Normal view

There are new articles available, click to refresh the page.
Before yesterdayMain stream

Solutions to Saturday Mac riddles 322

By: hoakley
25 August 2025 at 16:00

I hope that you enjoyed Saturday’s Mac Riddles, episode 322. Here are my solutions to them.

1: It’s about evolution, and open source for 25 years.

Click for a solution

Darwin

It’s about evolution (when Steve Jobs announced Darwin as open source in 1999, he said this to link it with Charles Darwin), and open source for 25 years (first released as open source in 2000, and still being posted on GitHub). (Darwin consists of the open source components in macOS, and includes its kernel.)

2: If the kernel isn’t Unix, this is it.

Click for a solution

XNU

If the kernel isn’t Unix, this is it (XNU is the open source kernel within Darwin, and is available as part of the GitHub distribution. Its name is an abbreviation for X isn’t Unix).

3: Mud puddles in Pittsburgh misheard as the basis for 2.

Click for a solution

Mach

Mud puddles in Pittsburgh misheard (it was originally intended to be called Muck in honour of these, but was misheard and incorrectly written down as Mach) as the basis for 2 (the Mach microkernel, developed by Richard Rashid and Avie Tevanian, formed the basis of XNU. Tevanian went on to work at Apple, then NeXT, where he designed NeXTSTEP).

The common factor

Click for a solution

They are all open source elements in macOS.

I look forward to your putting alternative cases.

Saturday Mac riddles 322

By: hoakley
23 August 2025 at 16:00

Here are this weekend’s Mac riddles to entertain you through family time, shopping and recreation.

1: It’s about evolution, and open source for 25 years.

2: If the kernel isn’t Unix, this is it.

3: Mud puddles in Pittsburgh misheard as the basis for 2.

To help you cross-check your solutions, or confuse you further, there’s a common factor between them.

I’ll post my solutions first thing on Monday morning.

Please don’t post your solutions as comments here: it spoils it for others.

Solutions to Saturday Mac riddles 321

By: hoakley
18 August 2025 at 16:00

I hope that you enjoyed Saturday’s Mac Riddles, episode 321. Here are my solutions to them.

1: Where to sell an image of the Knolls in a two-year exclusive.

Click for a solution

Photoshop

Where to sell (a shop) an image (a photo) of the Knolls (originally developed by brothers Thomas and John Knoll, and licensed by Adobe) in a two-year exclusive (from February 1990 until its release on Windows in November 1992, it was exclusive to Mac).

2: Rembrandt, Claude Monet, JMW Turner and Corel.

Click for a solution

Painter

Rembrandt, Claude Monet, JMW Turner (all three were painters) and Corel (originally released in 1991 by Fractal Design, Painter was eventually bought by Corel).

3: One of the first two, it could be beige acrylic and written by Bill.

Click for a solution

MacPaint

One of the first two (together with MacWrite, it was one of the two apps bundled with the 128K Mac), it could be beige acrylic (paint the same colour as the 128K Mac) and written by Bill (Atkinson, 1951-2025, who wrote the app).

The common factor

Click for a solution

They have all been major raster graphics editors on the Mac.

I look forward to your putting alternative cases.

Saturday Mac riddles 321

By: hoakley
16 August 2025 at 16:00

Here are this weekend’s Mac riddles to entertain you through family time, shopping and recreation.

1: Where to sell an image of the Knolls in a two-year exclusive.

2: Rembrandt, Claude Monet, JMW Turner and Corel.

3: One of the first two, it could be beige acrylic and written by Bill.

To help you cross-check your solutions, or confuse you further, there’s a common factor between them.

I’ll post my solutions first thing on Monday morning.

Please don’t post your solutions as comments here: it spoils it for others.

Solutions to Saturday Mac riddles 320

By: hoakley
11 August 2025 at 16:00

I hope that you enjoyed Saturday’s Mac Riddles, episode 320. Here are my solutions to them.

1: What ET wants is a call coming to the Mac.

Click for a solution

Phone

What ET wants (to phone home) is a call (a phone call) coming to the Mac (macOS Tahoe is bringing the Phone app).

2: A glass to enlarge among the liquid.

Click for a solution

Magnifier

A glass (a magnifying glass) to enlarge (what it does) among the liquid (Tahoe’s Liquid Glass interface feature).

3: Daybook you might already have started elsewhere.

Click for a solution

Journal

Daybook (a journal) you might already have started elsewhere (it was released in iOS 17.2, and is coming to macOS in Tahoe).

The common factor

Click for a solution

They are all new apps coming to macOS 26 Tahoe.

I look forward to your putting alternative cases.

Saturday Mac riddles 320

By: hoakley
9 August 2025 at 16:00

Here are this weekend’s Mac riddles to entertain you through family time, shopping and recreation.

1: What ET wants is a call coming to the Mac.

2: A glass to enlarge among the liquid.

3: Daybook you might already have started elsewhere.

To help you cross-check your solutions, or confuse you further, there’s a common factor between them.

I’ll post my solutions first thing on Monday morning.

Please don’t post your solutions as comments here: it spoils it for others.

Solutions to Saturday Mac riddles 319

By: hoakley
4 August 2025 at 16:00

I hope that you enjoyed Saturday’s Mac Riddles, episode 319. Here are my solutions to them.

1: Successor to 3 inside a scheme was part of a popular atelier.

Click for a solution

InDesign

Successor to 3 (Adobe developed it to replace the ailing PageMaker) inside (in) a scheme (a design) was part of a popular atelier (for many years it was one of the leading apps in Adobe’s Creative Studio).

2: High speed subatomic particle took the lead in the 1990s.

Click for a solution

QuarkXPress

High speed (express) subatomic particle (a quark) took the lead in the 1990s (by the mid-1990s it had taken around 90% of the desktop publishing market on Macs).

3: Creator of a squire’s assistant was the first, but died before Mac OS X.

Click for a solution

PageMaker

Creator (maker) of a squire’s assistant (a page) was the first (released in July 1985 for the Mac), but died before Mac OS X (by 2000, it was moribund as Adobe was replacing it with InDesign, released in 1999, and it was never ported to Mac OS X).

The common factor

Click for a solution

They have all been leading desktop publishing apps for Macs.

I look forward to your putting alternative cases.

Saturday Mac riddles 319

By: hoakley
2 August 2025 at 16:00

Here are this weekend’s Mac riddles to entertain you through family time, shopping and recreation.

1: Successor to 3 inside a scheme was part of a popular atelier.

2: High speed subatomic particle took the lead in the 1990s.

3: Creator of a squire’s assistant was the first, but died before Mac OS X.

To help you cross-check your solutions, or confuse you further, there’s a common factor between them.

I’ll post my solutions first thing on Monday morning.

Please don’t post your solutions as comments here: it spoils it for others.

Saturday Mac riddles 317

By: hoakley
19 July 2025 at 16:00

Here are this weekend’s Mac riddles to entertain you through family time, shopping and recreation.

1: Total banker’s order quickly verifies integrity.

2: 1 broke by 2005, 2 is still cryptographic, 3 is even better, but not in Iran.

3: Missing from …MNOPQTUVW… but present in CD.

To help you cross-check your solutions, or confuse you further, there’s a common factor between them.

I’ll post my solutions first thing on Monday morning.

Please don’t post your solutions as comments here: it spoils it for others.

Solutions to Saturday Mac riddles 316

By: hoakley
14 July 2025 at 16:00

I hope that you enjoyed Saturday’s Mac Riddles, episode 316. Here are my solutions to them.

1: From PageRank and 10^100 to a set of letters.

Click for a solution

Google

From PageRank (Google Search was founded on the patented PageRank algorithm for ranking search results) and 10^100 (its name is derived from the very large number googol, 10 to the power of 100) to a set of letters (in 2015 it restructured under the ownership of Alphabet Inc.).

2: A hooligan went from directory to search then declined into finance and news.

Click for a solution

Yahoo!

A hooligan (a yahoo) went from directory (it started as a curated web directory) to search (followed by a search engine) then declined into finance and news (what now remains).

3: After changing name three times, this directory has gone wavy.

Click for a solution

DMOZ

After changing name three times (originally GnuHoo, it then became NewHoo, almost ZURL, next Open Directory Project, before becoming DMOZ), this directory (it was a human-curated web directory) has gone wavy (DMOZ was superseded by Curlie in 2018).

The common factor

Click for a solution

They have been web directories or search engines.

I look forward to your putting alternative cases.

Saturday Mac riddles 316

By: hoakley
12 July 2025 at 16:00

Here are this weekend’s Mac riddles to entertain you through family time, shopping and recreation.

1: From PageRank and 10^100 to a set of letters.

2: A hooligan went from directory to search then declined into finance and news.

3: After changing name three times, this directory has gone wavy.

To help you cross-check your solutions, or confuse you further, there’s a common factor between them.

I’ll post my solutions first thing on Monday morning.

Please don’t post your solutions as comments here: it spoils it for others.

Solutions to Saturday Mac riddles 315

By: hoakley
7 July 2025 at 16:00

I hope that you enjoyed Saturday’s Mac Riddles, episode 315. Here are my solutions to them.

1: It came with a tumbler from Camelot in 1993, then opened in 2008.

Click for a solution

PDF

It came with a tumbler (an acrobat) from Camelot (its original internal name) in 1993 (first released on 15 June 1993), then opened in 2008 (when it was adopted as an open ISO standard).

2: Replacement for 3 to avoid royalties with transparency has just turned three.

Click for a solution

PNG

Replacement for 3 (it was developed by Thomas Boutell and others to replace GIFs) to avoid royalties (those were imposed on GIFs because of their use of LZW compression) with transparency (it supports a transparency layer) has just turned three (its latest version 3.0 was released in June this year).

3: CompuServe animated its palette with 256 colours but we still can’t agree how to say it.

Click for a solution

GIF

CompuServe (released by CompuServe in 1987) animated (it supports animated images) its palette with 256 colours (it only supports palettes with 256 colours) but we still can’t agree how to say it (there has been a long-running dispute as to whether its ‘g’ is hard like ‘gift’ or soft like ‘gin’).

The common factor

Click for a solution

They were each intended to be portable, universal file formats.

I look forward to your putting alternative cases.

Saturday Mac riddles 315

By: hoakley
5 July 2025 at 16:00

Here are this weekend’s Mac riddles to entertain you through family time, shopping and recreation.

1: It came with a tumbler from Camelot in 1993, then opened in 2008.

2: Replacement for 3 to avoid royalties with transparency has just turned three.

3: CompuServe animated its palette with 256 colours but we still can’t agree how to say it.

To help you cross-check your solutions, or confuse you further, there’s a common factor between them.

I’ll post my solutions first thing on Monday morning.

Please don’t post your solutions as comments here: it spoils it for others.

Solutions to Saturday Mac riddles 314

By: hoakley
30 June 2025 at 16:00

I hope that you enjoyed Saturday’s Mac Riddles, episode 314. Here are my solutions to them.

1: Expedition for a panther now in visionOS too.

Click for a solution

Safari

Expedition (a safari) for a panther (it was first bundled with Mac OS X Panther in 2003) now in visionOS too (it’s now bundled in visionOS).

2: Polished plate is now 1’s most serious competitor.

Click for a solution

Chrome

Polished plate (chrome) is now 1’s most serious competitor (on Apple’s platforms, it is Safari’s main competitor).

3: Web pet only lasted a year before the exploder.

Click for a solution

Cyberdog

Web (cyber) pet (dog) only lasted a year before the exploder (released in 1996, it was dropped the following year, for Microsoft Internet Explorer to become the bundled web browser in Mac OS X).

The common factor

Click for a solution

They’ve each been web browsers for Mac OS.

I look forward to your putting alternative cases.

Saturday Mac riddles 314

By: hoakley
28 June 2025 at 16:00

Here are this weekend’s Mac riddles to entertain you through family time, shopping and recreation.

1: Expedition for a panther now in visionOS too.

2: Polished plate is now 1’s most serious competitor.

3: Web pet only lasted a year before the exploder.

To help you cross-check your solutions, or confuse you further, there’s a common factor between them.

I’ll post my solutions first thing on Monday morning.

Please don’t post your solutions as comments here: it spoils it for others.

Solutions to Saturday Mac riddles 313

By: hoakley
23 June 2025 at 16:00

I hope that you enjoyed Saturday’s Mac Riddles, episode 313. Here are my solutions to them.

1: Light and lenses control a car inside Macs until 2013.

Click for a solution

Optical drive

Light and lenses (optical) control a car (to drive) inside Macs until 2013 (they were fitted internally in Macs until 2013 models, with the last being in the MacBook Pro 13-inch mid-2012 that wasn’t discontinued until 2016).

2: Splendid campaign originally for airs until last August.

Click for a solution

SuperDrive

Splendid (super) campaign (drive) originally for airs (this external optical drive was first intended for MacBook Airs) until last August (they were discontinued in August 2024).

3: Cupertino’s Roman 400 in South Carolina was the first in 1988.

Click for a solution

AppleCD SC

Cupertino’s (Apple) Roman 400 (in Roman numerals, CD) in South Carolina (abbreviated to SC) was the first in 1988 (it was Apple’s first tray-loading CD-ROM reader, available between 1988-91).

The common factor

Click for a solution

They’re all optical drives that have been sold by Apple.

I look forward to your putting alternative cases.

Saturday Mac riddles 313

By: hoakley
21 June 2025 at 16:00

Here are this weekend’s Mac riddles to entertain you through family time, shopping and recreation.

1: Light and lenses control a car inside Macs until 2013.

2: Splendid campaign originally for airs until last August.

3: Cupertino’s Roman 400 in South Carolina was the first in 1988.

To help you cross-check your solutions, or confuse you further, there’s a common factor between them.

I’ll post my solutions first thing on Monday morning.

Please don’t post your solutions as comments here: it spoils it for others.

Solutions to Saturday Mac riddles 312

By: hoakley
16 June 2025 at 16:00

I hope that you enjoyed Saturday’s Mac Riddles, episode 312. Here are my solutions to them.

1: Border lake claims it’s both 10 and 1A.

Click for a solution

Tahoe

Border lake (Lake Tahoe is on the border between California and Nevada) claims it’s both 10 and 1A (depending on where you look, it reports it’s version 16, 10 in hexadecimal, or 26, 1A in hex).

2: Clearly a new material comes with concentricity.

Click for a solution

Liquid Glass

Clearly (it uses transparency) a new material (as Apple describes it) comes with concentricity (markedly rounded corners are an obvious feature).

3: Patented in 1876, it’s finally on its way to our Macs.

Click for a solution

Phone

Patented in 1876 (the telephone was patented then by Alexander Graham Bell), it’s finally on its way to our Macs (macOS Tahoe introduces the Phone app).

The common factor

Click for a solution

They’re all new in macOS 26 Tahoe.

I look forward to your putting alternative cases.

Saturday Mac riddles 312

By: hoakley
14 June 2025 at 16:00

Here are this weekend’s Mac riddles to entertain you through family time, shopping and recreation.

1: Border lake claims it’s both 10 and 1A.

2: Clearly a new material comes with concentricity.

3: Patented in 1876, it’s finally on its way to our Macs.

To help you cross-check your solutions, or confuse you further, there’s a common factor between them.

I’ll post my solutions first thing on Monday morning.

Please don’t post your solutions as comments here: it spoils it for others.

Solutions to Saturday Mac riddles 311

By: hoakley
9 June 2025 at 16:00

I hope that you enjoyed Saturday’s Mac Riddles, episode 311. Here are my solutions to them.

1: Shines a beam of light into files and the web.

Click for a solution

Spotlight

Shines a beam of light (a spotlight) into files and the web (it searches both local files, and the web).

2: The detective who found for Apple from 1998.

Click for a solution

Sherlock

The detective (Sherlock Holmes, created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle) who found for Apple (it became the Mac’s search tool) from 1998 (introduced in Mac OS 8.5 in 1998).

3: His faithful assistant came from Karelia and went to Java.

Click for a solution

Watson

His faithful assistant (Dr Watson was Sherlock Holmes’ assistant) came from Karelia (developed by Karelia Software) and went to Java (after it was ‘sherlocked’ by Apple, it was ported to Java for Sun).

The common factor

Click for a solution

They have all been search tools popular on the Mac.

I look forward to your putting alternative cases.

Saturday Mac riddles 311

By: hoakley
7 June 2025 at 16:00

Here are this weekend’s Mac riddles to entertain you through family time, shopping and recreation.

1: Shines a beam of light into files and the web.

2: The detective who found for Apple from 1998.

3: His faithful assistant came from Karelia and went to Java.

To help you cross-check your solutions, or confuse you further, there’s a common factor between them.

I’ll post my solutions first thing on Monday morning.

Please don’t post your solutions as comments here: it spoils it for others.

Solutions to Saturday Mac riddles 310

By: hoakley
2 June 2025 at 16:00

I hope that you enjoyed Saturday’s Mac Riddles, episode 310. Here are my solutions to them.

1: London to Pontarddulais in Macs for six months.

Click for a solution

M4

London to Pontarddulais (route of the M4 motorway in Britain) in Macs for six months (first shipped in Macs last November).

2: Jupiter’s flash now reaches 80 for the Pros.

Click for a solution

Thunderbolt 5

Jupiter’s flash (a thunderbolt) now reaches 80 (it offers 80 Gb/s transfer rates) for the Pros (it’s available in M4 Pro and Max chips).

3: Very long run from the Thames to Eastleigh came to the workshop in March.

Click for a solution

M3 Ultra

Very long run (an ultra) from the Thames to Eastleigh (route of the M3 motorway in England, from Sunbury-on-Thames) came to the workshop in March (first available in the Mac Studio of March 2025).

The common factor

Click for a solution

They’re all new hardware in Macs released over the last six months or so.

I look forward to your putting alternative cases.

Saturday Mac riddles 310

By: hoakley
31 May 2025 at 16:00

Here are this weekend’s Mac riddles to entertain you through family time, shopping and recreation.

1: London to Pontarddulais in Macs for six months.

2: Jupiter’s flash now reaches 80 for the Pros.

3: Very long run from the Thames to Eastleigh came to the workshop in March.

To help you cross-check your solutions, or confuse you further, there’s a common factor between them.

I’ll post my solutions first thing on Monday morning.

Please don’t post your solutions as comments here: it spoils it for others.

❌
❌