Brain Teasers and Puzzles 

Workings

Answers
James Arthur Victor Englebert Tarzan Jonathan Christopher Alexander Gregory Patrick

Workings

Hint
Cockroaches have 6 feet, mice have 4, and birds have 2. They all have one head!

Answer
35 birds, 5 mice, and 10 cockroaches.

Reasoning
Cockroaches have 6 feet, mice have 4, and birds have 2. They each have one head.

We can write down expressions for the heads and the feet, calling birds B, mice M, and cockroaches C.

Counting the heads:
(1)    B +  M +  C =  50

Counting the feet:
(2)   2B + 4M + 6C = 150

We are told that for every mouse there are two cockroaches so, C = 2M. Update (1) and (2) to give:
(3)    B +  3M =  50
(4)   2B + 16M = 150

If we double (3) we get:
(5)   2B +  6M = 100

We can now do (4) − (5) to give:
 10M = 50
   M = 5

So, we have 5 mice (and 10 cockroaches).

We can use M = 5 in (3) to give:
 B + 3 x 5 = 50
    B + 15 = 50
         B = 35

So, C = 10, M = 5 and B = 35.

Double-Checking
10 cockroaches have 10 heads and 60 feet.
5 mice have 5 heads and 20 feet.
35 birds have 35 heads and 70 feet.

The total number of heads = 10 + 5 + 35 = 50.

The total number of feet = 60 + 20 + 70 = 150.

Workings

Hint
The word begins with the letter C.

Answer
Cat.
lo---e  = locate
edu---e = educate
va---e  = vacate
s---ter = scatter
s---he  = scathe
---er   = cater

Workings

Hint
The items can be eaten.

Answer
Coconut, kumquat, peanut, and nectarine.