Puzzle 1
A kind old person decided to give 12 sweets to each of the adults in the town, and 8 sweets to each of the children.
Of the 612 people in the town, exactly half of the adults, and exactly three quarters of the children took the sweets.
How many sweets did the kind old person have to buy?
Puzzle Copyright © Kevin Stone
workings
hint
answer
print
www.brainbashers.com
/puzzle/zdtu
share
Hint
Does the number of adults and children matter?
Answer
3,672.
Reasoning
The actual number of adults and children doesn't matter.
For example, if all of the people were adults, then half of them (306) would be given 12 sweets:
306 x 12 = 3672
For example, if all of the people were children, then three quarters of them (459) would be given 8 sweets:
459 x 8 = 3672
For example, if there were 512 adults (so 256 would get 12 sweets = 3072) and 100 children (so 75 would get 8 sweets = 600):
256 x 12 + 75 x 8 = 3672
As you can see, we can change the numbers of adults and children, and it doesn't change the answer.
The reason for this lies in the fact that
1/2 adults x 12 sweets
and
3/4 children x 8 sweets
both equal 6 sweets.
Puzzle 3
During the recent BrainBashers cipher convention, a Morse code contest took place.
The contest consisted of a Morse code transmission where the spaces between the letters and words were missing.
Can you find the ten names for pet cats?
Luckily, BrainBashers has provided you with a list of the Morse code characters:
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Puzzle Copyright © Kevin Stone
workings
hints
answers
print
www.brainbashers.com
/puzzle/zgkk
share
Hints
The first letters of the words are: F, T, W, S, F, T, T, T, S, M.
Answers
Fluffy
Tiger
Whiskers
Spot
Felix
Tom
Tabby
Tiddles
Socks
Mittens
Puzzle 4
Which is larger:
3 raised to the 5th power
5 raised to the 3rd power
Puzzle Copyright © Kevin Stone
workings
hint
answer
print
www.brainbashers.com
/puzzle/zbsb
share
Hint
3 raised to the 5th power is 3 x 3 x 3 x 3 x 3.
Answer
3 raised to 5th power.
Reasoning
3 raised to the 5th power = 3 ^ 5 = 3 x 3 x 3 x 3 x 3 = 243
and
5 raised to the 3rd power = 5 ^ 3 = 5 x 5 x 5 = 125.
