[psyang]

Based on the prisoner riddle video posted in the funny videos thread, I thought it might be fun to have a math puzzle thread.

I enjoy a good math puzzle, but what makes a puzzle really special is if it sounds near impossible to solve, but has a really elegant solution that doesn't require knowledge of high power mathematics.

I'll share the few that I know - maybe one a week. But I hope there will be other contributions. If the puzzle follows the above guidelines, it is good incentive not to look up the solution online, but to spend some time trying to figure it out yourself.

Here's the first one.

The cigar game.

This game involves two players each with an unlimited number of cigars. The cigars are perfectly cylindrical, 1" diameter and 6" in length. They are perfectly balanced.

There is a circular table, 24" in diameter.

Each player takes turns placing a single cigar on the table. They can place the cigar on the table in any orientation, as long as it is not touching any other cigar on the table.

The last player who can successfully place a cigar on the table wins.

Prove that if you play first, you can guarantee a win.