Brain Teasers and Puzzles 

Workings

Hint
Which painting won, and who came first?

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

Workings

Hint

Answer
The bottle cost 35 pence and the straw cost 25 pence.

Workings

Hint
How many leaves will I have collected on day 5?

Answer
On the 23rd.

Reasoning
We could simply keep adding until we get the required number:

   1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5 + 6 + 7 + 8 + 9 + 10 + 11 + 12 + 13 + 14 + 15 + 16 + 17 + 18 + 19 + 20 + 21 + 22 + 23

   = 276 leaves.

But a more mathematical method might help to answer the Bonus Question – as this might take a while if we keep adding!

So, let's create a method by imagining that we are adding the numbers from 1 to 30.

   1 + 2 + 3 + ... + 28 + 29 + 30

If we now take the numbers in pairs, taking one from each end, we have:

   (1 + 30) + (2 + 29) + (3 + 28) + ... + (15 + 16)

Each pair adds to 31, and we have 15 pairs. So the total sum is 31 x 15 = 465.

The total sum from 1 to any number (N) can be found using this technique, and we will have:

   Each pair adds to (1 + N), and there are N ÷ 2 pairs. So the total is:

   (1 + N) x N
             —
             2

In this puzzle, we know that this equals 276.

So:

   (1 + N) x N = 276
             —
             2

We can expand the brackets, and multiply both sides by 2, to give:

   N + N² = 552

Rearranging we get:

   N² + N - 552 = 0

And 552 = 2 x 2 x 2 x 3 x 23, so this can be factorised as:

   (N + 24) x (N - 23) = 0

Because we need to find a positive number of days, the only possible answer is:

   (N - 23) = 0

So N = 23 days.

Bonus Question
To answer the bonus question, we have:

   (1 + N) x N = 56616
             —
             2

Rearranging we get:

   N² + N - 113232 = 0

And 113232 = 2⁴ x 3 x 7 x 337, so this can be factorised as:

   (N - 336) x (N + 337) = 0

Because we need to find a positive number of days, the only possible answer is:

   (N - 336) = 0

So N = 336 days (I did say that I liked collecting leaves!).

Workings

Hint
Can Q1's answer be A?

Answer
1. D
2. C
3. B
4. A

The easiest way to solve this puzzle is to use Q1 to check the logic.

If Q1's answer was A, this tells us that Q2's answer is B, which tells us Q3's is D, which tells us Q4's answer is B, which tells us Q1's answer is C. A contradiction.

If Q1's answer was B, this tells us that Q2's answer is A, which tells us Q3's is C, which tells us Q4's answer is C, which tells us Q1's answer is A. A contradiction.

If Q1's answer was C, this tells us that Q2's answer is D, which tells us Q3's is A, which tells us Q4's answer is D, which tells us Q1's answer is B. A contradiction.

If Q1's answer was D, this tells us that Q2's answer is C, which tells us Q3's is B, which tells us Q4's answer is A, which tells us Q1's answer is D. Which is correct, and therefore the correct answer.