PUZZLING PRODUCTS

 

Mindbending Puzzles
121–130

 

121.  EVAPORATION ENIGMA

Professor Gribb has invented a new liquid fuel. When exposed to the atmosphere it evaporates at a constant rate. He has made two modifications to the liquid that have progressively slowed the rate of evaporation and he wishes to test these against the original. He puts the fuels into 3 different-sized vats. Vat B is 4cm taller than vat C. At 1530 hours the level of the liquid in all three vats was the same. Assuming all the vats were originally filled to the brim, can you calculate the height of vat A?

SOLUTION

 

 

 

122. BEDTIME BOTHER

At 2.00pm Mary’s clock is showing the correct time, but thereafter it loses 17 minutes every hour. Later on, Mary gets tired and goes up to bed, only to see 8.27pm on the clock. Surely it’s not that early! Actually, the clock stopped an hour ago. What is the correct time?

SOLUTION

123. LETTER LINK

Insert the remaining numbers into the grid so that all calculations are correct reading both across and down. All numbers to be inserted are less than 10.

SOLUTION

124. IN THE SQUARE

Tom drives into Central Square. The first house on his left is number 1. Apart from the four roads, which all have exactly the same width as a house front, the square is surrounded by identical detached houses, numbered consecutively in a clockwise direction. North and South Street are positioned centrally opposite each other. East and West Street are opposite each other with their northerly side exactly
one-third of the way along the road. Tom drives clockwise round the square and as he leaves the square the last house on his left is number 73. How many houses are there, and what route did he take?

SOLUTION

125. SPACE STATION

The number of each capsule of
the Galaxy space station, from
1 to 6, is such that for any particular capsule, the sum of the numbers of the capsules connected directly to
it, equals the value corresponding to the numbers of that capsule as given in the list. For example a smaller space station is constructed
as shown.

SOLUTION

126. SCREWY PROBLEM

Big Al bought 19 screws, some
 1 inch long and some 1.5 inches long. He paid 3 cents more per screw for the longer screws and received no more than 10 cents change from $3.00, but did not
know the exact prices. He had at least 5 screws of each type and could not have swapped around
the numbers of each type. How many of each type were purchased and at what cost?

SOLUTION

127. MAGIC SQUARE

Complete the magic square with each row, column and diagonal adding up to 90. However you may only use numbers made up from the digits 1, 2, 3 and 4 and all the numbers must be different.

SOLUTION

128. POTTY PROBLEM

Can you place the same number of balls in each pot, without having the same color ball in the same color pot, so that each pot has at least one ball of every other color? The total weight of each pot and its contents must be the same. What is the minimum number of balls required in each pot to do this?

SOLUTION

129. NUMBER CRUNCHING

Complete the grid, using all but one of the numbers from 1 to 14, so that the middle row adds up to 31, the middle column adds up to 51 and all other rows, columns and diagonals add up to 19. The number 9 is given to start you on your way. What is the missing number?

SOLUTION

130. ANCIENT ACCESSORY

This rare Indian necklace recently fetched a record amount at auction. It was believed to have been owned by a member of a tribe living by the side of which river?

SOLUTION