Disastrous Dave was washing windows on a multi-storey office building when he took a fall off a fifty foot ladder, directly onto the concrete pavement below.
Hint
What must the middle temperature be? Remember that the temperature are in degrees Celsius.
Answer
The temperatures were -6, -2, 2, 6, 10 °C.
Each day increased by a steady 4 degrees.
Reasoning
As the temperature rose steadily each day, we know that the middle temperature (Day 3) was 2 degrees (because the average was 2 degrees).
Since Day 3 was 2 degrees, and there were two negative temperatures, we know that the daily increase must have been at least 3 degrees (otherwise Day 2 would not have been negative).
If we check a daily increase of 3 degrees, the sequence would be -4, -1, 2, 5, 8, but this doesn't work as the product is less than 500.
If we check a daily increase of 4 degrees, the sequence would be -6, -2, 2, 6, 10, which does matches all of the requirements.
If we check a daily increase of 5 degrees, the sequence would be -8, -3, 2, 7, 12, but this doesn't work as the product is more than 2000.
Any larger increase makes the product even larger, so we can stop checking.
So the only possible answer is -6, -2, 2, 6, 10.
?
Puzzle 132
Look at the following sentence once, and once only. How many times can you find the letter F?
Furry foxes of far origin often come of age far before scientific study forecasts.
