Random Puzzles 

Workings

Hint
My first letter is E.

Answer
Envelope.

From pole, love, pen, and eel.

Workings

Hint
# is worth 3.

Answer
14.

Reasoning
The values are: @ = 7, & = 4, $ = 8, # = 3, % = 5.

But …

… you don't have to find the value of every symbol!

The rows add up to 80, which means that the columns must also add up to 80.

24 + ? + 17 + 25 = 80.

? = 14.

Workings

Hint
If we look at all of the clues, each person appears exactly twice.

Answer
Alex had been teaching for 21 years.
Billie had been teaching for 15 years.
Charlie had been teaching for 7 years.

Reasoning
If we look at all of the clues, each person appears exactly twice.

So the total of the three clues gives us two lots of Alex + Billie + Charlie = 36 + 22 + 28 = 86.

So, Alex + Billie + Charlie = 43 years.

In each clue we are given two of the people, so we can use this to find the missing person:

   Charlie and Billie had been teaching for a total of 22 years, which means that Alex must be: 43 – 22 = 21 years.

   Charlie and Alex had been teaching for a total of 28 years, which means that Billie must be: 43 – 28 = 15 years.

   Alex and Billie had been teaching for a total of 36 years, which means that Charlie must be: 43 – 36 = 7 years.

Reasoning With Algebra
Let Alex = A, Billie = B and Charlie = C, then:

[1]   A + B = 36
[2]   C + B = 22
[3]   C + A = 28

If we use [3] – [2] we have:

[4]   A – B = 6

If we use [1] + [4] we have:

   2A = 42
    A = 21

By [1] B = 15. By [3] C = 7.

Workings

Hint
It changes daily.

Answer
Temperature.