Alex and Billie were rowing their canoe along the River Trent.
In the morning, they managed to row upstream at an average speed of 2 miles per hour.
They then stopped for a spot of lunch and a nice rest.
In the afternoon, the pace was a little easier as they were now rowing downstream back to their starting point, and managed an average speed of 4 miles an hour.
The morning trip took them 3 hours longer than the afternoon.
Hint
You can either fix the distance rowed and see what numbers work, or you can fix the number of hours.
Answer
12 miles.
In the morning, rowing at 2 miles per hour, they rowed for 6 hours. In the afternoon, rowing at 4 miles per hour, they rowed for 3 hours.
There are a number of ways of working this out, and here are two of them:
Method 1
If we assume the distance the rowed upstream to be D miles, we know the morning took (D ÷ 2) hours, and the afternoon took (D ÷ 4) hours, with a difference of 3 hours. So:
D D
- – - = 3
2 4
Multiplying throughout by 4 gives:
2D – D = 12
So:
D = 12 miles
They rowed 12 miles upstream.
Method 2
If we assume they rowed for H hours upstream, we know they travelled H x 2 miles in the morning. In the afternoon, they rowed for (H – 3) hours, and travelled (H – 3) x 4 miles. We know these distances are the same, so:
2H = (H – 3) x 4
Giving:
2H = 4H – 12
Rearranging gives:
12 = 2H
So:
H = 6 hours
They rowed for 6 hours upstream at 2 miles per hour, which is a total of 12 miles.
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Puzzle 327
Place letters into the grid such that every row, column, and 2x2 block has letters (in any order) that form a common word. Each letter is only used once, and no letter is repeated in the rows / cols / blocks.
Letters allowed: T U R K E Y
O
C
S
L
D
A
K
B
S
I
Note: this puzzle is not interactive, and the squares cannot be clicked.
Answers
foo + tpr + int = footprint
som + ewh + ere = somewhere
pin + eap + ple = pineapple
tec + hni + que = technique
ref + ere + nce = reference
pro + fes + sor = professor
bio + gra + phy = biography
clo + ckw + ise = clockwise
bar + ome + ter = barometer
