September 2012 Logic & Maths Puzzles
1. LESTERS WE FORGET
Four lesser-known kings of Quirkania were named Lester. Each had a nickname; and each is vaguely remembered for introducing something to the country that was previously unknown.
i. Lester The Sad reigned before the introduction of taxation, but after the wearing of bicycle clips became mandatory.
ii. Lester IV was either “The Weird”, or the one who introduced ukeleles to the national orchestra, or both.
iii. Lester The Dull was neither the first nor the last Lester to reign.
iv. Lester The Fat didn’t introduce bicycle clips.
v. The one who introduced Yo Yos to court wasn’t Lester the Sad.
Who introduced Yo Yos to court, and what was his nickname?
This grid might help. (click to enlarge & download)
2. KWIK KOMPARISON (1)
3. EGGSACTLY RIGHT
I have a number of eggs. If I try to arrange them in threes, I have one egg left over. If I try to arrange them in fives, I have two eggs left over. If I try to arrange them in sevens, I have three eggs left over.
What is the minimum number of eggs that I must therefore have?
4. FOUR SQUARE
Four of the five shapes below can be pieced together to form a square.
Which is odd one out?
5. KWIK KOMPARISON (2)
6. NO BULL
A darts player scores 83 with three darts hitting a treble, a double and a single (no bulls). Given that the three numbers that he hits add up to 36 and the difference between the largest and smallest numbers is 16, can you work out how his score was made up?
7. IS THIS LOGICAL?
IF the following statements are true:
No men who like movies play scrabble.
All men who use a deodorant play scrabble.
Then is this statement True or False?
No men who use a deodorant like movies.
8. TUNNEL VISION
A man needs to go through a train tunnel. He starts through the tunnel and when he gets 1/4 the way through the tunnel, he hears the train whistle behind him.
*You don’t know how far away the train is from the tunnel.,
*You don’t know how fast the train is going.
*You don’t know how fast the man can run.
All you know is that:
*If the man turns around and runs back the way he came, he will just barely make it out of the tunnel alive before the train hits him.
*If the man keeps running through the tunnel, he will also just barely make it out of the tunnel alive before the train hits him.
Assume the man runs at the same speed whether he goes back to the start or continues on through the tunnel. Also assume that he accelerates to his top speed instantaneously. Assume the train misses him by an infinitesimal amount and all those other reasonable assumptions that go along with puzzles like this!
How fast is the train going compared to the man?
9. HAPPY BIRTHDAYS
Daniel, my son, is exactly one fifth of my age. In 21 years time, I will be exactly twice his age. My wife is exactly seven times older than our daughter, Jessica.
In 8 years time, my wife will be three times older than Jessica.
When we first met, (on our mutual birthday) my wife’s age was 72% of mine.
How many years ago was that?
10. COMPLICATED COMPETITION
Five teams in a competition play each other twice.
The top two teams then play best of seven for the premiership.
What is the minimum number of games required to get a winner?