Puzzle 17
What word comes next in this sequence:
penguin · umbrella · zebra · zip · llama · egg · ?
Choose from:
salt, pen, ark, glass
Puzzle Copyright © Kevin Stone
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Hint
It's nothing to do with the word lengths, or vowels (AEIOU).
Answer
Salt.
The initial letters of the words are spelling the word 'PUZZLES'.
Puzzle 18
Last week, I travelled from London to Stoke.
On the first day, I travelled one half of the distance.
On day two, I travelled one third of the remaining distance.
On day three, I travelled three quarters of the remaining distance.
Yesterday I travelled one half of the remaining distance.
I now have 5 miles left to travel.
How far is it from Stoke to London in total?
Puzzle Copyright © Kevin Stone
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Hint
Try working backwards.
Answer
120 miles.
Reasoning
I now have 5 miles left to travel, so I must have travelled 5 miles yesterday.
At the end of Day 3, I had 10 miles left to travel, so I must have had 40 miles left at the start of the Day 3.
At the end of Day 2, I had 40 miles left to travel, so I must have had 60 miles left at the start of the Day 2.
At the end of Day 1, I had 60 miles left to travel, so I must have had 120 miles left at the start of the Day 1.
Double-Checking
On the Day 1, I travelled 60 miles, leaving 60 miles.
On Day 2, I travelled 20 miles, leaving 40 miles.
On Day 3, I travelled 30 miles, leaving 10 miles.
Yesterday, I travelled 5 miles, leaving 5 miles.
Puzzle 19
Can you find three consecutive prime numbers …
… that equal 409,457 when multiplied together?
Puzzle Copyright © Kevin Stone
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Hint
The cube root of the given number is a good starting point.
Answer
71, 73, 79.
Reasoning
The cube root of 409,457 is around 74.
The closest consecutive prime numbers to 74 are: 61, 67, 71, 73, 79, 83, 89, 97.
Using a calculator, it is quickly seen that the answer can only be found using 71, 73 and 79.
Puzzle 20
At a picnic recently, I noticed that:
Charles liked biscuits, but didn't like custard.
Mary liked quiche, but didn't like marshmallows.
Brian liked apples, but didn't like biscuits.
James liked chocolate, but didn't like jelly.
Did David like doughnuts?
Puzzle Copyright © Kevin Stone
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Hint
Ellen liked shrimp, but didn't like eels.
Answer
No.
None of them liked food that started with the same letter as their name.
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