Puzzle 205
I recently asked a friend of mine to buy me some ribbon for my latest embroidery project.
He went to the haberdashery shop for a particular length, but he accidentally interchanged the feet and inches.
When I measured the purchased ribbon, I only had 30% of the length I required!
How much ribbon did I originally ask for?
Puzzle Copyright © Kevin Stone
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Hint
Remember that there are 12 inches in a foot.
Answer
I asked for 9 foot 2 inches (110 inches) and my friend brought me 2 foot 9 inches (33 inches).
Reasoning
I asked my friend to buy me A feet and B inches, which is a total of 12A + B inches.
He accidentally bought me B feet and A inches, which is 12B + A inches.
We know that 12B + A is actually only 30% of what I wanted, so:
12B + A = 0.3 x (12A + B)
Multiply throughout by 10:
120B + 10A = 3 x (12A + B)
120B + 10A = 36A + 3B
117B = 26A
B = 26A ÷ 117
Don't forget that A and B can only be integers, and between 0 and 11.
Since 26 x A has to be at least 117, the lowest possible value for A is 5. We can check the remaining possibilities.
5 x 26 = 130
6 x 26 = 156
7 x 26 = 182
8 x 26 = 208
9 x 26 = 234 (*)
10 x 26 = 260
11 x 26 = 286
The only number wholly divisible by 117 is 234, which means that A = 9, and B = 2.
So, I originally asked for 9 feet 2 inches.
Puzzle 206
Jam Making Contest - Logic Puzzles
At the recent interdepartmental jam making contest, four lucky candidates took part to make the juiciest strawberry jam.
As it happens, the person who came last was the oldest.
Glen was three years older than the person who came second.
Drew was neither the oldest nor the youngest.
Emery finished ahead of the 27 year old, but didn't win.
Alex was also unlucky this time, and didn't win either.
The ages of the contestants were 24, 27, 30 and 32.
Can you work out who finished where, and how old they were?
Puzzle Copyright © Kevin Stone
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Hint
How old was the person in 2nd place?
Answer
# Name Age
1 Drew 30
2 Emery 24
3 Glen 27
4 Alex 32
Reasoning
By (2), because Glen was three years older, the person in 2nd place was either 24 or 27.
But 2nd place can't have been 27, because, by (4), Emery was ahead, but didn't win.
So 2nd place was 24, and Glen was 27.
By (3), Drew could only be 27 or 30, but we now know what Glen was 27, so Drew was 30.
By (1), the person who came last was 32:
1
2 24
3
4 32
By (4), the 27 year old can't have won,
1 Drew 30
2 24
3 Glen 27
4 32
By (4), Emery beat the 27 year old:
1 Drew 30
2 Emery 24
3 Glen 27
4 32
Leaving Alex in last place.
1 Drew 30
2 Emery 24
3 Glen 27
4 Alex 32
Puzzle 207
Hidden in the grid below are eight, 7 letter words. Each word begins with the central V and you can move one letter in any direction to the next letter. All of the letters are used exactly once each. What are the words?
| I |
P |
T |
N |
R |
E |
N |
| E |
R |
M |
A |
G |
I |
Y |
| I |
L |
A |
A |
A |
C |
C |
| L |
N |
A |
V |
A |
C |
N |
| A |
N |
A |
A |
A |
C |
A |
| I |
R |
U |
R |
I |
O |
U |
| S |
H |
L |
T |
E |
D |
S |
Note: this puzzle isn't interactive, and the letters can't be clicked.
Puzzle Copyright © Kevin Stone
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Hint
One of the words is Vanilla.
Answer
Vacancy, vaccine, vagrant, vampire, vanilla, varnish, vaulted, various.
Puzzle 208
How many days before 17th August is it, if...
...50 days before then, it was four times as many days since March 30th?
Puzzle Copyright © Kevin Stone
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Hint
How many days separate the two dates?
Answer
18 days.
Reasoning
There are 140 days between the two dates, and these 140 days are split in the following way:
4 x Answer | 50 days | Answer
We already know about 50 days, so we have to split the remaining 90 days into the ratio 4:1, which is 72:18.
72 days | 50 days | 18 days
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