Category: Paul’s Puzzles

6th December 19

Paul’s Puzzles this week flow from questions asked during Dr Xander’s Operation Ouch assemblies to the Junior and Senior House and discussions afterwards. Either How does my brain think? (Dr Xander scratched his head and replied, ‘You better ask Paul that one!’) Or If I think the question, ‘How does my brain think, in another…

1st November 19

Either Is it possible that my (your) watching and willing England to beat South Africa (or vice versa!) from England, can influence the outcome in Japan? If not, why is that I believe, deep down, it can? Is it like a kind of sporting ‘prayer’? Or The legal age of marital consent, with parental permission,…

20th October 19

Either Will any film ever be better than Singing in the Rain? https://www.bfi.org.uk/whats-on/bfi-film-releases/singin-in-the-rain Please note it is on at the BFI! Or If a cat is about to hurt a bird or mouse, should we intervene to protect the weaker, innocent, animal? (I saw a cat about to pounce on my walk in to school…

4th October 19

Either This is the first thing I have understood: Time is the echo of an axe Within a wood. Philip Larkin Can you explain how time passing feels and is experienced? (I put 2017 on a letter last week and did not notice; I played basketball with Year 7 and 8 on Thursday, and felt…

30th September 19

Either As I was about write this there was a torrential downpour of rain! Can I really explain what just happened and why it passed? Can you? (Do look at the pictures!) Or Rain, Reign, Rein, Pizza La Reine, Spain, Drain, Insane, Cain and Abel, Rarely Stable, Aristotle, Bottle, Throttle, Glottal stop…. Will there ever…

17th September 19

Either Why are the colours of Autumn leaves so moving and beautiful? Can you really explain why we have the four seasons we do in England? (Bonus for parents? Why do Autumn songs get to us! For example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xXBNlApwh0c Eva Cassidy https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=sptember+song&adlt=strict%2cstrict%2cstrict%2cstrict&view=detail&mid=85745ED3637495FD829085745ED3637495FD8290&&FORM=VDRVRV Nat King Cole Or If it turns out that we really are the…

6th September 19

Can you explain scientifically why watching cricket can be so exciting? Some people referred to Ben Stoke’s performance as causing one of the most exciting and exhilarating hours of their lives? Is it to do with a chemical in your brain or something else? Could someone get the same high watching the World Tiddlywinks Championships…

28th June 19

Paul’s Puzzles this week are: Either If there are other intelligent creatures in the universe or another parallel universe, will they have the same times tables as we have? (Is it possible that there are other mathematical universes?) Or Do numbers actually exist? Are there lots of twos/2s or just one/1 two/2, REPRESENTED by the…

7th June 19

Either Is it wrong to be preoccupied by a politician’s haircut (Trump? Boris Johnson?) or does it symbolise something about their values and beliefs? Or Why are yawning and sneezing such fun? (I have experienced both this morning and the pleasure is transcendental!) Or Is a headache the same as a brainache? Where exactly is…

24th May 19

Either Theresa May cried in her farewell speech when referring to the country she says she loves. What does it actually mean to love your country? Given that where you are born, in one sense, is a matter of chance, isn’t it a bit odd; or, is it true that you are in some deep…