2 days ago, we celebrated PI's birthday

And in France we are in the middle of the maths week with many events for kids and their parents:

Kangaroo game

Mathematical games semi-finals

And other events (In French)

Why puzzles are very interesting with regards to equivalent computations challenges ?

We need to map real world concepts to mathematical concepts and that's useful!

They're fun! (Yes, they are)

They tell a story so they're very easy to share and explain. (See Buses, kids and optimization) A simple puzzle to explain complex concepts.

And as a conclusion, let me share the monthly IBM Ponder This Challenge and list the ones I managed to solve but first let me quote what I read at November 2008 challenge :

"Let me just take this time to thank you and IBM for this wonderful web site. It has provided me with many hours of puzzle solving pleasure, and also some interesting conversations with my family.

The first three weeks of June this year I spent in the hospital. One of the nights in the ICU my family and I passed some of the time by talking about Ponder This. My daughter read the DNA problem to me at that time, and jokingly I told her I could be the first person to ever solve and answer a Ponder This while in the ICU. I actually sent my entry from my hospital bed about a week later.

Again thanks. Looking forward to next month's puzzle."





NB: Screenshot from the Guardian