Puzzles

There are 12 ways of placing 2 tokens on a 2×4 grid so that no two tokens are next to each other horizonally, vertically or diagonally:

Today's number is the number of ways of placing 5 tokens on a 2×10 grid so that no two tokens are next to each other horizonally, vertically or diagonally.

Carol rolled a large handful of six-sided dice. The total of all the numbers Carol got was 521. After some calculating, Carol worked out that the probability that of her total being 521 was the same as the probability that her total being 200. How many dice did Carol roll?

Today's number is a three digit number which is equal to the sum of the cubes of its digits. One less than today's number also has this property.

Put the digits 1 to 9 (using each digit exactly once) in the boxes so that the sums are correct. The sums should be read left to right and top to bottom ignoring the usual order of operations. For example, 4+3×2 is 14, not 10. Today's number is the largest number you can make with the digits in the red boxes.

Carol draws a square with area 62. She then draws the smallest possible circle that this square is contained inside. Next, she draws the smallest possible square that her circle is contained inside. What is the area of her second square?

It is possible to write 325 different numbers using the digits 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 at most once each (and using no other digits). How many of these numbers are odd?

It's nearly Christmas and something terrible has happened: while out on a test flight, Santa's sled was damaged and Santa, Rudolph and Blitzen fell to the ground over the Advent Isles. You need to find Santa and his reindeer before Christmas is ruined for everyone.

You have gathered one inhabitant of the four largest Advent Isles—Rum, Land, Moon and County—and they are going to give you a series of clues about where Santa and his reindeer landed. However, one or more of the islanders you have gathered may have been involved in damaging Santa's sled and causing it to crash: any islander involved in this will lie to you to attempt to stop you from finding Santa and his reindeer. Once you are ready to search for Santa, Rudolph and Blitzen, you can find the map by following this link.

Each of the clues will be about Santa's, Rudolph's or Blitzen's positions in Advent Standard Coordinates (ASC): ASC are given by six two-digit numbers with dots inbetween, for example 12.52.12.13.84.55. For this example coordinate, the islanders will refer to (the first) 12 as the first coordinate, 52 as the second coordinate, (the second) 12 as the third coordinate, 13 as the fourth coordinate, 84 as the fifth coordinate, and 55 as the sixth coordinate.

Here are the clues:

To find a point's ASC coordinates, split a map of the islands into a 9×9 grid, then number the rows and columns 1 to 9: the first two digits of ASC give the vertical then horizontal position of a square in this grid. The next two digits then give a smaller square when this square is then itself split into a 9×9 grid, and so on. An example is show below.

You can view the map here.

There are six 3-digit numbers with the property that the sum of their digits is equal to the product of their digits. Today's number is the largest of these numbers.