Answer
rn = Aaron or Ernie or Ron
jms = James
kvn = Kevin
smn = Simon
kth = Keith
jrmh = Jeremiah
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Puzzle 18
Start from the central 'F' and move horizontally or vertically, and collect the letters needed to spell 'FIND' (in any order). How many routes can you take?
D
N
I
D
D
N
D
I
D
D
I
N
F
I
I
N
I
N
D
D
I
D
I
D
N
Note: this puzzle is not interactive, and the letters cannot be clicked.
At a recent painting competition, the results were mislaid. Luckily, I remembered the following:
Emery's rendition of the Constable painting was not in last place. The person who painted the Monet was very successful and took first place. Glen only just managed to avoid last place and came third. Alex beat the person who painted the Taylor, and the person who painted the Van Gogh beat Drew.
Can you determine who painted what, and who won?
Answer # Name Artist
1 Alex Monet
2 Emery Constable
3 Glen Van Gogh
4 Drew Taylor Reasoning
The four entrants were: Alex, Drew, Emery, Glen.
The four artists were: Constable, Monet, Taylor, Van Gogh.
By (2), the Monet came first.
1 Monet
2
3
4
By (3), Glen came third.
1 Monet
2
3 Glen
4
By (1), the Constable can't have been last, so must have been second (as Emery painted it, and not Glen).
1 Monet
2 Constable
3 Glen
4
The Taylor was either third or fourth, either way, by (4) Alex must have won.
1 Alex Monet
2 Constable
3 Glen
4
By (4), the Van Gogh came third, leaving Drew in last place.
1 Alex Monet
2 Constable
3 Glen Van Gogh
4 Drew
Leaving Emery in second place, and the Taylor in last place.
1 Alex Monet
2 Emery Constable
3 Glen Van Gogh
4 Drew Taylor
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Puzzle 20
Within the BrainBashers school, the science department has three disciplines.
In total, 280 students study chemistry, 254 students study physics, and 280 students study biology.
In total, 97 students study chemistry and physics, 138 students study physics and biology, and 152 students study chemistry and biology.
73 students study all three disciplines.
Can you determine how many students there are in the science department? The answer is not 814.
Hint
How many students study chemistry and physics, but not biology?
Answer
500 students.
Reasoning
The answer is more easily seen if three intersecting circles are drawn, and the numbers inside each section are worked out.
We know that 73 students study all three disciplines, which allows us to work out the numbers.
97 students study chemistry and physics, so 97 – 73 = 24 study just chemistry and physics.
138 students study physics and biology, so 138 – 73 = 65 study just physics and biology.
152 students study chemistry and biology, so 152 – 73 = 79 study just chemistry and biology.
280 students study chemistry, so 280 – 73 – 24 – 79 = 104 study just chemistry.
254 students study physics, so 254 – 73 – 24 – 65 = 92 study just physics.
280 students study biology, 280 – 73 – 65 – 79 = 63 study just biology.
For a total of: 104 + 92 + 63 + 24 + 65 + 79 + 73 = 500 students.