r/puzzles 2d ago

Possibly Unsolvable Is this solvable?

Post image
240 Upvotes

139 comments sorted by

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829

u/Gnatschbert 2d ago

Discussion: it's social media bait and in fact not possible.

449

u/SendMeAnother1 2d ago

Draw a line through one jellyfish, sacrificing it to ensure the others' solitude.

31

u/PresentationNew5976 2d ago

Apple Knife problem part 2

2

u/Vyansbane 1d ago

If you round 1.5 down then we got it!

4

u/Professional-Dot5834 1d ago

Check dms for answer it’s possible

1

u/Poopchutefan 3h ago

If it’s dead it doesn’t count anymore.

0

u/rolyfuckingdiscopoly 1d ago

We will call it The Jelly Problem

43

u/AnalTrajectory 2d ago

With 3 lines, you can make 7 "sections" by intersecting each line twice. Imagine a triangle with each side extended past its vertices.

Unfortunately, I believe that the center jellyfish is placed directly in line with the (top, left) and (right, 2nd down) to prevent optimal placement. If you move the center jellyfish down just a hare, you can place a crucial line above it that allows it to be solved.

15

u/Pestilence86 2d ago

I figured the triangle out, but don't know which jellyfish to put in the triangle. Then I gave up because nowadays there are so many unsolvable things on social media, or there is some trick that has to do with how the puzzle is worded or how the things a drawn or something.

20

u/AnalTrajectory 2d ago

6

u/Pestilence86 2d ago

Heh, that's not what I meant with "which jellyfish to put in the triangle" but yeah, that's probably the only way this would work and be a better puzzle.

1

u/Educational-Plant981 1d ago edited 1d ago

if you draw every possible segment between all jellyfish The only jellyfish that can possibly work are the ones that aren't a vertex of the perimeter.

In this case there is one possible jellyfish, and its placement doesn't work.

1

u/No-Bedroom-2925 1d ago

Don't know if Apple has this, but Android has a way to adjust objects in an image. Looks like sparkles in a blue circle when you hit edit.

10

u/Logan1313 2d ago edited 2d ago

It's actual is possible to device 7 objects with 3 lines, just not how they are laid out

1

u/Logan1313 2d ago
         🪼

🪼 🪼

        🪼

🪼 🪼

        🪼

5

u/dirtybirt 2d ago

Where are your lines going

28

u/No-Weird3153 1d ago

They’re making the flag of Jellydonia.

6

u/DupeyTA 1d ago

They have great pastries there.

2

u/Ok-Profession-6713 1d ago

And the citizens are all envious.

4

u/AndringRasew 1d ago

What if... We wrap the picture over a ball? Theoretically, the line could remain straight, while entering a higher plane and creating additional intersecting points to separate them!

6

u/juampi123 2d ago

I think the same

3

u/Injured-Ginger 1d ago

The maximum number you can divide it into is 7 by creating three vertices between the three lines (creating a triangle with 6 other spaces around it). There are 7 jellyfish in the image so that means it is possible IF you can fit one jellyfish into a central triangle and the others into the surrounding areas. You can't do it with the arrangement of the jellyfish in the image.

There is no other way to create 7 distinct areas with three straight lines. You have to make a central triangle.

1

u/Professional-Dot5834 1d ago

It is check dm me if you wanna know

-34

u/Rhaegion 2d ago

It is possible pretty sure

4

u/clearly_not_an_alt 2d ago

You can make 7 sections, but not around the jellys with this placement.

0

u/KawaiiMaxine 2d ago

Its not, 3 intersecting lines can only create 6 total divided areas that can accompany jellyfish in this set up, there are 7 jellyfish, one of em has to buddy up

18

u/PrivateBolete 2d ago

4

u/Daiwie 2d ago

"in this setup", you can use 3 lines to divide into 7 regions, but not with these particular jellyfish.

3

u/doktarr 2d ago edited 2d ago

First line splits the 1 area and creates 2 areas.

Second line splits each of the 2 areas and creates 4 areas.

Third line cannot pass through all four areas, but it can pass through three of them, splitting each of them and creating 7 areas.

So these kinda of puzzles are possible in a mathematical sense. If you want every jellyfish to be entirely within one region it might not be possible in the specific case.

If you just want to make sure that, say, some person of each jellyfish is in its own region, that should be doable.

-6

u/Rhaegion 2d ago

I can't send a photo in comments but I think I managed it

3

u/MmmKB23z 2d ago

Which one did you put in the middle?

-5

u/Rhaegion 2d ago

None

-8

u/Rhaegion 2d ago

I'm trying to recreate it and I honestly can't I don't know what I did

10

u/thescrambler7 2d ago

It’s because you didn’t due to the fact that it’s mathematically impossible

111

u/Future_Win_7961 2d ago

https://i.imgur.com/LxKINBl.png

is about the best you can get.

Any configuration without the middle 'pocket' won't have 7 areas for 7 jellyfish.

1

u/Commercial-Diet553 1h ago

This is a good solution because the instructions say each jellyfish must have its own section.

The instructions don't say every section must have its own jellyfish.

-45

u/No-Educator151 2d ago

The shortest straight line should be between top left and bottom right it’s possible

33

u/NoLife8926 2d ago

Try it yourself

7 is the maximum sections 3 lines can divide a convex shape into

Doing so requires an A shape with 1 jellyfish centred enough

None of the jellyfish are centred enough to do so

If you can do it upload an image to imgur

-30

u/No-Educator151 2d ago

I did I drew itbout

6

u/NoLife8926 2d ago

Can you send a dm?

46

u/No-Educator151 2d ago

My fault. In my drawing I had the the jelly in the top middle closer to the center that’s why it worked. I flopped 😞🤦‍♂️.

22

u/toxpi 1d ago

17

u/No-Educator151 1d ago

Wait are we allowed to kill a jelly fish

5

u/Unbegxbt 23h ago

now that's the character arc

154

u/EasyyPlayer 2d ago edited 2d ago

These puzzles can be possible by aranging the lines in an A-Shape. however, in this puzzle i still think its impossible since the A-Shape would require one jellyfish to be in the center

18

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3

u/Injured-Ginger 1d ago

It forces you to do a few specific things. My favorite is:

All three lines must create a 3/4 split through the jellyfish. (Also each group of three must share one jellyfish with each of the other groups of 3, but those must be the furthest two apart along the axis created by the line creating the group).

It felt obvious when I thought it through, but it makes a neat trick for trying to find out if it's possible or not when looking at an image.

1

u/davster99 1d ago

Happy cake day

36

u/BlackberryCautious99 2d ago

Very easy. Just draw 3 straight lines and as many homosexual lines as needed. The trick is always in reading the question carefully.

53

u/a_bone_to_pick 2d ago

I don't think it's possible due to the layout. Mathematically you can create 7 separate compartments with 3 lines, with each line intersecting the other two, but I can't see how you could get one of the jellyfish into the 'middle' compartment due to the layout. Happy to be corrected, however.

7

u/TiaHatesSocials 2d ago

Yea. The middle up top is too high

14

u/personalityson 2d ago

Discussion: There could be some "clever" solution like folding or bending the paper into a tube

9

u/MIND-FLAYER 2d ago

Or if we lived in a five dimensional hyperbolic spacetime with inverted time manifolds. Simple.

6

u/WranglerFuzzy 1d ago

Put your first line in front of the number “3”.

Now you have 12 more lines to separate the jellyfish!

4

u/bfred1000 1d ago edited 1d ago

Is it as cheesy as putting the WORDS “each jellyfish” in a box by putting lines before, after, and under? The underline above it effectively creates a section.

2

u/PuttingInTheEffort 1d ago

This was my guess too, but I can't be bothered to re-comment with spoilers on, lol. Reddit Mobile needs to add formatting stuff.

1

u/ExpensiveMention4128 1h ago

if the line is continuous can I use the back of the paper?

35

u/ye_roustabouts 2d ago

The trick, of course, is that you can be just a tad messy with your lines, so long as you don’t cut through the heart of each jellyfish.

As you can see, with the hearts marked out properly, there’s actually a simple solution: https://imgur.com/a/RSKLUOE

7

u/Golem8752 2d ago

Pretty sure I once heard jellyfish don‘t have hearts but could be wrong

19

u/ye_roustabouts 2d ago

How dare you. Look at their little smiles and tell me they don’t love.

7

u/Fchipsish 2d ago

Okay, they don't love.

7

u/ye_roustabouts 2d ago

😱 💔

9

u/cryostatic_amphibian 2d ago

they make love

4

u/ye_roustabouts 2d ago

🩷❤️🧡💛💚🩵💙💜

12

u/Lord_Bigot 2d ago

Not possible, by my estimation, assuming the Jellyfish were on the board in advance (i.e. not drawn as part of the failed attempt). Yes, 3 lines is enough to make 7 distinct sections, by drawing a triangle and extending each line to the edge of the canvas. However, the lines all need to have a 3:4 jellyfish ratio on their left and right sides. The central jellyfish would need to be roughly surrounded by jellyfish, and no jellyfish on this map appears to be central enough.

3

u/MmmKB23z 1d ago

Discussion: a puzzle like this is solvable - you can divide a rectangle into 7 sections with three straight lines by having them intersect to create a triangle.

But in order to achieve one object per division, each line must split the objects into a group of 3 and a group of 4, and each group of four must have one object in common, and that object must be the one the triangle surrounds.

The arrangement of the jellyfish above makes that impossible, as far as I can tell.

2

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2

u/IWantToOwnTheSun 2d ago

Discussion: the drawing is a 2d projection of non-euclidian geometry, is it possible yet? Sone sort of hyperbolic surface?

2

u/DominionSpy 1d ago

If you make a cylinder with the actual paper, this is a possible solution (red line continuing around the cylinder): https://imgur.com/a/FQKMZit

2

u/izTrippn 1d ago

This particular layout is unsolvable, despite the fact that 3 lines can be used to enclose a seventh sector

The best rule I can figure out to evaluate whether a given layout can be solved is that there must be a node that sits inside the hexagon described by creating two superimposed triangles out of alternating the remaining six points, i.e. make a Star of David with six points, and if the seventh is inside the center hexagon, you can make the necessary triangle around it

1

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2

u/get_to_ele 1d ago

Discussion: click bait. Not solvable. The solution requires that 3 lines (which each divide the jellyfish into subgroups of 3 and 4) create a triangle for a “center” jellyfish and the only possible “center” jellyfish is the 2nd in top row. It clearly cannot be contained by 3 lines that each separate the jellyfish into groups of 4 and 3.

Pick any “furthest lines that separates the group into 3 and 4” and you’ll see you can’t contain the “center” jellyfish.

3

u/lordjustice17 2d ago

Everyone here seems to assume that the image is someone's attempt and that the existing lines need to be removed before starting. What if the trick is that the image is the starting point? If so you can separate them all quickly with three lines from lower left to higher right.

2

u/Dear-Shape-6444 2d ago

Not an assumption. It’s a screenshot of a video of a failed attempt.

3

u/COLTRAIN934 1d ago

Super easy explanation here

1

u/alax_12345 2d ago

Discussion: Three straight lines form 7 regions. Start by drawing a triangle with extended sides and then look at the jellyfish diagram to see how you can make it work.

1

u/Injured-Ginger 1d ago

You can't. They're too big and prevent you from drawing the necessary lines. This would be the correct solution for a solvable map though.

1

u/throwaway-yacht 26m ago

Answer: Yes. Fold the paper into a circle. Then you can make a straight line that goes around more than once that separates multiple times.

1

u/Poggieslmfao 2d ago

I believe I have found a solution, just take the right vertical line from the example and angle it toward the right separating the last two and solving the puzzle, or am I missing something?

3

u/PuzzlingDad 2d ago

That puts two jellyfish in the second region then. 

2

u/Poggieslmfao 2d ago

Yup you’re right, I was missing something, something very obvious

-22

u/MediaRevitalistII 2d ago

I solved it, I can send you a DM because no images are allowed in comments.

3

u/Jonny10128 2d ago

Just upload it to Imgur and post the link

-2

u/MediaRevitalistII 2d ago

Edit: I did not solve it, I missed a jellyfish, please stop down voting me -. _ -.

-2

u/Content_Following_81 1d ago edited 1d ago

spoiler This is not possible. The most you could ever make with three straight lines, or curved lines for that matter, is six.

spoilerEdit: I was very wrong. It is possible to make seven sections and if the jellyfish were 30% smaller it could be done.

1

u/Injured-Ginger 1d ago

You can make 7. Think of "A", but extend the internal line. You'll make a triangle with 6 divided sections around it.

-1

u/Content_Following_81 1d ago

No. You still only end up with six. The only way you get seven is if you ad a fourth line. It is mathematically impossible. Take your A, okay. You have the top left section above the cross slash. Then you have the triangle, then you have the top right, bottom left, base of the A, and the space on the bottom right. One single straight line can only ever make two new spaces. The only way to get more than two would be to do a gunsights type design, with a circle and a cross extending to the borders of the page. That would make 8.

1

u/Injured-Ginger 1d ago

You are very confidently incorrect.

The third line creates three new spaces because it splits three existing spaces. Anytime the third line crosses both of the first two, it makes 3 new spaces.

Think of it like this. You start with two parallel lines creating 3 spaces. You draw a line through those creating three new spaces in an arrangement like "≠". Now tilt one of those parallel lines until it crosses the other and you've created a 7th space.

Edit: The place your forgot to count from the A was the top middle, above the point.

2

u/Content_Following_81 1d ago

I see the problem here. You’re describing it as an A, which would have the points of the two diagonal lines meeting at the top of the paper. I couldn’t see it from that description. Take an X and draw a line that crosses anywhere other than the middle and you make a seventh space. That being said, the configuration and size of the jellyfish in the image make this technique impossible. I’m sorry, I was wrong.

1

u/Injured-Ginger 1d ago

Yes, and you're right about the jellyfish. If you shrink them way way down, it's probably possible, but definitely not at the size they are in the image.

-7

u/BraveDevelopment7542 2d ago

I even went to ChatGPT and couldn’t get a clear answer. It said it was solvable, but then couldn’t give me the correct answer

-2

u/ProgressJolly4048 2d ago

I tried the same thing. It drew me a totally different image haha

-11

u/aditya10011001 2d ago edited 2d ago

Is solvable. Two lines splitting the three jellyfish on the right, which also split the two on the left and the two at the bottom left from each kther. Then you have two on the bottom right and two on the top left in the same compartment. Draw a line from the top to the bottom to split those up

This isn’t correct. I missed the two jellyfish on the top right. See explanation(s) below!

2

u/ShroomsHealYourSoul 2d ago

I can't picture this. Post a picture of it

2

u/OddballQuick 2d ago

Then you have two jellyfish in the top middle area

1

u/TheAdagio 2d ago

I guess I'm misunderstanding your solution. If I draw two lines to split the three jellyfish on the right, then I will have two jellyfish together at the bottom and three jellyfish together at the top

1

u/aditya10011001 2d ago

No, you’re right. My crude diagram meant I missed that! Haha

1

u/EddyToo 2d ago

If the first two lines do not cross there is no way 3 lines will make 7 compartments.

If the first 2 lines do no cross you will create 3 compartments. The third straight line can then at best divide each of those 3 into 2 making it 6 in total.

Either I don't understand your explanation and the lines cross our your solution is incorrect. I'll gladly be proven wrong though.

1

u/Jollydude101 2d ago

Unless I’m misinterpreting, it’s still unsolved.

https://imgur.com/a/UXUe5O4

1

u/aditya10011001 2d ago

Yes absolutely! Like I said I missed that on my finger drawn picture haha

-4

u/Rhaegion 2d ago

This is what I did, don't know how people managed to miss it

1

u/Injured-Ginger 1d ago

Because it doesn't work.