Puzzle 1
Unluckily, last week I lost my measuring tape. It was unlucky as I had to measure Billy's toy box.
Luckily though I could remember that the top had an area of 720 square inches, the side was 800 square inches, and the end was 360 square inches.
What were the true dimensions of the toy box?
Puzzle Copyright © Kevin Stone
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Hint
A little algebra might help.
Answer
Width=40, height=20, depth=18.
Reasoning
If we call the height H, the width W and the depth D we have:
H x W = 800
H = 800 ÷ W (1)
W x D = 720
W = 720 ÷ D (2)
H x D = 360
H = 360 ÷ D (3)
Using (1) and (3) we have:
800 360
——— = ———
W D
800 x D = 360 x W
Using (2):
800 x D = 360 x 720
———
D
800 x D2 = 259,200
D2 = 324
D = 18
Using (2), W = 40.
Using (1), H = 20.
Puzzle 2
In which sport do winners move backwards and losers move forwards?
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Puzzle 3
Which is larger:
rolls in a dozen baker's dozen
hours in a week
Puzzle Copyright © Kevin Stone
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Hint
A baker's dozen is usually 13.
Answer
Hours in a week.
Reasoning
A dozen is 12, but a baker's dozen is usually 13.
So a dozen (12) baker's dozen (13) = 12 x 13 = 156.
There are 24 hours in a day, and 7 days in a week.
So there are 24 x 7 hours in a week = 168.
Puzzle 4
Which number, when written as a word, makes this true:
Cleverly, there are exactly ? E's in this sentence.
Puzzle Copyright © Kevin Stone
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Hint
Does ONE work, does TWO work? How many E's are there already?
Answer
Twelve.
"Cleverly, there are exactly twelve E's in this sentence."
