The Enid Blyton Society

Can YOU solve the campsite riddle?

1. How many people are staying at this campsite?
2. Did they arrive today or a few days ago?
3. How did they get there?
4. Is the closest town far away or near by?
5. Is the wind blowing from the North or the South?
6. What time of day is it?
7. Where did Alex go?
8. Who was on duty yesterday?
9. What day is it today?
No Cheating!!!

Back when I was young, I used to love solving old puzzles out of magazines. Since I’ve grown up, however, print publications have been slowly growing extinct and it’s become harder and harder to find these puzzles.

Fortunately, I came across this puzzle from a magazine from back in the day and I have to say, they’re just as enjoyable as they were when I was a child.

In the following puzzle, you’ll be tasked with answering questions about a camping site based only on an illustration. Trust me, the answers aren’t what they seem.

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An enjoyable puzzle, Pete. I always used to do the puzzles in annuals and comics when I was a child, so this took me back to my youth!

Wow. This was for children? How many children today would be even able to tackle half of these questions?

As someone who proofreads logic puzzles for a living, I would have thought that some of these questions are impossible to answer without a compass logo to tell you which direction is North!

There's a way to tell, though I only know from having done similar puzzles in annuals, comics and encyclopedias when I was little! These puzzles aren't completely logical - you often have to take certain things for granted and ignore the possibility of other variables.

I would say some of it is just speculation based on the shadow position and time of day etc...? I always find this type of thing fun to do, but I'm never totally sure I've got everything right!

If you look at the answers, some questions still seem a bit strange - and although I knew about trees bending in the direction of the prevailing wind (SW) that illustration is not at all helpful. Smaller branches on the windward side? It wasn't terribly obvious although you can see the difference once you know what to look for. I looked at the tree trunks to see if moss was growing on the leeward side as that is something I learned from reading children's books many moons ago. Melons in August??? I never knew that... and can't say I immediately assumed that "ball" to be a melon anyway!

I guessed it was a melon, but didn't realise the significance!

So you couldn't work out wind direction by seeing where the shadow was, and assuming the sun rises in the east? I would have said the wind was blowing from the south.

It's also not automatically obvious where Alex is - I presumed he was having his photo taken, just off frame!

Tony Summerfield wrote:As someone who proofreads logic puzzles for a living, I would have thought that some of these questions are impossible to answer without a compass logo to tell you which direction is North!

There are several different ways to seek direction without a compass. Shadows, for example don't show in a northerly direction in the northern hemisphere. Other ways which I use are satellite dishes (they face south), although I realise they don't appear in this illustration! Moss usually grows to the north side of tree trunks and as our prevailing winds come from the south west, the 'bend' of trees is another pointer.

If all of this still doesn't help, try waving your watch around in the air and let it go. It will have gone west.

Edit: I see some of my points have been covered prior to my post.

I didn't realise that the butterfly net was meant to be a butterfly net, it looks like a flag, my first thought was that they'd pitched their tents next to the golf course!

And the tripod in his bag, it could be anything, it doesn't look like a tripod, it looks like something rolled up!

I also thought the 'butterfly net' was a flag. I thought it was just put there to show the wind direction!

I guessed that they had arrived by river...but the presence of the oars doesn't necessarily mean they arrived by river - they might just have a boat!

Yes, noticing the butterfly net I thought I'd landed on Billycock Hill!

I haven't looked at the answer, but I think the shadow is the best clue to direction.

We do not have to assume that the sun rises in the east, that is pretty much a given. It took me a while to realize that that was a butterfly net, but the flag on the tent is blowing the same way, so even if I mistook it for a flag it wouldn't have messed me up.

Daisy wrote:I looked at the tree trunks to see if moss was growing on the leeward side as that is something I learned from reading children's books many moons ago.

My daughter did that too!

I certainly do that too! But in this case I couldn't resist looking at the answers.