ArcaMax

beneficence \buh-NEFF-i-suhns\ (noun) - 1 : The practice of doing good; active goodness, kindness, or charity. 2 : A charitable gift or act.

"I admire your sentiment, and adopt it; but I fear that the knowledge which aims...Read more

It is your task to determine how high you can drop a billiard ball without it breaking. There is a 100 story building and you must determine which is the highest floor you can drop a ball from without it breaking. You have only two billiard balls to use as test objects. If both of them break before you determine the answer then you have failed at your task. What is the order of floors that you should drop the balls from to minimize the number ...

multifarious \muhl-tuh-FAIR-ee-uhs\ (adjective) - Having great diversity or variety; of various kinds; diversified.

"Others will follow, others will outstrip me on the same lines; and I hazard the guess that man will be ...Read more

A canal in UK has 13 locks and no water supply at the top. Each lock loses 7000 L of water when used. A truck, capable of carrying 22 tons of water, is rented to bring water from the bottom to the top.

Is the contract reasonable?

missive \MIS-iv\ (noun) - A written message; a letter.

"A missive! Yes, he would to his beloved, to the pure-as-the-whitest-snow queen of his heart, pen a missive. It took him a week to think about it, draft it, polish it...Read more

MADADIA has been chosen to host the latest United Nations Kebab Annual Liaisons (U.N.K.A.L). Madadia's mayoress, Madka Owdiseez, has invited several wives of delegates of UNKAL for an informal luncheon. She plans to seat her 9 guests in a row such that each lady will be able to converse with the person directly to her left and right. She has prepared the following list.

Mrs. F speaks English only.
Mrs. G speaks English and French.
...

SAN FRANCISCO -- You might think it’s a losing venture for a company to open a brick-and-mortar store at a time when more and more customers shop online. Malls are shuttering and major retailers are selling off ...Read more

effrontery \ih-FRUN-tuh-ree\ (noun) - Insulting presumptuousness; shameless boldness; insolence.

"There was no doubt but that she was telling the truth; what astonished her was the effrontery, the sheer, naked effrontery ...Read more

The five businessmen in question represented different companies at a recent trade fair. Unfortunately, the hotel they were all due to stay in had accidentally double booked their rooms. They tried other hotels in the area, but all were fully booked. Consequently, they all agreed to share the only two rooms available in the hotel - one twin and one triple.

From the clues, can you work out each man's name, company and official title?

1....

vade mecum \vay-dee-MEE-kuhm; vah-dee-MAY-\ (noun) - 1 : A book for ready reference; a manual; a handbook. 2 : A useful thing that one regularly carries about.

"The same day the youth set out on his journey equipped with ...Read more

One day, an eccentric billionaire decided to give a destitute man a break. But not a total break, as we shall see. So, he invites him into a room in his mansion with seven doors. There is also a large-screen projector that projects the following five images, repeatedly, one at a time:

A human brain, Earth, the incomplete phrase: 'Fair and ____,' the letters AZCONMUT and a cheese sandwich on plain white bread with the edges perfectly cut off. ...