Mind Benders

HALLOUMI GAZPACHO TIRAMIZU
Blimey, took me ages to decipher that.
I may be wrong of course!!!!!

Well done with the words Ray.The logic on the clock I hope you have worked out is that showing 17.15 the clock was already 45 minutes slow

Myg, it was a little late, so I missed your post last night.
I wish I could understand how the answer to the clock problem was achieved, but I can’t.
If you divide 45 minutes by 2.5 (the number of minutes lost per hour) you get 18.
That would make the final time + 1 hour 17-00 as you say.
But, the final time displayed was 17-15, my figures show that over this period the clock would lose 43m 7.5s.
I don’t know where the 45 minutes comes from.

At real time 18.00 the faulty clock had been running for 18 hours and had lost 18x 2.5 =45 mins when it stopped showing 17.15.
At 17.15 it would have shown 17.15 minus your 43 mins 7.5 sec or 16.31 with no seconds display.

Thanks for the explanation myg, which I fully understand.
It seems logic failed me.
I was working before the 17-15 time, when I should’ve been working back from a future time.
Well done you.

A family have been stuck in bank holiday traffic for the last four hours.

In the first hour they covered two fifths of their total journey.

The next hour they covered one third of what was left.

The following hour they covered one quarter of the remainder,

and in the fourth hour half of the remaining distance.

The family still have 20 miles left to travel.

How many miles have they travelled so far?

Let D = total journey

First hour dist trav = 2/5 D

Second hour dist trav = 1/3 x 3/5 D = 1/5 D

Third hour dist trav = ¼ x 2/5 D = 1/10 D

Fourth hour dist trav = ½ x 3/10 D = 3/20 D

Total dist trav from first 4 equations = 8/20 D + 4/20 D +2/20 D + 3/20 D = 17/20 D

Total dist D = 17/20 D + 20

3/20 D = 20

Total journey D = 133.33

Dist travelled = 113.33 miles.

I would never have got it if I didn't have the answer in front of me. Well done RMJ

Calculate the numbers in the order shown, do not change the order of the numbers.

Replace each question mark with a mathematical sign.

Plus, minus, multiply and divide can each be used once only.

What are the highest and lowest numbers you can possibly score?

3 ? 5 ? 8 ? 5 ? 6 =

lowest number = 0


3 plus 5 divided by 8 plus 5 minus 6 = 0

Sorry gassey no

Of the 24 permutations and assuming a calculator is used to follow the steps in order then I get a difference of 68 between highest and lowest.If accepted arithmetical steps should be followed there is a bigger difference.

This is mensa's answer

37 using divide, plus, multiply and minus. Minus 31 using divide, minus, multiply and plus.

Yes,the easy answer using the calculator steps.

I got twelvety.

n a town a number of men and women are entitled to a tax rebate.

One third of all the men in the town receive £12

and one quarter of all the women receive £16.

If £35,824 is distributed in total,

what is the population of the town?

I'm on it, but as usual getting bogged down with the algebra!!!!!!!LOL

There are two unknowns, always a problem.

I know that I need to express one of the unknowns in terms of the other,

and that's where I'm struggling.

Maybe MYG will help RMJ

The answer does not require knowing how many men and women separately just the total.
Algebra:
no.of men=m no. of women=w
mx12/3 +wx16/4= 35824
4(m+w)=35824
m+w=8956=population discounting any children

Cheers myg, very well done.
It seems my maths always lets me down.
I like the way that you had the males and females collectively, whereas I was trying to solve them as separate entities.
I think my first equation is pretty much what you got.

Here’s how far I got:-

Let M = number of men.
Let F = number of females.

(1/3M x 12) + (1/4F x 16) = 35,824

(1/3M x 12) = 35,824 - (1/4F x 16)

Multiply each side by 3

M x 36 = 107472 - (3/4F x 48)

That’s when I got bogged down!!!!!!

You just beat me to it, myg.

In a doctors' surgery the first 15 patients were only in the consulting room for an average of three minutes each.

After a further 30 people had seen their doctor, the average number of minutes spent in the consulting room increased to eight minutes per patient.

What was the average amount of time each of the last 30 patients spent in the consulting room?

First 15 patients = 15 x 3 = 45 minutes.

Next 30 patients = 45 x 8 = 360 minutes

Average time for last 30 patients = 360 - 45 = 315 /30 = 10.5 minutes

Spot on RMJ