Puzzle 5
My local bus company has recently expanded and no longer has enough room inside its garage for all of its buses.
Twelve of their buses have to be stored outside.
If they decide to increase their garage space by 40% they will have enough room for all of their current buses, plus enough room to store another twelve in the future.
How many buses does the company currently own?
Puzzle Copyright © Kevin Stone
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Hint
Think about the 40%, and how many buses that represents.
Answer
72 buses.
Reasoning
The garage is currently full, with 12 more buses outside.
If we increase the garage space by 40%, there will be enough space to house those 12 buses, plus 12 more in the future – a total of 24 buses.
This means that 40% of the current garage capacity is 24 buses.
Therefore, 10% of the current garage capacity is 6 buses.
Therefore, 100% of the current garage capacity is 60 buses.
So, the current garage holds 60 buses, and there are 12 more outside.
Therefore, we have a total of 72 buses.
Double-Checking
They currently have 72 buses, 12 of which are outside, so 60 are inside.
Increasing the garage space of 60 buses by 40% will give room for 60 x 1.4 = 84 buses.
Which is the 72 they currently own, with space for 12 more buses in the future.
This confirms the answer.
Puzzle 6
Can you create a sentence that contains the word 'and' five times in a row?
With no other word between each 'and'.
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Hint
Start by imaging a sign saying 'BrainBashers Puzzles And Illusions'.
Answer
I commissioned an artist to paint a sign for BrainBashers that said 'BrainBashers Puzzles And Illusions', however, they made a terrible mistake.
The gaps between 'Puzzles' and 'And', and 'And' and 'Illusions' weren't the same, so the sign seemed oddly out of balance.
Puzzle 7
Using all of the letters A to Z, each once only, complete these common words. There are currently 3 different answers, can you find them all?
--ust
-ue-n
o-o-e
--and
-a-er
id-o-
-uc-y
e-i-t
hea--
tou--
-rie-
-ry-t
h-m-n
Puzzle Copyright © Kevin Stone
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Hint
The first word begins with the letter J.
Answers
--ust = joust (JO)
-ue-n = queen (QE)
o-o-e = ozone (ZN)
--and = brand (BR)
-a-er = water (WT)
id-o- = idiom (IM)
-uc-y = lucky (LK)
e-i-t = exist (XS)
hea-- = heavy (VY)
tou-- = tough (GH)
-rie- = fried (FD)
-ry-t = crypt (CP)
h-m-n = human (UA)
Alternative Answers
Joust, queen, ozone, brand, wafer, idiom, lucky, exist, heavy, tough, tried, crypt, human.
Joust, queen, ozone, bland, wafer, idiot, mucky, exist, heavy, tough, drier, crypt, human.
Can you find another?
Puzzle 8
Gymnastics Gala - Logic Puzzles
During a recent gymnastics gala, four athletes competed in three events, the vault, the beam, and the floor.
Chris came third on the floor.
The athlete who came second in the vault won the beam event.
The athlete who came second on the beam won the floor.
Emery beat Alex in every event.
The athlete who won the vault came second on the floor.
Billie came last in the vault.
Can you determine who finished where in each event?
Puzzle Copyright © Kevin Stone
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Hint
Could Alex have come first or second in any event?
Answer
Vault Beam Floor
#1 Emery Chris Billie
#2 Chris Billie Emery
#3 Alex Emery Chris
#4 Billie Alex Alex
Reasoning
By (1), Chris came third on the floor. By (6), Billie came last in the vault.
Vault Beam Floor
#1
#2
#3 Chris
#4 Billie
By (2), the athlete who came second in the vault won the beam event, let's mark these as X.
By (3), the athlete who came second on the beam won the floor, let's mark these as Y.
By (5), the athlete who won the vault came second on the floor, let's mark these as Z.
Vault Beam Floor
#1 Z X Y
#2 X Y Z
#3 Chris
#4 Billie
By (4), Emery beat Alex in every event, therefore Alex can't have won any event, nor come second (because of X, Y, and Z). So, Alex came third on the vault, and last on the floor.
Vault Beam Floor
#1 Z X Y
#2 X Y Z
#3 Alex Chris
#4 Billie Alex
Looking at the vault, Z can't be Chris because Z came second on the floor (but we know Chris came last). So, Z must be Emery, and X is Chris.
Vault Beam Floor
#1 Emery Chris Y
#2 Chris Y Emery
#3 Alex Chris
#4 Billie Alex
Looking at the floor, Y is Billie.
Vault Beam Floor
#1 Emery Chris Billie
#2 Chris Billie Emery
#3 Alex Chris
#4 Billie Alex
By (4), Emery beat Alex on the beam.
Vault Beam Floor
#1 Emery Chris Billie
#2 Chris Billie Emery
#3 Alex Emery Chris
#4 Billie Alex Alex
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