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Puzzle ZXGG 



?

After a day picking strawberries, I ended up with a full basket, which is always nice.

I ate 5, and then gave Alex half of the remaining.

I ate another 3, and then gave Billie one third of the remaining.

I ate another 6, and then gave Charlie two thirds of the remaining.

I now had 34 strawberries left. How many did I start with?

Puzzle Copyright © Kevin Stone

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Answer
335 strawberries.

Reasoning
Working backwards...

I ended up with 34 strawberries, so I had 102 before giving Charlie two thirds.

I ate 6 myself, so I had 108 before I ate those.

I had 108 strawberries, so I had 162 before giving Billie one third.

I ate 3 myself, so I had 165 before I ate those.

I had 165 strawberries, so I had 330 before giving Alex one half.

Ate 5 myself, so I had 335 before I ate those.

Therefore, I started with 335 strawberries.

Double-Checking
I started with 335.

I ate 5, leaving 330.

I gave Alex half (165), leaving 165.

I ate 3, leaving 162.

I gave Billie one third (54), leaving 108.

I ate 6, leaving 102.

I gave Charlie two thirds (68), leaving 34.

 

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