Puzzle 1
Can you unscramble the letters below to find four cheeses popular in the UK?
c c e d h b h e a e m r s d i h e d i a r r e
Puzzle Copyright © Kevin Stone
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Hint
One of the cheeses is Cheddar.
Answer
Edam, Cheddar, Brie, Cheshire.
Puzzle 2
Start with a number larger than 0, square it, add 4, double, take away 3, times 4 and finally subtract the original number.
If you were now left with 20, what number did you start with?
Puzzle Copyright © Kevin Stone
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Hint
A little algebra might help.
Answer
1 /8 .
Reasoning
If we convert the question to algebra, we have:
((n^2 + 4) x 2 – 3) x 4 – n = 20
Expanding the brackets and simplifying gives:
(2n^2 + 8 – 3) x 4 – n = 20
(2n^2 + 5) x 4 – n = 20
8n^2 + 20 – n = 20
8n^2 – n = 0 (*)
8n – 1 = 0
8n = 1
n = 1 /8
In the equation marked (*) zero is also a potential solution, but as the question tells us that we "Start with a number larger than 0" we know that n can't be 0, and therefore we can safely divide by n.
Double-Checking
1 /8
squared = 1 /64
add 4 = 41 /64
double = 81 /32
take away 3 = 51 /32
times 4 = 201 /8
subtracting 1 /8 gives 20, as required.
Puzzle 3
Can you find the number that best completes this puzzle?
Puzzle Copyright © Kevin Stone
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Hint
The answer involves a square root.
Answer
4.
The middle of each triangle contains the square root of the sum of the three surrounding numbers.
Puzzle 4
What number comes next in this sequence:
986888
724864
143224
==??==
Puzzle Copyright © Kevin Stone
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Hint
The answer involves multiplication (for example, 9 x 8 = 72).
Answer
468.
Reasoning
If we split each line in the following way:
98 68 88
72 48 64
14 32 24
Each new line is generated by multiplying the digits two at a time and writing the result below.
For example, 9 x 8 = 72, so 72 appears directly below 98.
And 7 x 2 = 14, so 14 appears directly below 72.
Double-Checking
9 x 8 = 72 and 7 x 2 = 14.
6 x 8 = 48 and 4 x 8 = 32.
8 x 8 = 64 and 6 x 4 = 24.
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