Puzzle 205
Without using any reference material can you find the hidden countries? In each case, the letter indicates the first letter of the country in question, the number represents the number of letters in the country. For example, E7 would be England.
Z6, L10, I9, E7, B6, J7, P8, M10, P4, F4
Puzzle Copyright © Kevin Stone
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Answer
Zambia, Luxembourg, Indonesia, Ecuador, Brazil (or Belize), Jamaica, Pakistan (or Paraguay), Mozambique (or Montenegro), Peru, Fiji.
Puzzle 206
What four-digit number has Digit 1 three smaller than Digit 4, which is one more than Digit 2, which is twice Digit 3, which is one more than one third of Digit 4?
Puzzle Copyright © Kevin Stone
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Hint
What can digit 4 be?
Answer
6849.
Reasoning
Digit 4 must be a multiple of 3:
---3
---6
---9
Digit 3 is one more than Digit 9 ÷ 3:
--23
--36
--49
Digit 2 is twice Digit 3:
-423
-636
-849
But Digit 4 is one more than Digit 2, which only leaves:
-849
And Digit 1 is three smaller than Digit 4:
6849.
Puzzle 207
I recently asked a friend of mine to buy me some ribbon for my latest embroidery project.
He went to the haberdashery shop for a particular length, but he accidentally interchanged the feet and inches.
When I measured the purchased ribbon, I only had 30% of the length I required!
How much ribbon did I originally ask for?
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Hint
Remember that there are 12 inches in a foot.
Answer
I asked for 9 foot 2 inches (110 inches) and my friend brought me 2 foot 9 inches (33 inches).
Reasoning
I asked my friend to buy me A feet and B inches, which is a total of 12A + B inches.
He accidentally bought me B feet and A inches, which is 12B + A inches.
We know that 12B + A is actually only 30% of what I wanted, so:
12B + A = 0.3 x (12A + B)
Multiply throughout by 10:
120B + 10A = 3 x (12A + B)
120B + 10A = 36A + 3B
117B = 26A
B = 26A ÷ 117
Don't forget that A and B can only be integers, and between 0 and 11.
Since 26 x A has to be at least 117, the lowest possible value for A is 5. We can check the remaining possibilities.
5 x 26 = 130
6 x 26 = 156
7 x 26 = 182
8 x 26 = 208
9 x 26 = 234 (*)
10 x 26 = 260
11 x 26 = 286
The only number wholly divisible by 117 is 234, which means that A = 9, and B = 2.
So, I originally asked for 9 feet 2 inches.
Puzzle 208
Jam Making Contest - Logic Puzzles
At the recent interdepartmental jam making contest, four lucky candidates took part to make the juiciest strawberry jam.
As it happens, the person who came last was the oldest.
Glen was three years older than the person who came second.
Drew was neither the oldest nor the youngest.
Emery finished ahead of the 27-year-old, but didn't win.
Alex was also unlucky this time, and didn't win either.
The ages of the contestants were 24, 27, 30 and 32.
Can you work out who finished where, and how old they were?
Puzzle Copyright © Kevin Stone
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Hint
How old was the person in second place?
Answer
# Name Age
1 Drew 30
2 Emery 24
3 Glen 27
4 Alex 32
Reasoning
By (2), because Glen was three years older, the person in 2nd place was either 24 or 27.
But 2nd place can't have been 27, because, by (4), Emery was ahead, but didn't win.
So 2nd place was 24, and Glen was 27.
By (3), Drew could only be 27 or 30, but we now know what Glen was 27, so Drew was 30.
By (1), the person who came last was 32:
1
2 24
3
4 32
By (4), the 27-year-old can't have won,
1 Drew 30
2 24
3 Glen 27
4 32
By (4), Emery beat the 27-year-old:
1 Drew 30
2 Emery 24
3 Glen 27
4 32
Leaving Alex in last place.
1 Drew 30
2 Emery 24
3 Glen 27
4 Alex 32
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