Hint
How many miles were left at the start of yesterday?
Answer
336 miles.
Reasoning
To work these numbers out, it is perhaps easier to start at the end and work backwards.
Yesterday I travelled 1/3 of the distance to leave 21 miles, therefore there were 31.5 miles (=21 ÷ 2/3) at the start of yesterday.
On day 3 I travelled 3/4 of the distance to leave 31.5 miles, therefore there were 126 miles (=31.5 ÷ 1/4) at the start of day 3.
On day 2 I travelled 1/2 of the distance to leave 126 miles, therefore there were 252 miles (=126 ÷ 1/2) at the start of day 2.
On day 1, I travelled 1/4 of the distance to leave 252 miles, therefore there were 336 miles (=252 ÷ 3/4) at the start of day 1.
Double-Checking
On day one, I travelled one quarter of the distance (84, leaving 252).
On day two, I travelled one half of the remaining distance (126, leaving 126).
On day three, I travelled three quarters of the remaining distance (94.5, leaving 31.5).
Yesterday I travelled one third of the remaining distance (10.5).
I now have 21 miles left to travel.
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Puzzle 203
As I was going to St Ives,
I met a man with seven wives.
Each wife had seven sacks,
Each sack had seven cats,
Each cat had seven kits.
Kits, cats, sacks and wives,
How many were going to St. Ives?
This is a very old puzzle, and appeared in a manuscript dated around 1730. It is thought to refer to a town in Cornwall, UK.
If we were to count everyone and everything, including all of the kits, cats, sacks and wives, we would have:
Me = 1
Man = 1
Wifes = 7
Sacks = 7 x 7 = 49
Cats = 7 x 7 x 7 = 343
Kits = 7 x 7 x 7 x 7 = 2401
Total = 1 + 1 + 7 + 49 + 343 + 2401 = 2,802.
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Puzzle 204
Moving from letter to letter using the moves of a chess knight, can you find the letters 'PUZZLES' in order?
Z
E
Z
S
Z
P
S
U
P
S
P
L
P
Z
S
U
L
U
U
E
U
E
E
P
U
S
U
P
P
Z
L
L
U
P
Z
Z
U
Z
S
U
L
P
E
P
Z
Z
E
L
U
Note: this puzzle is not interactive, and the squares cannot be clicked.
