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'clock40 minutesAnswer 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'clock40 minutes65 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).
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Puzzle 3
Below are 8 Academy Award winners.
The letters of their names have been mixed up and put into alphabetical order.
The brackets contain clues to their names, the first letter and the length of each part of their name. For example, EEIKNNOSTV [K5 S5] = KEVIN STONE.
DEEFIJOORST [J5 F6]
EEELMPRRSTY [M5 S6]
ABEIJLORRSTU [J5 R7]
AABEEHHIKNNPRRTU [K9 H7]
CEEEGGLNOOORY [G6 C7]
ACCHIJKLNNOOS [J4 N9]
BDEEINOORRRT [R6 D2 N4]
AACCEEHIILMN [M7 C5]
Answer
DEEFIJOORST = JODIE FOSTER
EEELMPRRSTY = MERYL STREEP
ABEIJLORRSTU = JULIA ROBERTS
AABEEHHIKNNPRRTU = KATHARINE HEPBURN
CEEEGGLNOOORY = GEORGE CLOONEY
ACCHIJKLNNOOS = JACK NICHOLSON
BDEEINOORRRT = ROBERT DE NIRO
AACCEEHIILMN = MICHAEL CAINE
Reasoning
The easiest way to solve this puzzle is to use Q1 to check the logic.
If Q1's answer was A, this tells us that Q2's answer is B, which tells us Q3's is D, which tells us Q4's answer is B, which tells us Q1's answer is C. A contradiction.
If Q1's answer was B, this tells us that Q2's answer is A, which tells us Q3's is C, which tells us Q4's answer is C, which tells us Q1's answer is A. A contradiction.
If Q1's answer was C, this tells us that Q2's answer is D, which tells us Q3's is A, which tells us Q4's answer is D, which tells us Q1's answer is B. A contradiction.
If Q1's answer was D, this tells us that Q2's answer is C, which tells us Q3's is B, which tells us Q4's answer is A, which tells us Q1's answer is D. Which is correct, and therefore the correct answer.
