Popular Science Monthly 



431 



Puzzling Kugelspiel 



An old Dutch sportsman informs me 

 that our modern ten-pin game is derived 

 from the Dutch pastime of Kugelspiel, 

 played on the greens of Holland for 

 many centuries. He says that while our 

 modern game has resolved itself into 

 mere expertness in knocking down the 

 pins many variations of old Kugelspiel 

 involved mathematical features as well. 



The most scientific of these old-time 

 "set-ups" employed 15 pins which were 

 arranged, as shown on page 430, in three 

 groups of 3, 4 and 8 pins respectively, 

 and the contest between two players con- 

 sisted in turn-about plays to see w'hich 

 would be compelled to roll his ball at 

 the final pin. 



It is an interesting puzzle to work ovit 

 just what should be the first player's shot 

 to assure his leaving a final pin for his 

 opponent, assuming that both players 

 were so skilful that at every shot they 

 could knock down any or all of the pins 

 in one of the separate groups. At a sin- 

 gle shot a bowler is permitted to strike 

 a pin or pins from only one of the 

 groups. 



Here is a specimen game : 



Player A knocks down 5 of the pins 

 from the group of 8 ; player B wipes out 

 the entire group of 4, leaving two groups 

 of 3 each for his opponent. A then takes 

 one pin from one of the groups ; B takes 

 a pin from the other group and the situ- 

 ation is now two groups of 2 each. A 



The Cost of a Villa 



An elephant on his hands 



takes one pin then B removes the 2 and 

 wins by leaving a single pin. 



If you were bowling a game with the 

 old Dutchman what would be your open- 

 ing shot in order to assure the leaving 

 of a final pin for him? 



The Cost of a Villa 



When the Smith's suburban villa was 

 completed and they counted costs, it ap- 

 peared that the painter's bill was $82 in 

 excels of the paperhanger's charges; the 

 plumber charged $30 more than the 

 painter; the mason received $160 more 

 than the plumljer and the carpenter, who 

 charged $24 more than the mason, ren- 

 dered a l)ill three times as large as that 

 of the paperhanger. The lot cost half 

 as much as the house, so who can tell 

 how much the Smith's new home cost? 



An Elephant on His Hands 



An overly-ambitious Hindu who had 

 acquired the proverbial elephant that "ale 

 all night and ate all day," sought to rid 

 himself of the voracious beast by un- 

 loading him on a fellow native. The 

 prospective buyer was willing to do busi- 

 ness on the basis of 8 rupees less than 

 the asking price; the would4)e seller 

 would knock off only 20 per cent. There 

 remained a difference of 7 rupees be- 

 tween their terms, and the pachyderm 

 failed to change owners. 



Can you tell how much the native was 

 offered for his animal? 



