Mathematical Brain Teasers and Logic Puzzles

Course Description

An award-winning author, mathematician, and puzzle enthusiast shows you how to master tricky brain teasers, solve challenging riddles, and increase your chances of winning games.

Video Lectures

01: Why We Love Puzzles (25 min)

Explore theories behind our love for puzzles and warm up with six brain teasers involving hourglasses, restaurant orders, biased coins, clock faces, and chessboard scenarios.

02: Thinking Outside the Box (24 min)

Solve the puzzle that inspired “thinking outside the box” and apply this strategy to matchstick, card, and light switch challenges. Includes a legendary physics exam question about measuring a building with a barometer.

03: You Don’t Need No Algebra! (25 min)

Discover clever non-algebraic solutions to classic problems, learn why extra information can complicate puzzles, and explore why transcontinental flights have unequal durations (excluding wind effects).

04: Knights, Knaves, and Normals (26 min)

Decipher logic puzzles involving truth-telling knights, lying knaves, and normal people who sometimes lie. Introduces “if-then” statements and the complication of insane characters with false beliefs.

05: Lewis Carroll’s Game (27 min)

Tackle logic puzzles from Alice in Wonderland’s author, designed to teach Aristotelian logic through categorical statements like “all wasps are unfriendly, and all puppies are friendly.”

06: Question Puzzles and Coercive Logic (23 min)

Master the art of asking the right questions in knight/knave scenarios, solve the famous “heaven or hell” puzzle, and evaluate Raymond Smullyan’s coercive logic bargain.

07: The Hardest Logic Puzzle Ever (26 min)

Confront George Boolos’ infamous puzzle: identify three gods (truth-teller, liar, and random answerer) using only three yes/no questions in an unknown language.

08: The Muddy Children Puzzle (26 min)

Solve subtle inference puzzles where children must logically deduce they have muddy faces based solely on others’ knowledge and reactions.

09: The Perils of Probability (26 min)

Debunk probability misconceptions, from drawing ace of spades from two decks to calculating actual odds when 98% of luggage arrives but yours doesn’t.

10: The Monty Hall Problem (28 min)

Re-examine the classic “Let’s Make a Deal” dilemma: Should you switch doors after one is revealed? Discover why this puzzle famously fools most people.

11: Arithmetic Amusements (29 min)

Play Krypto (math operations game), solve the “four fours” puzzle, explore perfect squares/triangles, and understand why negative × negative = positive.

12: Algorithmic Puzzles (24 min)

Design step-by-step solutions for dividing pirate gold, transporting animals, and escaping movie villain traps—applying computer science principles to entertaining scenarios