Documentos de Académico
Documentos de Profesional
Documentos de Cultura
Puzzles Galore
A Collection of Mathematical
and Logic Puzzles
All the hats happen to be red, so all the men raise a hand. Several minutes
elapse until Colin, who is more astute than the others, leaves the room. How did he
deduce the colour of his hat?
• Short circuit the wires at either end by twisting the ends together in any manner he
chooses.
The Solutions
• Test for continuity of a closed circuit by means of a “continuity tester”, consisting
of a battery and a bell. The bell rings when the instrument is connected to two
ends of a continuous unbroken circuit.
Not wishing to exhaust himself with needless stair climbing and having a
passionate interest in operations research, the electrician sat down on the top floor
with a paper and pencil and soon devised the most efficient method of labelling the
wires. What was his method?
Note: This problem is a lot easier that it at first appears, yielding readily to a
few elementary insights.
Spider
12 m
Fly
12 m
D F
B
E C
AB is a wall at right angles to the ground BC. DFEB is a square box 4 feet on
a side. AFC is a ladder 20 feet long whose extreme ends touch the wall and the
ground, and whose length rests on the corner of the box. How far up the wall does the
ladder reach? (i.e. What is the length of AB?)
Figure 2
The Solutions
The only move allowed consists of sliding a pair of touching coins, which
must be one twenty-cent coin and one ten-cent coin, from one point on the imaginary
base line (which of course is the same in both drawings) to another. The coins must
remain in contact throughout the move and may not be rotated during the move to
reverse the order of the coins moved. Gaps are allowed at the end of every move
except the last.
Imagine that you have three boxes, one containing two black marbles, one
containing two white marbles, and one containing one black marble and one white
marble together. The boxes are labelled according to their contents BB, WW, and
BW. But someone has switched the lids so that each box is incorrectly labelled. You
are allowed to take one marble out of one box of your choosing, and by noting the
colour of this marble, you can tell the contents of each of the three boxes. Which box
must you draw the marble from and why?
ENCLOSURE
On taking charge of Conundra Zoo, the new curator was disturbed to find that,
by some mischance, the animals were all accommodated in the wrong cages. A
notice above each cage indicated where each animal should be, but the Tiger was in
the Lion’s cage; the Gorilla in the Rhino’s; the Rhino in the Bear’s; the Lion in the
Gorilla’s; and the Bear in the Tiger’s.
He ordered the keeper to move the animals immediately into their proper
cages, but, since they were all ferocious beasts, it was unthinkable that any two
should be allowed to occupy the same cage at the same time. What is the least
The Solutions
number of moves the keeper would have to make in order to carry out the curator’s
instructions and in what sequence would he have to move the beasts?
5 6
8 9
10 11 12 13
14
15 16
ACROSS DOWN
1. Area in square yards of Dog’s Mead. 1. The value in shillings per acre of
5. Age of Farmer Dunk’s daughter, Dog’s Mead.
Martha. 2. The square of Mrs. Grooby’s (Farmer
6. Difference in yards between the Dunk’s mother-in-law’s) age.
length 3. Age of Mary (see 11 Across).
and breath of Dog’s Mead. 4. Value of Dog’s Mead in pounds
7. Number of roods in Dog’s Mead sterling.
multiplied by 9 Down. 6. The age of Farmer Dunk’s first-born,
8. Date (A.D.) when the Dunk family Ted, who will be twice as old as
originally bought Little Pigley. Mary
10. Farmer Dunk’s age. next year.
11. The year of birth of Mary, Farmer 7. The square of the number of yards in
Dunk’s youngest. the breadth of Dog’s Mead.
14. The perimeter in yards of Dog’s 8. The number of minutes Farmer Dunk
Mead. takes to walk one and a third
15. The cube of Farmer Dunk’s walking times
speed in miles per hour. around Dog’s Mead.
16. 15 Across minus 9 Down. 9. See 10 Down.
10. 10 Across times 9 Down.
12. One more than the sum of the digits
in the row marked by the arrows.
13. The length of tenure in years of Little
Pigley by the Dunk family.
5 6 7
8 9
10
11 12
13 14
15 16 17 18
19 20
ACROSS DOWN
1. The ninth wicket fell at this total. 1. 5 Across times 2.
3. The third wicket fell at this total. 2. The eighth wicket fell at this total.
5. The number of extras in the innings. 3. The seventh wicket fell at this total.
7. An odd number. 4. 5 Across times 8.
8. The square of the total at which the 6. The same as 11 Across.
third wicket fell. 7. The sixth wicket fell at this total.
10. The second wicket fell at this total. 9. The square of the total at which the
11. The fourth wicket fell at this total. fifth wicket fell.
13. The square of 10 Across. 11. This was the score after the fourth
16. Half of 17 Across. wicket partnership had put on 26
17. The first wicket fell at this total. runs.
19. The same as 10 Across. 12. One greater than 10 Across.
20. 3 Down reversed. 13. The same as 10 Across.
14. Eight times 10 Across.
15. The same as 5 Across.
18. Only three partnerships put on more
than this number of runs.
The Solutions
2 3
4 5 6
Figure 1 Figure 2
With how many chickens and how many ducks did this woman start?
The Solutions
Stile
Cottage
House
Well
The Solutions
The farmhouse was situated at one corner of the smaller square paddock
which paddock also had at its corners a well, an empty cottage and a stile.
Each morning, young Tom the farmer’s son kept himself in training by
running from the house to the stile and back again. On one occasion he started off
from the house, just as Farmer Root left the house to visit the cottage, walking by way
of the well. On his way back from the stile Tom suddenly remembered the cottage
key which his father had forgotten. On reaching the house therefore, instead of
stopping, Tom continued to run following the same path that his father had taken. He
caught up with his father, handed him the key and doubled back the way he had
come.
Tom arrived back at the house at exactly the same time that his father reached
the cottage. Assuming that Tom ran and his father walked at separate constant speeds
all the time and that no time was lost, either in Tom’s turning at the stile or in his
handing over the key, how far had Tom run altogether?
C B D E F G
A
Two trains find themselves in the above predicament. On a single line track, a train
of three carriages and a train of four carriages meet. There is a siding as shown which
will only hold one engine or one carriage. How do the two trains pass each other in
the least number of moves?
The Solutions
B Engine
Engine
Now that the black pawns have revolted and overthrown their aristocratic
court, they face the question of land distribution. Justice demands that their half of
the board should be distributed among the pawnatariat in such a way that each pawn
receives a plot containing the same number of squares and of exactly the same shape
as all the others. But a serious problem has arisen. No pawn is prepared to move
from the square it at present occupies. How did they divide their land?
The Solutions
53. Squarizona
Squarizona is one of those American States whose
2 boundaries ignore such things as mountains and rivers. In
1
fact it is an exact square, 95 miles by 95 miles, and has six
neighbours. Somewhere in there is the State Gaol and in it a
6 3 mass breakout of long-term prisoners is being hatched. Its
leader has been told by an indiscreet warder that it is an exact
5 4 whole number of miles from the gaol to the nearest part of
the six neighbouring States.
Can you tell the escapees how far it is to the nearest State boundary?
Amazing, isn’t it, how it always seems to be the very thing one is seeking that
has managed to get itself lost or mislaid? It was something of this sort that Henshaw
The Solutions
found so frustrating when planning to fly from Mhynnis to Powah during his recent
holiday in New Anglia. He had torn off an uninteresting corner of his travel brochure
for the purpose of lighting his pipe, only to discover later that he had thereby
destroyed the one part of the air-mileage table (printed on the other side) that he
really wanted.
Now, sheer hard mental slog has no appeal for Henshaw, so that he was
pleased to notice that the table contained certain peculiarities which enabled him to
calculate the distance from Mhynnis to Powah with a minimum of effort. What is
that distance?
Figure 1 Figure 2
PLAN FRONT ELEVATION
The plan and front elevation of a certain object are shown in Figure 1 and
Figure 2 respectively. Draw the side elevation.
There is a terrace of five houses, each of a different color, and inhabited by men of
different nationalities, with different pets, and preferences for different drinks and
cigarettes. The Englishman lives in the red house. The Spaniard owns the dog.
Coffee is drunk in the green house. The Ukranian drinks tea. The green house is
immediately to the right (your right) of the ivory house. The Old Gold smoker owns
snails. Kools are smoked in the yellow house. Milk is drunk in the middle house.
The Norwegian lives in the first house on the left. The man who smokes
Chesterfields lives in the house next to the man who owns the fox. Kools are smoked
in the house next to the house where the horse is kept. The Lucky Strike smoker
The Solutions
drinks orange juice. The Japanese smokes Parliaments. The Norwegian lives next to
the blue house. The problem is, who drinks water and who owns the zebra?
E E O P P P
O O P P
E O E O P P P P
E O O _ P P P P__
O O O O O P P P P P
In the multiplication problem at the left, each E stands for an even digit (zero
is even) and each O stands for an odd digit. The fact that every even digit is
represented by E does not mean, of course, that all the even digits are the same. For
example, one E may stand for 2, another for 4 and so on.
In the multiplication problem at the right, each P stands for a prime digit (2, 3,
5 or 7) (Joseph Ellis Trevor, Cornell University)
Jokers
A magician places five cards in a row as shown above. All card backs are
either black or red. “Are all the cards with red backs Jokers?” he asks.
The problem is not to answer the question but to determine the minimum
number of cards which must be turned over in order to answer it. In other words,
assuming all possible variations of the hidden card sides (each Joker may have a red
or black back, the card with the visible red back may or may not be a joker and so
on), how many cards must you turn over before you can answer the question: “Are all
the cards with red backs Jokers?”
It is a confusing problem and one that calls for careful reasoning. There is a
surprise in the solution which is closely related to an old joke about three professors
on a train in Scotland. Through the window they see a black sheep.
The Solutions
“How interesting,” says the astronomer. “All sheep in Scotland are black.”
“A totally unwarranted inference,” the physicist replies. “We can conclude
only that some sheep in Scotland are black.”
“Correction,” says the logician. “At least one sheep in Scotland is black on at
least one side.”
The Solutions
1. The Flight Around The World
Three aeroplanes are sufficient to ensure the flight of one of them around the world. There are
many ways in which this may be done, but the following seems to be the most efficient.
Planes A and B and C take off together. After going one-eighth of the way, C transfers ¼ tank
to A and ¼ tank to B. This gives A and B full tanks and leaves C with a ¼ tank sufficient just to get
back to base.
Planes A and B continue a further one-eighth of the way when B transfers ¼ tank to A. B now
has ½ tank left, sufficient just to get back to base.
Plane A meanwhile, with a full tank continues until he runs out of fuel ¼ way from base (¾
way round the world). Here A is met by C which has been refuelled at base. C transfers ¼ tank to A
and both planes head for home.
A and C run out of fuel one-eighth way from base where they are met by refuelled plane B. B
transfers ¼ tank to A and ¼ tank to C and the three planes then have just enough fuel to reach base with
empty tanks.
n - 50 125 - n
=
50 25
Case 1 The car backs up. It requires 2t seconds, meanwhile the truck proceeds. It needs 4t seconds
to finish the journey across the bridge so the car has to wait 2t seconds until it can start across again. It
requires 1½t seconds to drive over the bridge. Thus 5½t seconds are required for the operation.
Case 2 The truck backs up. It requires 4t seconds. Simultaneously the car proceeds though only with
one-eighth its speed because of the truck’s snail pace. They arrive at the end of the bridge together,
then the truck drives over the bridge which takes 6t seconds. Thus in this case 10t seconds are need to
complete the operation.
Since both boats are moving at a constant speed for the same period of time, it follows that each boat
has gone three times as far as when they first met (after they had travelled a combined distance of one
river’s width). Since the white boat, (slow boat), had travelled 720 metres before the first meeting, its
total distance at the time of the second meeting must be 3 x 720 or 2160 metres. This is 400 metres
more than the width of the river, so we must subtract 400 from 2160 to obtain 1760 metres as the width
of the river.
To weight two grams, the 3-gram weight is put on one pan and the 1-gram weight on the other, making
a difference of two grams.
The Solutions
To weight five grams, the 9-gram weight is put on one pan and the and the 3-gram weight and the 1-
gram weight are put on the other, making a difference of five grams.
By using this method of adding and subtracting weights, the four weights will weigh any number of
whole grams from one to forty grams inclusive.
Back on the top floor, he removed all the shorts but left the pairs twisted together at insulated portions
so that the pairs were still identifiable. He then checked for continuity between the free wire, which he
knew to be the upper end of F and some other wire. When he found the other wire he was at once able
to label it E2 and identify its mate as E1. He next tested for contintuity between E1 and another end
which when found could be marked D2 and its mate D1. Continuing in this fashion, the remaining ends
were easily identified.
Mary is 5x or 27½ years old whilst Ann is 3x or 16½ years old. Easy isn’t it?
The minimum number of crossings is nine with three crossings per child. Note that if C and E have only
one crossing each, the total number of crossings is reduced from nine to seven.
The Solutions
R T A M L O J E
1 2 9 7 6 1 0 5 3
2 2 9 7 6 0 1 4 3
3 2 9 7 6 0 1 5 4
4 2 9 6 5 4 8 7 3
5 2 4 7 6 3 9 0 8
6 6 7 3 2 0 5 9 8
7 6 7 3 2 4 1 5 0
When the divisor is multiplied by the quotient’s last digit, the produxt is a four-digit number. But we
see that 8 times the divisor is a three-digit number. So the quotient’s last digit must be nine.
The divisor must be less than 125 because 8 125 = 1000, a four-digit number.
We can now deduce that the quotient’s first digit must be more than 7, for 7 times a divisor less than
125 would give a product which would be more than 100 less than 1000, the lowest four-digit number,
and therefore would give a difference of more than 100 (a three digit number) when subtracted from the
first four digits of the dividend, instead of the two-digit difference it does, in fact, give.
The first digit of the quotient cannot be nine because nine times the divisor is a four figure number, so it
must be 8. This makes the full quotient 80809.
The divisor must be more than 123 because 123 80809 is a seven-digit number and our dividend has
eight digits. Therefore it must be 124.
For every cow bought, we have spent $4 more than we need to, to make the number of cows bought
equal to dollars spent. For every pig bought, we have spent 95 cents less than necessary to make the
number of pigs bought equal to the number of dollars spent.
Thus if we buy cows and pigs in the inverse ratio of this excess and insufficiency, (i.e. 19 cows for every
80 pigs) the number of animals bought will be equal to the number of dollars spent.
But 80 + 19 = 99 so we can only buy one such balanced set for under $100. The other $1 can be used
to buy a sheep. Therefore the farmer bought 19 cows, 1 sheep and 80 pigs.
The Solutions
There are numerous solutions to this problem. The solution given here is just one of them to prove to
those who gave up that it is possible. The numbers indicate the order of the moves starting at 1 and
finishing at 36. Note that the solution given here is a circular tour where the knight finishes on a cell
exactly a knight’s move from where it started.
The numbers show the 63 moves in numerical order. There are many more solutions to this problem.
The solution shown here is a circular tour where the knight finishes on a cell exactly a knight’s move
away from where it started.
Ceiling Spider
40m
24m
32m
Fly
Floor
The Solutions
The easiest way to solve this puzzle is to imagine the room as a carboard box and to open it out flat as
shown in the diagram above. The shortest walking path for the fly to be reached is exactly 40 metres.
The spider crawls along the straight dotted line labelled 40m in the diagram of the unfolded room above.
Therefore: n - 50 = n - 75
50 25
From this equation, n is readily deduced as 100. Therefore the escalator had 100 steps.
a = 4 or ab = 16...............................................................................................(1)
4 b
AB = a + 4 BC = b + 4.
Substituting in (2):
a2 + b2 + 8(a + b) + 2ab = 400...........................................................................(3)
From (1) b = 16
a
Substituting in (4):
a + 16 + 4 = 416
a
By using the formula for solution of quadratic equations, a is found to be 15.36 metres or 1.04 metres.
This makes AB = 19.36 metres or 5.04 metres.
The Solutions
A B C D E Figure 1
A C E D B Figure 2
1. Move C and D to the right leaving room for another 20c and another 10c between E and C.
2. Move A and B to the right so that A touches D.
3. Move D and A into the gap between E and C.
4. Move E and D into the gap between C and B.
So if we choose the box marked BW and draw one marble from it without looking inside, we can tell by
the colour of this marble whether two black marbles or two white marbles are in this box. If it is (say)
black, the box marked BW must contain two black marbles. The box marked WW we know cannot
contain two white marbles because it is incorrectly labelled. We know also that it cannot contain two
black marbles because we have already identified this box. Therefore the box marked WW must contain
one black marble and one white marble. Therefore the BB box contains two white marbles.
Similar reasoning will give us the contents of the boxes if the marble drawn from the BW box is white.
If there had been only one way to do this, he would have immediately solved the problem. Since he
needed more information, we conclude that he must have found more than one way of factorising the
house number. Our next step is to write down all possible combinations of four different numbers
which totla less than 18, and obtain the products of each group. We find there are many cases where
more than one combination gives the same product. How do we decide which product is the house
number? The clue lies in the fact that Jones asked if there was more than one child in the smallest
family. The question is meaningful only if the house number is 120 which can be factorised as
1 3 5 8; 1 4 5 6; 2 3 4 5. Had Smith answered “No”, the problem would remain
unsolved. Since Jones did solve it, we know the answer to be “Yes”. The families therefore contained
2, 3, 4 and 5 children.
J
K, J
A, K, Q, J, 7, 2
K, J, 7, 2
The cube is constructed from two blocks of wood with dovetails running at
forty-five degrees to the faces of the block. The two pieces just slide
together along the line of the dovetails.
The Solutions
35. The Twelve Matches
Figure 1 Figure 2
Twelve matches can be used to form a right triangle with sides of 3, 4 and 5 units as shown in Figure 1.
This triangle has an area of 6 square units. By altering the position of three matches as shown in Figure
2, we remove two square units leaving a polygon with an area of exactly FOUR square units. Who said
anything about the figure having to be a regular polygon?
3 8 7 2 0 1
5 3 2 4 4
5 9 3 5 2
1 6 1 0
7 2 1 9 1 3
9 7 9 2
2 7 1 6 5
The two clues having four-figure year numbers (8 Across and 11 Across) must begin with a 1 and so 8
Down ends with the same number that starts 15 Across (see 10 Down). 15 Across must either be 27 or
64 and we see that if Farmer Dunk’s walking speed is 4 miles-per-hour he must take 16 minutes to walk
one-and-a-third times round Dog’s Mead. This would make the perimeter 1408 yards which is
The Solutions
impossible as 14 Across has only three digits. Farmer Dunk’s walking speed must therefore be 3 miles-
per-hour and we can fill in 15 Across as 27; 8 Down as 12; 9 Down as 11; 14 Across as 792; 16 Across
as 16.
The sum of the numbers in the row indicated by the arrows cannot be 29 and therefore 12 Down must
be 19. The most difficult step now is to find a square number of 5 digits ending in 796, and bearing in
mind that the difference in length and breadth of Dog’s Mead is a 2-digit number. The only possible
solution is 1762 = 30976. The length follows as 220 yards and the rest of the puzzle fits into place.
There is slight ambiguity about Farmer Dunk’s age, but since he has a son of 45 it seems fairly certain
that his age is 72.
2 1 8 2 1 2 1 2 8
2 1 1 1 8 2 1 1 1 9 8
1 6 3 8 4
1 1 2 3
7
1 1 1 6 1
1 9 1 5 1 2 9
1 1 2 4 4 8 3
1 1 1 2 3 4 9 1
Figure 1 Figure 2
Considering 13 Across together with 13 Down, we see that each of these numbers must begin with a 1;
so that 19 Across also starts with 1 and the number of extras (15 Down) must be 11, since 8 times this
(4 Down) is two digits only. Since the third wicket put on five runs only, and 3 Across ends with 8, it
must begin with 1.
Therefore, every wicket up to and including the seventh, (3 Down) fell at a total smaller than 200. 14
Down begins with 8 or 9 and since it is not possible for a square (13 Across) to end with an 8, this can
be eliminated. The square can now be partially completed as in Figure 1.
Since 8 times 19 Across is less than 1000, and since its square ends with 9, the only possiblities are: 113,
117, 123 and the only one of these which will fit with 12 Down is 123; and 1232 = 15129. We know
now that the third wicket fell at 128 and filling in as much of the puzzle as this information allows us to
do, we discover from 6 Down that the fourth wicket fell at 161, and from 7 Down that the sixth wicket
fell at 183. 11 Down is therefore 154 which gives (16 Across) that the first wicket fell at 48.
It follows from 2 Down that the eighth wicket was taken at 211 and from 1 Across, the ninth fell at 212.
Since 7 Across is an odd number, the seventh wicket (3 Down) must have fallen at 194 and it only
remains to find a number whose square is a number of five digits beginning with 32 and ending with 61.
This can only be 181 whose square is 32761. The remaining clue is 18 Down and from our complete
score card we see this must be 31.
Since Beethoven and Mozart were never played in the same concert, one of these must always have
been excluded. Consequently every concert must have included Brahms, Chopin and Liszt and (because
of the inclusion of Brahms) Liszt must have started each concert. Then, if Beethoven were omitted,
since in such cases Mozart must have been followed immediately by Chopin, these two composers can
fill only (a) second and third or (b) third and fourth places respectively. And since Brahms must fill the
other place, these are the only two alternatives in a non-Beethoven concert.
Similarly, if Mozart were omitted (Brahms consequently finishing the programme), Beethoven and
Chopin can fill only (c) second and third or (d) third and second places respectively. Only four
arrangements are therefore possible and three of these viz. (a), (c) and (d) result in Brahms finishing the
concert. These three cases must therefore have accounted for Calculari’s first three concerts. (b) must
have been his last concert.
Let x be the number of times the ducks multiply, then 3x will be the number of times chickens multiply.
So now, a year later, she has:
So x = 5, 7, 25 or 35.
Let the number of hens be h; the number of ducks d; the number of geese g.
The Solutions
When x = 3 2h + d = 20
h= 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
d = 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16
g = 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 -1 -2
The only combination which gives hens more than ducks and ducks more than geese as stipulated by the
original problem, is th third set.
This is the unique solution required. Originally there were 7 hens, 6 ducks and 4 geese.
Each pair of opposite numbers on the disk totals 5. Each pair of opposite boys must have therefore
scored a total of five each spin, or 25 for all 5 spins. No more, no less! If Arthur finished with the
highest total, then it follows that David finished with the lowest.
The lowest scorer, David, could not have made more than 11 for, had he scored 12, Arthur would have
scored only 13 and could not possibly have been the clear winner. The disposal of the numbers on the
disk is such that David could have taken the lead on the second spin only by obtaining a 5 giving him a
progressive total of 9. Then since 11 is his possible maximum, at least one of the remaining spins must
have resulted in a 0. Three spins have therefore been uniquely determined, for which A = 6; B = 7; C =
10; D = 9; E = 8; F = 5. For the remaining two spins, David’s scores could be: 0-0; 0-1; 1-1 or 2-0.
But the first and last of these would result in Arthur tying with someone else instead of winning. Again
1-1 for David would give two 5s to Frank making Frank the winner. In the remaining two spins David
therefore scored 0-1.
All five positions of the disk are now uniquely determined. From these positions the score for each
player may simply be added up.
D = ½(D + M) or D = D+M
M ½(D - M ) M DM
This means that D2 - 2DM M2. Complete the square by adding M2 to both sides.
D = (22 - 2)(2 + 1)
17 5 13 21 9
4 12 25 8 16
11 24 7 20 3
10 18 1 14 22
23 6 19 2 15
This is the swastika square the leader’s men finally came up with - 5 by 5 with all lines adding up to 65,
and all prime numbers within the swastika shape.
If 9 and 10 do not balance, 11 must be perfect and we know whether the odd one is heavy or light from
(A). The actual coin may now be located from (B).
If the first weighing of 1, 2, 3, 4 against 5, 6, 7, 8 does not balance, we know 9, 10, 11 and 12 are
perfect. Note which side is heavier.............................................................................................(C)
Weigh 3 against 4 if they balance, 8 is the odd one and is light or heavy according to (C). If 3 and 4 do
not balance, then 8 is perfect and the odd one, and whether it is heavier or lighter can be determined
from (C).
If 1, 9, 5 against 6, 7, 2 do not balance, note which is heavier and compare with (C). Depending on this
result, we either weigh 5 against 2 or 6 against 7.
Alternative Solution
Another example, suppose BOND and SLAB are heavy and SPOT against HEAD balances. We must
find a common letter between heavy BOND and SLAB or between light PELT and PIED which does
not appear anywhere else. B is common between BOND and SLAB and P, E are common between
PELT and PIED. P appears in SPOT which balances, so it cannot be P. E appears in HEAD which
balances, so it cannot be E. B satisfies the conditions, so the odd coin is B and, as it is on the heavy side
of the weighings, it is heavy.
Another example, Suppose SLAB is light and SPOT against HEAD and PELT against BOND both
balance. Here we must find a letter amongst SLAB and PIED which does not appear anywhere else.
The only letter of the eight which does not appear in either of the two balanced weighings, is I. The odd
coin is therefore I, and it is heavy as it is on the heavy side of its weighing.
A final example. Suppose all three weighings do not balance. PIED, HEAD and PELT are all heavy.
Here we must find a letter which appears in all three of PIED, HEAD and PELT or all three of SLAB,
SPOT and BOND. The only letter to fit the bill is E, so E is the odd coin and it is heavy as it appears on
the heavy sides of all three weighings.
53. Squarizona
1 2
The problem here is to find two right-angled
91 35 triangles one side of one triangle and a side of the
other triangle total 95 in two different instances (see
84 11 the diagram opposite). The shortest distance to the
nearest boundary was 11 miles.
3
6 60
61
95
5 4
If the lengths of the sides are x feet and y feet, the perimeter will contain 2(x + y) stakes, and this will
equal the area in square yards which is xy/9, from which x = 18y/(y - 18) = 324/(y - 18) + 18. For 324 to
be divisible by (y - 18), y (or x) must equal 19, 20, 21, 22, 24, 27, 30 or 36. The last would give
dimensions of 36 by 36 making it a square, whereas the pen is not a square. Nevertheless, the pen’s
area must be a square number because it is the same as the first pen which is a square. The only other
value making xy a square is x = 20.
P 1296 A 225 F
27 - 4x = 9 - x + x
18 18 3
which yields x = 2.
Therefore the first man has to dismount after a ride of seven miles. The motorcyclist returns and meets
the second man at a point 2 miles from the start. The whole journey will take 1 hour and 3-and-a-third
minutes.
Or 20 - 5t = 5 - t
or 4t = 15
Therefore t = 3¾ hours.
8x - 20 = 9x - 75
or x = 55
The tank will be empty at the end of 55 hours if three of the drainpipes are open and the remainder
closed.
This equals 7 / 120. Therefore at this rate it will take 120 / 7 hours to fill the tank or 60 / 7 hours to half
fill it.
The Solutions
When the drainpipe is closed, the rate then increases to 1 / 10 + 1/ 8 per hour.
This equals 27 / 120. Therefore it would take 120 / 27 hours to fill the tank at this rate or 60 / 27 hours
to half fill it.
Therefore, in one hour, with both taps running and the drainpipe open, they will fill:
1 + 2 - 4/3 = 5 / 3 baths.
If the road does not lead to the village, the liar would say “No” to the direct question; but as the
question is put, he lies and and says he would reply “Yes”. Thus the logician can be certain that the
road does lead to the village, whether the respondant is a truth-teller or a liar. If the road does actually
not go to the village, the liar is forced in the same way to answer “No” to the question.
2
The Solutions
H
E D
5 4
x 2x 2y y
C Q1 PM Q2 P
Draw a diagram as above and mark on it the information as stated in the problem. Q1 is the point where
Mrs. Smith wasked her first question. If they had travelled x miles at this point, from Mr. Smith’s reply
it must be 2x miles from here to Patricia Murphy’s. Q2 is the point where Mrs. Smith asked her second
question. If they has travelled 2y miles from Patricia Murphy’s, then from Mr. Smith’s reply, it must be
y miles to their destination in the state of Pennsylvania. Now we are told that the distance travelled
between questions was 200 miles. Therefore we arrive at the equation
2x + 2y = 200 or x + y = 100.
The total distance travelled is x + y + 200 miles or 100 + 200 = 300 miles.
755 x 3 = 2325
555 x 5 = 2775
755 x 5 = 3775
325 x 7 = 2275
No three-digit number has more than one multiplier, therefore the multiplier in the problem must consist
of two identical digits. Thus there are only four possibilities that need to be tested.
8 2 K Q J 10 9 A 7 6 5 4 3
9, 10 and J must be paired with 7, 6, and 5. This establishes 6 pairings. Since the 6s have been used, the
3 pairs only with the K. Since the 5s have been used, the 4 pairs only with the Q. The remaining 3 gaps
are filled in only one way, proving the uniqueness of the solution.
72. Jokers
Letter the five cards from A through E.
Obviously D must be turned to see if it is a Joker, and E must be turned to see if it has a red back.. This
gives us the possiblities:
For cases 2, 3 and 4, the answer to the question: “Are all the cards with red backs Jokers?” is ‘No’. No
more cards need to be turned. For case 1, the answer is ‘Yes’, but it takes more thinking to realise that
turning the other three cards cannot contradict this answer.
B is irrelevant because it has a black back. Seeing the back of either Joker is also irrelevant. If a Joker’s
back is black, it is not involved in the question. If it is red, the answer is still ‘Yes’. Most people staring
at an actual row of cards have such an overwhelming desire to see the backs of the Jokers that they
usually answer A, C, D, E.
One might conclude, therefore, that turning D and E is sufficient to answer the question. It is not! Recall
the story about the cautious logician who observed a black sheep in Scotland and concluded that at least
one sheep in Scotland is black on at least one side. What about card B? Nowhere in the original problem
was it stated that the five cards were normal playing cards! When someone thinks he has solved the
problem, the magician turns over card B that its other side is a red back! This of course contradicts a
‘Yes’ answer. The correct solution, therefore, is that card B as well as cards D and E must be turned.