Polar Bears
Riddles are little poems or phrases that pose a question that needs answering. Riddles frequently rhyme, but this is not a requirement.
"Polar bears around an ice hole, like petals around a rose. The game is in the name, and the name is in the game. How many polar bears are there?" Johnny asked as he rolled the five dice. The first roll produced 4, 6, 1, 3, 2. "Six," said Billy. "No, two," Johnny replied. The next roll was 5, 1, 5, 2, 4. "Four?" said Billy. "No, eight," Johnny said. The next rolls were 3, 5, 3, 1, 2. There were 8 polar bears. The next rolls were 6, 2, 1, 2, 4. There were no polar bears. How does Johnny figure out the number of polar bears?
HintA rose by any other name...could be a die?
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Answer
Dice all look the same. On a die, the 1, 3, and 5 all have a dot in the center. The 3 has 2 dots on either side of the center dot, and the 5 has 4 dots around the center dot. Johnny simply counted the number of dots around the outside. A "3" has 2 "petals around the rose, or polar bears around an ice hole." The "5" has 4 "petals" or "polar bears." Roll some dice and it will become clear!!
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Comments
Zizzer  
Jan 12, 2005
| This teaser sucks....it is too easy and im only 12  |
Therulerofthem  
Jan 12, 2005
| This is a dupe I belive , theres another teaser with the same answer, but I don't have enough points to report it, the teaser its duped from is "petals around a rose" |
GTregay 
Jan 13, 2005
| I thought this was a great teaser - relatively easy, if you happen to catch the importance of the first line, but clever, nonetheless. |
toast9897
Jan 15, 2005
| where the heck did eight come from?!? |
cocopuffs
Jan 16, 2005
|  sorry i just don't like it that much(not a math person)  |
bigdog0316
Jan 17, 2005
| toast9897 i dont know if u understood the solution.the first roll is 4,6,1,3,2.the odd dice are only important since they adhere to the rule polarbears around an icehole and petals around a rose.if for example you roll a 5 on one of the die you have one mark in the middle and 4 around it(4 polarbears around an icehole).so a 5 roll on the die you count 4 polarbears,on a 3 roll on the die 2 polarbears,and a 1 roll on the die is no polarbears.when you add the 5 dice on the rolls you get all the answers.let's use the first roll example of 4,6,1,3,2.only the 3 is counted and the answer is two.i hope that helps.  |
Atropus 
Feb 07, 2005
| I had this page bookmarked for a week because I didn't know the answer the first time.
Today i sat down at my desk and read it properly and got the answer straight off ^_^
I like this teaser.. it's really cool |
Tree
Feb 17, 2005
| This is one of those that you either get it or you don't. And that hint threw me off even more. |
tj_drmlngrl
Mar 23, 2005
| that was really good. i was thinking forever trying all this math stuff and what not, but it still stumped me. that was great. i loved it.   |
froggygg
Apr 06, 2005
| The answer was contained in the first sentence. Fun teaser. |
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