Puzzle 201
Using all of the letters A to Z, each once only, complete these common words.
cl--h
co--h
di-r-
-rea-
in-e-
-ok-r
-a-or
-ua-l
re-e-
-to-e
s-am-
ya--t
-eb-a
Puzzle Copyright © Kevin Stone
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Hint
The 4th word begins with the letter F.
Answers
cl--h = cloth (OT)
co--h = cough (UG)
di-r- = diary (AY)
-rea- = freak (FK)
in-e- = index (DX)
-ok-r = joker (JE)
-a-or = manor (MN)
-ua-l = quail (QI)
re-e- = rebel (BL)
-to-e = stove (SV)
s-am- = swamp (WP)
ya--t = yacht (CH)
-eb-a = zebra (ZR)
This puzzle isn't guaranteed to have a unique answer, can you find another?
Puzzle 202
Complete this grid of 4 four-letter words written horizontally.
Once complete, the first column of the grid forms a word, and the last column forms a word that is related to the first.
Puzzle Copyright © Kevin Stone
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Hint
The first word starts with H.
Answer
Hard and soft.
| H |
A |
T |
S |
| A |
L |
S |
O |
| R |
O |
O |
F |
| D |
E |
B |
T |
Puzzle 203
After visiting one of my very old relatives, I travelled home in their old jalopy. The car was old and battered, it had a leak from the petrol tank, and I was stuck in second gear.
This meant that I could only travel along at a steady 30 miles per hour and managed a paltry 20 miles per gallon of fuel.
At the start of the journey, I had placed exactly 10 gallons of fuel into the tank. I knew though, that the fuel tank lost fuel at the rate of half a gallon per hour.
Just as I arrived home, the car stopped because it had run out of fuel and I had only just made it.
How far was it from my relative's house to my home?
Puzzle Copyright © Kevin Stone
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Hint
How much fuel am I using every hour?
Answer
150 miles.
Reasoning
I was travelling at 30mph at a rate of 20 mpg, so I was using 1.5 gallons every hour for the driving itself.
I was also losing 0.5 gallons every hour. In total, I was using 2 gallons every hour.
Therefore, to use all of the 10 gallons I started with, I travelled for 5 hours.
5 hours at 30mph is 150 miles.
Puzzle 204
BrainBashers Derby - Logic Puzzles
After the local BrainBashers Horse Show, some friends were telling everyone who had won.
Unfortunately, the friends were having trouble remembering, and in the course of the afternoon, they changed their minds a number of times.
In summary, they made the following statements:
Andy said:
Taylor Tripton won with Evening Sunrise.
Alex Ambleton won with Morning Sunset.
Frankie Flanton won with Evening Sunrise.
Billie said:
Sam Spinton won with Midday Night.
Frankie Flanton won with Evening Sunrise.
Taylor Tripton won with Morning Sunset.
Chris said:
Alex Ambleton won with Midday Night.
Sam Spinton won with Midday Night.
Sam Spinton won with Morning Sunset.
Dale said:
Alex Ambleton won with Evening Sunrise.
Frankie Flanton won with Morning Sunset.
Sam Spinton won with Midday Night.
However, none of the statements were fully true.
In fact, just six of the statements were exactly half true (either the person won, or the horse did), the rest were false.
Can you determine who won, and which horse they were showing?
Puzzle Copyright © Kevin Stone
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Hint
Could Alex Ambleton have won?
Answer
Taylor Tripton won with Midday Night.
Reasoning
Before we begin the reasoning, let's look at the hint: 'Could Alex Ambleton have won?'. There are three horses in the puzzle, and Alex Ambleton is stated to have won with all three of them. We know that none of the statements were fully true, so Alex couldn't have won otherwise one of the statements would have been fully true.
By grouping the clues together, we have:
1. Frankie Flanton won with Morning Sunset.
2. Frankie Flanton won with Evening Sunrise.
3. Frankie Flanton won with Evening Sunrise.
4. Sam Spinton won with Midday Night.
5. Sam Spinton won with Midday Night.
6. Sam Spinton won with Midday Night.
7. Sam Spinton won with Morning Sunset.
8. Taylor Tripton won with Morning Sunset.
9. Taylor Tripton won with Evening Sunrise.
10. Alex Ambleton won with Midday Night.
11. Alex Ambleton won with Morning Sunset.
12. Alex Ambleton won with Evening Sunrise.
We know that none of these statements were fully true, so, we know that (for example) it wasn't Frankie Flanton with Morning Sunset.
We can create a grid of all the possibilities and place an X where we know that it can't have been that combination:
| |
M-N |
M-S |
E-S |
| Frankie |
|
X |
X |
| Sam |
X |
X |
|
| Taylor |
|
X |
X |
| Alex |
X |
X |
X |
We now have an X for all but 3 possibilities, and we know that exactly 6 of the clues must be half true.
So…
…if it was Frankie Flanton with Midday Night then exactly 7 clues would be half true (clues 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 10).
…if it was Sam Spinton with Evening Sunrise then exactly 8 clues would be half true (clues 4, 5, 6, 7, 2, 3, 9, 12).
…if it was Taylor Tripton with Midday Night then exactly 6 clues would be half true (clues 8, 9, 4, 5, 6, 10) – so this must be the correct answer.
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