Puzzle 1
Look at the following sentence once, and once only. How many times can you find the letter F?
Furry foxes of far origin often come of age far before scientific study forecasts.
Puzzle Copyright © Kevin Stone
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Answer
There are 10 letter Fs.
Sometimes the F in 'of' aren't always counted.
Puzzle 2
A 'complete' word is a word in which every letter, in turn, can be replaced by another to form a new word.
For example, RUG is a complete word because:
-ug = hug
r-g = rig
ru- = run
How many of the following words are not complete words? Proper nouns and names are not allowed.
hard
port
duck
bugs
bail
mast
thin
lean
fire
read
Puzzle Copyright © Kevin Stone
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Hint
Another example, PEN is a complete word because:
-en = ten
p-n = pin
pe- = pea
Answer
Two of the words are not complete: bugs, lean.
Reasoning
The remaining 8 words can be changed as follows:
hard:
-ard = card
h-rd = herd
ha-d = hand
har- = harp
port:
-ort = fort
p-rt = part
po-t = poet
por- = pore
duck:
-uck = muck
d-ck = deck
du-k = dusk
duc- = duct
bugs:
-ugs = hugs
b-gs = bags
bu-s = buys
bug- = ---- X
bail:
-ail = hail
b-il = boil
ba-l = bawl
bai- = bait
mast:
-ast = cast
m-st = most
ma-t = malt
mas- = mask
thin:
-hin = shin
t-in = twin
th-n = than
thi- = this
lean:
-ean = mean
l-an = loan
le-n = ---- X
lea- = leaf
fire:
-ire = hire
f-re = fare
fi-e = five
fir- = firm
read:
-ead = bead
r-ad = road
re-d = reed
rea- = real
Puzzle 3
Below is a grid which should contain animals. The missing letters for a particular column are listed at the top of that column. Can you 'drop' the missing letters in and complete the grid? Each animal begins with a different letter of the alphabet.
Puzzle Copyright © Kevin Stone
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Hint
The first letter is J.
Answer
Puzzle 4
If a bottle weighs eight ounces plus half a bottle …
… what is the weight of a bottle and a half?
Puzzle Copyright © Kevin Stone
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Hint
Find the weight of the bottle first.
Answer
24 ounces.
The bottle weighs 16 ounces.
Reasoning
As a bottle (B) weighs eight ounces plus half a bottle, we can write this as:
B = 8 + 1 /2 x B
1 /2 x B = 8
B = 16
As the bottle weighs 16 ounces, a bottle and a half weighs 16 + 8 = 24 ounces.
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