A Cat Dreams of Mice (March 2025 Challenge Question)

Number mice 1 - 13 clockwise with 1 being where he starts counting.

The number in bold is the one eaten.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 1

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 2 3

4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 2 4 5 6

7 8 9 10 11 12 4 5 7 8 9 10 11

12 2 4 5 7 8 9 10 12 2 4 5 7

8 9 10 12 2 4 5 8 9 10 12 2 4

5 8 9 10 12 5 8 9 10 12 5 8 9

10 12 5 8 10 12 5 8 10 12 5 8 10

12 5 8 12 5 8 12 5 8 12 5 8 12

5 8 5 8 5 8 5 8 5 8 5 8 5

Number 8 must be the white mouse. Count backward counterclockwise to find which mouse is number 1, the first mouse eaten.

to find which mouse is number 1, the first mouse eaten.

Correction: number 1, where Delroy begins counting.

The cat is looking at the one he has to eat first!

Look at line 5

7 8 9 10 11 12 4 5 7 8 9 10 11

I think you've missed a 2 between 12 and 4.

(If you look at the circle of numbers, you'll see that before it gets complicated, the "gaps" are 0, 1, 2, 3; and you've got 0, 1, 2, 4)

I think you've missed a 2 between 12 and 4.

You're right, thanks.

Do a trial run where you actually start by eating the white mouse

The numbers "in" the mice show the order they are eaten in; the numbers in the circles show how many circuits the cat had to do to get to the associated mouse.

The uneaten mouse is the one with no number in it; there are four mice between it and the white mouse, therefore you need to leave four mice between the white one and the one you actually start on; it is labelled 6 at the moment.

I count a total of 26 times around the circle.

I think both Solar and Rixter's answers at #1 and #2 identify the same starting mouse, but neither record the same number of circuits. With my picture above it should be relatively easy to see if I've miscounted, and , where.

It's hard to describe the solution to this puzzle. My idea is to just ignore the mouse color and number the mice 1-13 around a circle.

Count 13 and eliminate that mouse. Count 13 from the 12 that are left and eliminate that mouse. Count 13 from the 11 that are left and eliminate that mouse. Continue until there is only one left, #8.

Where should Delroy begin counting, to ensure that he eats the 12 brown mice?

We can put the numbers on the picture, knowing that the survivor is #8, the white mouse. Mouse #1 was where Delroy started counting.

How many times around the circle does Delroy need to count?

Count the number of 8's, the survivor, before #5 gets eaten. I get 25.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 (1) #8

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 1 (1) #8

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 2 3 (1) #8

4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 2 4 5 6 (1) #8

7 8 9 10 11 12 4 5 7 8 9 10 11 (2) #8

12 2 4 5 7 8 9 10 12 2 4 5 7 (1) #8

8 9 10 12 2 4 5 8 9 10 12 2 4 (2) #8

5 8 9 10 12 5 8 9 10 12 5 8 9 (3) #8

10 12 5 8 10 12 5 8 10 12 5 8 10 (3) #8

12 5 8 12 5 8 12 5 8 12 5 8 12 (4) #8

5 8 5 8 5 8 5 8 5 8 5 8 5 (6) #8

The white mouse is the only one that doesn't get eaten, therefore the only reference to count the circles made...just count how many times you pass the white mouse in this gratuitous display of carnage...

What a sweet little cat: unless of course you're a mouse!

Maybe the cat is rescuing the mice....let's try this, the mice are placed on a rotating wheel in a chamber slowly filling with water, and the cat must enter a maze to get to the wheel, the wheel is rotating at 1 rpm and the maze takes 30 seconds to navigate, if the cat misses the mouse he must run the maze again, what is the timing sequence for each maze start to rescue each of the 13 mice in the shortest time...? The cat can only rescue the mouse if the wheel is perfectly aligned with one of the 13 sections, and each time one section is aligned a light comes on...

Bob and Alice (amongst others) are oft used placeholder names. Delroy is a fine name, but hilarious in this context. I'll leave that for people to figure out .

And when they realise, it’ll hit then like a sledgehammer.

Good thing its Delroy the cat. A cat without CR4 membership would never be able to figure this out.

Spoiler Alert