Gizmodo Monday Puzzle: Can You Solve This Google Interview Question?

Tech company are infamous for torturing career wannabe with mind - melters during interviews . This week , you ’ll test your hired man at one without the stress of job prospects on your shoulder . Google is rumor to have used this puzzle over the years , although it has since retired the recitation on the whole .

I come across this puzzle a long time ago , and it sounded to me like it would be tedious , so I did n’t give it much intellection . late , I resolve to roll up my arm and give it an honest attempt . I was pleasantly surprised to find it reachable and enjoyable to solve . I should n’t have been a neigh - sayer .

Did you miss last workweek ’s puzzle ? Check it outhere , and see its solution at the bottom of today ’s clause . Be deliberate not to read too far ahead if you have n’t work out last hebdomad ’s yet !

Image: Photo: Shutterstock Graphics: Vicky Leta

Puzzle #26: Horsing Around

A stable has 25 cavalry . you’re able to race five horses of your choice at a time and learn who won , who follow in 2nd , etc .. You do n’t take how fast they ran , only what place the five horses flummox relative to each other . What is the minimum number of races you ’ll need to name the three fast horse of the 25 ?

You do n’t take to know the social rank - monastic order among the top three . You may assume that if you race the same horse twice , it will take the same amount of time to complete the track . There are also no tie .

If you ’re feel stuck , just render a tech executive tossing your résumé in the bin .

Graphic: Jack Murtagh

Graphic: Jack Murtagh

I ’ll be back next Monday with the answer and a new puzzler . Do you have sex a coolheaded puzzle that you think should be feature here ? Message me on Twitter@JackPMurtaghor email me at[email protect ]

Solution to Puzzle #25: Chess Puzzles

Shout - out to Eugenius for crushing all three of last week ’s chesspuzzleslike a grandmaster . Puzzle one asked you to place five queens on a five - by - five board such that three squares were not attack by any queen .

One sixth sense that helped me solve this puzzle : Placing five queens to leave three squares unattacked is the same as rank three queens and exit five squares unattacked . Either mode , we ’re finding a exercise set of three square and a set of five lame that do n’t “ see ” each other by a queen ’s move . Maneuvering only three queens made the trial and fault much more manageable .

The black cat’s-paw are all good . gyration and reflexion of this diagram are also valid solutions .

Graphic: Jack Murtagh

Graphic: Jack Murtagh

Puzzle two ask how many knights you could fit on a chess dining table without any of them lash out each other . The insight here is that knight only attack lame of the opposite color from the one they ’re on . So you could put a knight on every square of the same color , for a sum of 32 knights .

last , I gave you a whimsical mystifier by Karl Fabel asking you to find a move for white that does NOT make instant mate in the position below .

The result is rook to c6 as depicted below . This unveils a distinguish check on black ’s queen from white ’s bishop on h7 , but black can delay teammate by capturing the bishop with their rook . Normally , this capture would n’t be possible because black ’s rook is pinned by white ’s bishop on a8 ( it ’s illegal to make movement that put your own king in check ) . But by moving their Corvus frugilegus to c6 , blanched cylinder block this pin and relieve the black rook to halt the spouse .

Composed by Karl Fabel