easy puzzles
| easy | general |
You are in a game against devil, on a perfectly round table and with an infinite pile of pennies. He says, "OK, we'll take turns putting one penny down, no overlapping allowed, and the pennies must rest flat on the table surface. The first guy who can't put a penny down loses." You can go first. How will you guarantee victory?
Try the problem if coins have unit radii, and table has radius 1 & 3.
You place a penny right in the center of the table. After that, whenever the devil places a penny on the table, mimic his placement by placing a penny diametrically opposite and at same distance from center. If he has a place to place a penny, so will you. The devil will run out of places to put a quarter before you do.