A mechanical puzzle is a puzzle presented as a set of mechanically interlinked pieces in which the solution is to manipulate the whole object or parts of it. While puzzles of this type have been in use by humanity as early as the 3rd century BC, one of the most well-known mechanical puzzles of modern day is the Rubik's Cube, invented by the Hungarian architect Ernő Rubik in 1974. The puzzles are typically designed for a single player, where the goal is for the player to discover the principle of the object, rather than accidentally coming up with the right solution through trial and error. With this in mind, they are often used as an intelligence test or in problem solving training.
A mug is a type of cup typically used for drinking hot drinks, such as coffee, hot chocolate, or tea. Mugs usually have handles and hold a larger amount of fluid than other types of cups. Typically, a mug holds approximately 240–350 ml of liquid. A mug is a less formal style of drink container and is not usually used in formal place settings, where a teacup or coffee cup is preferred. Shaving mugs are used to assist in wet shaving.
English delftware is tin-glazed pottery made in the British Isles between about 1550 and the late 18th century. The main centres of production were London, Bristol and Liverpool with smaller centres at Wincanton, Glasgow and Dublin. English tin-glazed pottery was called "galleyware" or "galliware" and its makers "gallypotters" until the early 18th century; it was given the name delftware after the tin-glazed pottery from the Netherlands,
Canadian Club is a brand of Canadian whisky produced by Beam Suntory. Popularly known as CC, Canadian Club was created by Hiram Walker and Sons, an evolution of a brand around a product that took place over the second half of the nineteenth century. Hiram Walker merged with Gooderham & Worts, Ltd. in 1926, yielding Hiram Walker-Gooderham & Worts, Ltd.
A porrón is a traditional glass wine pitcher, which holds 0.75 litres (25 US fl oz) typical of Spain, originating in Catalonia, in northeastern Spain, and eventually spreading to other parts of Spain. This invention allows everyone to drink from the same utensil without touching it with their lips. It fosters communal drinking accompanying food, though it does require some skill to ensure the wine enters one's mouth and to keep it from spilling onto clothing. Some might say it resembles a cross between a wine bottle and a watering can. The top of the bottle is narrow and can be sealed off with a cork. Stemming upwards from the bottom of the pitcher is a spout that gradually tapers off to a small opening. It is shaped such that the wine stored inside it will have minimal contact with the air, while being ready to be used at all times. Until the mid-twentieth century it was very common in homes, but the tradition is now slowly being lost. The idea originated as a replacement to bota bags. Porrons are most commonly filled with regular wines, either white or red, but are also used to drink cava, and a smaller version filled with a sweet, dessert wine is also common in Catalan restaurants. The lack of contact with the lips allows a group of people to share the same vessel without offending their sense of hygiene.
A dribble glass is a drinking glass that has holes hidden in its etched design.
A jug is a type of container commonly used to hold liquids. It has an opening, sometimes narrow, from which to pour or drink, and has a handle, and often a pouring lip. Jugs throughout history have been made of metal, ceramic, or glass, and plastic is now common.
A fuddling cup is a three-dimensional puzzle in the form of a drinking vessel, made of three or more cups or jugs with interconnecting bodies all linked together by holes and tubes in which liquor poured into one cup would disappear in one cup and reappear in another cup. The name “fuddling” in this cup has two meanings—to both confuse and intoxicate. Fuddling cups were especially popular in 17th and 18th century England.
A tankard is a form of drinkware consisting of a large, roughly cylindrical, drinking cup with a single handle. Tankards are usually made of silver or pewter, but can be made of other materials, for example wood, ceramic, or leather. A tankard may have a hinged lid, and tankards featuring glass bottoms are also fairly common. Tankards are shaped and used similarly to beer steins.
A grole is a multi-spouted, and often ornately carved, wooden bowl with a small lid. Groles are always round and relatively shallow, with an interior capacity for liquid proportionate to the number of spouts. The bowl is local to the Savoy region of France and the adjacent Aosta Valley region in northwest Italy, and is usually available and enjoyed during après-ski or after dinner - especially one of fondue or raclette.
MAZE: Solve the World's Most Challenging Puzzle is a puzzle book written and illustrated by Christopher Manson. The book was originally published as part of a contest to win $10,000.
A Pythagorean cup is a practical joke device in a form of a drinking cup, credited to Pythagoras of Samos. When it is filled beyond a certain point, a siphoning effect causes the cup to drain its entire contents through the base. The cup can be used to learn about greed.
The Hardest Logic Puzzle Ever is a logic puzzle so called by American philosopher and logician George Boolos and published in The Harvard Review of Philosophy in 1996. Boolos' article includes multiple ways of solving the problem. A translation in Italian was published earlier in the newspaper La Repubblica, under the title L'indovinello più difficile del mondo.
The sippy cup, training cup or beaker is a modern drinking cup designed for toddlers which prevents or reduces spills. Sippy cups, as opposed to an open cup, have a top which prevents spills, and the child drinks either through a spout or straw. Some sippy cups work by way of surface tension that prevents liquid from being spilled even when the cup is upended, and others have valves. A sippy cup is typically an intermediary between the transition between the bottle or breast to an open cup; however, some recommend skipping the sippy cup and transitioning directly to an open cup.
Alcoholic spirits measures are instruments designed to measure exact amounts or shots of alcoholic spirits.
A cup is an open-top container used to hold liquids for pouring or drinking. Although mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring. Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, clay, wood, stone, bone, polystyrene, plastic, aluminium or other materials, and are usually fixed with stem, handles, or other adornments. Cups are used for quenching thirst across a wide range of cultures and social classes, and different styles of cups may be used for different liquids or in different situations. Cups of different styles may be used for different types of liquids or other foodstuffs, in different situations, or for decoration.
Water pouring puzzles are a class of puzzle involving a finite collection of water jugs of known integer capacities . Initially each jug contains a known integer volume of liquid, not necessarily equal to its capacity.
A frog mug is a type of ceramic vessel mainly used for drinking beer or similar alcoholic beverages. They were first produced in Sunderland before being copied in such places as Staffordshire, Worcestershire and Newcastle. These mugs were part of the tradition of drinking games such as fuddling cups and puzzle jugs. In this case the drinking vessels featured one or more painted or three-dimensional ceramic frogs or toads that slowly emerged at the bottom of the vessel as it was drained.
Zhīyán is an ancient Chinese rhetorical device, supposedly named in analogy with a type of zhi wine vessel that tilts over when full and rights itself when empty. The Daoist classic Zhuangzi first recorded this term for a mystical linguistic ideology, which is generally interpreted to mean fluid language that maintains its equilibrium through shifting meanings and viewpoints, thus enabling one to spontaneously go along with all sides of an argument.
