Puzzle 157
Can you find anagrams of the following words?
aspirate
alarming
bleating
decimate
creative
cheating
download
gradient
altitude
generate
Puzzle Copyright © Kevin Stone
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Hint
The first letters of the words are: P, M, T, M, R, T, W, T, L, T.
Answers
parasite
marginal
tangible
medicate
reactive
teaching
woodland
treading
latitude
teenager
Puzzle 158
Championships 2022 - Logic Puzzles
At the recent BrainBashers Championships 2022, the 100 metres heats were closely observed.
Each contestant had to run in two races so that the average place could be determined.
Only one runner finished in the same place in both races.
Alex was never last. Chris always beat Dale. Billie had at least one first place. Alex finished third in at least one of the races. Both Dale and Chris had a second place.
What were the two results?
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Hint
Since Dale had a second place, what does this tell us about Chris?
Answer
Race 1: Billie, Chris, Alex, Dale.
Race 2: Chris, Dale, Alex, Billie.
Reasoning
Since Chris always beat Dale and Dale had a second place, one race must have been Chris first and Dale second.
Billie therefore won the other race, with Chris second.
Since only one runner finished in the same place in both races, this must have been Alex in third.
Puzzle 159
Which two letters come next in this sequence:
ME VE EA MA JU SA UR {?}
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Answer
NE.
From Neptune. The first two letters from the planets in sequence: MErcury, VEnus, EArth, MArs, JUpiter, SAturn, URanus, NEptune.
Puzzle 160
I recently asked my friend Alex to buy me some ribbon for my child's bonnet.
Alex went to the haberdashery shop for the required length, but accidentally swapped the feet and inches.
When I measured the resulting ribbon, I only had 5/8 of the length I required.
How much ribbon did I originally ask for?
Remember that there are 12 inches in a foot.
Puzzle Copyright © Kevin Stone
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Hint
A little bit of algebra might help.
Answer
I asked for 7 feet, 4 inches and Alex brought me 4 feet, 7 inches.
Reasoning
If we label what I asked for as A feet and B inches, which is (12 x A + B) inches, then I actually received B feet and A inches, which is (12 x B + A) inches. Which means that:
5/8 x (12 x A + B) = (12 x B + A)
Simplifying gives:
A = 91/52 x B
As B is the number of inches, it can only be between 1 and 12 and must give A as a whole number of feet.
B = 4 is the only possible value, which means that A = 7.
So I originally asked for 7 feet, 4 inches.
Double-Checking
I received 4 feet, 7 inches = 55 inches.
I asked for 7 feet, 4 inches = 88 inches, and 88 x 5/8 = 55.
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