The Black Pearls

Time for the new puzzler.

This one is about pearls.

For years, my wife had wanted a string of black pearls. These are very rare pearls that are found in the water off in places like Tahiti and the Seychelles. Far off islands across the seas.

These pearls are sometimes brought up by divers that go down to 200 feet to get them. They are rare and very beautiful. And my wife wanted some.

So I proposed a little game.

I get 50 of these pearls and put them in a cigar box, and I get 50 fake pearls and put them in another box. The fake pearls are white.

So there are two boxes. One filled with 50 black pearls from the Seychelles, and one filled with 50 fake white pearls.

So, the little game is, she had to close her eyes and put her hand out and pick just one pearl. And if she picked the black pearl, she gets the real ones, and if she picks the fake pearl, she gets the fake ones.

So, I told her she can mix up the pearls however she likes. She can put them all in one box, or mix them however she likes, but she has to use all the pearls, and keep them in the boxes.

The puzzler question is, is there a way she can mix up the pearls to make her odds better at picking the black pearl?

Good luck.

Answer the Puzzler »

Remember last week's puzzler?

Dead Low Tide

Puzzler time. Here we go.

Imagine, if you will...

There is a yacht tied to a dock in a harbor at dead low tide.

So, the tide begins to come in at two thirds of a foot per hour. It is a steady rate. So if you were in the harbor and you were measuring the rate of the tide, after a half hour, it would have come in a third of a foot.

The porthole on the side of the yacht is 9 feet above the surface of the water.

How many minutes will it be before that distance is reduced from 9 feet to 7 and a half feet?