In the diagram below, 11 matches make 3 squares:
Your challenge is to move 3 matches to show 2 squares.
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Mrs Mess bought a dress for £5, but when she got home, she decided she really wanted one of the £10 dresses instead. Taking it back to the shop, her conversation with the assistant went like this:
"I've decided to change this dress for a £10 one.""Certainly, Madam, but you'll have to pay the £5 extra."
"I've paid you £5 already, haven't I? And this dress is worth another £5, isn't it? So if I give you this first dress, then I'll have given you £10 altogether."
The assistant agreed, and Mrs Mess left the shop with the £10 dress, although she had only actually paid £5 cash for it. How did she do it?
1) Answer
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Hilda was playing with her building bricks when she made a tower like the one below:
How many bricks did Hilda use altogether?
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At a school fete people were asked to guess how many peas there were in a jar.
No one guessed correctly, but the nearest guesses were 163, 169, 178 and 182.
One of the numbers was one out, one was three out, one was ten out and the other sixteen out.
How many peas were there in the jar?
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That's the end of the peas, but it looks like Hungry Horace heard us talking about food. He's back this week with a quite a ticky little puzzle:
Hungry Horace woke up one morning to find that the only clock in his house had stopped during the night. Horace didn't have a watch, telephone, radio, television or anything else to give him the right time - only a spare battery for his clock. His nearest neighbour lived over two miles away, and the only way to get there was by walking. Horace had no visitors during the day, but later that afternoon, Horace could be found sitting in his kitchen, looking at his clock, which was now working, and showing the right time. How did he do it?
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Tom asked his Gran how old she was. Rather than giving him a straight answer, she replied:
"I have 6 children, and there are 4 years between each one and the next. I had my first child (your Uncle Peter) when I was 19. Now the youngest one (Your Auntie Jane) is 19 herself. That's all I'm telling you!"
How old is Tom's Gran?
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Many people ask what the various National Mathematical Challenges are like. Well, without giving too much away, I can say that if you have decided what is the answer to the question below then you will find the Mathematical Challenges rather easy. Happy puzzling!
What is the answer to this question?
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The addition sum below is a puzzle I've been trying to solve. The idea is that each type of sticker stands for a different number, but that this number is the same wherever that sticker occurs.
So far I've got it to the picture shown in the second diagram. Can you finish it off for me?
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A tea-time jigsaw for you to try this week. Sorry I forgot the biscuits!
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In this week's Puzzle Corner I have decided to write a deeply moving piece of poetry for you. Farmer Factor (who lives, of course, at Fraction Farm) has £100 to spend on 100 tons of feed for his three types of animals (chickens, pigs, cattle). Naturally, each type of animal food is a different price. How does he spend his money? Happy feeding!
Farmer Factor took his tractor to the factory.
He had to buy 100 tons of farmyard grub for tea.
The chicken feed was very dear: a fiver for a ton;
Food for the pigs (£3 per ton) was their idea of fun.
As for the cows, a ton of food would cost just 50p.
How did Farmer spend his £100 on all these three?
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Hungry Horace likes to keep a note of all the recipes he enjoys. Every year he selects his favourites from the list and publishes them in a little booklet. However, every year he has the same problem: How does he arrange the recipes on the big sheet of paper so that they all come together in the right order when the booklet is finished. Perhaps you can help him once and for all.
The diagram shows how to make a booklet of 32 pages by folding a large sheet of paper. If the final booklet (5) is trimmed along three edges it will open properly. How should the original sheet of paper be printed so that all the pages come in the right order, and be the right way up?
1) Answer
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Several people of different ages brought things for the party: Charlie, who's 12, brought the POTATO CRISPS. Wayne brought the FIZZY LEMONADE (he's 13). Helen (11) brought the PAPER PLATES, and her brother Peter (9) brought the PAPER CUPS. Sheila is the same age as Charlie: she brought the PARTY POPPERS. Young Horace brought the PEANUTS: how old is he? Have a great party!
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No. 2: "Mrs Mess And The Dress"
Mrs Mess was pulling a fast one! By returning the dress, she lets the shop keep the £5 she paid for it. Her argument sounds convincing, but in fact she is counting the same £5 twice!
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No. 3: "Hilda The Builder"
While I make no claims to be an expert on perspective drawing (!) the diagram shows the building made of 22 blocks. In fact it is possible to add up to 3 other blocks without affecting the three views.
The jar contained 179 peas. One way to do this is to draw a number line between 163 and 182 and test each number to see if it works. Otherwise take a few guesses until you get it!
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No. 5: "Take Your Time"
Many people thought that the answer was something to do with looking at the sun, but although that will certainly give you some idea of the time, you might easily be one or two hours out! The best "sun" solution was to wait until the sun was at its highest and then put the clock to 12:00.
My solution was for Horace to walk to his friend's house AFTER STARTING HIS CLOCK AT HOME AND NOTING THE TIME IT SAID. He then gets the correct time off his friend (let's say it is 10:15 am) and walks back at the same speed. By looking at the clock in his kitchen he can see how long he was away (say 80 minutes). He therefore works out that the journey home took 40 minutes, so he adds 40 mins to 10:15 and sets the clock at 10:55 am. Done!
Tom's Gran is 58 years old. Let's see why:
First child born Gran is 19 Second child born Gran is 23 (19 + 4) Third child born Gran is 27 (23 + 4) Fourth child born Gran is 31 (27 + 4) Fifth child born Gran is 35 (31 + 4) Sixth child born Gran is 39 (35 + 4) Sixth child is 19 Gran is 58 (39 + 19)
WHAT! Although the clue to many Puzzle Corner puzzles is in the title to the puzzle, it is not often that the answer is there too. But have another look - "What Is The Answer" staring you in the face. Yes, this is an example of a question which answers itself. A good puzzle to try on your friends perhaps.
Look again at the diagram:
The only numbers which haven't ben used so far are the 0, 6, 7, and 9. The first one to work out is the brick wall, which has to be the 7, since none of the others fit, which means the shaded square is the 9, and the completed puzzle is:
8357 + 792 = 9149.
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No. 9: "Time For T"
Farmer Factor spends his money as follows: 5 tons of chicken feed (£25), 11 tons of pig food (£33), and 84 tons of cattle fodder (£42). Total weight: 100 tons. Total price: £100.
[He could also have bought respectively 10 tons, 2 tons, and 88 tons but that didn't seem to be very fair to the pigs!]
No. 11: "Horace's Booklet Puzzle"
Take a careful look at the diagram below:
Probably the easiest way to solve this week's puzzle was to make up the little booklet as indicated, without cutting along the edges. Then number the pages in the normal way before opening up the booklet back to a single sheet again. Try it and see!
No. 12: "The End Of Year Party"
Count the letters!
Stephen Froggatt February 1999