Occasional Puzzles - 💝 Truffle Trials
Today's Puzzle
Happy Valentine's Day! This year, your dear partner has thoughtfully (and diabolically) presented you with a box of nine chocolate truffles.
From the outside, all nine truffles look identical. But, on the inside, two of the truffles are filled with licorice cream (ew). Fortunately, you know the licorice truffles weigh slightly more than the pure chocolate ones.
You don't have a digital scale, but you do have an old-fashioned balance. It's the kind with two plates, which tells you which side is heavier but doesn't provide any numeric values.
Using just four weighings* on the balance, can you figure out which two truffles to avoid?
*One weighing means one fixed weighing. No incrementally adding or taking away truffles to see how the weight changes.
Source: Giphy
Previous Puzzle - 🌍 International Intrigue
Puzzle
While over for dinner at your puzzle-loving friend's house (yes, the same one who had a logic-themed birthday and then wouldn't let you into her house until you solved the puzzle on her door), you notice on her fridge a list of countries that she wants to travel to:
What a random assortment of countries, you think.
"They're not random, you know," says your friend, as if reading your mind.
A sly grin appears on her face and you begin to regret coming over for dinner. She continues, "Dinner will be served once you answer the following question: What do these five countries have in common that sets them apart from all other countries?"
Your stomach is growling, and you are starting to wonder why you still hang out with this person. But here you are, so you set to thinking.
Solution [SPOILER]
As your friend wrote them (in English, in capital letters), these are the only countries whose letters have no enclosed holes. Letters with holes are A, B, D, O, P, Q, and R. There are only seven such letters, but that eliminates a lot of countries!
