Give my Father a Birthday Present

markbolyard · 12-14-2005, 07:37 PM

Ok, so my father is turning 75 years old. Since I was a young kid, and still today, my father has this puzzle that he cut from a magazine back in the 40's and to this day, he has never figured it out. Apparently from what he told me, there is a solution, and he never purchased the issue of the magazine in which it was posted. So, I would like to ask everyone who enjoys testing thier brainpower to give it a try. He is how it works:
????: NamePros.com http://www.namepros.com/the-break-room/148213-give-my-father-a-birthday-present.html

Click Here For the Puzzle

The black indicates the puzzle itself... the red is my poor attempt at solving it. The idea is to place your pen / pencil at one point and start drawing a continuous line that crosses EVERY section as shown... In my example, I missed 3 sections. You CANNOT cross a section twice, AND you cannot cross your own drawn line. As simple as it seems, he has spent all these years and still not figured it out. So give him a great gift that doesn't cost a cent and that you might enjoy.... Post your attempts here for everyone to see!

Thanks and I look forward to seeing how fast this gets solve, and how many go crazy trying to figure it out.

mholt · 12-14-2005, 07:43 PM

every section means every line? Every section of black line?

markbolyard · 12-14-2005, 07:46 PM

Correct, so in my example, there are three black line sections that I missed....

Also, here is a link to a clean puzzle, get it here

The Equivocate · 12-14-2005, 08:05 PM

This puzzle is physically impossible. There will ALWAYS be one line left to cross no matter what you do... think about it, if the three bottom boxes each have an ODD number of lines to cross, it means that the line is going to have to end up inside the box to cross all the lines, so that takes care of 2 of the boxes (the beginning and the end of the line) but you will always be left with that third bottom box having one line uncrossed...

it can't be done. Either you're just trying to frustrate us, your father is purposely frustrating you, or maybe he really thinks there is an answer... but there's no answer...

markbolyard · 12-14-2005, 08:12 PM

Well, so far I have been sent two links (and I am not trying to frustrate anyone, he truly has been trying to solve this for 50+ years!).
????: NamePros.com http://www.namepros.com/showthread.php?t=148213

The first link http://rec-puzzles.org/new/sol.pl/geometry/konigsberg
I assume is saying it IS possible.

The second link goes with your explaination: http://www.mazes.com/puzzles/5-rooms/index.htm#puzzle

Had I known what this puzzle was even called, I would have searched for it on the net, but apparently, some people have seen this. Thanks for the reply. At least I can give these to him to ease his mind as to why he never solved it.

The Equivocate · 12-14-2005, 08:24 PM

The first link is saying it's IMPOSSIBLE:

Quote:

For reasons given
below, no such path existed. In this version, you cannot draw such a
line without cheating by:

yandig · 12-15-2005, 09:32 AM

Oops - new thread.

12-14-2005, 07:37 PM	THREAD STARTER #1 (permalink)
markbolyard NamePros Member Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Maryland Posts: 34	Give my Father a Birthday Present Ok, so my father is turning 75 years old. Since I was a young kid, and still today, my father has this puzzle that he cut from a magazine back in the 40's and to this day, he has never figured it out. Apparently from what he told me, there is a solution, and he never purchased the issue of the magazine in which it was posted. So, I would like to ask everyone who enjoys testing thier brainpower to give it a try. He is how it works: ????: NamePros.com http://www.namepros.com/the-break-room/148213-give-my-father-a-birthday-present.html Click Here For the Puzzle The black indicates the puzzle itself... the red is my poor attempt at solving it. The idea is to place your pen / pencil at one point and start drawing a continuous line that crosses EVERY section as shown... In my example, I missed 3 sections. You CANNOT cross a section twice, AND you cannot cross your own drawn line. As simple as it seems, he has spent all these years and still not figured it out. So give him a great gift that doesn't cost a cent and that you might enjoy.... Post your attempts here for everyone to see! Thanks and I look forward to seeing how fast this gets solve, and how many go crazy trying to figure it out. __________________ WWE, RAW, TNA, Wrestling Videos, Wrestling Spoilers, Wrestling News & Rumors

12-14-2005, 07:46 PM	THREAD STARTER #3 (permalink)
markbolyard NamePros Member Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Maryland Posts: 34	Correct, so in my example, there are three black line sections that I missed.... Also, here is a link to a clean puzzle, get it here __________________ WWE, RAW, TNA, Wrestling Videos, Wrestling Spoilers, Wrestling News & Rumors

12-14-2005, 08:12 PM	THREAD STARTER #5 (permalink)
markbolyard NamePros Member Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Maryland Posts: 34	Well, so far I have been sent two links (and I am not trying to frustrate anyone, he truly has been trying to solve this for 50+ years!). ????: NamePros.com http://www.namepros.com/showthread.php?t=148213 The first link http://rec-puzzles.org/new/sol.pl/geometry/konigsberg I assume is saying it IS possible. The second link goes with your explaination: http://www.mazes.com/puzzles/5-rooms/index.htm#puzzle Had I known what this puzzle was even called, I would have searched for it on the net, but apparently, some people have seen this. Thanks for the reply. At least I can give these to him to ease his mind as to why he never solved it. __________________ WWE, RAW, TNA, Wrestling Videos, Wrestling Spoilers, Wrestling News & Rumors

12-15-2005, 09:32 AM	#7 (permalink)
yandig Domain Bagger Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Coma Berenices Posts: 3,862 Follow @domainbagger	Ad help Oops - new thread. __________________ Yandig Available Domains Last edited by yandig; 12-15-2005 at 09:37 AM.

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12-14-2005, 07:43 PM	#2 (permalink)
mholt DNOA Member Join Date: May 2004 Posts: 5,040	every section means every line? Every section of black line?

12-14-2005, 08:05 PM	#4 (permalink)
The Equivocate Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Chicago Posts: 1,578	This puzzle is physically impossible. There will ALWAYS be one line left to cross no matter what you do... think about it, if the three bottom boxes each have an ODD number of lines to cross, it means that the line is going to have to end up inside the box to cross all the lines, so that takes care of 2 of the boxes (the beginning and the end of the line) but you will always be left with that third bottom box having one line uncrossed... it can't be done. Either you're just trying to frustrate us, your father is purposely frustrating you, or maybe he really thinks there is an answer... but there's no answer...

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Give my Father a Birthday Present

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