Galactic Riddles

Marco Chiesi

  • On Numerion, a lawn of floating figure-eight shapes stacked crookedly in front of a ring-shaped gate guarded by a chubby guardian, with Dord indignant

    Eight Eights

    On Numerion, a gate opens only for whoever makes 1,000 using the digit 8 exactly eight times. Liz, Dord, and M00N give it a…

  • In the freight port of Abakos, among abacus-shaped cranes, an alien warehouse worker watches a stack of sealed cardboard boxes while Dord counts them

    The Shipment

    At the Abakos cargo port, 96 large and small packages are shipped in full boxes. How many boxes were used in all?

  • During Numerion’s Great Census, animated digits line up and squabble in front of a census desk, while Liz breaks into a dance step

    Digit Frequency

    Which digit shows up most often in the numbers from 1 to 1,000? And which shows up least? Numerion’s digit census throws Dord into…

  • In Numerion’s stadium, packed with cheering digits, Liz gets ready to write on the blackboard during the Biggest Number Championship

    The Biggest Number

    What’s the biggest number you can write with just two digits and no other symbols? A challenge fit for the champions of Numerion.

  • On the small airport island of Dynamos, several identical planes get ready to circle the planet, with the pilots passing fuel to each other and Liz in a helmet

    Flight Around the World

    On Dynamos, planes carry fuel for only half a lap of the planet. How many are needed so one flies all the way around…

  • At customs on planet Veritas, a deadpan official shows three red hats and two white hats to Liz, Dord, and M00N

    The Colored Hats

    At Veritas customs, three travelers each wear a red hat: the third one figures out the color of his own hat. How did he…

  • On Numerion, a small green Martian sitting on a bench counts on his fingers, while Dord traces an equation in the sand and M00N smiles at him

    The Martian’s Fingers

    A Martian stranded on Numerion solves a quadratic equation his own way. His answer reveals exactly how many fingers he has.

  • At night on an Abakos beach, five sailors sleep next to a pile of coconuts, while one sneaks up on it and a monkey watches

    The Coconuts #2

    Five sailors, a monkey, and a night of secret divvying up: how many coconuts were there at the start? And with N sailors?

  • On a small tropical island on Abakos, three shipwrecked sailors quarrel around a pile of coconuts, watched by a monkey, Liz, and M00N

    The Coconuts #1

    Three sailors split a pile of coconuts, each taking half plus half a coconut, and one is left over. How many were there to…

  • At a village festival on Numerion, a choir of Numerians sings on a stage shaped like a 3, while Liz dances, Dord covers his ears, and M00N sways in time

    Number Sequence

    1 – 11 – 21 – 1211 – 111221 – … What comes next? On Numerion, this sequence is a folk song everybody knows…

  • On Abakos, three alien house painters with rollers, paint buckets, and an abacus argue in front of a half-painted wall, while Liz, Dord, and M00N look on

    The Three Painters

    On Abakos, three painters argue over who’s fastest. How long will it take them to paint one room if they all work together?

  • Two ropes hanging from a scale on Staterion, one of them burning, while Liz holds a lit match and the starship Kinesys cools down in the background

    Burning Ropes

    No clocks allowed on Staterion: with two ropes that burn unevenly and a few matches, how do you measure exactly fifteen minutes?