First, I have just launched a 3 min survey on magic and it would be wonderful if you could take part. The link is here.

Third, it’s puzzle time! In my last post, I posed this puzzle…

Take a look at this plan of a launchpad.

One side of the launchpad is 9 metres long and another side is 15 metres long, and the distance between point A and point B is 10 metres. You need to buy some fencing to all around the perimeter of the launchpad. You aren’t allowed to use a ruler, consult a book, or ask a friend.

How did you get on? There’s a remarkably easy solution. You can ignore the distance between point A and point B. All you have to do is imagine moving these two horizontal lines up like this….

…..and these two vertical lines to the right like this…….

….it then you are left with a perfect rectangle like this…..

….and now it’s obvious that the launchpad’s perimeter is 48 metres (two sides that are 9 metres long plus two sides that are 15 metres long).

And here is one extra puzzle….

A magician says that they can throw a ping-pong ball and have it go a short distance, come to a complete stop, and then reverse itself. The magician says that he won’t bounce the ball against any object, or attach anything to it. How can he perform such an amazing feat?

The solution? The magician threw the ping pong ball up in the air.

How did you get on? Try them on your friends and annoy them too.

I am a huge fan of these lateral thinking projects and hope that you are too!