Petals Around the Rose

I learned about this little puzzle thing called Petals Around the Rose yesterday (via BoingBoing). It’s sort of a dice game where you have to figure out how to solve the puzzle as you go, and once you know how, you can’t tell anybody else. It took me a while to figure it out, because I tried to over-analyze it. In fact, it’s almost an accident that I figured it out at all, considering the line of thought I was trying to follow. Of course, now I’m sworn to secrecy, so I can’t tell you what that line of thought was…

The name of the game is Petals Around the Rose, and that name is significant. Newcomers to the game can be told that much. They can also be told that every answer is zero or an even number. They can also be told the answer for every throw of the dice that are used in the game. And that’s all the information they get.

The javascript app on the page listed above didn’t work for me in Firefox. I had to use the sample dice rolls detailed in the story about Bill Gates in order to figure it out. As I mentioned before, I’m sworn to secrecy about how to get the answers. But I will say that a child in first or second grade (or even a bright pre-schooler) could give you the answers, once they know the method.

Stumble It!
Petals Around the Rose

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211 Comments

  1. Geof gfmorris.net
    Posted September 22, 2004 at 8:13 am | Permalink

    Tee hee hee. It is frustrating until you realize it. I have used this at parties to torment people to know end. We actually called it “Polar Bears Around the Ice Hole”:

    “Polar Bears Around the Ice Hole: Like petals around a rose”—[roll dice]—”how many polar bears do you see?”

    When playing this in person, be sure to move very quickly for the first ten rolls or so. I usually play with a group of people watching and pick up the dice after the first right answer is voiced.

    There have been times that groups haven’t figured it out and pestered me for days …

  2. ethan dirtymonkeys.net
    Posted September 22, 2004 at 8:17 am | Permalink

    never got one wrong. guess im a genius.

  3. Posted September 27, 2004 at 9:07 am | Permalink

    I’m kidda real stupid and have been trying this for over 3 months. I do give up and would like someone to tell me the secret. Please help Confounded and confused. Skip

  4. Posted October 6, 2004 at 12:52 pm | Permalink

    kinda funny. http://www.freeworldgroup.com/games/roses/
    it says that the quicker you catch on to this, the dumber you really are. so i guess mr. ethan there is a ****** *******

    [edited by admin]

  5. KC binaryelysium.com
    Posted October 27, 2004 at 7:45 pm | Permalink

    If you catch onto the game fast it doesn’t mean your dumb. It just means you can think in a more abstract manner than others and/or you are more creative than the average person.

    I coded this game to play online..
    http://www.binaryelysium.com/game/bear.php

  6. Posted November 5, 2004 at 8:18 pm | Permalink

    I HAVE JUST STATED THIG GAME AND I HATE IT. IT IS SO COMPETTIVE. I HATE WHEN I LOSE OR DONT GET SOMETHING. PLEASE GIVE ME INFO.

  7. Bob
    Posted November 5, 2004 at 10:50 pm | Permalink

    I played this game for a while to figure it out. How the clue was told to me is this: “The game is in the name and the name of the game is Polar Bears Around the Icehole and in the days of Ghangis Khan, Petals Around a Rose Tree.” I would love to tell the secret, but I am sworn to absolute secrecy in the Polar Bear Club.

  8. Posted November 10, 2004 at 12:28 pm | Permalink

    There is an extension to this trick. I believe it’s called roots and petals. If you know this one and know the real name, I would appreciate it. An example roll of five die would be: 5, 2, 2, 3, 1

    In petals around the rose, the answer would be 6.
    In petals and roots, the answer is 8.

  9. Posted November 19, 2004 at 7:27 am | Permalink

    ITS BORING ONCE U HAVE IT

  10. Posted November 26, 2004 at 1:21 am | Permalink

    it been a month… haay… its so hard. can you guys give me a clue? anyone?

  11. Posted November 27, 2004 at 6:09 pm | Permalink

    OK…cut the BS…what is the rule to this silly game…to hell with how I think…I just want to know…

    Ed. note: minor profanity edit

  12. Posted December 3, 2004 at 7:31 pm | Permalink

    Thank you for not giving the answer to the riddle! I have found out that other websites with the polar bear riddle are expressing the answer. As a very pround polar bear, I think that by posting the answer you are taking away the true pride and joy of hte game!

  13. Posted December 8, 2004 at 12:56 am | Permalink

    Okay, I get it. It’s really hard. But nobody as yet has given a clue. Anybody wanna help a non-out-of-the-box thinker some help? :D

  14. Hi
    Posted January 10, 2005 at 4:51 am | Permalink

    Hi im 12. I need help. I have been thinking and thinking but cant work it out. Can you please just give me the answer. THIS IS SO STUPID!

  15. Posted January 30, 2005 at 8:50 pm | Permalink

    Think outside the box, stop thinking in terms of numbers. All you have to do is add.

  16. Posted February 3, 2005 at 4:24 pm | Permalink

    hi i am so cofused even with the adding i tried different ways but just cant seem to grasp the concept of it. HELP THE CONFUSED ONES OUT PLEASE!

  17. Posted February 4, 2005 at 9:25 pm | Permalink

    Now i have played this game for so long! and everyone gives me the same BS clues. Now i know i am smart but god forbide u dumbies will give me a better clue then always even and it is in the name. I dont care if the name is terds in the toilet plz just emial me the answer at ratedr10110@yahoo.com
    THERE WILL BE A CASH REWARD!

  18. pj
    Posted February 9, 2005 at 4:38 pm | Permalink

    yea i definetly tried adding and it’s not working!!

  19. jon
    Posted February 19, 2005 at 5:52 am | Permalink

    Cash reward? Oh dear! You 12 year olds just don’t know when to quit, do you? … And gosh forbide your dumbies plz in the intellagence genious! ;D

  20. Posted February 20, 2005 at 7:25 pm | Permalink

    [Ed note: Sorry foks, but this was just too much information.]

  21. Posted February 21, 2005 at 1:02 am | Permalink

    The solution to this puzzle has nothing to do with numbers and everything to do with the word “around”

  22. Posted February 21, 2005 at 10:04 am | Permalink

    I got this on the 2nd go… It is soooo easy.

  23. asd asd
    Posted February 21, 2005 at 1:21 pm | Permalink

    Cipher’s theory works, but i see no relation to the word around.

  24. Posted February 21, 2005 at 5:26 pm | Permalink

    Once you figure out what the ROSE is, it is very simple and cipher’s clue also makes sense.

  25. Posted February 21, 2005 at 6:30 pm | Permalink

    Ha. A good way to torment people is get four regular dice and then one red or other colord one. It took me three days.

  26. Dougal dougal.gunters.org
    Posted February 21, 2005 at 9:06 pm | Permalink

    Okay, these clues are coming dangerously close to giving the answer away. I’ve already deleted a couple of comments that gave the answer outright. I’m currently debating about deleting some of the other comments.

    1) Please don’t spoil the fun by giving too much of the answer away.

    2) Don’t feel dumb if you haven’t figured it out.

    It’s really only obvious after you know the answer. And trying to over-analyze it will just drive you nuts. Even after I had figured out the math part, it took a while for the meaning of the name to sink in. But if you figure out the meaning of the name first, the math part will just click.

    I will say this: It helps to use real dice (or at least pictures that look like dice) as opposed to just writing down the numbers. That’s the biggest clue I’m willing to give.

  27. Posted February 21, 2005 at 9:24 pm | Permalink

    i have finally figured it out!!! thank you soo much cipher. as soon as i started getting the right answer i figured what the “around the rose thing was too. but he/she forgot to mention another number. (that technically dosent matter tho)

  28. Posted February 22, 2005 at 9:45 am | Permalink

    I have been trying for months now, and I still haven’t figured it out. I feel so dumb :P

  29. Posted February 22, 2005 at 6:26 pm | Permalink

    haha.. i got it.. the rose is [...deleted by admin...] hahaa.. im just helpin everyone that doesnt know it out.. so yeah dont be mad.. n if you are.. aim= marbinlilpunk

    (Ed. note: didn’t I ask everyone not to give the answer away?)

  30. Chris zodiacreview.com
    Posted February 24, 2005 at 2:30 am | Permalink

    This is so neat. I found it easy (luck I guess)

    Oh and the answer is …. 42 :-)

    Anyone got links to executable forms of this say a windows program ??

    Thanks
    Chris Taylor
    http://www.nerys.com/

  31. Posted February 24, 2005 at 9:17 am | Permalink

    got it, look at [...deleted...]!!!!

  32. Posted February 25, 2005 at 11:05 pm | Permalink

    i think cipher’s clue makes it really obvious/basically gives away the answer.

  33. teetee aznxmoothie408.findapix.com
    Posted March 3, 2005 at 4:00 am | Permalink

    here’s my clue..

    “every rose has it torn” but not every face of the dice have its rose

    good luck to the rest..

  34. Posted March 5, 2005 at 10:52 am | Permalink

    hey i need some facts i tried to get the answrer out of my friend kyle but he had to keep the game promise

  35. bb
    Posted March 8, 2005 at 8:02 pm | Permalink

    i’ve been playing for 30 minutes straight and it’s killing me :(

  36. Posted March 11, 2005 at 11:09 am | Permalink

    Oh heck this is driving me nuts!!!

    We’ve got a competition on in our Gifted and Talented group for the first person to work out the answer, so far none of us except our tutor has got it!!!!

    So I need to think about “around” and what the rose is……

  37. Posted March 11, 2005 at 11:10 am | Permalink

    NO WAIT I’VE GOT IT

    YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHOOOOOOOOOOO

    cheers for the clues :D

  38. Posted March 14, 2005 at 4:15 am | Permalink

    Yeah, once you get it down, it’s all good.

  39. Posted March 18, 2005 at 11:15 am | Permalink

    hahahahaha. i was really pissed and annoyed cause i couldnt get it. played for an hour or so. anyway, those who still cant get the answer, it really has nothing complicated like multiplying or dividing. simple addition and oh, remember the name of the game AROUND the rose (: good luck.

  40. Posted March 21, 2005 at 2:58 am | Permalink

    I figured it out but people tell me there are TWO ways to find it. Challenge urself tofind the answer TWO different ways

  41. Posted March 21, 2005 at 1:04 pm | Permalink

    I worked it out after about 45 minutes but it had nothing to do with the name of the game. I just counted. Sorry if that doesn’t help anyone but there you go.

  42. Yan
    Posted March 22, 2005 at 6:38 pm | Permalink

    Yeahhh….wohoooo.
    after 4 days, I finally got it :D
    excellent puzzle
    kinda stupid if u already got the solution
    but it’s cool

  43. Dan
    Posted March 24, 2005 at 7:04 pm | Permalink

    got it :D

    took me about 30 mins…i started on a website which gave 3 different coloured dice, and was taking that into account, doing all sorts of calculations. prime factors, digital roots etc for quite a while – i always overcomplicate things

    i can see some justification in saying that less academic people will get this quicker than the more mathematically/scientifically able. to get it quickly either requires a very creative, open mind or a very lucky guess. and as we all know, noone with any creative talent is good at maths – and vice versa ;)

    tip for anyone who has been stuck for ages: why the 1?

  44. Dan
    Posted March 24, 2005 at 7:06 pm | Permalink

    just to clarify on my first paragraph – there were 5 dice of 3 different colours

    then again, thats irrelevant, isnt it.

  45. RoX none
    Posted March 25, 2005 at 10:32 am | Permalink

    Figured this out in about 10 minutes by writing down pictures of the different combinations and figuring out what was different. Just tried to remember it was SIMPLE!

  46. Posted March 31, 2005 at 7:00 am | Permalink

    This game had me hokked for like 2 months,IT WAS DRIVING ME MAD.
    God damn how simple it is when you know the point tought.
    it’s BRILLIANT!

  47. Posted April 2, 2005 at 3:41 pm | Permalink

    got it

  48. Posted April 5, 2005 at 6:21 pm | Permalink

    Hi…i just found this game out today and i read all of your guys comments. But it makes absolutely no sence. So let me get this straight. All the solutions have even numbers or zero, AROUND is a big clue for some reason, all you have to do is add, every rose has it torn” but not every face of the dice have its rose (whatever that means), use real dice, question: what is “pedals and roots” supposed to mean? and how can it have nothing to do with numbers if adding is the art of combining numbers. any way all of these clues are doing nothing and i know “you’ve sworn to secrecy” but still son’t say the exact solution but say something that win’t confuse ppl. it makes me feel stupider that i am…oh and what waz cypher’s that gave it away…it just says that “[Ed note: Sorry foks, but this was just too much information.]” ok well i’m gonna go give this thing another try,,,but i don’t see how it’s going to work. Oh and one more question…does it have anything to do with identical numbers in the set of rolled die? ex 54757

  49. Posted April 7, 2005 at 8:15 pm | Permalink

    Crazy game… i was with three friends… two of them knew the game and my other friend and I didn’t. Took both of us around 2 hrs to figure it out. Even with sutile clues still couldn’t get it. Finally did after they told me to look at each individual dice. See it that helps. And remember the name of the game.

  50. Posted April 8, 2005 at 12:04 am | Permalink

    omg i still dont get it

6 Trackbacks

  1. By The Indiana Jones School of Management on September 27, 2004 at 1:09 am

    My brother is going to freak out when he reads this: Petals Around the Rose . Say it with me, Doug: “Polar Bears Around the Ice Hole: Like petals around a rose, how many polar bears do you see?” Doug tormented me off-and-on for a good week with this when I was 14 or 15. I

  2. By Citypress CVS on September 26, 2004 at 3:46 pm

    in order to figure it out. As I mentioned before, I’m sworn to secrecy about how to get the answers. But I will say that a child in first or second grade (or even a bright pre-schooler) could give you the answers, once they know the method. View source article

  3. By alexking.org: Blog on September 28, 2004 at 11:13 pm

    LaughingMeme: Money, Services, and the Changing Nature of Information Consumption (thanks Geof, additional help) Sponsor This – I’ve been considering other ad possibilities lately as well. John Kerry for President – Speech at New York University geek ramblings: Petals Around the Rose – 7 rolls for me, I was a little slow on the uptake. The Charleston Gazette – Draft? Apple earns 4-cents per iTunes track, labels on top Giants to offer wireless replays in stands – it sure would suck to take a foul ball right in the ol

  4. AJAX Shoutbox plugin (Wordspew? Auredict?) Jalenack » Code, Internet, General Sport! Monkeypup’s Wild Ride » Humor, Culture, Misc Saykoji – So What Gituloh My Other Side of the Stories » Music, Lyric, Radio.Blog Petals Around the Rose geek ramblings » Whatever CBC Caught in Coast-to-Coast Campaign to Highlight Negative Imag ThePolitic – Canadian Political Weblog » Media & Communication, Political Parties & Politicians Downing Street Memo

  5. By SiteMartin » Blog Archive » Petals Around the Rose on February 18, 2005 at 3:49 pm

    [...] g « Test Post Petals Around the Rose http://dougal.gunters.org/blog/2004/09/22/petals-around-the-rose http://www.bor [...]

  6. By Geof F. Morris's Indiana Jones School of Management on February 17, 2006 at 1:07 pm

    Petals Around the Rose…

    My brother is going to freak out when he reads this: Petals Around the Rose.
    Say it with me, Doug: “Polar Bears Around the Ice Hole: Like petals around a rose, how many polar bears do you see?”
    Doug tormented me off-and-on for a good week w…

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