Puzzle 633
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.
Puzzle 634
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.
team
cost
flew
ward
fail
rook
soft
most
lamp
load
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
Three of the words are not complete: flew, rook, lamp.
Reasoning
The remaining 7 words can be changed as follows:
team:
-eam = beam
t-am = tram
te-m = term
tea- = tear
cost:
-ost = host
c-st = cast
co-t = coat
cos- = cosy
flew:
-lew = blew
f-ew = ---- X
fl-w = flow
fle- = flex
ward:
-ard = card
w-rd = word
wa-d = wand
war- = warm
fail:
-ail = nail
f-il = foil
fa-l = fall
fai- = fair
rook:
-ook = book
r-ok = ---- X
ro-k = rock
roo- = roof
soft:
-oft = loft
s-ft = sift
so-t = sort
sof- = sofa
most:
-ost = cost
m-st = mast
mo-t = moat
mos- = moss
lamp:
-amp = damp
l-mp = lump
la-p = ---- X
lam- = lamb
Note that LARP is an uppercase acronym, and not in any of my word lists.
load:
-oad = road
l-ad = lead
lo-d = loud
loa- = loaf
Puzzle 635
My first is in bridge, but not in ridge.
My second is in awake, and in mistake.
My third is in danger, but not in ranger.
My fourth is in strange, and in orange.
My fifth is in spline, and in nine.
My last is in river, and in diver.
My whole likes the darkness.
What am I?
Puzzle Copyright © Kevin Stone
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Hint
The first letter can only be B.
Answer
A badger.
Reasoning
My first is in bridge, but not in ridge = B
My second is in awake, and in mistake = A K E
My third is in danger, but not in ranger = D
My fourth is in strange, and in orange = R A N G E
My fifth is in spline, and in nine = I N E
My last is in river, and in diver = R I V E
Puzzle 636
You have a very large number of generic plastic building blocks, each in the shape of a cube.
Think about how many cubes you would need in order to construct a giant cube with 16 small cubes along each edge.
If you were to then remove the outside layer, how many small cubes would you have removed?
Puzzle Copyright © Kevin Stone
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Hint
How large would the smaller cube be?
Answer
1,352 small cubes.
Reasoning
The original large cube with 16 small cubes along each edge would require 16 x 16 x 16 = 4,096 small cubes.
Removing the outside layer would leave a large cube now with 14 small cubes along each edge (which requires 14 x 14 x 14 = 2,744 small cubes).
It isn't 15 small cubes because you're removing both ends of an edge.
Therefore, you have removed 4,096 − 2,744 = 1,352 small cubes.
