If X is his current age, then:
X = 14 + X
———
3
so
2X = 14
———
3
and
2X = 42
So
X = 21
He is currently 21 and his favourite book is currently 14 years old, when it is 28 years old (double its age) he will be 35.
??
Puzzle 18
Can you find the book titles hidden in these phrases?
ROME OR OSLO? ANDREW, JULIE, TO VISIT. WARM TOO FEW, THE SUBWORLD SNEEZES AN I MALL? SHOPS, FAR MALLS? GO NEXT, GO! WITHOUT OTHER I DWINDLE. GO! WATER. SHIP, BOAT. STORM! DOWN RAIN! BRAVERY IN A NEW AGE, WORLD'S HOPE.
For each word in the title, new letters are added of the same length, and then the spacing is changed, and punctuation is added.
For example:
BOOK TITLE
BOOK 1234 TITLE 12345
BOOK NIGH TITLE APTUP
BOOKNIGHTITLEAPTUP
BOO, KNIGHT. IT LEAPT UP!
At last month's rehearsal, four top athletes competed in two 400-metre qualifiers.
As the results were expected to be mislaid, various notes were taken to ensure the accuracy of the overall placings:
No one finished both races in the same position. In both races, Sam beat the runner whose surname was Watson. Billie Taylor came third in the second race, and Pat came last in the first race. In the second race, the athlete whose surname was Arnold won, and the athlete whose surname was Bowler came last. In the first race, Billie beat Jamie, but Jamie beat Sam.
Can you determine who finished where in each of the races?
Answer
Race1 Race2
————————————————————————
#1 Billie Sam
Taylor Arnold
————————————————————————
#2 Jamie Pat
Bowler Watson
————————————————————————
#3 Sam Billie
Arnold Taylor
————————————————————————
#4 Pat Jamie
Watson Bowler
Reasoning
The four names were: Billie, Jamie, Pat, Sam
The four contestants were: Arnold, Bowler, Taylor, Watson.
By (3), Billie Taylor came third in the second race, and Pat came last in the first race, giving:
Race1 Race2
————————————————————————
#1
————————————————————————
#2
————————————————————————
#3 Billie
Taylor
————————————————————————
#4 Pat
By (5), in the first race Billie beat Jamie, and Jamie beat Sam, giving:
Race1 Race2
————————————————————————
#1 Billie
Taylor
————————————————————————
#2 Jamie
————————————————————————
#3 Sam Billie
Taylor
————————————————————————
#4 Pat
By (2), Sam beat the runner with the surname Watson in the first race, which means that Pat's surname is Watson, giving:
Race1 Race2
————————————————————————
#1 Billie
Taylor
————————————————————————
#2 Jamie
————————————————————————
#3 Sam Billie
Taylor
————————————————————————
#4 Pat
Watson
By (1), Pat can't have also finished in last place in race 2, and by (2), Sam beat the Pat Watson, so Pat must have finished in second place in race 2. And Sam came first, therefore Jamie came last, giving:
Race1 Race2
————————————————————————
#1 Billie Sam
Taylor
————————————————————————
#2 Jamie Pat
Watson
————————————————————————
#3 Sam Billie
Taylor
————————————————————————
#4 Pat Jamie
Watson
By (4), in the second race the athlete whose surname was Arnold won, and the athlete whose surname was Bowler came last, so we know Sam and Jamie's surnames, and we can complete the grid:
Race1 Race2
————————————————————————
#1 Billie Sam
Taylor Arnold
————————————————————————
#2 Jamie Pat
Bowler Watson
————————————————————————
#3 Sam Billie
Arnold Taylor
————————————————————————
#4 Pat Jamie
Watson Bowler
?
Puzzle 20
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
