Medium Puzzles 

Workings

Hint
How many minutes are there between 2:00 and 7:00?

Answer
65 minutes.

Reasoning



We need to break down the five hours in the following way:

3 x Answer minutes past two o'clock 40 minutes Answer minutes before seven o'clock
Why? It is now Answer minutes before seven o'clock, and then we have the 40 minutes before that, and the remaining time was 3 x Answer minutes past two o'clock.

So, five hours = 5 x 60 = 300 minutes. We already know about the 40 minutes, so we have to share the remaining 260 minutes in the ratio 3:1, which gives 195:65 minutes. Or using algebra 4 x Answer = 300 – 40, so Answer = 65 minutes.

Therefore, the five hours is made up of:

195 minutes past two o'clock 40 minutes 65 minutes before seven o'clock
So, it's currently 65 minutes before 7:00 = 5:55.

Double-Checking
It is now 65 minutes before seven o'clock = 5:55, so 40 minutes ago it was 5:15 – which is 195 minutes after 2:00, as required (as 65 x 3 = 195).

Workings

Hint
Alan is married to Julie.

Answer
Alan is married to Julie and they had a new kitchen.
Brian is married to Maud and they had a new bathroom.
Charles is married to Laura and they had a new conservatory.
David is married to Kara and they had new windows.

Workings

Hint
The first letters of the words are: E, S, P, C, I, A, P, A.

Answers
-----yee = employee -----egy = strategy -----igm = paradigm -----lse = convulse -----com = intercom -----bet = alphabet -----lel = parallel -----dee = attendee

Workings

Hint
Try to find out where Mrs Umbrella lives first.

Answer
From, left to right:
#1 Mrs Scott    - glass
#2 Mrs Umbrella - straw
#3 Mr Tidsley   - brick
#4 Mr Wilshaw   - wood

Reasoning
If we separate and label the clues, and label the bungalows #1, #2, #3, #4 from left to right we can see that:
Mrs Scott's bungalow is somewhere to the left of the wooden one. The third one along is brick. Mrs Umbrella owns a straw bungalow Mr Tidsley does not live at either end. Mr Tidsley lives somewhere to the right of the glass bungalow. Mr Wilshaw lives in the fourth bungalow. The first bungalow is not made from straw.
By (6) Mr Wilshaw lives in the fourth bungalow.
   #1
   #2
   #3
   #4 Mr Wilshaw

By (3), Mrs Umbrella owns the straw bungalow. By (7) it isn't #1, by (2) it isn't #3, so it must be #2.
   #1
   #2 Mrs Umbrella - straw
   #3
   #4 Mr Wilshaw

By (4), Mr Tidsley must therefore live in #3, which, by (2) is the brick bungalow.
   #1
   #2 Mrs Umbrella - straw
   #3 Mr Tidsley   - brick
   #4 Mr Wilshaw

By (1), Mrs Scott's bungalow must be #1, and #4 must be the wooden one.
   #1 Mrs Scott
   #2 Mrs Umbrella - straw
   #3 Mr Tidsley   - brick
   #4 Mr Wilshaw   - wood

This leaves #1 as the glass bungalow.
   #1 Mrs Scott    - glass
   #2 Mrs Umbrella - straw
   #3 Mr Tidsley   - brick
   #4 Mr Wilshaw   - wood