Puzzle 129
A kind old person decided to give 12 sweets to each of the adults in the town, and 8 sweets to each of the children.
Of the 612 people in the town, exactly half of the adults, and exactly three quarters of the children took the sweets.
How many sweets did the kind old person have to buy?
Puzzle Copyright © Kevin Stone
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Hint
Does the number of adults and children matter?
Answer
3,672.
Reasoning
The actual number of adults and children doesn't actually matter.
If all of the people were adults, then half of them (306) would be given 12 sweets:
306 x 12 = 3672
If all of the people were children, then three quarters of them (459) would be given 8 sweets:
459 x 8 = 3672
If there were 512 adults (so 256 would get 12 sweets = 3072) and 100 children (so 75 would get 8 sweets = 600):
256 x 12 + 75 x 8 = 3672
We can change the numbers of adults and children, but it doesn't change the answer.
The reason for this lies in the fact that 1/2 adults x 12 sweets = 3/4 children x 8 sweets (both are 6).
Puzzle 130
Can you find three words …
… which contain two consecutive i's.
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Hint
The words begin with the letters R, S, T.
Answer
RADII, SKIING, TAXIING.
You could also have GENII.
Puzzle 131
Each of these words can have the same letter placed at the beginning and the end to form a new (common) word.
For example, -LIT- becomes ELITE by adding an E at both ends.
What are the new words?
-eve-
-able-
-carve-
-as-
-on-
-ode-
-elude-
-ape-
-ate-
-rod-
Puzzle Copyright © Kevin Stone
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Hint
One of the words starts and ends with T.
Answers
eve = level
able = tablet
carve = scarves
as = ease, hash, sass
on = gong, sons
ode = codec, modem
elude = deluded
ape = lapel
ate = dated, rater
rod = erode
Puzzle 132
Last week I spent half of my money on a new jacket, and then I spent half of that amount on some new trousers.
I was left with £32.94. How much did I spend?
Puzzle Copyright © Kevin Stone
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Hint
Try working backwards.
Answer
£98.82.
Reasoning
At the end I was left with £32.94, which was half of my remaining money, so before buying the trousers I must have had £65.88.
Again, this was half of my money, so before buying the jacket I must have had £131.76 at the start.
As I now had £32.94 remaining, I must have spent £98.82.
Double-Checking
I started with £131.76, and I spent £65.88 on a new jacket, and then £32.94 on the trousers, a total spend of £98.82.