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Puzzle 201 


The Miller next took the company aside and showed them nine sacks of flour that were standing as depicted in the sketch.

"Now, hearken, all and some," said he, "while that I do set ye the riddle of the nine sacks of flour.

And mark ye, my lords, that there be single sacks on the outside, pairs next unto them, and three together in the middle thereof.

By Saint Benedict, it doth so happen that if we do but multiply the pair, 28, by the single one, 7, the answer is 196, which is of a truth the number shown by the sacks in the middle.

Yet it be not true that the other pair, 34, when so multiplied by its neighbour, 5, will also make 196.

Wherefore I do beg you, gentle sirs, so to place anew the nine sacks with as little trouble as possible that each pair when thus multiplied by its single neighbour shall make the number in the middle."

As the Miller has stipulated in effect that as few bags as possible shall be moved, there is only one answer to this puzzle, which everybody should be able to solve.

Sacks 7 28 196 34 5

The Miller's Puzzle, The Canterbury Puzzles, Henry Ernest Dudeney.

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Puzzle 202 


Hidden in these sentences are the numbers 1 to 10 (in words).

A number might appear in more than one sentence, and they might not be in order, but there is only one way to use all of the sentences and find all ten numbers.

The robins love hiding amongst the smooth reeds.
It's always worth looking after your friends, even if they've upset you.
Even heavyweight boxers like using soft tissues when they have a cold.
To avoid the cliff, I veered sharply to the left.
The eggs were boxed thirteen instead of a dozen in each baker's delivery box.
Having salmon every day for lunch gets a little boring after a while.
The attendance at the local football match exceeded last week's by many thousands.
We need to waterproof our boots to make sure we don't get wet.
Meeting friends after work allows executives to network effectively.
The orchestra sounded magnificent with the three virtuosi xylophonists.

Puzzle Copyright © Kevin Stone

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Puzzle 203 


Yesterday I was asked to buy some stamps.

In the land of BrainBashers, stamps are available in denominations of 3p, 9p, 11p, 17p, and 21p (just the five different values).

For three denominations of stamp I was asked to buy eight of each, and for the other two denominations I was asked to buy nine of each.

Unfortunately, I forgot which I was supposed to buy eight of, and which to buy nine of!!

Luckily I had been given the exact money required to buy the stamps, £5.00, so the shopkeeper was able to work out the stamps I needed.

Which stamps did I have to buy?

Puzzle Copyright © Kevin Stone

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Puzzle 204 


Farmer Stone is quite an eccentric dairy farmer.

He originally had a total of 54 gallons of milk in three churns, and he wanted to make sure each churn contained 18 gallons of milk.

In order to do this, he did the following:

First, he poured 1/4 of the first churn into the second churn.
He then poured 1/2 of the second churn into the third churn.
Finally, he poured 1/3 of the third churn into the first churn.
How many gallons did each churn contain before Farmer Stone started pouring?

Puzzle Copyright © Kevin Stone

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