In Farmer Stone's hay loft, there were several animals, in particular birds, mice, and cockroaches.
One day, feeling bored, I decided to count the animals. I found there were exactly 150 feet and 50 heads in total, and there were twice as many cockroaches as mice.
Hint
Cockroaches have 6 feet, mice have 4, and birds have 2. They each have one head.
Answer
35 birds, 5 mice, and 10 cockroaches.
Reasoning
Cockroaches have 6 feet, mice have 4, and birds have 2. They each have one head.
We can write down expressions for the heads and the feet – calling birds B, mice M, and cockroaches C.
Counting the heads: (1) B + M + C = 50
Counting the feet: (2) 2B + 4M + 6C = 150
We are told that for every mouse there are two cockroaches so, C = 2M. Update (1) and (2) to give: (3) B + 3M = 50 (4) 2B + 16M = 150
If we double (3) we get: (5) 2B + 6M = 100
We can now do (4) – (5) to give: 10M = 50 M = 5
So, we have 5 mice (and 10 cockroaches).
We can use M = 5 in (3) to give: B + 3 x 5 = 50 B + 15 = 50 B = 35
So, C = 10, M = 5 and B = 35.
Double-Checking
10 cockroaches have 10 heads and 60 feet.
5 mice have 5 heads and 20 feet.
35 birds have 35 heads and 70 feet.
The total number of heads = 10 + 5 + 35 = 50.
The total number of feet = 60 + 20 + 70 = 150.
??
Puzzle 2
Start in square 'S' and end in square 'E' moving either horizontally or vertically in each move. Start by moving 2 squares in each of your moves, but when you land on a '*' square, change the number of squares you move from 2 to 3, or vice versa. You can not step on or pass through the black squares and you have only 8 moves in which to complete this task.
Here are some less well known proverbs. What is the missing word in each?
Loyalty is worth more than ?.
He that cannot pay in ? must pay in person.
Shameful ? is worse than shameful eating.
Don't say ? until you are asked.
Payment in advance is ? payment.
Answer
Loyalty is worth more than money.
He that cannot pay in purse must pay in person.
Shameful leaving is worse than shameful eating.
Don't say no until you are asked.
Payment in advance is evil payment.
??
Puzzle 4
How many days before 17th August is it, if …
… 50 days before then, it was four times as many days since March 30th?
Reasoning
There are 140 days between the two dates, and these 140 days are split in the following way:
4 x Answer | 50 days | Answer
We already know about 50 days, so we have to split the remaining 90 days into the ratio 4:1, which is 72:18.
72 days | 50 days | 18 days
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