Puzzle 1
What letter is missing from this sequence:
A A A A {?} A A A A A A
Clue: the answer is not A!
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Hint
Think of an alternative alphabet.
Answer
N.
From epsiloN, last letters of the Greek alphabet, alpha, beta, gamma, delta, epsilon, zeta, eta, theta, iota, kappa, lambda, mu.
Puzzle 2
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 second 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 3
Each of these words can be split in half, and two letters can be placed in the middle to create a new six-letter word.
The four added pairs of letters, in order, spell an 8-letter word. What is that word?
lend
liar
pale
coin
For example:
door + ct = do + ct + or = doctor
suit + nl = su + nl + it = sunlit
Puzzle Copyright © Kevin Stone
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Hint
The 8-letter word begins with the letter G.
Answer
Generous.
lend + ge = le + ge + nd = legend
liar + ne = li + ne + ar = linear
pale + ro = pa + ro + le = parole
coin + us = co + us + in = cousin
Puzzle 4
Pre-Championship Rehearsal - Logic Puzzles
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?
Puzzle Copyright © Kevin Stone
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Hint
Look at Clue 3 first, and then Clue 5.
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
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