Issue

1
E S
ZZL s
PU zz
le
Pu
k ing
Thin
al
2
1
io n
t at 6
m pu 3
4
5

Co
10
9
8
7 A
22 11 11 24 11 8 14
B
C
12 10 14 7 19 8 18 5 16 8 8 7 22
12
D 11
4 14 8 16 15 10 2 E
9 6 F
1001 0110 11 19 10 3 14 20 6 11 13 11 19 24 8
G
3 H
1 2
1 11 10 18 9 18 25 8 17
0011 I

0001 0010 J
24 11 18 15 8 3 9 16 22 19 22 18
A R L
K
18 3 8 20 3 19 11
L Card A
12
8 4

E
1100 21 8 25 22 22 11 19 16 18 11 19 8 M
N
1000 0100 14 11 19 10 18
O
12 11 1 22 15 10 10 12 18 10 3 8 P
Q
25 11 22 8 23 14 14
R
22 19 11 22 24 22 10 20 21 23 7 10
S
T
24 19 8 11 3 10 11 U
V
26 10 15 8 3 11 3 11 26 7 8 19 22
W
7 9 7 14 17 10 8 X
Y
Z

T T H H
0 1 2 3 4
1
Computational thinking puzzles Word search
Words can appear in the grid horizontally, vertically or diagonally, running backwards or forwards. Different
Computational thinking is a core set of skills that computer scientists develop as names can cross and overlap.
they learn to program. It isn’t something you can only learn through programming
Find the following famous computer scientists’ names in the word search grid. Their first and second names
though. Puzzles can be a great and fun way to develop the skills. This puzzle book may be in different places. Spaces, accents and hyphens are not included.
involves a wide range of puzzles that involve aspects of computational thinking.
ADA LOVELACE, ANITA BORG, BARBARA LISKOV, DANA ULERY, DOROTHY DENNING, FRAN ALLEN,
Some are algorithmic puzzles where the aim is to come up with an algorithm that GRACE HOPPER, JEANNETTE WING, KAREN SPARCK-JONES, MARISSA MAYER, MUFFY CALDER,
solves the puzzle. Many like Kakuro and Cut Block puzzles are logic puzzles, that URSULA MARTIN, WENDY HALL
are all about logical thinking. To be good at them, though, involves inventing your ALAN TURING, CHRIS STRACHEY, EDGAR CODD, EDSGER DIJKSTRA, JOHN VON NEUMANN,
own rules and algorithms for solving them. Yet others, like code cracking grids MAURICE WILKES, MUHAMMAD AL-KHWARIZMI, NIKLAUS WIRTH, PHILIP EMEAGWALI, SERGEY BRIN,
involve computing concepts and algorithms in puzzle form. TIM BERNERS-LEE, TONY HOARE, VINT CERF

Which extra name appears in the grid: a forgotten genius of Bletchley Park?
If you enjoy these puzzles more can be found at www.cs4fn.org/puzzles/
Puzzles are most of all for fun, but it’s always good to be learning useful skills too. N K R E C S N I R U T J E A L U S R U
A A E F R E C A C N I U E W V N H O J
M R O M A K B R I T M O R N H F B Y V
H E A D A L O V E L A C E I M R R S P
C N N I W I R T H O O O P K R A I E H
L S I J P W E N D Y H A L L E N N R I
E P T K K K N V O K S I L A Y I F G L
W A A S C H M A U R I S E U A V Z E I
N R G T A W E E L T R U M S M R S Y P
O C G R O B G E F A J E A N N E T T E
D K Y A A N W X G A R D R L A D I M M
R J H G I C O D D A Z S T O S L M U E
O O T W O O E S O H J G I O S A Z H A
G N O N T P I H E D S E N P I C I A G
R E R E H R Y E O B A R B A R A R M W
A S O U H N C I J P D C G K A L A M A
C B D C O I U H E L P M N Y M M W A L
E O S T R A C H E Y D E I C R N H D I
L R P U D E N N I N G E R O O E K B P
E N A W S R E N R E B M U F F Y L R Q
E M V O N N E U M A N N T D A N A U A

A bit of computational thinking wisdom

You may be able to use your natural pattern matching abilities to spot some words. An algorithmic thinking
approach may work better though. You need an organised way that is guaranteed to find the words. Take the
first letter of a word and start at the top left hand corner, scanning along the rows in turn looking for it. When
Solutions you find it check in all directions for the second letter. If its not there move on. If it is look for the third letter
Answers to a small selection of the puzzles can be found at the back. in the same direction, and so on. Can you improve this algorithm for solving word searches?
Full solutions are at: www.cs4fn.org/puzzles/solutions/

CS4FN Puzzles Issue 1 1

2 3
Cypher breaking grid Cut blocks
Crack the cipher by completing the crossword-style grid, and it will reveal one of the greatest movie messages There are two rules that must hold of a completed cut block puzzle.
of all time. In a cypher, individual symbols are replaced by new symbols. Here letters have been replaced by
numbers. We’ve given you a few letters to start. Use the box at the top to record the key to the cypher. 1) Each area marked out by darker lines must contain the numbers from 1 up to the number of squares in the
All letters of the alphabet appear in both the key and grid ... but which is which letter? area. For example, the top most area in the first puzzle below consists of 5 squares so those squares must be
filled with the numbers: 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 with no repeated numbers. If the area has two squares, like the one
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 bottom left below, then it must be filled with the numbers 1 and 2.
A
14
L
15 16 17
R
18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 2) No number can be next to the same number in any direction, whether horizontally, vertically or diagonally.
So in the grid below, the fact that there is a 4 on the side means there cannot be a 4 in any of the 5 squares
A surrounding it.
22 11 11 24 11 8 14
B
C Here are two simple cut block puzzles, and then a harder one.
12 10 14 7 19 8 18 5 16 8 8 7 22
D
4 14 8 16 15 10 2 E
F
11 19 10 3 14 20 6 11 13 11 19 24 8
G 2
1 11 10 18 9 18 25 8 17 H

24 11 18 15 8 3 9 16 22 19 22 18
I
J
4 3
A R L
18 3 8 20 3 19 11
K
L
21 8 25 22 22 11 19 16 18 11 19 8 M

14 11 19 10 18
N 2 5
O
12 11 1 22 15 10 10 12 18 10 3 8 P
Q
25 11 22 8 23 14 14
R
22 19 11 22 24 22 10 20 21 23 7 10
S
T
24 19 8 11 3 10 11 U 1 4
V
3
26 10 15 8 3 11 3 11 26 7 8 19 22
W
7 9 7 14 17 10 8 X
Y
Z 6
14 7 22 12 11 20 8 7 10 10 7 8

2 3 5 4
20 11 7 24 8 11 18 25 10 16

22 20 18 8 11 3

A bit of computational thinking wisdom

The great Arab scholar Al-kindi pointed out in the 9th century that you could use frequency analysis to crack A bit of computational thinking wisdom
simple cyphers. The most common symbols in the cypher are likely to be the most common letters in English As you fill in numbers, turn what you did into more general rules. Look out for similar situations, pattern
and the least common ones the least common letters. matching against your rule, to give you quick ways of filling out the numbers without having to do all the
Create a representation of letters used: cross off the letters as you find them. same logical thinking from scratch each time.

2 CS4FN Puzzles Issue 1 CS4FN Puzzles Issue 1 3

4 5
Sherlock syllogisms Word ladder L I S P
A syllogism, from the Greek words for conclusion and inference, is a logic puzzle where you draw a conclusion Convert the word LISP into the word JAVA
from particular kinds of purported facts you are given and those facts alone. Given the following facts, identify in 5 steps or less. You must only change - - - -
the letter that best completes the statement. one letter of the word on each step. On
every step you should have created a word - - - -
The game is afoot! in the english dictionary.
- - - -
i)
All gems in the game are expensive in-game purchases.
All rubies in the game are gems.
- - - -
Therefore we can conclude:
a. some rubies in the game are expensive in-game purchases. J A V A
b. all rubies in the game are expensive in-game purchases.
c. some gems in the game are expensive in-game purchases.
d. none of the above.

ii)
No robots are evil. 6
All mobile phones are robots.
Therefore we can conclude:
a. All mobile phones are evil. Bit ladder 0 0 0
b. All robots are mobile phones. Convert the binary word 000 into the binary
c. Some mobile phones are evil. word 100 in 7 steps or less. You must only - - -
d. None of the above. change one bit of the word on each step.
You may only use 1s and 0s. - - -
iii)
All bugs are poor computer software.
- - -
Some rounding errors are bugs.
Therefore we can conclude:
a. All rounding errors are poor computer software. - - - Funny bit
b. Some rounding errors are poor computer software. There are 10 types of people:
c. Some rounding errors are false. - - - those who understand binary,
d. None of the above. and those who don’t.
- - -
iv)
All educational things are useful. 1 0 0
Some websites are not useful.
Therefore we can conclude:
a. Some websites are not educational.
b. All websites are educational.
c. All educational things are not websites.
d. None of the above.

A bit of computational thinking wisdom

Bit ladders that end up back where they started, cycling through all of a sequence of ‘words’ by changing
one symbol at a time, are also known as Gray codes. They are important as a different way to represent
A bit of computational thinking wisdom numbers in binary, giving a way of ‘counting’ through all the numbers by changing one bit at a time. This
Syllogisms are an important basis of logical thinking. Thinking clearly starts with understanding the 24 matters in devices that have mechanical switches like the early telegraph. The mechanism that flips bits
syllogisms. Much flawed reasoning involves people believing faulty syllogisms are true. Getting software won’t change different ones at exactly the same time, so you could falsely register the wrong number mid-
right can involve this kind of clear thinking about the consequences of the code. change if more than one needs to change at once. Gray codes avoid the problem.

4 CS4FN Puzzles Issue 1 CS4FN Puzzles Issue 1 5

7 8
Debugging spot the difference Kakuro
The following is a correct fragment of code (in Python) to input two numbers. A Kakuro is a crossword-like grid where each square has to be filled in with a digit from 1-9. Each horizontal or
vertical block of digits must add up to the number given to the left or above, respectively. All the digits in each
# This program adds two numbers provided by the user such block must be different.
# Store input numbers
num1 = input(‘Enter first number: ‘)
num2 = input(‘Enter second number: ‘)

# Add two numbers

sum = float(num1) + float(num2)

# Display the sum 4 3 15 7 6 10 15

print(‘The sum of {0} and {1} is {2}’.format(num1, num2, sum)) 7 13

The following version has three mistakes. Can you spot the differences?
6 10
# This program adds two numbers provided by the user 5
# Store input numbers 7 5
num1 = input(‘Enter first number: ‘) 3 6 19 4
num2 = input(‘Enter second number: ‘) 10 10
7
# Add two numbers
8 10 3
sum = float(num) + float(num2)
6
# Display the sum 6
print(‘The sum of {0} and {1} is {2}.format(num1, num2, sum) 17 16 14 7 6
16 21
16
30 3

16 5
Funny bit
Two bits walked into an
expensive bar, but were
thrown out because they
didn’t have enough
for a byte.

A bit of computational thinking wisdom

Debugging code involves being able to spot very subtle mistakes like these. The only trouble is you don’t
have the right answer to pattern match against: the pattern matching is against patterns in your head. A bit of computational thinking wisdom
The more you see and work with examples of correct code the stronger the patterns in your head will be. The same underlying logical thinking goes into Kakuro as in other logic based puzzles, just with
Attention to small details is an important part of computational thinking. arithmetic too.

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9 10
Bakuro / Revelations Extreme logical thinking: eating at Quonk
Bakuro or Revelations puzzles are binary versions of the well known Kakuro puzzle. The empty cells of the grid A group of friends, two women (Alice and Babs), and two men (Zach and Yabu), like to pair up to go out on
must be filled with the numbers 1,2,4 and 8 (i.e., only powers of 2). As with Kakuro, the numbers in each block dates to cool restaurants. There are four combinations they date in (Alice-Zach, Alice-Yabu, Babs-Zach and
in a column or row must add up to the number given in the clue above or to the left, respectively. No number Babs-Yabu).The favourite restaurant of one of the men and one of the women is a place called Quonk. However
can be used twice within any sum. The clues are given in both binary and decimal. The answers must also be if those two eat together they always try new restaurants as do the other pair if together. Therefore when exactly
written in both binary and decimal. one, and only one, of the particular man and woman in question is on a date they eat at Quonk. When Alice
goes out with Zach they go to Quonk.

Which, if any, other pair from those below eat at Quonk:

1) Alice and Yabu,

9 6 9 6
1001 0110 1001 0110
2) Babs and Zach,
3 3
0011 0011 1 2 3) Babs and Yabu, or
0001 0010 4) none of the other pairs eat at Quonk?
12 12
1100 1100 8 4
1000 0100

11
Extreme logical thinking: a trip to market
5 15
0101 1111
A farmer is on her way to the local village with her sheepdog, Mist, who goes with her everywhere. To get to
3 the village she has to cross a fast flowing river. An inventor living on the village side of the river has created a
0011 contraption to make it easier to get across. It consists of a rope and pulleys, with a seat hanging from the rope
11 13
1011 1101 just big enough for one person. The locals have agreed to always leave the seat at the village side where the
15 inventor lives so that it is easy for her to pack it away each evening: after all she is not charging anyone to use
1111 it. When she gets to the river the farmer pulls the seat across from the far side using the rope. She gets in,
15
1111 hugging Mist, then pulls herself across and continues into the village.
5 12
0101 1100 On one particular day she buys a new hen and a sack of corn. Returning home later in the day she arrives
back at the ravine, and quickly realises she has a problem. She can only carry one thing across with her as she
9 9 crosses using the seat. She will have to make several trips. The trouble is, if she leaves the hen and the corn
1001 1001 alone on either side, the hen will eat the corn. Similarly if she leaves Mist and the hen together on one side the
9
1001
dog will worry the hen and may mean it stops laying eggs. Mist doesn’t eat corn so it will come to no harm if left
3 with him.
0011
Write down the series of steps (the algorithm in computer science jargon) that she must take to get everything
12
across so she can continue on her way.
1100

A bit of computational thinking wisdom A bit of computational thinking wisdom

Binary numbers are just a way of making up numbers by adding powers of 2 (1, 2, 4, 8, …) together, People make mistakes. That is why evaluation is important, very carefully checking that every last detail of a
just like decimal numbers involve adding powers of 10 (1, 10, 100, 1000) together. solution is right.

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12 13
Compression codes Debugging spot the difference
Repeatedly replace the characters in the following compressed messages by those from the corresponding The following is a correct fragment of code (in Java) for sorting an array.
codebook (the characters between the square brackets) to reveal a computing quotation and a poem credited
to Augustus De Morgan, the great mathematician and tutor of ‘first programmer’ Ada Lovelace. public static void Sort(int[]a, int n)
{
for (int p=1; p <= n-1; p++)
Message a Message b {
76FB5D 9JI for (int i=0; i < n-p; i++)
7CCCF0B9D D8CA {
37 JI if (a[i] > a[i+1])
Codebook a {
35AE
0 [... ] swap(a, i, i+1);
1 [, ] 369IB }
2 [aim] K40F8A }
G6HK41A }
3 [approach ]
}
4 [development).] 341A 35 8.
5 [fast ]
Codebook b
6 [fire, ] The following version has mistakes. Can you spot 18 differences (i.e. bugs)?
0 [fleas]
7 [Ready, ]
1 [still] public static Sort(int{}a; int m)
8 [software ]
2 [have] {
9 [slow ]
3 [and ] for (int p=0, p < n-1, p++)
A [to ] {
4 [greater ]
B [(the ] For (int i; i < n-q; i++)
5 [so]
C [21] {
6 [those ]
D [3A84] if (a[i] < a[i+1];
7 [lesser] {
E [ ]
8 [on] swap(a, i, i+l)
F [2E]
9 [great ] }
A [,] }
B [themselvesA in turnA] }
C [ their backs to bite ‘em]
D [up]
Funny bit
E [ad infinitum.]
There are 10 types of people:
F [ to go ]
those who understand binary,
G [while ] those who don’t and those
H [again ] who count from 0.
I [0A]
J [0 K7 ]
K [2 ]

A bit of computational thinking wisdom

When files are compressed (e.g. zip files) they use similar codes to this one. Each common word or phrase A bit of computational thinking wisdom
is replaced by a shorter sequence of symbols. A long file can be made much shorter if it has lots of similar Actively checking for particular patterns where things go wrong, like “is the inequality right?” is an important
sequences, just as these message has been shortened. debugging technique.

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14 15
Compressed pixel puzzles The tour guide
The numbers on each row of a Pixel Puzzle tell you the number of cells in each group of black cells in the row. You are a hotel tour guide. Tourists staying in your hotel expect to be taken on a tour visiting all the city’s
So if the numbers next to a row are 2,4,5 it means that row has a block of 2 black cells, a block of 4 black cells attractions. You have been given an underground map that shows all the locations of the attractions and how
and a block of 5, in that order. Each block is separated by one or more white cells. White cells could also come you can get from one to another using the underground network. You must work out a route that starts from the
before or after the blocks. Columns are encoded in the same way. hotel and takes your tour group to every tourist site. The tourists will be unhappy if they pass through the same
place twice. They also want to end up back at their hotel that evening.
Here is an autumn scene.

2 1 1 2 2 1 2
1 2 2 2 3 1 1 1 1 2 1
4 2 1 1 2 2 2 2 1 2 2 1 Science Museum
Hotel
1 1 1 1 2 2 1 2 1 1 1 1 1 1
1 1 2 3 12 10 1 2 2 1 2 3 2 1 15

2 2 1 3 3

2 1 2 3 2 Cathedral Castle

1 2 2 2 1

1 3 4 3
Zoo Toy Shop
2 1 2 1
Aquarium War Ship
7 2 1 1

2 2 3

5 2 1

2 4 1 1 2
Art Gallery Wax works
2 1

2 1 1 1 1

2 1 Park Big Wheel

1 3 1 1

4 2 3 1

15

A bit of computational thinking wisdom A bit of computational thinking wisdom

Compression is about coming up with a representation that does not lose any of the information in the A good representation for problems involving ‘places’ and ways to get between them is to draw circles
original but needs as little space as possible to store. You also need a linked algorithm that guarantees to (or nodes) for the places and lines (called edges) between them to show the links. This is called a graph
get the information back - that can always solve the ‘puzzle’ and ideally very quickly. by computer scientists.

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16 18
The Knight’s tour The swap puzzle
A single chess Knight is able to move on the small cross shaped board below. A Knight can move two spaces Place small coins heads up on the squares marked H and tails up on the squares marked T.
in one direction and then move one square at right angles, or vice versa, as shown. It jumps to the new square Swap the positions of the Heads for the Tails in as few moves as possible.
without visiting any in between, and must always land on a square on the board. Find a sequence of moves that
starts from Square 1, visits every square exactly once by making such knight’s moves and finishes where it started. There are two ways to move a piece:
1. Move left or right to an adjacent empty square
2. Jump over a single adjacent piece into an empty space.
1 2
There are three increasingly larger boards that get harder. Complete the first in 3 moves, the second in 8 moves
and the third in 15 moves.
3 4 5 6

7 8 9 10 T H
0 1 2
11 12

17 T T H H

The bridges of Königsberg 0 1 2 3 4

Below is a map of the city of Königsberg, showing the river that runs through the middle, its two islands and the
seven bridges that cross the river. The tourist information centre would like to publish a route that visits each
part of the city (both banks and both islands) and that crosses each bridge once (and no more). It should start
and end in the same place. You have been asked to advise them. Either provide a route or if you can’t, explain
why it is not possible.

T T T H H H
0 1 2 3 4 5 6
North Bank

West Island
East
Island

South Bank

A bit of computational thinking wisdom

Harder problems can be made easier by tackling simpler version first, then generalising the solution.

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19 20
Word search Word ladder
Words can appear horizontally, vertically or diagonally, running backwards or forwards. Different names can Convert the word ALICE into the word GENES in 13 steps or less. You must only change one letter of the
cross and overlap. word on each step. On every step you should have created an English word that is in the dictionary. ALICE in
Wonderland was written by Lewis Caroll, who also invented this kind of puzzle. The binary version of the word
Find the following computing words in the word search grid below. ladder is called Gray code - a way of encoding numbers. Our bodies encode information using the 4 symbols
of DNA rather than the 2 of binary. Its all in our GENES.
BAR ENGINE KEY NETWORKING SAVE SCAN SCANNER SCREEN SCREENSHOT SCRIPT SCROLL
SEARCH SECURITY SERVER SHAREWARE SHELL SHIFT SNAPSHOT SOCIAL SOFTWARE SPAM A L I C E
SPAMMER SPREADSHEET SPYWARE STATUS STORAGE SUPERCOMPUTER SURF SYNTAX
- - - - -
- - - - -
S Y N T A X E N G I N E R A B - - - - -
A C S H C R A E S P A M E S H - - - - -
V F A S H I F T P Y S T T E S - - - - -

E B R N N E D W A N O O U C O - - - - -

X I A U N S P O S T F H P U C - - - - -
- - - - -
T C S B S E S R C O T S M R I
- - - - -
O O P E R N R K R C W P O I A
- - - - -
H S U T A T S I I I A A C T L
- - - - -
S P Y W A R E N P A R N R Y R - - - - -
N S H E L L R G T Y E S E N E G E N E S
E C H L L A V R E S U C P S M
E O E O E S E K S H E R U T M
R R R S H A R E W A R E S O A
21
C C W S P R E A D S H E E T P
S T O R A G E S N A C N A C S Lovelace’s life ladder
Ada Lovelace is famous as the ‘first programmer’ and also predicted computers would one day compose music.
Born on the 10th December 1815, she died at the age of 36. Use the clues to fill in the missing numbers that
completes the move from life to death, changing only one digit at a time?

Date Clue

1 8 1 5 Ada Lovelace was born

A bit of computational thinking wisdom
Perhaps you can improve your algorithm for finding words so that it is more efficient? For example, some _ _ _ _ Tchaikovsky’s famous Overture
letters may appear less often in the grid than others, so are quicker to search for. Perhaps searching for the
first letter of a word is not the best idea. _ _ _ _ Ada Lovelace died

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22 24
Bit ladder Dave’s data dilemma
Convert the binary word 0000 into the binary word 1000 in exactly 15 steps. You must only change one bit of During a school week David, Dave to his friends, receives loads of texts from Anne, Bill, Charlotte, Hamit and
the word on each step. You may only use 1s and 0s. Your answer must involve every combination of 1s and 0s. Emily. He decides to count the number of texts he receives from each of them in a typical school week, and
he’s written this below.
0 0 0 0
Monday
- - - - Anne: 13 texts, Bill: 9 texts, Charlotte:10 texts, Hamit: 17 texts, Emily: 9 texts.
- - - - Tuesday
- - - - Anne: 8 texts, Bill: 4 texts, Charlotte: 5 texts, Hamit: 12 texts, Emily: 4 texts.
Wednesday
- - - - Anne: 11 texts, Bill: 7 texts, Charlotte: 8 texts, Hamit: 15 texts, Emily 7 texts.
- - - - Thursday
- - - - Anne: 14 texts, Bill: 10 texts, Charlotte: 11 texts, Hamit: 18 texts, Emily: 10 texts.
Friday
- - - - Anne: 19 texts, Bill: 15 texts, Charlotte: 16 texts, Hamit: 23 texts, Emily: 15 texts.
- - - -
Funny bit But Dave is a fickle friend, and each day of the week his BFF (best friend forever) changes and it’s never the
- - - - same person more than once in a week. His choice is never based on the number of texts he’s sent or received.
An SQL query goes into a bar, With best mates it’s what you say, not how much you say that’s important, says Dave. On Saturday, he adds up
- - - - walks up to two tables and the texts he’s had from his chosen five different BFF’s on the days they were BFF, to give him what he calls his
- - - - asks, “Can I join you?” ‘popularity score’ which he then tweets.
- - - - Have a look at the week’s lists and put yourself in Dave’s shoes, working out what popularity score you would
- - - - tweet if you were him. Select a different BFF at random for each day of the week, and add up the texts to find
your best guess at Dave’s popularity score.
- - - -
1 0 0 0 Write down your 5 different chosen BFFs

Monday BFF: ______________ Texts from them on Monday: ______________

Tuesday BFF: ______________ Texts from them on Tuesday: ______________

23
Wednesday BFF: ______________ Texts from them on Wednesday: ______________

Napier’s life ladder (from birth to bones) Thursday BFF: ______________ Texts from them on Thursday: ______________
John Napier was a Scottish mathematician, famous for discovering logarithms. He also devised a calculator
for doing multiplication and division using wooden rods (or bones). Number patterns written on the bones Friday BFF: ______________ Texts from them on Friday: ______________
combined in various ways to let you read off the correct answer to your calculations. Calculate the missing
numbers below to get from Napier’s year of birth to his death changing only one digit at a time. Write the number you would tweet down here (adding the 5 numbers above): ______________
Date Clue Remember you chose the five BFF at random, you might even have changed your mind, so how can it be I
know you would tweet fifty eight? Can you puzzle out how the trick works?
1 5 5 0 John Napier was born

_ _ _ _ 11001110010 in decimal
A bit of computational thinking wisdom
_ _ _ _ The logarithm to base 10 of this number is 3.21932250842 Once they’ve solved a problem and invented an algorithm to do it, computational thinkers generalise it
so they can use the solution in different ways. Find out how you could base your own tricks on the secret
1 6 1 7 John Napier died
algorithm by going to www.cs4fn.org/puzzles/

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25 26
Cryptogram Extreme logical thinking: card sorting, well sort of
The following message about Ada Lovelace as a child is in code. Crack the cypher and decode the message. a) One day you are shown the four cards below. You are told that each card has a number on one side and a
Each letter of the alphabet is given a distinct number. Not all letters appear in the message. letter on the other. You are also told that every card that has a vowel on one side has an even number on its
opposite side: a nice and simple fact, but is it true? Which card or cards must you turn over to prove whether
Message or not the vowel/even rule is true? Explain why.

6 25 24 20 8 9 5 21 7 2 7 2 23 24 7 3 6
Card A Card B Card C Card D

E G 2 3
8 19 10 24 12 5 21 7 10 16 24 6 8 19 16 20

7 5 2 7 22 22 23 8 7 17 25 24 2 6 25 24

22 23 8 10 16 24 3 8 19 25 24 23 24 7 23 6 25

b) On another day, you are shown a different set of four cards as below. This time each card has the details of
10 8 9 5 2 13 6 7 6 24 18 12 6 25
a person in a shop on it. On one side is their age and on the other is what they are buying. If a person is buying
fireworks then they must be over 18. Which cards should you turn over to check everyone is shopping legally.
6 20 22 12 17 7 16 21 9 13 6 8 7 5 2 7

Card A Card B Card C Card D

13 17 12 24 5 6 12 19 12 17 24 20 24

Buying Buying
Age 25 Age 16
Key Rockets Milk
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13

14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
27

Girls and boys?

We know that the Professor has exactly two children. The older of the two is a girl. What is the probability that
both of the Professor’s children are girls?
A bit of computational thinking wisdom
Count the number of times each number appears. The Allies won World War II through computational
thinking - they cracked Hitler’s cyphers. That meant the Allies’ generals often knew what the Germans would
do. One way was by looking for ‘cribs’: words or phrases that would appear in the messages and looking for
a corresponding pattern in the cyphertext. ‘Heil Hitler’ was often used as a crib as it appeared all the time in
Nazi messages. What might be a crib to use in a message about Ada Lovelace?

20 CS4FN Puzzles Issue 1 CS4FN Puzzles Issue 1 21

28 29
Pinky’s pipe pickle Codeoku
Pinky the plumber is often called to houses where the water comes out of the shower in only a trickle. The Codeoku are exactly like Sudoku except they use symbols instead of numbers. You must place the 9 symbols
network of pipes have taps to increase and decrease the flow of water in each pipe. The taps are marked as in the grid so that every row and every column contains all the symbols. Also every marked 3x3 square should
circles with triangles showing the direction of the flow. To turn the shower in to a working power shower, you contain one of each symbol. Complete the grid using only the following symbols found in computer programs:
must set each of the taps in a way that means the maximum amount of water flows from the inlet to the outlet [;}>%$&#@
of the whole circuit. The pipes are different sizes so have different maximum flows. The numbers against each
pipe show the amount of water currently flowing down it and the maximum it takes. So, for example, 2/6 means
that pipe takes 6 litres a second but at the moment only 2 litres per second are going through it. When you
arrive, all pipes are set to 0. You cannot change the maximum flow on any pipe, or the direction of the flow.
However, by turning the taps you can change the amount flowing through each pipe, as long as you don’t go
above its maximum. You must never leave a junction with more water flowing in to it than is flowing out. The
pressure will build up and you could then end up needing a bucket, mop and wellies. What is the maximum % } @ $ &
flow at the outlet for the following networks?
; > & } [ $ #

$ [ % @ &
__ / 5 __ / 6
__ / 2
INLET OUTLET
# % ; > } $
__/19
__ / 7 __ / 5
& $ % @ [
__ / 3 __ / 8
__ / 4

& > %

# } [ % ; >
__ / 3

__ / 3 __ / 1 __ / 7 > ; [ } $
__ / 2

INLET
__ / 5
__ / 5 __ / 5 OUTLET ; } > % $ & # @
__/14
__ /6
__ / 8

__ / 5
__ / 1
__ / 2

A bit of computational thinking wisdom

Logically this puzzle is exactly the same as one with numbers in place of the symbols, so logically it is no
harder. However, the way the information is represented has changed (from numbers we are very familiar
A bit of computational thinking wisdom with to symbols that are less familiar). The symbol representation actually makes it harder as we have lost
Network engineers of all kinds face similar problems. For example, in computer networks the direction information that a human may use. In particular, these symbols have no natural order, so its harder to keep
packets of data are routed must be adjusted to avoid congestion. Complex algorithms constantly adjust the track of which symbols you have checked. For example, with a number version, one strategy is to work
traffic in the network to try and ensure everyone’s data arrives as quickly as possible. Find an algorithm to through the numbers in turn looking for possible moves. With no natural order that is harder. A well chosen
solve maxflow puzzles for computer networks and you have one for plumbers too. That’s generalisation. representation of information can make a task easier. A poorly chosen one can make it harder.

22 CS4FN Puzzles Issue 1 CS4FN Puzzles Issue 1 23

30
Navigating the numbers Question bank
Using the clues given and the program bank below, work out the number answers that are hidden in the a) Apple releases the Apple Watch in this year
number grid. Then find them in grid! Take care because the answer numbers in the grid can run horizontally, b) Binary 10001111 in octal (base 8)
vertically of diagonally, forwards of backwards! c) Binary 10010010010111 in decimal
d) Ada Lovelace was born in this year
Program Pr4 e) Bytes in a kibibyte
Program Pr1
f) Charles Babbage was born in this year
Start Program IF W > N
g) Clive Sinclair introduces the first pocket calculator
Get length, l, THEN Print X h) D80 Hex in decimal
Get width, w ELSE Print Y i) Ada Lovelace died in this year
j) Decimal output of Pr1 with l=9C hexadecimal and w= 21 Octal.
Compute area = l * w ENDIF
k) Decimal output of Pr2 with A=1111101001 binary and B=10 binary
Print area Program Pr5 l) Number of bits in a byte multiplied by gibibyte in a tebibyte
End Program IF W > N m) Number with 2, 3 and 23 as prime factors
n) Output from Pr4 where N=101, X=2567 Y=3421 and W=203
Program Pr2 THEN Print X o) Output from Pr4 where N=101, X=89353 Y=34835 and W=10**2
GET number A ELSE IF X > Z p) Output from Pr5 with N=100, X=2345 Y=1243, Z=2344 and W=99
GET number B THEN Print Y + Z q) Last output from running Pr3
r) Output of Pr1 with l=63 and w=51.
Sum = A + B ENDIF
s) Output of Pr2 with A=6 and B=15^2
Print Sum ENDIF t) Sinclair ZX81 Computer Launched
u) X*Y*Z, where
Program Pr3 Program Pr6
X=(The number of times Pr6 prints ‘Hello’)
X=591 i = 10; Y=(the value of variable J at the end of running Pr3)
FOR J = 1 TO 10 while ( i > 0 ){ Z=(output from Pr2 with A=223 B=-100)
Print J print(“Hello”); v) Alan Turing died in this year

NEXT J i = i - 1;
X=J*X+2 if( i == 6 ) Number search grid
Print X break;
END }
1 3 4 5 6 1 9 8 1 2
9 1 7 1 0 2 4 9 5 2
7 1 8 0 3 1 8 6 9 1
2 3 2 2 2 2 7 1 3 9
1 3 8 6 3 4 8 3 5 5
Funny bit 1 1 3 2 7 6 1 2 8 4
There are 10 types of people: those
who understand binary, those who
5 9 1 2 0 2 9 4 7 3
don’t and those who didn’t expect 1 3 1 7 7 6 3 9 9 8
this joke to be in ternary.
1 8 1 5 9 5 3 0 0 1
0 1 8 5 2 1 2 6 5 2

24 CS4FN Puzzles Issue 1 CS4FN Puzzles Issue 1 25

31 32
Bakuro / Revelations History timeline dot to dot
Fill the empty cells of the grid with the numbers 1,2,4 and 8 (i.e., only powers of 2). The numbers in each block Place the following events in computing history in to the order they happened. Then join the dots in that order
in a column or row must add up to the number given in the clue above or to the left, respectively. No number to find a sign first used by medieval monks, but that gained a new computing life in the 1970s.
can be used twice within any sum. The clues are given in both binary and decimal. The answers must also be A) Karen Spärck Jones invents IDF weighting, the algorithm behind most search engines, making it practical
written in both binary and decimal. to search the web.
B) Francis Bacon invents the Bacon cipher, a way of encoding letters in binary for use in secret writing.
C) Mary, Queen of Scots is executed as a result of Walsingham decoding her secret messages plotting to kill
Elizabeth I using frequency analysis.
D) Ada Lovelace’s notes on Charles Babbage’s proposed analytical engine lead to her being hailed as the
first programmer.
9 6 7 1 15 E) Gottfried Leibniz discovers the modern binary number system.
1001 0110 0111 0001 1111
5 7 F) Jeanette Wing popularises the idea of Computational Thinking as the core, generally useful, skill set of
0101 0111 the computer scientist.
14 3
1110 0011 G) The idea of steganography, the practice of hiding messages, is recorded for the first time in the book
15 3 ‘Histories’ by Herodotus.
1111 0011
H) Grace Hopper invents the first programming language compiler, making code far easier to write.
I) Jacques de Vaucanson builds The Flute Player, the first biomechanical automaton. It is a life-size figure
6 10 that can play 12 different songs.
0110 1010
13 15 J) Julius Caesar uses what becomes known as the Caesar cipher to encrypt his messages.
1101 1111
12 3
K) The Jacquard loom is first demonstrated. It revolutionises weaving and its punch card system that controls
1100 0011 the pattern is a foundation for the idea of stored computer programs and data storage.
12 3 L) Al-Khwarizmi writes his book ‘On the Calculation with Hindu Numerals’: the translation of his name gives
1100 0011
12 10
us the word algorithm.
1100 1010 M) Alan Turing invents the Universal Turing Machine, a mathematical precursor to the stored program
10
1010
computer.
9 7 N) ALGOL, the first block structured programming language is invented influencing virtually all languages
1001 0111
that follow.

E
9

B
1001

H F
C M
I
D
A bit of computational thinking wisdom L N
Binary numbers are based on powers of 2. You may have noticed that, because of this, all the binary
versions of the numbers you are writing in the grid have only a single 1 in them. The position of the 1s in
A K
the numbers being added correspond to the number in the clue they add to. So, for example, to make 13
(1101) you need to use the numbers 8 (1000) + 4 (0100) + 1 (0001). The binary tells you which numbers
you need to use! J G

26 CS4FN Puzzles Issue 1 CS4FN Puzzles Issue 1 27

33 35
Compression codes Program search
Repeatedly replace the characters in the following compressed message by those from the codebook The following 7 line Python program solves the ancient Towers of Hanoi puzzle. To solve the puzzle you must come
(the characters between the square brackets) to reveal a computing joke. up with a series of steps to move a stack of different sized rings from one pole to another. They must be moved
one at a time, using only a single intermediate pole, so that no ring is ever placed on top of a smaller ring.
Message
C
C
46A7B5DF
7GHE9.

Codebook
0 [little ]
1 [code]
2 [in the ]
3 [ninety-nine ]
4 [one ] Funny bit
5 [compile ] def thanoi (pieces, movefrom, moveto, other):
[“hip”,”hip”]
6 [bug] if pieces == 1:
- hip hip array!
7 [and ] print (“move ring from”, movefrom, “-”, moveto)
8 [s hiding ] else:
9 [06821] thanoi (pieces-1, movefrom, other, moveto)
A [ is fixed ... ] thanoi (1, movefrom, moveto, other)
B [we ]
thanoi (pieces-1, other, moveto, movefrom)
C [39,]
D [it all ]
E [ hundred ] We have hidden the program in the following word search grid vertically and horizontally. Punctuation is included
F [again,] at the start or end of words. Spaces separate words. Repeated words appear multiple times. Can you find the
G [there are] whole program.
H [ a]
I [ fixed ] i f o t h e r ( : 1 = = ) v e f m
p r = t n i r p i n = : o ) h r o
34 i
e
o
n
t
h
h
a
a
(
n
p
o
i
i
e
“
c
-
e
“
s
,
,
t
e
m
o
a
n
o
-
v
e
c “ a n ( “ o c r i n ) v r , 1 t
e , n o m o t e l s e : o f m m o
Troubling Communication s v o i m d m s g n i r m e o o )
You are a Doctor in a hospital, where a new patient needs help. They have had a stroke that has left them with ( p i e c e s - 1 , o v o v r v o
‘Locked-in syndrome’. This means they are almost totally paralysed, unable to move, or even speak, though d e m t h f p 1 , “ t p v o f e :
they are fully conscious and still intelligent. They can see and hear everything around them, but just can’t
e v o m “ ( 1 , d t h a e m e f )
communicate back. The one movement that they have is that they can blink one eyelid, though that is quite
an effort to do. You cannot cure them, but perhaps you can help them to communicate.
m o v e f r o m , f e f t s v r r
, r e h t o o t h e r ) o = o o e
a) Devise a way, that you can explain to them, that will allow them to talk to you. As all they can do is blink, they m o t h a n o i r i , t , = m m h
will need to use blinking to communicate letters, and so words, to you. What do you need to do, and what do o m o v e f r o m , f r o m “ , t
they need to do to make it work? m r , m o v e t o , t h a n o n o
b) How might you adapt the method you have suggested if blinking is easier for them to make it quicker for
them to communicate.

28 CS4FN Puzzles Issue 1 CS4FN Puzzles Issue 1 29

Solutions to a selection of the puzzles Puzzle 5: word ladder
We have included answers to a few simple puzzles as tasters. The answer booklet Here is one solution: L I S P
containing solutions to all the puzzles in this puzzle book can be found at:
www.cs4fn.org/puzzles/solutions/ L I M P

L A M P
Puzzle 3: the simple cut block puzzles L A M A

L A V A

J A V A
1 3 2 1 4 2
4 5 1 2 3 1
Puzzle 6: bit ladder
1 3 2 1 4 2 Here is one solution: 0 0 0

2 4 1 3 5 1 0 0 1

0 1 1

0 1 0

Puzzle 4: Sherlock syllogisms 1 1 0

(i)
1 1 1
b: All rubies in the game are expensive in-game purchases. c and d are also true but give less
complete information 1 0 1

1 0 0

Puzzle 12: compression code

Ready, fire, aim (the fast approach to software development).

Ready, aim, aim, aim, aim ... (the slow approach to software development).

30 CS4FN Puzzles Issue 1 CS4FN Puzzles Issue 1 31

Puzzle 18: the swap puzzle Teachers
The level 1 puzzle can be solved in 3 moves as follows: pdf copies of many of these individual puzzles for photocopying for class
Step 1: Square 1 GETS THE PIECE FROM Square 0
use can be downloaded from www.teachinglondoncomputing.org/puzzles/
Other complementary resources can be downloaded too including in-depth
Step 2: Square 0 GETS THE PIECE FROM Square 2
computational thinking booklets and activity sheets linked to these puzzles,
Step 3: Square 2 GETS THE PIECE FROM Square 1 and linked programs to run.
This puzzle book was written by Paul Curzon and Peter McOwan of Queen Mary
The level 2 puzzle can be solved in 8 moves as follows: University of London. Spring 2016. Hamet Soyel helped test the puzzles. This book
was made possible due to support from Google’s CS4HS programme with additional
Step 1: Square 2 GETS THE PIECE FROM Square 1
support from the Department for Education and Mayor of London.
Step 2: Square 1 GETS THE PIECE FROM Square 3

Step 3: Square 3 GETS THE PIECE FROM Square 4

Step 4: Square 4 GETS THE PIECE FROM Square 2

Step 5: Square 2 GETS THE PIECE FROM Square 0

Step 6: Square 0 GETS THE PIECE FROM Square 1

Step 7: Square 1 GETS THE PIECE FROM Square 3

Step 8: Square 3 GETS THE PIECE FROM Square 2

Puzzle 21: Lovelace’s life ladder

1815

1812

1852

Puzzle 28: Pinky’s pipe pickle 4/5 6/6

2/2
The maximum flow is 14. INLET OUTLET
Here is one solution that gives that maximum flow. 14 / 19
7/7 5/5
Attribution NonCommercial ShareAlike - “CC BY-NC-SA”
3/3 3/8
0/4 This license lets others remix, tweak, and build upon a work non-commercially, as long as they credit the original
author and license their new creations under the identical terms. Others can download and redistribute this work just
like the by-nc-nd license, but they can also translate, make remixes, and produce new stories based on the work. All new work based on the
original will carry the same license, so any derivatives will also be non-commercial in nature.

32 CS4FN Puzzles Issue 1

For more computational thinking
puzzle fun go to
www.cs4fn.org/puzzles

Supported by the Google CS4HS programme