Frankie the Squirrel can find one acorn in 15 minutes and Glenn the Squirrel can find one acorn in 12 minutes. As autumn approaches, they both work all day and all night.
However, Alex the Squirrel is eating their collection! It takes Alex 20 minutes to eat an acorn, and Alex eats all day and all night long (and starts on yesterday's acorns).
How many extra acorns will there be at the end of a 24-hour day?
Reasoning
Frankie finds 4 acorns every hour, Glenn finds 5 acorns every hour and Alex eats 3 acorns every hour, so the nett total per hour is 4 + 5 − 3 = 6.
Which is 6 x 24 = 144 extra acorns in a day.
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Puzzle 110
A rope swing hangs vertically down so that the end is 12 inches from the ground, and 48 inches from the tree.
If the swing is pulled across so that it touches the tree, it is 20 inches from the ground.
Hint
You might find Pythagoras' theorem very useful [a2 + b2 = c2].
Answer
148 inches.
We can use Pythagoras' theorem if we draw an imaginary line across to create a right-angled triangle.
The hypotenuse is equal to the rope's length R. The bottom of the triangle is 48 inches. The vertical side is R − 8 (the difference between 20 inches and 12 inches).
Pythagoras' theorem tells us that:
a2 + b2 = c2
Where c is the hypotenuse.
This gives us:
482 + (R − 8)2 = R2
2304 + (R − 8)(R − 8) = R2
2304 + R2 − 16R + 64 = R2
2304 − 16R + 64 = 0
16R = 2368
R = 148
As required.
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Puzzle 111
Can you create a sentence that contains the word 'and' five times in a row?
Hint
Start by imaging a sign saying 'BrainBashers Puzzles And Illusions'.
Answer
I commissioned an artist to paint a sign for BrainBashers that said 'BrainBashers Puzzles And Illusions', however, they made a terrible mistake.
The gaps between 'Puzzles' and 'And', and 'And' and 'Illusions' weren't the same, so the sign seemed oddly out of balance.
