Newspaper trick

[DropOfaHat]

SPOILER WARNING!! (I think...)
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Well, assuming he doesn't use a stooge to say "stop" at a pre-arranged time (they are used more often than you think by top magicians...), all he had to do was have the side facing him printed upside down (relative to the side we see) - that way, no matter where he cuts it, he hands it to us with his-side-facing-up, and he will always be right!



[This message has been edited by DropOfaHat (edited 10-24-2001).]

[Icarus]

I like your answer, but maybe every line on the page is the same. That way no matter where he cuts across, the same line will always be the first line.

[Marvin]

My first thought was that he holds the piece of newspaper upside down so that the headline is the top line of the half that falls down. That way, the back could be blank.

[Meintsi]

With nomal newspaper print very small in comparison to the headlines. It is possible that the fine print is all printed upside down. That way the first line on the piece which is dropped to the floor is always known.

[Vanyo]

Yes, that's the answer. I've done that one myself - forget where I saw it (maybe Penn & Teller).

[Sparticus]

I used to be an amateur magician, and I read this trick before in a magic book.

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I am Sparticus.

[Icarus]

I went back to the puzzle and read it over again. It clearly states "Skinny says that he will move a pair of scissors up and down the paper until someone says stop"

The down is the key. If Skinny starts from the top, moving the scissors down the page, then the first line, thus the headline, will always be the first line of the paper.

[Zed]

Well, heres my idea. Feel free to flame me
all you want, but I think its all a play on
words..

The key to the riddle is "until someone says stop"...that doesn't mean Skinny can't say
stop! So how does he win? Simple, he has
two copies of the same newspaper glued back
to back. In the envelope is the "desired"
line. All Skinny has to do is jump the
scissors to the desired line, announce
"Stop!" and cut. He got the line he wanted
no matter what...UNLESS you beat him to it!

Zed

[michael simon]

it doesn't say that the paper is held upright. if the paper is held sideways, then no matter where you cut across it then the top line of the paper will always stay at the stop - it will just be cut through at some point. is this too simple?

[Boeuftete]

I think that it's a regular piece of newspaper, but skinny just holds it upside down. That way, no matter where he cuts, the top of the piece that falls is the headline (which Skinny happens to have a second one of in the envelope.

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This signature intentionally left blank.

[art begotti]

i actually know this one!
i read this in a magic book. the answer is quite simple if you think about it.

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Good night Gracie!

[art begotti]

should i give a small hint or two?

[Icarus]

Instead of a hint, how about if any of the above are correct, or on the right track ?

[art begotti]

about half of you are on the right track. practically there. the other half, yes its good and could work but a little in the contradicting direction.

[confusion682]

could it be as simple as Skinny holds the bottom part of the paper? That way, no matter where he cuts the top part of the page will fall to the ground and the headline will be the first thing that is printed on it. If he has a copy of the headline in the envelope you lose $10.

[guestguest]

Perhaps he just has a complete copy of the paper in the envelope. He then cuts the paper and envelope simultaneously, so whatever he does to one he does to the other.

[Will]

I really don't understand how it can happen if the other side is printed upside down, because really he is cuttin up and down and acrose. for example if in the sealed envelope it say The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy old dog. Now on the back he has the same thing printed over and over upside down and when someone yells stop he can stop at The quick brown fox wich then he is leaving out jumped over the lazy old dog. It is possible for him to do it. I just don't see how

[DropOfaHat]

Will:

you have the wrong idea, that's why it won't work. The concept is: let's say the prediction in the envelope is, as you say, the "quick brown fox" sentence. Okay, so the side facing him is printed upside down (or, roated 180 degrees) with the "quick brown" sentence upside down at the BOTTOM, and more sentences - doesn't matter what they are - above it. (If you rotated the whole thing right-side up, the sentence would be at the TOP, with more sentences below, like a regular newspaper). OK, got the visual?

Now, no matter where else on the paper he cuts, once it's trimmed, he hands it to you with HIS SIDE SHOWING, and sure enough the "quick" sentence is right there at the top, with an undetermined number of other words/sentences below it.

See?

[This message has been edited by DropOfaHat (edited 10-31-2001).]

[Will]

Well if it is printed on the back it would have to be turned at a 90 degree angel because in the problem it said that he will be cutting up and down and then acorss not acorss then down or up

[DropOfaHat]

No, Will, it does not say that he will cut up and down and then across. It clearly says he will MOVE the scissors up and down (not yet cutting), and then when someone yells stop, he will cut across at that point. And even if he DID cut up & down and then across, my method would STILL work. (I'm not sure what you're describing, but it doesn't seem to make any sense.)

I don't know how else to explain it, it WILL work the way I describe it.


Actually, looking back at the original puzzle, I wonder if the FRONT is maybe printed upside down (because it mentions only the headline), but that would be fairly obvious and wouldn't withstand even the slightest bit if scrutiny.

[Ghost Post]

Nobody seems to have mentioned the simple deceit of having *another* piece of paper on the floor already. The top line of the piece of paper on the floor matches up with what's in the envelope. When Skinny cuts the paper he's holding, one bit falls on the floor, but instead of picking up that and examining it, he picks up the paper that was already there - and miraculously it matches!

[DropOfaHat]

well, psmears, anything is possible, but one would think that your solution would be difficult to pull off, especially with money on the line. I mean, even if no one noticed a piece of paper already conveniently lying there, they would certainly notice that the paper that fell is not the one that's handed to them!

In other words:
*cut* *flutter flutter fall over here*
(pick up paper from over THERE, ignoring piece that just fell over here)
"TA-DA"!!
Your version would ONLY work if either: a) the cut piece falls DIRECTLY on top of the planted piece (odds against: QUITE LARGE, plus hope they didn't see first piece already there, AND deal with sleight-of-hand-paper-switch); or b) the whole falling/retrieving act occurs out of sight (and audiences know enough not to trust stuff that happens out of sight - would you?).

The version(s) discussed above is/are INFINITELY simpler and more convincing than your version. Sorry.



[This message has been edited by DropOfaHat (edited 11-01-2001).]

[Marvin]

Nice idea, though, psmears. Refreshing to see a different angle being considered.

[pierrecurie]

I saw this in one of those itty bitty Usborn books.

[Will]

Well Drop of a hat he moves his siccors up and down then across wut happens if the person told him to stop when he is below the top line and then cuts there

[Vanyo]

The top line is at the bottom (which is why discussing this is probably confusing). The paper is upside down. He never goes below the top line. Lets say the paper looks as follows:

Line One
Line Two
Line Three
Line Four
Line Five
Line Six
Line Seven
Line Eight
Line Nine
Line Ten
MOH WIH MOHS

Now, turn that upside down, and you get the headline (SHOW HIM HOW) first, right-side up, followed by ten lines which are upside down. The spectators can see the right-side up headline, but cant make out that the lines below it are upside down. Now, he holds the paper near the "top" (near the headline), and cuts somewhere, and lets the "bottom" piece drop to the floor. A spectator picks up the piece that drops and reads the "top" line (what logically appears as the top line to him), and it is always "Line One".

[Will]

i understand now i really understand now but when do they post the answer

[Ghost Post]

Well, maybe he holds the paper clipping in a way so that no matter where he cuts, the top of the paper that matches the envelope hits the floor. In other words, he holds it at the bottom of the paper and cuts the top off so it hits the floor.



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Just a touch of chaos... klqzm

[Icarus]

O.K. I know this isn't the answer the poster of the puzzle looking for, but, what if the newspaper is written in Arabic ? Doesn't the Arabic language start in the lower right corner, and their sentences run from right to left, bottom of the page to top of the page ?

So without any trickery, Skinny could be holding the paper in what appears to be the right side up, but no matter where he cuts across, the first line will always be from the bottom right corner to the bottom left corner.

[Ghost Post]

No, Arabic is read from right to left, top to bottom. I can see a more simple solution... After cutting, he drops the ENTIRE paper. That way, the headline is the top line of the paper which fell to the floor.

[james steelman]

the trick said top line( right)
the top line of any news paper is the date
so just the same date needs to be in the letter

[BearTalon]

I agree with the fact that Skinny always drops the part above his cut, or lets it fall since he would have to hold the paper by the bottom to not be accused of deliberately choosing which part to drop. Then the top part is always the headline.

The idea that he has the same paper stuck back to back in 180 degree rotation does not work. No matter which part falls to the floor, it can be flipped and rotated to show the headline at the top.

BUT, the problem says you READ the top of what has fallen to the floor - there is only a 50% chance that the paper lands with the headline side up. How is Skinny supposed to control which side faces up when it's on the floor?

[thewaxon2121]

Most of the newspapers I have seen have something like "The City Daily News" centered above everything else on every page. Therefore Skinny would just have to let the top of the paper fall and the envelope might have the name of the paper in it.

OR! Skinny might simply cut through one paper, stop at the edge and drop the paper. A little cheap, but that's Skinny for ya.

[DropOfaHat]

Bear Talon, you have the wrong idea, that's why you think it won't work. Read the above explanations to see why you're wrong. No one suggests that the back is the same as the front, with headline, upside down (where did you get that from?)

The two workable solutions discussed above are: A) Only the front has print on it, all the text under the right-side-up headline is printed upside down, so no matter where he cuts, whatever is at the "bottom" will become the top line if it is read rightside up: OR B) the front is normal, and the back of the newspaper is upside down text (with no headline!!!), so again no matter where he cuts, the "bottom" line, when read rightside up, will always be the "first".

Please read the posts carefully first before you say they aren't right...

[CrystyB]

Drop-of-a-hat, have you just ignored the 50% argument Bear-Talon gave?

[DropOfaHat]

Crysty B:

I'm not the one who's ignoring arguments... Look, have you read the above postings, where several versions of the "upside down" method are discussed in detail??

As I said in my original post, yes, he COULD use a stooge/confederate/plant (but ONLY to tell him when to stop - definitely NOT to open the envelope or read the cut quote - read the puzzle, Skinny asks YOU, the "bettor" to do both! So that's not a particularly lovely answer, and no, it will not work...), as can be done with almost any audience-interactive magic trick. But it's always more impressive to do tricks without plants (plus ANYONE - including "you", could tell him when to stop - what if someone else yells out before the confederate?). If the answer is "a confederate tells him when to stop", well, it's unworkable, besides being a cop-out, a cheap answer and NOT how the pros do this trick.

Same thing with the "he lets the top drop to the floor" answer. If I saw a professional magician do that I'd walk out of the room (a comedy magician, maybe I'd stay, if he admits it's a sucky trick.) And I CERTAINLY wouldn't be fooled by Skinny doing that, much less give him my $10. Haven't we learned to be more clever than that here in the GL? The version below would probably fool you, and you'd pay him...

Look, the simplest and BEST answer is mentioned above: on the front only is HEADLINE at top; below that are various sentences printed UPSIDE DOWN in small print (can't be quite seen by audience); prediction in envelope matches what is now upside down at the BOTTOM; he cuts across at any point; drops the BOTTOM; when this piece of paper is picked up and looked at in a normal way (i.e., right side up so you can read it), the sentence that was previously at the BOTTOM (upside down) is now at the TOP, right side up. No chance of making a mistake, nothing left to chance (BEAR TALON's arguments don't address this at all, so I did not ignore them, they simply didn't apply to this solution.)

If anyone can't understand this, then I don't know what else to do.

[art begotti]

can i give the answer yet?

[extropalopakettle]

~checks calendar~

~checks watch~

yes, now you can give the answer

[Scritcher]

I think the idea of the headline the right way up and the rest of the print upside down beneath it is good - providing the audience is far away enough not to notice it's upside down. But when Skinny cuts the paper and you read him the top line, aren't you going to notice that the edge above it wasn't cut with scissors (and the edge at the bottom was)? I would.

[extropalopakettle]

He takes an ordinary newspaper, and cuts out a strip for the trick. A little slight of hand (nobody is paying close attention to this part anyway), and he swaps the strip he just cut out with the previously prepared one, which is cut by scissors at the bottom (what will be the top line of text of the piece that falls).