Random Puzzles 

Workings

Hint
Don't look at the first letters.

Answer
Duck.

The second letters of each word are the vowels in alphabetical order, fAwn, bEar, lIon, mOle, dUck.

Workings

Hint
The first change makes SOFT into LOFT.

Answer
SOFT, LOFT, LEFT, LENT, LENS.

Workings

Hint
Try a random number of over 50s to see what happens.

Answer
20,064 apples.

Reasoning
It doesn't matter how old the people are.

As only ³/₄ of the over 50s claimed 16 apples, this averages out to 12 apples each.

Similarly, only ¹/₈ of the under 50s claimed 96 apples, this again averages out to be 12 apples each.

Therefore, the total number of apples was 1,672 x 12 = 20,064.

Workings

Hint
Start by filling the 11 gallon container.

Answer
Here are the contents of the containers after each stage:
A  B
0  11  fill B
7  4   fill A from B
0  4   empty A
4  0   fill A from B
4  11  fill B
7  8   fill A from B
0  8   empty A
7  1   fill A from B
0  1   empty A
1  0   fill A from B
1  11  fill B
7  5   fill A from B
0  5   empty A
5  0   fill A from B
5  11  fill B
7  9   fill A from B
0  9   empty A

This leaves 9 gallons in container B.