate $50 to the Red Cross East Africa Drought Appeal 2011 on his behalf. Congratulations. Remember, the more you play, the more chance you have of winning the monthly prize.
See Also: http://www.traceperfect.com/p/trace-perfect-monthly-competition.html

link to this puzzle

The Birthday Problem

2011-08-04T01:00:00.000+01:00

In a group of 366 people, it is guaranteed 100% that two people share the same birthday. But a group of just 57 people still has 99% chance of having at least two people that share the same birthday. This assumes leap years don't exist and birthdays are evenly distributed. Interesting, right? It's all in probability theory. So, if your birthday is today, Happy Birthday, and have some cake!
See Also: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birthday_paradox

link to this puzzle

The Menage Problem

2011-08-03T01:00:00.000+01:00

How do you sit 6 heterosexual couples around a 12 seater table so that men and woman are alternating and nobody is sitting next to their partner? In one of 115,200 possible configurations. This is the Menage Problem.
See Also: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M%C3%A9nage_problem

link to this puzzle

Positron

2011-08-02T01:00:00.000+01:00

No, it's not a character from the Transformers movie. The positron, also known as the antielectron, is the antimatter counterpart of the electron. It was discovered and named on the 2nd of August 1932 by Carl D Anderson. But how did he see it??
See Also: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Positron

link to this puzzle

Oxygen

2011-08-01T01:00:00.000+01:00

Joseph Priestley discovered Oxygen on the first of August 1774. After breathing the gas, he noted "The feeling of it to my lungs was not sensibly different from that of common air, but I fancied that my breast felt peculiarly light and easy for some time afterwards." Now breathe! The air is almost 21% oxygen.
See Also: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxygen

link to this puzzle

Trainspotting

2011-07-31T01:00:00.000+01:00

Trainspotting is a hobby which involves spotting different makes of trains, and logging it on a notebook or modern equivalent. It is one of the activities that railfans, also known as rail buffs, often practice.
See Also: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trainspotting_%28hobby%29#Trainspotting

link to this puzzle

Football World Cup

2011-07-30T01:00:00.000+01:00

Uruguay won the final of the first ever World Cup, on 30th July 1930, in the captial city of their own country, Montevedio. The FIFA World Cup is ogranised every four years and is the world's most viewed sporting event. Over 715 million people watched the final game of Germany 2006, between the host country and the eventual winners, Italy.
See Also: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FIFA_World_Cup

link to this puzzle

Arc de Triomphe

2011-07-29T01:00:00.000+01:00

Arc the Triomphe means Triumphal Arch. Standing in the centre of Place Charles de Gaulle in Paris, it honours those who fought and died for France in the French Revolutionary and the Napoleonic wars. It stands 50 metres high, and the arch is wide enough that even a small biplane has flown through it. Arc the Triomphe was inaugurated on the 29th of July 1836.
See Also: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arc_de_Triomphe

link to this puzzle

Pascal's Triangle

2011-07-28T01:00:00.000+01:00

In a Pascal's Triangle, numbers are arranged starting with a 1 on top of the triangle. Lines underneath are arranged such that every number is the sum of the two numbers above it. So the second line will consist of two 1s, followed by 1,2,1, followed by 1,3,3,3,1, etc
See Also: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pascal%27s_triangle

link to this puzzle

Bugs Bunny

2011-07-27T01:00:00.000+01:00

'A Wild Hare' was the short animated movie that starred Bugs Bunny for the first time, released on July 27th, 1940. Bugs Bunny is famous for his calm, insouciance (casual unconcern) while sending hunter Elmer Fudd and other Looney Tunes characters crazy. So cheeky, he even bit into today's puzzle!
See Also: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bugs_Bunny

link to this puzzle

The Golden Ratio

2011-07-26T01:00:00.001+01:00

The Golden Ratio is a constant factor that when multiplied by any number x to obtain number y, then y multiplied by the Golden Ratio is equivalent to x + y. It has many applications, most interestingly in arts and aesthetics. The ratio itself is an irrational number, approximate to 1.6180339887. The puzzle today is a golden rectangle.
See Also: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_ratio

link to this puzzle

Test Tube Baby

2011-07-25T01:00:00.000+01:00

Louise Brown was the first ever person conceived by IVF: in vitro fertilization, latin for in-glass fertilisation, also known as test tube baby. She was born on 25th of July 1987. The procedure was developed by Patrick Steptoe and Robert Edwards. Edwards won the 2010 Nobel prize in medicine.
See Also: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louise_Brown

link to this puzzle

Facebook Phenomenon

2011-07-24T01:00:00.000+01:00

Facebook has drastically changed the way we socially interact. You pretty much friend everyone you ever met in your life and can tell what they have been up to. Typically people share more happy news than sad news at the risk of being perceived as bragging. In a way, it complicates our social interaction as real feelings get lost in literation.
See Also: http://www.facebook.com/TracePerfectPuzzle

link to this puzzle

Hale-Bopp

2011-07-23T01:00:00.000+01:00

Hale-Bopp, the comet with a funny name, was discovered on the 23rd of July, 1995, independently by two astronomers, Alan Hale and Thomas Bopp. The great comet of 1997 was eventually visible to the naked eye for a record 18 months and provided spectacular views for astronomers and non. If you missed it, it will be back in about 2500 years.
See Also: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comet_Hale-Bopp

link to this puzzle

Munchkin

2011-07-22T01:00:00.000+01:00

Munchkin is typically used to refer to children. However Munchkins are characters in the book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, typically pictured short with funny orange hair. The term might have been derived from the city Munchen (Munich in Germany).
See Also: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Munchkin

link to this puzzle

Cancer Constellation

2011-07-21T01:00:00.000+01:00

Cancer is Latin for crab. Cancer is a small constellation with faint stars, lying between Gemini and Leo. In mythology, the crab was sent to distract Hercules by his step-mum who hated him. During the battle, Hercules kicked the crab so hard that he sent him to the sky.
See Also: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cancer_%28constellation%29

link to this puzzle

Man on the Moon

2011-07-20T01:00:00.000+01:00

The Apollo 11 spaceflight landed the first humans on the moon on July 20, 1969, after a 4 day trip. Michael Collins stayed orbiting on command module "Columbia", while Neil Armstrong and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin Jr landed Lunar Module "Eagle" in the Sea of Tranquillity, which is not really a sea.
See Also: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_11

link to this puzzle

Salem Witches

2011-07-19T01:00:00.000+01:00

On the 19th of July, 1692, 5 women were executed by hanging after being found guilty of witchcraft during the infamaous Salem witch trials, in colonial Massachusetts. A total of 19 were executed for the same reason, while others died in custody.
See Also: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salem_witch_trials

link to this puzzle

Intel Inside

2011-07-18T01:00:00.000+01:00

Intel stands for Integrated Electronics. Intel is the inventor of the x86 series of computer microprocessors, found in many personal computers. Intel was founded on July 18, 1968 by semiconducter pioneers Robert Noyce and Gordon Moore. Can you hear the distinctive 5 note intel sonic jingle in your head?
See Also: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_Corporation

link to this puzzle