Can you solve this puzzle with a sequence of numbers to complete? To do so, you will have to use logic…
Do you like taking on complex challenges? For this summer, we offer you this logic puzzle, which is by far our favorite in the editorial office. It must be said that this puzzle is one of a kind. It combines several types of logic that may seem difficult to understand at first, but once you grasp the principle, it becomes easier. The basic question is simple: there is a series of numbers. Each number in the series is placed on a separate line. In order, here are the first five lines:
1
11
21
1211
111221
Then you have to add the following lines, according to your intuition, what are they? The answer is actually already in front of you, but the person who asks you this riddle can add many lines of numbers in a row, without this usually helping those who are looking. So, tired of searching? The solution to this puzzle is actually very simple, but also very surprising, which is what makes it so complex. Indeed, the trick lies in saying out loud (or mentally, but as if you were saying them out loud) the numbers (only the numbers, mind you, not the numbers!) and writing the next line according to what you say.
With this logic in mind, we start with the number “1”, you say out loud “One 1”. At the same time, you will write on the next line what you have just said in numbers, that is “11”. Then, you must pronounce the numbers of this line again, as if you were dictating them, for example on the telephone: “Two 1s”, which is written “21”. To say the following numbers, the line will be “One 2, one 1”, which gives “1211”. The next line will be pronounced “One 1, one 2, two 1s” and will be written “111221”. And so on…
Okay, is the light shed on your mind? You now admit that this puzzle mainly requires thinking differently, being inventive and looking for the solution in an unexpected place (in this case, by pronunciation), rather than by following a direct mathematical logic. You will surely also offer a good moment of reflection to your friends when you challenge them!