Match your wits with the

"human computer".

S h a k u n t a i a

D e v i

PUZZLES TO PUZZLE
YOU

ORIENT ^PAPERBACKS

Pozzies to Puzzle You

Mathematics is not always hard,
mind-boggling stuff, it can also be simple,
interesting and delightful. Many famous
mathematicians are known to be devoted to
peg-jumping puzzles, and it is perhaps this kind cf
play that leads them on to scientific discoveries.
The puzzles presented in this book
are by none other than the world-renowned
mathematical prodigy, Shakuntala Devi.
These are meant to develop one's wit
and sharpen his intellectual faculties.
There is adventure, excitement and
delight in themand also purposefni entertainment.
f
Shakuntala Devi has been regarded
by the West as an "authentic heroine
of the twentieth century". She calculates faster
than the fastest computer, and her feats have
flabbergasted those who have witnessed them.
She also writeson subjects as varied as
mathematics, crime and homosexuality.

By the same author in

ORIENT PAPERBACKS

Perfect Murder

PUZZLES TO
PUZZLE YOU

Shakuntala Devi

ORIENT PAPERBACKS

First Published: 1976

Reprinted
: 1980

Puzzles to Puzzle You

Shakuntala Devi, 1979
Published by

Orient Paperbacks

(A Division of Vision Books Private Limited)

36-C, Connaught Place, New Delhi 110001
PRINTED IN INDIA

at Batra Art Printer!

A 86/1, Naraina Industrial Area, Phase I
New DeIhi-110 028

'Amusement is one of the fields of

applied mathematics
W. F. White

iI

PREFACE
What is mathematics? It is only a systematic effort
of solving puzzles posed by nature.
Recreational mathematics, in a way, is pure mathematics and it is often difficult to distinguish pure mathematics from recreational mathematics. However, it may
also be considered applied mathematics in the sense it
satisfies the human need for intellectual play. And
solving wits and puzzles, in a way, helps to develop wit
and ingenuity.
The pedagogic value of recreational mathematics is
now widely recognised and creative mathematicians are
never embarrassed to show their interest in recreational
topics. Today one finds an increasing emphasis on it in
journa's published for mathematical instructors and in
modern text books.
It is said that the famous mathematician Leibniz
devoted considerable time to the study of peg-jumping
puzzles. And it is also a well known fact that Prof.
Albert Einstein's bookshelf was stacked with books on
mathematical games and puzzles. It is creative thoughts
bestowed on such mathematical play, that has led many
a great mind to scientific discoveries.
While solving of the mathematical puzzles and riddles
may provide pleasant relaxation to some, undoubtedly
these items have a way of hooking the students' interest
as little else can.
So ;ne of the puzzles I am posing in the following
7

pages show very elegant facts and proofs in mathematics.

Many who, consider the subject dull and boring will see
that some facts of mathematics can be quite simple, interesting and even beautiful. These are not riddles made
to deceive, or nonsensical puzzles which are made to
tease the mind without purpose. The puzzles included
in this book are straightforward exercises in reason and
statement of facts from which a person with reasonably
agile mind can proceed to a logical conclusion.
I have no doubt my readers will find adventure, excitement, and delight in cracking the clean, sharply
defined, and mysterious order that underly the puzzles,
and experience enormous intellectual entertainment.
Shakuntala Devi

J)uzzlcs

TALL MEN NEXT DOOR

1.
Next door to me live four brothers of different heights.
Their average height is 74 inches, and the difference in
heipht among the first three men is two inches/'The
difference between the third and the fourth man is
six inches.
Can you tell how tall is each brother?
2.
A MATTER OF TIME
Fifty minutes ago if it was four times as many minutes
past three o'clock, how many minutes is it until six
o'cfock?

11

BROTHERS AND SISTERS

3.
A family I know has several children. Each boy in
this family has as many suters as brothers but each of
the girls has twice as many brothers as sisters.
How many brothers and sisters are there?
4.
AROUND THE EQUATOR
Two identical trains, at the equator start travelling
round the world in opposite directions. They start together, run at the same speed and are on different
tracks.
Which train will wear out its wheel treads first?
5.

OVER THE GOLDEN GATE

While in San Francisco some time back, I hired a

car to drive over the Golden Gate bridge. 1 started in
the ; fternoon when there was no traffic rush. So I
could do 40 miles an hour. While returning, however,
I got caught in the traffic rush and I could only manage
to drive at a speed of 25 miles an hour.
What was my average speed for the round trip?

12

6.

BICYCLE THIEVES

A friend of mine runs a bicycle shop and he narrated

to me this following story:
A man, who looked like a tourist, came to his shop
one day and bought a bicycle from him for Rs. 350.
The cost price of the bicycle was Rs. 300. So my
friend was happy that he had made a profit of Rs. 50
on the sale. However, at the time of settling the bill, the
tourist offered to pay in travellers cheques as he had no
cash money with him. My friend hesitated. He had
no arrangements with the banks to encash travellers
cheques. But he remembered that the shopkeeper next
door had such a provision, and so he took the cheques
to his friend next door and got cash from him.
The travellers cheques were ^11 made out for Rs. 100
each and so he had taken four cheques from the tourist
totalling to Rs. 400! On encashing them my friend
paid back the tourist the balance of Rs. 50.
The tourist happily climbed the bicycle and pedalled
away whistling a tune.
However, the next morning my friend's neighbour, who
had taken the travellers cheques to the bank, called on
him and returning the cheques which had proved valueless demanded the refund of his money. My friend
quietly refunded the money to his neighbour and tried
to trace the tourist who had given him the bad cheques
and taken away his bicycle. But the tourist could not
be found.
How much did my friend lose altogether in this unfortunate transaction?
13

7. THE DIGITS AND SQUARE NUMBERS

All the nine digits are arranged here so as to form
four square numbers:
9, 81, 324, 576
How would you put them together so as to form a
single smallest possible square number and a single largest
possible square number?

8.
THE BUS NUMBER
While visiting a small town in the United States, I lost
my overcoat in a bus. When I reported the matter to the
bus company I was asked the number of the bus. Though
I did not remember the exact number I did remember
that the bus number bad a certain peculiarity about it.
The number plate showed the bus number as a perfect
square and also if the plate was turned upside down.? the
number would still be a perfect squareof course it was
not?
I came to know from the bus company they had only
five hundred buses numbered from 1 to S00.
From this I was able to deduce the bus number.
Can you tell what was the other number?

14

9. THE HOUR HAND AND THE MINUTE HAND

We all know that the hour hand and the minute hand
on a clock travel at different speeds. However there are
certain occasions when the hands are exactly opposite each
other. Can you give a simple formula for calculating
the times of these occasions?
10.

TO CATCH A THIEF

Some time back while in England I watched a case

in a criminal court. A man was being accused of having
stolen certain valuable jewels and trying to run away
with them, when he was caught by a smart police officer
who overtook him.
In cross examination the lawyer for accused asked the
police officer how he could catch up with the accused who
was already seven steps ahead of him, when he started to
run after him. 'Yes Sir.' The officer replied. 'He takes
eight steps to every five of mine !
'But then officer,' interrogated the lawyer, 'how did
you ever catch him. if that was the case?'
'That's easily explained sir,' replied the officer, *I got a
longer stride... two of my steps equal in length to his
five. So the number of steps 1 required were fewer than
his. and this brought me to the spot where I captured
him.'
A member of the jury, who was particularly good at
quick calculations did some checking and figured out
the number of steps the police officer must have taken.
Can you also find out how many steps the officer *
needed to catch up with the thief?
IS

11.

THE GONG

Supposing a clock takes 7 seconds to strike 7, how

long does it take for the same clock to strike 10?
12. SOMETHING FOR THE MARMALADE
A little girl I know sells orange^ from door to door.
One day while on her rounds she sold i an orange
more than half her oranges to the first customer. To the
second customer she sold i an orange more than half of
the remainder and to the third and the last customer she
sold i an orange more than half she now had, leaving her
none.
Can you tell the number of oranges she originally had?
Oh, by the way, she never had to cut an orange.

16

13.
THE COUNTERFEIT NOTE
While walking down the street, one morning, I found a
hundred rupee note on the footpath. I picked it up,
noted the number and took it home.
In the afternoon the plumber called on me to collect
his bill. As I had no other money at home, I settled his
account with the hundred rupee note I had found. Later
I came to know that the plumber paid the note to his
milkman to settle his monthly account, who paid it to his
tailor for the garments he had had made.
The tailor in turn used the money to buy an old
sewing machine, from a woman who lives in my neighbourhood. This woman incidentally, had borrowed a
hundred rupees from me sometime back to buy a pressure
cooker. She, remembering that she owed me a hundred
rupees, came and paid the debt.
I recognised the note as the one I had found on the
footpath, and on careful examination I discovered that the
bill was counterfeit.
How much was lost in the whole transaction and by
whom?
14.
COTTON OR GOLD
Which would you say is heavier, a pound of cotton
or a pound of gold?

1?

15,
NUTS FOR THE NUTS
Last time I visited a friend's farm near Bangalore he
gave me a bag containing 1000 peanuts. From this I took
out 230 peanuts for use in my own home and gave
away the bag with the remainder of peanuts to three little
brothers who live in my neighbourhood and told them to
distribute the nuts between themselves in proportion to
their agesrwhich together amounted to \1\ years.
Tinku, Rinku and Jojo, the three brothers, divided
the nuts in the following manner:
As often as Tinku took four Rinku took three and as
often as Tinku took six Jojo took seven.
With this data can you find out what were the respective ages of the boys and how many nuts each got?
16.
THE WEDDING ANNIVERSARY
Recently I attended the twelfth wedding anniversary
celebrations of my good friends Mohini and Jayant.
Beaming with pride Jayant looked at his wife and commented, 'At the time we were married Mohini was ~
of my age, but now she is only ~e~th.
We began to wonder how old the couple must have
been each at the time of their marriage!
Can you figure it out?

18

17. I'LL GET IT FOR YOU WHOLESALE...

A wholesale merchant came to me one day and posed
this problem. Every day in his business he has to weigh
amounts from one pound to one hundred and twentyone pounds, to the nearest pound. To do this, what is
the minimum number of weights he needs and how heavy
should each weight be7
18.
THE BROKEN GLASSES
My friend Asha was throwing a very grand party
and wanted to borrow from me 100 wine glasses. I
decided to send them through my boy servant Harish.
Just to give an incentive to Harish to deliver the glasses
intact I offered him 3 paise for every glass delivered
safely and threatened to forefeit 9 paise forvery glass he
broke.
On settlement Harish received Rs 2.40 from me.
How many glasses did Harish break?

19

19.
'THE PECULIAR NUMBER
There is a number which is very peculiar. This number is three times the sum of its digits. Can you find the
number.
20.
MAKE A CENTURY
There are eleven different ways of writing 100 in tha
form of mixed numbers using all the nine digits once and
only once. Ten-of the ways have twofiguresin the integral part of the number, but the eleventh expression has
only one figure there.
Can you find all the eleven expressions?

20

21. THE PERPLEXED POSTAL CLERK

My friend Shuba works in a post office and she sells
stamps. One day a man walked in and slamming seventyfive paise on the counter requested, 'Please give me some
2 paise stamps, six times as many one paisa stamps, and
for the rest of the amount make up some 5 paise
stamps.'
The bewildered Shuba thought for a few moments
and finally she handed over the exact fulfilment of the
order to the manwith a smile.
How would you have handled the situation?
22. THE MYSTERY OF THE MISSING PAISA
Two women were selling marbles in the market place
one at three for a paise and other at two for a paise.
One day both of them were obliged to return home when
each had thirty marbles unsold. They put together the
two lots of marbles and handing them over to a friend
asked her to sell them atfivefor 2 paise. According to
their calculation, after all, 3 for one paise and 2 for one
paise was exactly the same as 5 for 2 paise.
But when the takings were handed over to them, they
were both most surprised, because the entire lot together
had fetched only 24 paisel If however, they had sold
their marbles separately they would have fetched 25
paise.
Now where did the one paise go? Can you explain
the mystery?
21

WALKING BACK TO HAPPINESS

A man I know, who lives in my neighbourhood,
travels to Chinsura every day for his work. His wife
drives him over to Howrah Station every morning and in
the evening exactly at 6 P.M. she picks him up back at
the station and takes him home.
One day he was let off at work an hour earlier, and
so he arrived at the Howrah Station at 5 P.M. instead of
at 6. He started walking home. However he met h
wife enroute to the station and got into the car. They
drove home arriving 10 minutes earlier than usual.
How long did the man have to walk, before he was
picked up by his wife?
24.
ON THE LINE
It is a small town railway station and there are 25
stations on that line. At each of the 25 stations the
passengers can get tickets for any of the others 24
stations.
How many different kinds of tickets do you think
the booking clerk has to keep?

22

THE LEGACY
25.
When my unclc in Madura died recently, he left a
will, instructing his executors to divide his estate of Rs.
1,920,000 in this manner: Every son should receive three
times as much as a daughter, and that every daughter
should get twice as much as their mother.
What is my aunt's share?
26.
THE ROUND TABLE
We have a circular dining table made of marble
which has come down to us as a family heirloom. Ws
also have some beautiful bone-china saucers that I
recently brought from Japan.
Our table top is fifteen times the diameter of our
saucers which are also circular. We would like to place
the saucers on the table so that they neither over lap each
other nor the edge of the table.
How many can we place in this manner?^

23

27.
DOWN THE ESCALATOR
Recently, while in London, I decided to walk down
the escalator of a tube station. I did some quick calculations in my mind. I found that if I walk down
twenty-six steps, I require thirty seconds to reach the
bottom. However, if I am able to step down thirty-four
stairs I would only require eighteen seconds to get
to the bottom.
If the time is measured from the moment the top
step begins to descend to the time I step off the last step
at the bottom, can you tell the height of the stairway
in steps?
28.
THE CHESS BOARD
We all know that a chess board has 64 squares. This
can be completely covered by 32 cardboard rectangles,
each cardboard covering just 2 squares.*
Supposing we remove 2 squares of the chess board at
diagonally opposite corners, can we cover the modified
board with 31 rectangles? If it can be done how can
we do it? And if it cannot be done, prove it
impossible.

24

THE GAME OF CATS AND MICE

29.
A number of cats got together and decided to kill
between them 999919 mice. Every cat killed an equal
number of mice.
How many cats do you think there were?
Ob, by the way let me clarify just two pointsit is
not one cat killed the lot, because I have said 'Cats' and
it is not-999919 cats each killed one mouse, because I have
used the word 'mice'.
I can give you just one clueeach cat killed more
mice than there were cats.
30.
THE WHEELS
A friend of mine in Bangalore owns a horse-driven
carriage. It was found that the fore wheels of the carriage
make four more revolutions than the hind wheel in going
96 feet. However, it was also found that ijf the circumference of the fore wheel were j- as great and of the hind
wheel ~ as great, then the fore wheel would make only
2 revolutions more than the hind wheel in going the same
distance of % feet.
Can you find the circumference of each wheel?

25

31.
BLOW HOT BLOW COLD
It is a matter of common knowledge that 0C is the
same as 32F. It is also a known fact that 100C equals
212F. But there is & temperature that gives the same
reading on both Centigrade and Fahrenheit scales.
Can you find this temperature?
32.
THE LLAMA RACE
Recently, while I was in a holiday resort in Peru I
watched a very interesting spectacle. Two gentlemen by
the name of Sr. Guittierez and Sr. Ibanez decided to have
a Llama race over the mile course on the beach sands.
They requested me and some of my other friends whom
I had met at the resort to act as the judges. We stationed
ourselves at different points on the course, which was
marked off in quarter miles.
But, the two Llamas, being good friends decided not
to part company, and ran together the whole way. However, we the judges, noted with interest the following
results:
The Llamas ran the first three quarters in six and
three quarters minutes. They took the same time to
run the first half mile as the second half. And they ran
the third quarter in exactly the same time as the last
quarter.
From these results I became very much interested in
finding out just how long it took those two Llamas to
run the whole mile.
Can you find out the answer?
26

33.
THE SHATTERED CLOCK
A clock with the hours round the face in Roman
block numerals, as illustrated in the sketch

fell down, and the dial broke into four parts. The
numerals in each part in every case summed to a total
of 20.
Can you show how the four parts of the clock face
was broken?

27

34.
THE PAINTED WINDOW
My room has a square window of 4 feet across and 4
feet down. I decided to get only half the area of the
window painted. Even after the painting I found that
the clear part of the window still remained a square and
still measured 4 feet from top to bottom and 4 feet from
side to side.
How is it possible?
35.
ANIMALS ON THE FARM
My friend who owns a farm near Bangalore has five
droves of animals on his farm consisting of cows, sheep
and pigs with the same number of animals in each
drove.
One day he decided to sell them all and sold them to
eight dealers.
Each of the eight dealers bought the same number of
animals and paid at the rate of Rs. 17 for each cow,
Rs. 2 for each sheep and Rs. 2 for each pig.
My friend recieved from the dealers in total Rs.
301.
How many animals in all did he have and how many
of each kind?

28

36. WHICH IS THE BETTER BARGAIN?

Recently while shopping in New Market in Calcutta,
I came across two very nice frocks selling at a discount.
I decided to buy one of them for my little girl Mammu.
The shopkeeper offered me one of the frocks for Rs. 35
usually selling for ~ o f that price and the other one for
Rs. 30 usually selling for ~e of that price.
Of the two frocks which one do you think is a better
bargain and by how much per cent?
37.
WALKING ALL THE WAY
One day I decided to walk all the way from Bangalore
to Tumkur. I started exactly at noon. And someone I
know in Tumkur decided to walk all the way to Bangalore
from Tumkur and she started exactly at 2 JP.M., on the
same day.
We met on the Bangalore-Tumkur Road atfivepast
four, and we both reached our destination at exactly the
same time.
At what time did we both arrive?

29

38. , THE TRAIN AND THE CYCLIST

A railway track runs parallel to a road until a bend
brings the road to a level crossing. A cyclist rides along
to work along the road every day at a constant speed of 12
miles per hour.
He normally meets a train that travels in the same
direction at the crossing.
One day he was late by 25 minutes and met the train
6 miles ahead of the level crossing. Can you figure out
the speed of the train?
39.

SOMETHING FOR PROFIT

A friend of mine bought a used pressure cooker for

Rs. 60. She somehow did not find it useful and so when
a friend of hers offered her Rs. 70 she sold it to her.
However, she felt bad after selling it and decided to buy
it back from her friend' by offering her Rs. 80. After
having bought it ooce again she felt that she did not really
need the cooker. So she sold it at the auction for
Rs. 90.
How much profit did she make? Did she at all make
any profit?

30

40.
THE DIGITAL GAME
There is a number, the second digit of which is smaller
than its first digit by 4, and if the number was divided by
the digits sum, the quotient would be 7.
Can you find the number?
41.

THE NUMBER AND THE SQUARE

In the diagram above the numbers from I to 9 are

arranged in a square in such a way that the number in the
second row is twice that in the first row and the number
in the bottom row three times that in the top row.
I am told that there are three other ways of arranging
the numbers so as to produce the same result.
Can you find the other three ways?
31

42.
THE FAULTY MACHINE
A factory manufacturing flywheels for racing cars has
ten machines to make them. The manufacturer knows
the correct weight for a flywheel.
However, one day one of the machines begins to produce faulty partseither overweight or underweight.
How can the manufacturer find the faulty machine in
only two weighings?
43.
SQUARES AND RIGHT ANGLES
Can you make 2 squares and 4 rightangled triangles
using only 8 straight lines?

32

44.
THE DISHONEST MERCHANT
An unscrupulous trader decided to make some extra
profit oo Coffee. He bought one type of coffee powder at
Rs. 32 a kilo and mixed some of it with a better quality
of coffee powder bought at Rs. 40 a kilo, and he sold
the blend at 43 a kilo. That gave him a profit of 25
per cent on the cost.
How many kilos of each kind must he use to make a
blend of a hundred kilos weight?
45.
FOR THE CHARITIES
One day when I was walking on the road in New Delhi,
a group of boys approached me for donation for their
poor boys' fund. I gave them a rupee more than half
the money I had in my purse. I must have walked a few
more yards when a group of women approaphed me for
donations for an orpbange. I gave them two rupees more
than half the money I had in my purse. Then, after a
few yards I was approached by a religious group for a
donation to the temple they were building. .1 gave them
three rupees more than half of what I had in my purse.
At last when returned to my hotel room, I found that
I had only one rupee remaining in my purse.
How much money did I have in my purse when I
started?

33

46.

THE NUMBER GAME

0
The product of three consecutive numbers when divided by each of them in turn, the sum of the three quotients will be 74.
What are the numbers?
47.

THE SARI AND THE BLOUSE

I bought ft sari and a blouse for Rs. 110 at the New

*Market. The sari cost Rs. 100 more than the blouse,
how much does the sari cost?

34

48.
WHEN WAS HE BORN?
Some months back, this year, I was waiking through
the Central Park in New York.
I saw an intelligent looking little boy playing all by
himself on the grass. I decided to talk to him and just
as an excuse to start the conversation I asked him his
age. A mischivious glint flickered in his eyes and he
replied, 'Two days back I was ten years old, and next year
I shall be thirteen. If you know what's today you'll be
able to figure out my birthday and that'll give you my
age.' I looked at him bewildered.
How old was the boy?
49.
the WEIGHT OF THE BLOCK
A cement block balances evenly in the scales with three
quarters of a pound and three quarters of a block. What
is the weight of the whole block.
/

37

50.
LUCRATIVE BUSINESS
Two unemployed young men decided to start a business
together. They pooled in their savings, which came to
Rs 2,000. They were both lucky, their business prospered and they were able to increase (heir capital by 50
per cent every three years.
How much did they have in all at the end of eighteen
years.
51.

THE OLD SHIP

Some years back I was travelling by a cargo ship from

New Zealand to Tahiti. I was curious to look around the
ship one day and in the boiler room I asked a man how
old the ship was. He smiled and replied me in this way:
'The ship is twice as old as its boiler was when the ship
was as old as the boiler is now. And the combined age
of the ship and the boiler is thirty years.'
Can you figure out what is the age of the ship and of
the boiler?

36

52THE THREE CONTAINERS

We have three containers which hold 19, 13 and 7
ounces of liquid respectively. The 19 ounce container is
empty but the 13 and 7 ounce containers are full. How
can we measure out 10 ounces by using only the three
above mentioned containers?
53.
ON THE WAY TO MARKET
One morning I^was^n my way to the market and met a
man ^wEo hm A wives. *Each of the wives had 4 bags
containing 4 dogs and each dog had 4 puppys.
Taking all things into consideration how many were
going to market?

37

54.
A MATTER OF DENOMINATOR
A fraction has the denominator greater than its numerator
by 6. But if you add 8 to the denominator, the value of
the fraction would then become 1.
Can you find this fraction?
55.

RIGHT FOOT FORWARD

A short man takes three steps to a tall man's two steps.

They both start out on the left foot. How many steps do
they have to take before they are both stepping out on
the right foot together?

56.

A PROBLEM OF SOCKS

Mammu wears socks of two different colourswhite

and brown. She keeps them all in the same drawer in a
state of complete disorder.
She has altogether 20 white socks and 20 brown socks
in the drawer. Supposing she has to take out the socks in
the dark, how many must she take out of the drawer to
be sure that she has a matching pair?
57.

A FAIR DIVISION

A rich farmer died leaving behind a hundred acres of his

farm to be divided among his three daughters Rashmi,
Mala and Rekhain the proportion of one-third, cnefourth and one-fifth respectively/ But Rekha died unexpectedly.
Now how should the executor divide the land between
Rashmi and Mala in a fair manner?
/

39

HEADS I WIN TAILS I LOOSE

58.
Durisg my last visit to Las Vegas in the U.S.A., I met a
man who was an inveterate gambler. He took out a coin
from his pocket and said to me, 'Heads I win, tails I loose.
I'll bet half the money in my pocket.'
He tossed the coin, lost and gave me half the money in
his pocket. He repeated the bet again and again each time
offering half the money in his pocket.
The game went on for quite some time. I can't recollect exactly how long the game went on or how many
times the coin was tossed, but I do remember that the
times he lost was exactly equal to the number of times
that he won.
What do you think, did he, on the whole, gain or
loose?

40

59.
MATHEMATICS AND LITERATURE
Recently a publishing company which specialises in mathematical books, advertised the job opening of an assistant
editor. The response was good. One hundred people
applied for the position. The company, however, wanted
to make their selection from the applicants who had some
training in both mathematics and literature.
Of the one hundred applicants the company found that
10 of them had had no training in mathematics and no
training in literature. Seventy of them had had some
mathematical training and 82 had had some in literature.
How many applicant shad had training in both mathematics and literature?
60.

PROBLEM FROM LILAVATI

Here is an ancient problem from Bhaskaracharya's

Lilavati:
Beautiful maiden, with beaming eyes, tell me which is
the number that, multiplied by 3, then increased by threefourths of the product, divided by 7, diminished by onethird of the quotient, multiplied by itself, diminished by
52, the square root found, addition of 8, division by 10
gives the number 2?
Well, it sounds complicated, doesn't it? No, not if you
know how to go about it.

41

61.

UP THE LADDER

A man wafts to reach up a window 40 ft. from the ground.

The distance from the foot of the ladder to the wall is
9 feet.
How long should the ladder be?
62.
PIGS AND DUCKS
While driving through the countryside one day I saw a
farmer tending his pigs and ducks in his yard. I was curious to know how many of each he had. I stopped the
car and inquired.
Leaning on the stile jovially, he replied,'I have altogether 60 eyes and 86 feet between them.'
I drove off trying to calculate in my mind the exact
number of ducks and pigs he had.
What do you think is the answer?

42

63. THE EGG VENDOR AND HIS EGGS

Rasool, the man who delivers eggs to my home everyday,
did not turn up one day. So when he came the next
morning I demanded an explanation from him. He told
me the following story:
The previous morning when he just came out of the
house carrying a basketful of eggs oh his head to start his
daily rounds and stepped on to the street, a car going
full speed brushed against him and knocked down his
basket destroying all the eggs. The driver, however, a
thorough gentleman admitted his responsibility and offered
to compensate him for'damages. But Rasool could
not remember the exact number of eggs he had, but he
estimated the number at between 50 and 100. He was
also able to tell the gentleman that if the eggs were counted
by 2's and 3's at a time, none would be left, but if counted
by S's at a time, 3 would remain, and that he sold the
eggs at SO paise a piece.
'
The gentleman made some quick calculations and paid
Rasool adequately.
How much did the gentleman pay Rasool?

43

64.

SOME LUCK!

A society of farmers who own farms in the vicinity of

my home town Bangalore, planned on holding a raffle
and persuaded me to buy a ticket. The value of the ticket
was Rs. 5. As I did not want to pay the entire amount
myself, I asked my friend Radha to chip in with me, and
offered to share with her in proportion the prize bounty
if there was going to be any. She paid Rs. 2 and I paid
the rest.
As luck would have itBingo!... we won the first
prizea flock of 50 sheept Good God!... Niether of us
knew what to do with the sheep... Where would we take
them in the first place? Neither of us had had any training as shepherds! So we decided to sell the sheep back
to the farmers.
As per our original understanding 20 of the sheep
belonged to Radha and 30 were mine.
However, I decided that we had won the prize because
of our combined luck, and so we should divide its value
equally.
The sheep30 of mine and 20 of Radha'swere sold,
each at the same-price, and I paid her Rs. 150 to make
the sum equal.
What was the value per sheep?

44

65.
THE FAULTY WATCH
One day I found a strange thing happening to my
watchthe minute hand and the hour hand were coming
together every sixty-five minutes. I decided to have it
seen to.
Was my watch gaining or losing time, and how much
per hour?
66.
THE TRAINS AND THE FALCON
Two trains start towards each other from two stations
SO miles apart, at the same time and on a single track.
Just when the trains' start out, a falcon leaves the first
train and flies directly to the other train, and as soon as it
reaches the second train, the bird starts back towards the
first train. It continues doing so, flying backwards and
forwards from one train to the other until the trains
meet.
Both the trains travel at a speed of 25 miles per hour,
and the bird flies at 100 miles per hour.
How many miles will the falcon have flown before the
trains met?

45

67.

WHICH IS MORE LUCRATIVE?

A businessman advertised two job openings for peons in

his firm. Two men applied and the businessman decided
to engage both or them. He offered them a salary of Rs.
2,000 per year; Rs. 1,000 to be paid every half year, with
a promise that their salary would be raised if their work
proved satisfactory. They could have a raise of Rs.
300 per year, or if they preferred, Rs. 300 each half
year.
The two men thought for a few moments and then
one of them expressed his wish to take the raise at Rs
300 per year, while the other man said he would accept
the half yearly increase of Rs. 100.
Between the two men, who was the gainer, and by how
much?
68. LITTLE MAMMU AND THE MARBLES
Little Mammu was playing marbles with her friend Nawal
I heard her say to him, 'if you give me one of your marbles
I'll have as many as you.' Nawal replied, 'you give me
one of your marbles, and I'll have twice as many
as you.'
I wondered how many marbles each had! What do
you think?

46

69.
A FAMILY MATTER
Fifteen years back my neighbour Mrs. Sareen had three
daughters Sudha, Seema and Reemaand their combined
ages were half of hers. During the next five years Sonny
was born and Mrs. Sareen's age equalled the total of all
her children's ages.
After some years Kishu was born and then Sudha was
as old as Reema and Sonny together. And now, the
combined age of all the children is double Mrs. Sareen's
age, which is, as a matter of fact, only equal to that of
Sudha and Seema together. Sudha's age is also equal to
that of the two sons.
What is the age of each one of them?
70.
THE HIGH-RISE .
While in Canada, I visited a beautiful hjgh-rise building
in the Metropolitan City of Toronto. The manager
of the building told me that the building consisted of
different kinds of apartments large and small. Two room
apartments were 5% in number, 24's7% in number,
3's15% in number, 3's20% in number, 4**849%
in number, 5's33% in number, 5i's12% in number,
6's3% in number and in addition several 4 room apartments. Altogether the building contained 437 apartments.
Can you figure out how many apartments are there in
eacb type, using round figures?

47

71.
THE CURIOUS LICENSE PLATE
When I acquired my Mercedes-Benz car in Germany, the
first thing I had to do was to get a license plate. The
plate I got had a peculiar number on it. It consisted of
5 different numbers and by mistake when I fixed it upside
down the number could be still read, but the value had
increased by 78633.
What was my actual license number?
72.
LOOSE OR GAIN
A man I know runs a workshop in Calcutta. He bought
two lathes to use in his workshop. However, he found
out afterwards that they did not serve the purpose for
which he had bought them, and so he decided to sell
them. He sold them each for Rs. 600 making a loss
of 20% on one of them and a profit of 20% on the
other.
Did he lose or gain in the transaction, and how much
did each machine cost him?

48

73.
ON THE SEE-SAW
Some days back, walking through the park, I saw a
little girl trying play the see-saw all by herself. It take*
two to see-saw, but here was a girl who was ingenious
enough to try and see-saw on her own.
I saw her trying a number of bricks to one end of the
plank to balance her weight at th&other.
I curiously noted that she just balanced against sixteen
bricks, when these werefixedto the short end of the plank
and I also noticed that if she were to fix them to the long
end of the plank, she only needed eleven as balance.
I wondered what was the girl's weight. The brick,
I could guess weighed equal to a three quarter brick and
three quarters of a pound.
Can you figure it out?

74.
A PROBLEM OF COMBINATION
A box contains 12 marbles of three different colours
gTeen, yellow and blue4 each.
If you were to close your eyes and pick them at random, how many marbles must you take out to be sure
that there are at least two of one colour among the
marbles picked out
75.
THE SPECIAL NUMBER
There is a number whose double is greater than its half
by 45.
Can you find this number?
76.
SAWING THE TREE TRUNK
A heavy tree trunk can be sawed into a piece 12 ft long
in one minute. How long will it take to saw it into twelve
equal pieces?

50

77.
THE BIGAMIST
A man I know in Bombay committed bigamy, by marrying
two women at brief intervals, one without the knowledge
of the other. Somehow he was not brought to the
notice of the law and though, if expose^ the axe could
fall on him any day, he decided to get the best out of the
situation while it lasted.
He was fond of both the women and had no special
preference for either. One lived near Churchgate and
the other in Bandra. He worked near a station midway
between Churchgate and Bandra.
After work he generally went to the station, and took
whichever train got into the station firstChurchgate or
Bandra. He arrived at whichever his destination it wast
at random times, but found that be was visiting his
Churchgate wife much more often than the other, despite
the fact that both the Churchgate and Bandra trains were
on schedules which brought him to hiS station equally
often. Since the same thing had been happening for a
very long time, chance has been ruled out as the
reason.
Can you find the reason for the frequency of his
Churchgate trips?

53

78THE SPLIT
Can you split 34. parts intp two parts such that -f of one
of the parts equals of the other?

79.
AT THE FETE
A number of us went out together to a charity fete one
day. Our party consisted of 4 different professional
groups, namely 25 writers, 20 doctors, 18 dentists and 12
bank employees. We spent altogether Rs. 1,330/.
Later it was found that five writers spent as much as
four doctors, that twelve doctors spent as much as nine
dentists, and that six dentists spent as much as eight bank
employees.
How much did each of the four professional groups
spend?

52

AT THE STORE
I entered a store and spent one-half of the money that was
in my purse. When I came put I found that I had just
as many paise as I had rupees and half as many rupees as
I had paise when I went in.
How much money did I have on me when I entered?
80.

81.
THE COUNTERFEIT COINS
During my last visit to the U.K. I spent a few days in a
small town, where I stayed as a paying guest with a British
landlady. The heaters in the rooming house were all
coin operated.
One day my landlady requested my help in sorting out
a problem.
There were one hundred and twenty coins in her gasmeter and one of them, she knew, was counterfeit. The
counterfeit coin was either heavier or lighter than the
others.
Now the problem was to isolate this counterfeit coin
and find out whether it was lighter or heavier, in five
weighings.
How can one do it?

53

82.
MULTIPLYING BACTERIA
Bacteria is known to multiply very rapidly.
A certain container contains just one bacteria on the
first day and there are twice as many on the next day. In
this manner the number of bacteria in the container
doubles itself everyday.
Assuming that the container would be full of bacteria
on the 10th day, on which day would the container be
half full.
#

83. THE MATHEMATICAL SHEPHERD

Shepherd Gopal had a curious aptitude for mathematics
and he was known around where he lived as the 'Counting
Shepherd'.
A man passing through the meadow one day saw
Gopal grazing a number of sheep and in the course of a
short cpnversation asked him how many of the grazing
sheep were his own. Gopal's reply absolutely baffled him,
which was as follows:
'If you divide my sheep into two gifferent parts, the
difference between the two numbers will be the same as
the difference between their squares. Npw figure it out for
yourself the number of sheep I own.'
Can you say just how many sheep Gopal had?

54

84.
A PUZZLING NUMBER
There is a number which is greater than the aggregate of
its third, tenth and the twelfth parts by 58.
Can you find the number?
85.
WHAT A COINCIDENCE?
A group of seven young men named Arun, Binoy, Chunder, Dev, Edward, Fakruddin and Govind were recently
engaged in a game. They had agreed that whenever a
player won a game he should double the money of each
of the other players, in other words he was to give the
players just as much money as they had already in their
pockets.
In all they played seven games and, strangely, each
won a game in turn in the order in which their names are
given. But what was even more strange was that when
they had finished the game each of the seven young men
had exactly the same amount, Rs. 32 in his pocket.
Can you find out how much money each person had
with him before they began the game?

55

86.

THE IDLER
Ram Rakhan was well-known all around his neighbourhood for being a very lazy person. So when he went
around looking for a job as a farm-hand everyone refused
to engage him, except farmer Gulab Singh, who was a
very smart person.
Gulab Singh engaged the services of Ram Rakhan at
a salary of Rs. 240 a month consisting of 30 days. However, he set a condition that he would forefeit Rs. 10 a
day for everyday that he idled. Ram Rakhan accepted
the job.
At the end of the month it was found that neither
owed the other anything. This tought a lesson to Ram
Rakhan.
Can you tell jusf how many days Ram Rakhan worked
and how many days he idled?

56

87.
NUMBERS GAME
During one of my tours to Canada, I came across a very
interesting gam* participated by two players.
A group of match sticks is placed on the table and
then it is reduced in turn by each player by removing from
the group at least 1 but not more than 4 match sticks.
The player who takes the last match stick is the
winner.
If there is a group of 17 match sticks on the table how
would you make your first move, if it was your turn and
how would you continue to play to win?
88.
FATHER AND SON
A father, I know, is 4 times his son's age. And in 30
years the son will be half as old as his father.
How old are the father and son each n*w?

57

89.
A BARGAIN IN GUAVAS
Recently. I bought some guavas at New market for Rs>
1.20. Bat they were so small that I made the vendor
throw in two extra guavas for the samfe price.
As I began to walk away the vendor mumbled that
this transaction had made him lose 10 paise a dozen less
the price we had settled.
How many guavas did I get for my Rs. 1.20?
90.
THE SIX MATCHES
Shown in the sketch are six matchsticks

U
Can you rearrange them to make nothing?

58

li

91.
NO CHANGE PLEASE!
I bad Rs. 1.15 in my purse in 6 coins, but I found that I
could not give change for a rupee, nor of a half rupee,
quarter rupee, ten paise or five paise.
Which 6 coins did I have?
92.
A DATE TO RECKON WITH
The date 8.8.64, meaning August 8, 1964 is a very interesting date, because the product of the first two numbers
equals the third.
Can you find the year of the twentieth century which
gives the greatest number of occasions of this kind?

59

93.
GOLD FOR ALL OCCASIONS
Which -is worth more, a bucket full of half a sovereign
gold pieces or an identical bucket full of 1 sovereign gold
pieces?

94.

THE INK-SPOT

One day, Mammu, home from school set a very interesting problem to me. She pushed a large circular table
we have at home, into the corner of the room, so that it
touched both walls and spilled a spot of ink on the
extreme edge, and she said, 'Mummy here is a little puzzle
for you. Look at that spot. It is exactly eight inches
from one wall and nine inches from the other, Now tell
me the diameter of the table without measuring i t . .
Can you?

95SPADE FOR A HEART

Here is a spade:

Can you cut the spade into three pieces that will fit together and form a heart?
Remember, no part of the material should be wasted.

61

96.
THE NUMBER PUZZLE
There are two numbers with the difference of 3 between
them and the difference of their squares is 51.
Can you find the numbers?
97.

A PROBLEM OF COINS

Can you place 10 coins in such a way that they lie in 5

straight lines and on each line there are 4 coins.
There are at least two solutions.

62

98.

THE SQUIRREL AND THE POST

I saw a squirrel climbing up a cylindrical post spirally,

making the circuit in four feet.
Supposing the top of the post is sixteen feet high and
three feet in circumference, how many feet doe* it travel
to the top?
99.

HEARTS APART

A man I know fell in love with a woman who lived 63

miles away. Finally he decided to propose marriage to
his beloved and invited her to travel towards his place and
offered to meet her on route and bring her home.
The man is able to cover 4 miles per hour to the
woman's 3 miles per hour.
How far will each have travelled upon meeting?

100.

THE CURFEW

In most States in India the law for the sale of alcoholic

beverages provides that beer cannot be sold after a certain
hour. However, in some States the law permits a customer to consume, after the deadline, what has been sold
before the curfew.
In a certain bar 2 men ordered sufficient beer to cover
their probable requirements in anticipation of the curfew.
One man ordered and paid for 5 bottles and the other
man ordered and paid for 3 bottles. But as the curfew
sounded, an old friend of both the men approached and
requested them to share with him the drinks. The two
man agreed and shared the total eight bottles of beer between them.
The friend thanked the two men and put down Rs. $
in payment for the beer he had consumed, asking them to
share the money in proportion to the quantity of beer they
have contributed to him.
How should this money be equitably divided between
the two men?

64

1W.
A PROBLEM OF AGE
Recently I met a woman I hadn't seen in a long time. In
the course of conversation she said, 'Do you know something funny? If you reverse my own age, the figures represent my husband's age. He is of course senior to me and
the difference between our ages is one-eleventh of their sum.
Can you find out the woman's age as well as her husband's age?
102.

THE CIRCULAR NUMBERS

Here is a sketch:

Can you rearrange the position of the numbers 1 to

10 so that the sum of any two adjacent numbers is equal
to the sum of the pair of numbers at the opposite ends of
the diameters?
65

103.

THE PASSENGER TRAIN

AND THE GOODS TRAIN

Two trains, a passenger train and a goods train are

running in the same direction on parallel railway tracks.
The passenger train takes three times as long to pass the
goodseven when they are going in the opposite
directions.
If the trains run at uniform speeds, how many times
faster than the freight train is the passenger train
moving?
104.

RICE FOR THE FESTIVAL

At a certain festivity a rich man decided to distribute

free rice to deserving people. He had altogether 100
kilos of rice and he wanted to distribute the grain to
100 people in such a manner that each old person received
three kilos, each youiig person two and each child half a
kilo. How many old persons, young persons and children
were there?

66

105. THREES TO MAKE THIRTY-ONE

Can you write 31 using only the digit 3 five times?
106.
SWARM OF BEES
Here is another problem from Bhaskaracharya's Lilavati:
The square root of half the number of bees in a
swarm has flown out upon a jasmine bush; eightninths of
the whole swarm has remained behind; one female bee
flies about a male that is buzzing within the lotus flower
into which he was allured in the night by its sweet odour,
but is now inprisoned in it. Tell me the number of
bees?

67

WHAT WERE YOU DOING

WHEN THE LIGHTS WENT OUT ?
Last time there was load shedding in Calcutta, I was
reading a very interesting book and I could not stop. My
neighbour Parveen gave me two candles and assured me
that I could manage with them.
Though the candles were of the same length, Parveen
told me that one candle would burn for four hours and
the other for five hours.
After I had been reading for some time 1 put the
candles out as the lights came on again. And I noticed
that what remained of one candle was exactly four times
the length of what was left of the other.
Can you find out just how long those two candles
were burning?
167.

68

168.

THE DOTTED SQUAKE

Twesty-Sve dot* arc arranged in a square formation

ra S rows of 5, as shows ia the sketch:

Can you connect 12 of these dots with straight fees

to form a perfect cross which has five dots iaaido it and 8
dots outside?

69

109. STORY OF THE THREE FARMERS

Three farmers paid Rs. 1,000 for a small pasture.
One farmer grazed his 9 mules, another his 12 cows for
twice the time and the last man put in some goats for
2 times as the second man's cows and paid half the cost
of the pasture.
Can you find out how many goats did the last man
have, if 6 cows eat as much as 4 mules, and 10 goats as
much as 3 cows ? And how much did the first and second
man each pay?
110. UP THE STREAMDOWN THE STREAM
While up stream, a crew can row a boat in eight and
four-sevenths minutes. But if there were no stream they
could row it in seven minutes less than it takes them to
drift down the stream.
Can you say how long it would take them to row
down with the stream?

70

111.

STAFF AND THE STEEPLE

Afivefeet long staff casts a shadow 2 feet long. Can

you find the height of a steeple whose shadow at the
same hour, is 120 ft. long?
112.
WINE AND WATER
While I was talking to a chemist one day, he set me
this interesting problem:
'I decided to mix some wine spirits and water. I had
two bottles containing 10 ounces of each. I poured just
a quarter of an ounce of spirits into the water and shook
them up. You can see clearly that the mixture was forty
to one. Now I thought that I should have the same
quantity of fluid in both the bottles, and so I poured back
a quarter of an ounce of the mixture into the bottle
containing water.'
<
Can you tell what proportion of spirits to water did
the spirits of wine bottle then contain?

7t

113.
THE LONG TUNNEL
A train is one mile long. It travels at the rate of
one mile a minute through a tunnel which is also one
mile long.
Can you say how long it will take for the train to pus
completely through the tunnel?
114. THE HORSE, THE COW AND THE SHEEP
A man owns a horse, a cow and a sheep. He also
owns a pasture to graze them all.
If the horse and cow can eat the contents of the
pasture in 40 days, while the horse and sheep can do it
in 60 days and th$ cow and the sheep in 90 days, how
long should it take all of them eating together?

72

115.

THE TWO MATHEMATICAL MEN

116.

A QUESTION OF MILEAGE

In Bangalore there i* a well known Science Institute.

During a visit I asked two of the men to tell me their
ages. One replied, 'One of our ages subtracted from tke
other's equals 30.'
Then the other man spoke, 'Our ages multiplied together equal 1624'.
What were their ages?
If 5 litres were used on a car which hat travelled
20,000 miles, how many miles did eack litre sustain, if aU
the litres were used equally in sustaining this mileage?

73

117.
A PROBLEM OF DISSECTION
The shape shown in the sketch below, obviously, is
that of a square attached to half of another similar square,
divided diagonally:

Can you divide it into four pieces all of precisely the

same size and shape?

118.
THE SIXTEEN FOURS
How can you make a total of 1,000 by using sixteen
4*6?
119.
THE STRANGE TWO NUMBERS
There are two whole numbers, whose difference of
their squares is a cube and the difference of their cubes
is a square. These are the smallest possible numbers.
Can you find the tfumbers?

75

120.
HOW MUCH?
I have two 10 paise coins. If of what I have is
of what you have, how much do you have?

121.
THE 'MIXED DOUBLE'
Four married couples played a tennis tournament of
'mixed doubles'. A man and a woman always played
against a man and a woman. However, no person ever
played with or against any other person more than once.
They all played together in two courts on three successive
days.
Can you show how they could have done it?

76

THE BARGAIN
Sometimes one is mystified at the startling reductions
some people make in their prices and wonders on what
principle the reductions are based. To quote an example
three years ago a friend offered me a used typewriter for
Rs. 1024. A year later he offered me the same for
Rs. 640 and last year he wanted Rs. 400 and now he
is willing to sell it to me for Rs. 250. But I have
decided to buy it when he reduces next time.
If he does a consistent reduction, at what price will
he offer the typewriter to me next?
122.

123.
AT THE FAIR
At the fair I bought 6 pineapples and two jackfruits
for Rs. 15. If I could have bought 4 more pineapples
for Rs. 14 than jackfruits for Rs. 9. What would be
the price of each?
,

77

124.
SECTIONS OF A NECKLACE
i have five sections of a necklaceeach section consisting of four links. I took the sections to a goldsmith
and asked him to give me an estimate to join the 5
sections into a one piece necklace. The goldsmith wanted
Re.l to cut open a link and Re. 1 to solder it together
again.
What is the cheapest method and how much should it
cost me to get the five pieces joined together into one full
necklace?
125. THE PROBLEM OF SQUARE BOARDS
I have three square boards, the surface of the first
containing five square feet more than the second, and the
$econd containing five square feet more than the third.
Can you find the exact measurements for the sides of
the boards?

78

126.
AGE OF DEMOCHARES
This is an ancient problem dating back to about
310 A.D.
Demochares has lived one-fourth of his life as a boy,
one-fifth 9s a youth, one-third as a man, and has spent
thirteen years in his dotage. How old is Demochares?
127.
THE AGE OLD PROBLEM
The combined ages of Reena and Seena are 44 years
and Reena is twice as old as Seena was when Reena was
half as old as Seena will be when Seena is three times as
old as Reena was when Reena was three times as old as
Seena.
How old is Reena?

79

128.
THE PAINTED CUBE
A cubfo object 3 " x 3 " x 3 " is painted blue on all
the outside surfaces, including the top and bottom. If
the cube is cut into 27 cubes of 1" x 1" x 1", how many
1" cubes do have any painted surfaces?
129.
SMOKING NOT PROHIBITED
A standard-sized cigarette can be rolled out of 6
standard-sized cigarette butts. How many cigarettes can
be made and smoked from 36 butts?

so

130.
MATHEMATICAL TAXI DRIVER
Some times small town taxi drivers can be very
rude. One taxi driver I had the occasion to travel with
was particularly lacking in courtesy, and so I asked for
bis number.
The driver gave me a sardonical smile and said, 'Well,
if you divide my number by 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6 you will find
there is always 1 remaining. But if you divide it by 11
there is no remainder. Do you want to know something
more? There aren't no other cabby in this town with a
lower number thanwho can say the same,' and he drove
off, while 1 stood there completely baffled.
What was the man's number?
131. DIVIDING THE LOAD EQUALLY
On my return to India, after an extensive tour of
America, I waited for the two crates I had sent by ship
as unaccompanied baggage.
When they finally arrived, I had them cleared through
the Customs and engaged three labourers to carry theip
to my home 3 miles distant. I was going to pay t&em
Rs. 8 each for this task.
As I was going to pay each of them equal amounts,
they decided to carry a crate each equal distance.
How did they manage to do it ?

81

132. MR. PORTCHESTER'S PROBLEM

Last tifte I saw Mr. Portchester" in London he was
facing a serious problem pouring his wine from one vessel
to the other.
Mr. Portchester had two ten quart containers full
of wine. He also had a five quart and a four quart
measure.
All he wanted to do was put exactly three quarts into
each of the two measures. He was standing there
wondering how he is to do itl
Now I offered to help and gave him some suggestions.
Can you find out what was my suggestion, and how
many manipulations of pouring from one vessel to the
other did he require, without waste of any wine, tilting or
other tricks.

82

133.
DOTS AND LINES
Nine dots are arranged by 3 rows of 3 in the form of
a square as shown in the sketch below:

Can you draw four straight lines, the second beginning

where the first ends, the third beginning where the second
ends, and the fourth beginning where the third ends so
that each dot is or at least one line?

83

134. ' LONGFELLOW AND HIS BEES

Here is a simple arithmetical puzzle set by Longfellow in his own flowery, poetical language.
If one-fifth of a hive of bees flew to the badamba
flower, one-third flew to the slandbara, three times the
difference of these two numbers flew to an arbour, and
one bee continued to fly about, attracted on each side by
the fragrant Ketaki and Malati, what was the number of
bees?
135.
THE TENNIS TOURNAMENT
A singles tennis tournament is held in which 30 men
participate. If a player is eliminated as soon as he loses
a match, how many matches are required to determine
the winner?

84

136.
THE TRIANGLES
How many triangles, of any size, are there in this star:

137. DRIVING THROUGH THE COUNTRY

I decided to drive through the country leisurely, and
on the first day I did only 7 miles. On the last day I did
51 miles, increasing my journey 4 miles each day.
How many days did I travel and how far?

85

138.
THE SABBATH DAY
Christians hold the first day of the week as Sabbath,
the Jews the seventh, and the Turks the sixth.
How can these three, have each his own true Sabbath
on the same day ?
139.
THE PUZZLED ARTIST
An artist wanted to paint a picture on a canvas which
would allow for a margin of 4 inches on top and on
bottom and two inches on each side. He wanted the
picture itself to occupy 72 square inches.
What should be the smallest dimensions, the canvas he
is going to obtain, should possess?

140. THE MYSTERY OF NUMBER ELEVEN

Can you find the largest possible number containing
any 9 of the 10 digits, considering O also as a number,
that is divisible by 1), without a remainder?
141.
THE ROSE GARDEN
In my bungalow in Bangalore I have a beautiful rose
garden.
The four sides of the garden are known to be 20, 16,
12 and 10 rods. And it is also known that it has the
greatest possible area for those sides.
Can you find the area?

87

142.
SQUARES WITHIN SQUARE
In tbe illustrations below, how many squares are there?

143. THE FARMER AND THE ANIMALS

Parmer Thimmayya bought some mules at Rs. 50
each, sheep at Rs. 40 each, goats at Rs. 25 each, and
pigs at Rs. 10 each. The average price of the animals
per head worked to Rs. 30.
How many animals of each kind did he buy?

88

144.
THE MANGO THIEVES
One night three naughty boys stole a basketful of
mangoes from a garden, hid the loot and went to sleep.
Before retiring they did some quick counting and found
that the fruits were less than a hundred in number.
During the night one thief awoke, counted the
mangoes and found that he could divide the mangoes into
three equal parts if he first took one for himself. He then
took one mango, ate it up, and took $ of the rest, hid
them separately and went back to sleep.
Shortly thereafter another thief awoke, counted the
mangoes and he again found that if he took one Cor
himself the loot could be divided into three equal parts.
He ate up one mango, bagged J of. the remainder, hid
them separately and went back to sleep. The third thief
also awoke after some time, did the same and went back
to sleep.
In the morning when they all woke up; and counted
their mangoes, they found that the remaining mangoes
again totalled 1 more than could be divided into three
equal parts.
How many mangoes did the boys steal?

89

145. THE HOUSE WHERE SHE LIVES

It was at a cocktail party in New York that I met
Stephanie. We exchanged our phone numbers and
decided to meet each other soon.
When she rang up and invited me to her house this is
how she gave me the number of her hduse:
'I live in a long street. Numbered on my side are
the bouses one, two, three and so on. All the numbers
on one side of me add up exactly the same as all the
numbers on the other side of me. I know there are more
than fifty houses on that side of the street, but not so
many as five hundred.
Can you find Stephaine's house number?
146. A MATTER OF RUPEES AND PAISES
I have a money pouch containing Rs. 700. There
are an equal number of 25 paise coins, 50 paise coins
and one rupee coins.
How many of each are there?

90

147.
SAWING THE CUBE
We have a wooden cube of 3" on a side and we have
a buzz-saw. The cube can be cut into 27 one inch cubes
by the buzz-saw. Only 6 cuts of saw are necessary to do
this, while keeping the pieces together. Now, can you
reduce the number of cuts by rearranging the pieces after
each cut? If you can, how is it done? If you can't,
why can't it be done ?
148.
THE TWO TRAINS
Two trains start at the same time, one from Bangalore
to Mysore and the other from Mysore to Bangalore. If
they arrive at their destinations one hour and four hours
respectively after passing one another, how much faster is
one train running than the other?

91

149.
THE SQUARES
Can you find four numbers such that the sum of every
two and the sum of all four may be perfect squares?
150. THE ARITHMETICAL LANDLADY
While house hunting in London, I came across a very
good basehold property. Discussing the lease the landlady told me:
'The property was originally on a 99 years lease and
two-thirds of the time past is equal to four-fifths of the
time to come. Now work it out for yourself and see how
many years are there to gol
How many years of unexpired lease did the property
have?

92

Solutions

1. The first brother is 70 inches tall, the second 72

the third 74 and the fourth brother 80 inches tall.
2. Twenty-six minutes.
3. Since the boys have as many brothers as sisters,
there must be 1 boy more than the number of
girls. If we try 2 and 1, 3 and 2, and 4 and 3,
we will find that 4 boys and 3 girls is the
solution to fulfil the requirement that each girl has
twice as many brothers as sisters.
4. Naturally, the train travelling against the spin of
the earth. This train will wear its wheels out
more quickly, because the centrifugal force is
less on this train.
*
5. No, the answer is not 32 miles an hour, though
this figure is the obvious answer! However, this
represents the average of the 2 speeds and not
the average speed for the whole trip.
If the time is equal to the distance divided by the
average speed, then the time for the trip starting
from San Francisco
s equals ~4orand the time for the
return trip is is which gives us a total time of
40
which equals "MO
Therefore the average speed for the whole trip
when the average speed equals the1SSdistance
divided
by ~soowhich10
, _by .the time
200 is , 2S
. , divided
, 400S
equals 2S times iss% which equals i3s~or 30 ~f3
miles an hour.
95

6. One'can think of different answers for this

question, but yet the correct answer is very simple.
All we have to consider is that the shopowner
could not have possibly lost more than the tourist
actually stole.
The tourist got away with the bicycle which cost
the shopowner Rs. 300 and the Rs. 50
'change', and therefore he made off with Rs. 350.
And this is the exact amount of the shopkeeper's
loss.
7. The lowest square number I can think of, containing all the nine digits once and only once, is
139854276, the square of 11826, and the highest
square number under the. same conditions is
932187456 the square of 30384.
8. By experiment'we find that the only numbers that
can be turned upside down and still read as a
number are 0, 1, 6, 8 and 9.
The numbers 0, 1 and 8 remain 0, 1 and 8 when
turned over, but 6 becomes 9 and 9 becomes 6.
Therefore the possible numbers on the bus were
9, 16, 81, 100, 169 or 196. However, the number
196 is the only number which becomes a perfect
square when turned over because 961 is the
perfect square of 31.
Therefore 196 is the correct answer.
9. Here is the formula that gives the minutes past
twelve to which the hour hand points when the
minute hand is exactly thirty minutes ahead.
96

PPY-6

Minutes past twelve Y = 30 [ (n1) 2+11

where n is the next hour
Let's take the case of at what time between 4 and
5 will the30hands be 270
opposite
. _, each
6 other? (n= 5).
.-.Y = -pp x 9 = " T P * 24tt.
i.e. the hour hand will be 24 TT minutes past 4.
The formula may be derived from the following:
If X is distance moved by the minute hand
Y is the distance moved by hour hand
then XY = 30
First time the hands move round X = 12 Y
Second time the hands move round X = 12 Y5
Third time the hands move round X = 12 Y10
etc.
10. The Police Officer took thirty steps. In the same
time'the thief took forty-eight, which added to his
start of twenty-seven, carried fiim seventy-five
steps. This distance would be exactly equal to
thirty steps of the Police Officer.
11. While striking 7 the clock strikes its first gong at
7 o'clock and it strikes 6 more at regular intervals.
These 6 intervals take 7 seconds so that the intervals between gongs isiT seconds. However to
strike 10 there are 9 intervals each taking "if*
seconds for a total of 10} seconds.
12. In order that the little girl should have disposed
of the oranges she had remaining after her second
97

sale, she; must have had at least one whole orange

remaining so that she could deduct from it 'half
of her oranges plus half an orange', for the third
and the final sa'le. Therefore, if 1 orange
represents half of the remaining after the second
sale, then she must have sold two oranges in her
second sale, leaving the 3 oranges after the first
sale.
Lastly if three oranges only represent half the
original number, plus half an orange, then she
must have started with [ (3x2)+1] or 7 oranges.
13. All the transactions carried out through the
counterfeit note are invalid, and therefore everybody stands in relation to his debtor just where
he was before I picked up the note.
14. A pound of cotton is heavier than a pound of
gold because cotton is weighed by the avoirdupois
pound, which consists of 16 ounces, whereas gold,
being a precious metal is weighed by the troy
pound which contains 12 ounces (5760 grams).
15. When Tinku takes 12, Rinku and Jojo will take
9 and 14 respectivelyand then they would have
taken altogether thirty-five nuts.
Thirty-five is contained in 770 twenty-two times
which means all one has to do now is merely
multiply 12, 9 and 14 by 22 to find that Tinku's
share was 264, Rinku's 198 and Jojo's 308.
Now as the total of their ages is 17i years or half

the sum of 12, 9 and 14, their respective ages

must be 6, 4 and 7 years.
16. Jayant was 24 and Mohini 18.
17. The minimum number of weights required is five
and these should weight 1, 3, 9, 27 and 81
pounds.
18. Let's assume G is the number of glasses delivered
intact. Then,
3G = the amount earned.
Let's assume B is the number of glasses broken.
Then
9B = the amount forfeited
3G9B = 240
9B = 240
G + B = 100
3B = 300
128=60

B = 5 and G = 95.

19. 27

5643
297
.5742
638

20. 81
9

2+7=9,

9x3=27

7524
396
q.5823
647

81-

99

823546
197
7524
91 836

94

1578
263

96

9 6

1428
357
2148
sir

_1752
438
. - 69258
~7i496

a n d

21. I don't know about you, but I would have handed

over 5 two paise stamps, 30 one paise stamps and
7-five paise stamps.
22. There isn't really any mystery, because the explanation is simple. While the two ways of
selling are only identical, when the number of
marbles sold at three for a paise and two for a
paise is in the proportion of three to two. Therefore when the first woman handed over 36 marbles
and the second woman 24, they would have
fetched 24 paise, immaterial of sold separately or
at five for 2 paise. But if they each held the
same number of marbles there would be a loss
when sold together of 1 paise in every 60 marbles.
So, if they had 60 each, there would be a loss of 2
paise and if there were 90 each (180 altogether)
they would lose 3 paise and so on.
In the case of 60, the missing 1 paise arises from
the fact that the 3 a paise woman gains 2 paise
and the 2 a paise woman loses 3 paise.
The first woman receives 9i paise and the second
woman 14, so that each loses $ paise in the
transaction.
23. The couple arrived home 10 minutes earlier than
ubual. Therefore the point at which they met
100

must have been 5 minutes driving time from the

station. Thus the wife should have been at that
point at five minutes to six. Since the man
started to walk at five o'clock, he must have
been walking for 55 minutes when hi met his
wife.
24. At each station passengers can get tickets for any
of the other 24 stations and therefore the number
of tickets required is 25 x 24= 600.
25. My aunt's share was Rs. 49200 .
26. We can build concentric hexagons' containing 1,
6, 12, 18, 24, 30, 36 and 42 circles. When
' be room
R becomes sufficiently large there will
for extra circles.
If there is an even number of circles per side in
iast hexagon, an outsider can be placed centrally if
1 + V X
2

r ^

i.e.

i f ~r -

13.9.

Two more 'outsiders' can be put each side of this

one if
[ (R + r ) ^
+ (2r) ] + r < R
V

101

i.e. if 0

14*15

i.e. if
r ^ 15.
Therefore in the given example three outsiders
can be accommodated.
And the number of saucers that can be placed on
the table is:
1 + 6+12+18+24+30+36+42+ (3x6) =187.
27. If I walk 26 steps I require 30 seconds.
If I walk 34 steps I require only 18 seconds.
Multiplying the 30 by 34 and 26 by 18 we get
1020 and 468.
The difference between 1020 and 468 is 552.
When we divide this number by the difference
between 30 and 18-, i.e. by 12 we get the answer
46the number of steps in the stairway.
28. No. It cannot be done.
Each rectangle covers 1 white square and one
black square, because on a chess board the white
and black squares are always adjacent.
The two squares which we remove from the chess
board are of the same colour, and so the remaining
board has two more boxes of one colour than the
other. And after the rectangles have covered 60
boxes, there will be left two squares of the same
colour. Obviously the remaining rectangle cannot
cover these two squares.
102

29. Just one look at the Dumber 999919 and we know

that it cannot be a prime number. And if the
problem has to have only one answer, this number
can have only two factors. The factors are 991
and 1009, both of which are primes.
We know that each cat killed more mice than
there were cats, and therefore the correct answer,
clearly, is that 991 cats killed 1009 mice.
30. The forcwheel is 8 feet in circumference and the
hind wheel 12 feet.
31. If X is the temperature^5 = X 32
-4Xj = - 3 2
.e.
which gives X = 40
i.e. 40C = 40F.
32. The entire mile was run in nine minutes. Though
fr.>m the facts given we cannot determine the time
taken over the first and second quarter-miles
separately, we know, however, that together they
took four and a half minutes. And the last two
quarters were run in two and a quarter minutes
each.

103

The clock broken in the manner shown in the

illustration below:

The numerals on each of the four parts will sum

to 20.

104

34. The painted area as shown in the illustration

below:

Though it does not leave the clear area 4' x 4',

however does measure 4' from top to bottom and
from side to side.
35. We know that there were five droves with an
equal number in each drove, and therefore the
number must be divisible by 5. As every one of
the eight dealers bought the same number of
animals, the number must also be divisible by 8.
This leads us to the conclusion that the number
must be a multiple of 40.
Now the highest possible multiple of 40 that will
work will be found to be 120, and this number
could be made up in one of two ways1 cow, 23
sheep and 96 pigs or 3 cows, 8 sheep and 109
pigs. But the first does not fit in because the
animals consisted of 'Cows, Sheep and Pigs' and
105

a single 'Cow' is not 'Cows'. Therefore the

second possibility is the correct answer.
f th of Rs. 35 equals Rs. 40 the regular
selling price of the first frock and g- of Rs. 30
equals Rs. 35, the regular selling price of the
second frock. Now, if the first frock usually sells
for Rs. 40 and is sold for Rs. 35 on the
reduced price, then I save Rs. 5. This gives
me a gain on the cost the percentage of
-jr which equals ~ and that is a little more than
14.28.
The second frock usually sells for Rs. 35, which
on the reduced price costs me Rs. 30. Again I
save Rs. 5 which equals or ~ that amounts
to, in percentage, a gain of little more than 16.66.
The difference between the first frock and the
second in terms of percentage gained is a little
more than 2.38. Hence the- second frock is a
better buy.
The key to the solution is that with a little bit
of pencil work, it will be found, while I can walk
5 miles, my friend who started from Tumkur can
walk 7 miles. Let's assume the distance between
Bangalore and Tumkur is 24 miles, then the point
of meeting would be 14 miles from Bangalore,
and therefore I walked 3-5- miles per hour while
106

my friend walked 4 -i- miles per hour, and we

both arrived exactly at 7 P.M.
38. Let's assume that the man and the train normally
met at the crossing at 8 A.M., then the usual
time of the cyclist at the bend is 8 A.M. and he
is 6 miles behind at 7.30 A.M. But when the
cyclist is late, he arrives at the bend at 8.25 A.M.
and therefore he is six miles behind at 7.55 A.M.
Since the train takes 5 minutes to travel the sixmile run, the speed of the train is 72 m.p.h.
39. The woman made altogether Rs. 20. She mads
Rs. 10 when she sold the item for the first time
and another Rs. 10 when she sold it for the
second time.
40. 84
41. While the first was the example given, the top row
must be one of the four following numbers : 192,
219, 273 or 327.
42. The manufacturer must take one flywheel made
by each machine, find their total weight and
compare this with the weight of the equivalent
number of goodflywheelsto obtain the difference.
Then he must take 1 flywheel from machine
number one, 2 flywheels from machine number
107

two and so forth, and weigh these against the

corretf weight for that number of parts.

44. The merchant must mix 70 Kilos of the Rs. 32

coffee with 30 Kilos of Rs. 40 coffee.
45. I must have had Ri. 42 in my purse when I
started out.
46. 4, 5 and 6.
47. If the sari cost Rs. 100 and the blouse Rs. 10
the difference would be Rs. 90, and therefore the
sari must cost more and the blouse less. A little
thought indicates the sari costs Rs. 105 and the
blouse Rs. 5. So the difference in cost is
Rs. 100.
108

43. The date on which I met the boy was 1st January
1977, and the boys birthday was on 31st
December, 1976. The boy was 11 years old on
the day I met him.
49. The whole brick weighs 3 lbs.
50. They had Rs. 22781.25.
51. Let's assume that the age of the ship at present
is X years and of the boiler Y years.
Then
The ship X is twice as old as its boiler (YX) was
when the ship was (xX) as old as the boiler
is now.
X = 2 (YX) and (xX) 2.
Eliminating X gives 4Y = 3x.
Also, x+Y = 30
Y (the boiler) = ~ years
and X (the ship)
a 120 years.

109

52. The following would be the procedure in chart

form:'
19 Ounces 13 Ounces 7 Ounces
0
13
7
Step 1
7
13
0
Step 2
19
1
0
Step 3
12
1
7
12
Step 4
8
0
Step 5
5
8
7
Step 6
5
13
2
Step 7
18
0
2
Step 8
18
2
0
Step 9
11
2
7
Step 10
11
9
0
Step 11
4
9
7
Step 12
4
13
3
Step 13
17
0
3
Step 14
17
3
0
Step 15
10
3
7
53. Just myself! Only I was going to the market
and I met all the others coming from the opposite
direction.
54.

7_
13

55. They will never step out with right feet together.
56. Three socks must be taken from the drawer,
because if only two were taken one might be
110

white and the other brown. However, the third

selection must result in a pair of white or brown
socks.
57. As Rekha's share falls in through her death, the
farm has now to be divided only between Rashmi
and Mala, in the proportion of one-third to onefourththat is in the proportion of four-twelfths
to three-twelfths, which is the same as four to
three. Therefore Rashmi gets four-sevenths of
the hundred acres and Mala three-sevenths.
58. The man must have lost. And the longer he went
on the more he would losewith simple calculations, we can draw this conclusion:
In two tosses he was left with three quarters of
his money.
'
In four tosses nine-sixteenths of his money.
In six tosses with twenty-seven sixty-fourths of
his money, and so on.
Immaterial of the order of the wins and losses,
he loses money, so long as their number is in the
end equal.
59. Ten applicants had had neither mathematics nor
literature training. So we can now concentrate
on the remaining 90, applicants. Of the 90, twenty
had had no mathematics and eight had had no
literary training.
That leaves us with a remainder of 62 who have
had training in both literature and mathematics.
ill

60. 28 is the answer.

The method of working out this problem is to
reverse the whole processmultiplying 2 by 10,
deducting 8, squaring the result and so on.
61. V40"+9"ft = V1600+81 ft = \/1681 ft
= 41 feet.
62. There were sixty eyes, so there must have been
thirty animals. Now the question is what combination of four-legged pigs and two-legged ducks
adding to thirty will give 86 feet. With some
pencil vork, we get the answer 13 pigs and 17
ducks.
63. The simplest way is to find those numbers between
50 and 100, which are multiples of 2 and 3 leaving
no remainder. These numbers are 54, 60, 66,
72, 78, 84, 90 and 96. By scrutiny we find that
if 78 is divided by 5 it will give 15 plus 3 left
over. Therefore 78 is the total number of eggs
Rasool had in his basket, before the accident.
And therefore he was paid Rs. 39 by the
gentleman.
64. Rs. 30.
65. If 65 minutes be counted on the face of the same
watch then the problem would be impossible.
112

PPY-7

because the hands mus>t coincide every

minutes as shown by its faceand it hardly
matters whether it runs fast or slow. However,
if it is measured by true time, it gains
of a
minute in 65 minutes or ^ of a minute per
hour.
66. The trains travel at 25 miles per hour. Therefore
they will meet after travelling for one hour and
the falcon also must have been flying for one
hour. Since it travels at 100 miles per hour, the
bird must have flown 100 miles.
67. At a raise of Rs. 300 per year; .
1st year Rs. 1000 + Rs. 1000 = Rs. 2000
2nd year Rs. 1150 + Rs. 1150 =? Rs. 2300
3rd year Rs. 1300 -f Rs. 1300 = Rs. 2600
4th year Rs. 1450 + Rs. 1450 = Rs. 2900
At a raise of Rs. 100 each half year:
1st year Rs. 1000 + R. 1100 = Rs. 2100
2nd year Rs. 1200 + Rs. 1300 = Rs. 2500
3rd year Rs. 1400 + Rs. 1500 = Rs. 2900
4th year Rs. 1600 + Rs. 1700 = Rs. 3300
Obviously the second proposition is much more
lucrative.
68. Mammu had 5 marbles and NawaJ 7.

113

69. Th6 ages must be as follows:

Mrs. Sareen
39
Sudha
21
Seema
18
Reema
18
Sonny
12
Kishu
9
It is obvious that Seema and Reema are twins.
70. Since 437 contains the percentage of all apartments
including the number of 4's and the total of
these percentages is 244, the number of 4's must
be represented by 100% as the base. In order to
find the base of 100% representing the number of
4's. we have to divide 437 by 244%, which gives
us 179.0984. Thus we can work out a table
showing the number of each type apartment,
which should look as follows:
Number of Rounded out to
Type of
Apartment Apartments the nearest figu
9
8.9549
2
13
12.5369
2*'s
27
26.8647
3's
36
35.8197
3i's
179
179.0984
4's
U
87.7582
4fs
59
59.1024
5's
21
21.4918
54's
5
5 3729
6's
437
436.9799
Total
114

7', There are only 5 numbers that can be read upside

down 0,1, 6, 8 and 9. Now we only have to
arrange these numbers so that when turned upside
down the result will be larger by 78633. With
some experiment we will find that the number is
10968 which is 89601, inverted.
72. He sold one for Rs. 600 losing 20% on the
transaction. So he must have paid Rs. 750
for that lathe and since he made 20% profit on
the other machine he must have bought it for
Rs. 500. Therefore his total loss is Rs. 50.
73. A brick weighed 3 lbs. Therefore, 16 brickt
weighed 48 lbs and 11 bricks 33 pounds. Multiplying 48 by 33 and taking the square root we
get 39.79. The girl's weight must have been
about 39 79 pounds.
74. In the first three pickings you may get 1 of each
colour, on the 4th pick there must be at least
two of one colour.
Therefore the answer is 4.
75. As the difference between twice the number and
half of it amounts to 45, or half of the number
plus the whole of it represented by 1 adds
upto 45,
i + t=i + - f = - f - =
4 5

us

Now we have to find what jnumber JL is equal

of 45. To do this we invert - y to and multiply by 45. This gives us
f X 45 = 30
Therefore 30 is the number.
76, Eleven minutes. The twelfth piece does not
require sawing.
77. The train schedule must have been in the following manner:
Churcbgate train into the station at 1.00 P.M.
And Bandra train at 1.01 P.M.
Churcbgate train into the station at 1.10 P.M.
And Bandra train at 1.11 P.M.
Churchgate train into the station at 1.20 P.M.
And Bandra train at 1.21 P.M.
and so forth.
This way each train would be arriving every ten
minutes but his chances of getting the Churchgate
train would be 9 times as great as of getting on
the Bandra train, because if he arrives in the
station between 1.20 P.M. and 1.21 P.M. he goes
on the Bandra train but if he arrives between
1.21 P.M. and 1.30 P.M. he goes to Churchgate.
78. 14 and 20.

r.6

79. The writers spent Rs. 350, the doctors also spent
Rs. 350, the dentists spent Rs. 420 and the
bank employees spent Rs. 210. Thus they spent
altogether Rs. 1330. The five writers spent as
much as four doctors, twelve doctors spent as
much as nine dentists, and six dentists as much as
eight bank employees.
SO. I must have entered the store with Rs. 99.98 in
my purse.
81. Let's assume P is a coin that's known to be
perfect. The solution to this problem runs as
follows:
120
1st weighing

...

4Q' 40

2nd weighing

...

13+PL- 141

3rd weighing

. ..

4+PJ

4th weighing

...

1+Pi

.1

40

| I

And in the fifth and the last weighing we determine the actual faulty coin.
117

82. The container would be half full on the 9th day.

Since the number of bacteria doubles each day,
the container should be half full on the day before
it became full.
83. Shepherd Gopal had one sheep only:
84. 120.
85. A simple general solution to this problem would
be as follows:
Let's assume there are n number of players. Then
the amount held by every player at the end will
be m (2 ), and the last winner must have held at
the start m(n+l), the next m(2n+l), the next
m(4n+1) and so on to the first player, who must
have held m(2 - n+l).
Therefore, in this case, n = 7
And the amount held by every player at the end
was 2 quarter'of a rupee pieces.
Therefore m = 1
Govind started with 8 quarter of a rupee pieces or
Rs. 2.
Fakhruddin started with 15 quarter of a rupee
pieces or Rs. 3.75.
Edward started with 29 quarter of a rupee pieces
or Rs. 7.25.
Dev started with 57 quarter of a rupee pieces or
Rs. 14 25.
Chunder started with 113 quarter of a rupee
pieces or Rs. 28.25.
n

lis

Binoy started with 225 quarter of a rupee pieces

or Rs. 56.25.
Arun started with 449 quarter of a rupee pieces
or Rs. 112.25.
86. Ram Rakhan worked for 16f days and idled
13$ days.
His salary at Rs. 240 per 30 day month works
out to Rs. 8 a day. At Rs. 8 a day, working
16 days he earned Rs. 133.33 and idling 13
days he lost also Rs. 133.33. Therefore neither
owed the other anything.
87. The person who must move when there are 5
matchsticks must lose the game, because if that
person removes one matchstick the other person
will take the remaining 4, and if that person takes
two the opponent will take the remaining 3, so on
and so forth. Therefore, the person who moves
v. hen there are 10 or 15 matchsticks must lose.
The only correct way to make the first move is to
take away 2 matchsticks and reduce the pile to
15, then no matter what your opponent does on
his move, you reduce the pile to 10, then to 15
and lastly you take the remaining matchsticks.
88. The ratio of the father and son's age is now 4 to
I, and 30 years from now it will be 2 to I. The
period of thirty years equals the difference of the
119

two ratios or 2 to 1. Therefore 30x2=60, the

fathers age and 30=15, the son's age.
89. First I was offered 16 guavas for Rs. 1.20. That
would have been at the rate of 90 paise-a dozen.
Thp two extra guavas gave me 18 for Rs. 1.20,
which is at the rate of eighty paise a dozen, which
amounts to ten paise a dozen less than the
original price ittled.
90.

91. 1 had " 50 paise coin, one 25 paise coin and

four 10 p se coins.
:

92. Let's consider the year 1948. Fortyeight has the

following factors:
24 and 2 i.e.
24th of February
4 and 12 i.e.
< 4th of December
and 12tb of April
16 and 3 ie.
16th of March
6 and 8 i.e.
6th of August or
8th of June
and giving six occasions. The years 36, 48 , 60
and 72 each give six occasions whereas the

greatest number of occasions is given by 24

seven occasions.
93. The bucket full of half soveriegn gold pieces
are worth more since the denominations of the
gold pieces make no difference. What is most
important here is the bucket containing half
soveriegn gold pieces is full of gold whereas the
other one is only half full.
94. Double the product of the two distances from the
wall and you get 144, which is the square of 12.
The sum of the two distances is 17, and when we
add these two numbers 12 and 17 together and
also subtract one from the other, we get the two
answers that 29 or S as the radius, or half diameter of the table. Naturally the /ull diameter
should be 58" or 10". However a table of the
latter dimensions cannot be a 'large circular table*
and therefore the table must be 58" in diameter.

121

95.

96. Let's assume X is one of the numbers and Y the

other.
122

Then :

X Y = 51
X Y= 3
6Y + 9 = 51
X = Y+ 3
(Y+3) (Y+3) - Y
6Y = 42
Y= 7
and X = 10.
2

98. Since the squirrel climbs 5 ft. in ascending 4 ft.

of the pole, he travels 20 ft. in climbing 16 ft.
99. The man's rate of speed is 4 ^iles an hour to the
woman's 3 miles and therefore their total rate is
7 miles an hour. Since they are 63 miles apart
they can cover an average of 9 miles in one hour.
Therefore 9x4 = 36, number of miles travelled
by ihe man and 9 x 3 = 27 miles the distance
travelled by the woman.
100. The three men sbatcu the beer equally and so
erch drank the contents of 2 bottles. Therefore tho man who had K 15 bottles contribat
21 i
and the mai> wno had paid for
!

124

bottles contributed $ of the bottle, to make up

the third man's share.
The first man's contribution is 7 times that of the
second and therefore he gets Rs. 7 and ti e
latter Rs. 1.
101. The woman's age is 45 years &nd her husband's 54.

102.

103. When the trains are moving in opposite direction?,

they are passing each other with the combined
speeds of the two trains. Hence when going in
the same direction, the 'passing speed' is the speed
of the passenger speed minus t he speed of the
125

freight train.
I:' the passenger goes twice as fast as the freight
train, then the passing speed when going in the
opposite directions will be 2 plus ! or 3 compared
with 2 minus 1 or i when the trains are going in
the same directions
Therefore, the answer is tw>e as fast.
104. Yr.s only answer is that there were 5 old persons,
25 young persons and 70 children.
105.
206.

3M- 3 + -f:iere were 72 bees.

1C7. The candles must have burnt for three hours and
t; ree quarters as one candle had one-sixteenth of
Kb total length left and the other four-sixteenths.

126

108.

109. 2$ goats.
The first man paid Rs. 180 and the second man
Rs. 320.
110. The crew can row -y- of the distance per minute
on still water and the stream does half that
distance per minute.
The difference and sum of these two fractions are
-gj- and -JF- Hence, against the stream would
take minutes and with stream minutes.
The correct answer is 3-rr minutes.
i;:. 200 feet.

127

112. The mixture of spirits of wine and water is in the

proportion of 40 to 1, just as in the other bottle
it was in the proportion of 1 to 40.
113. For the train to pass completely through the
tunnel, it must travel 2 miles. After 1 mile travel,
the train would be completely in the tunnel, and
after another mile it would be completely out.
and since the train is travelling at 1 mile a minute,
it will take 2 minutes to pass through the tunnel.
114. Since it takes the horse and the cow 40 days in
one day of the pasture would have beea
eaten. And since it takes the horse and the sheep
60 days, in 1 day ^ would have been grazed,
while since it takes the cow and the sheep 90 days
in 1 day 57 of the pasture should have been
devoured.
J
40

.
T

J_
60

,
+

19_
380

gjjj- equals what 2 horses, 2 cows and 2 sheep ea t

in a day
and2 19.
19
IS"

720

4io equals what 1 horse, 1 cow and 1 sheep eat

in 1 day.
As it takes 1 day to eat of the contents of the
pasture 4o
squire 19th part of 1 day or ^
or the whole of the contents of the pasture <vi!l
require 720 times as many days.
w i ! 1

Pi'Y-8

or
19 : 1 :: 720 : 37 -Jr
115. Their ages were respectively 64 and 20.
116.

When the car travels one mile each of 4 tires

sustain one mile's use.
Therefore, when a car has travelled 20,000 miles,
a total of SO,000 tire miles has been used.
Since this mileage has been gathered on 5 tires,
each tire must have been used for 16,000 miles.

117.

Divide the figure up into 12 equal triangles, as

shown in the sketch and follow the direction of
the cuts as indicated by the heavy lines.
444+444+44+44+4+4+4+4+4+4
129

119. 10 6 = 100 36 = 64 = 4
10 6 = 1000216 = 784 =28
2

120. 18 Paise.
121. Let's call the men A B C D and their wives
E F G H. They must play in such a way that no
person ever plays twice with or against another
person.
First Court
Second Court
1st day AD against BF
CE against DF
2nd day AH against CF
DE against BH
3rd day AF against DG
BE against CH
In this way no man ever plays with or against his
own wife.
122. It is obvious that the seller of the typewriter
follows the rule to take off three-eighths of the
price at every reduction, and therefore after the
consistent reduction, the typewriter should be
next offered for Rs. 156.25.
123. Pineapples cost Rs. 1.'75 a piece and jackfruits
Rs. 2.25.
124. There is only one cheapest method and that is to
open the 4 links of one section and then use these
130

links to join the other 4 sections together, which

should cost altogether Rs. 8.
125. The sides of the three boards measure 31 inches,
41 inches and 49 inches.
126. Demochares must be just sixty years of age.
127. The ratio of Reena's age to Seena's must be as
5 to 3.
Since the sum of their age is 44, Reena must be
27$ and Seena 16$.
128. Only the box in the very centre of the stack will
not suffer the strokes of the paint- brush, whereas
all the other 26 boxes will have at least one side
painted.
'
129. No, 6 is not the answer! It is not correct,
because after the 6 cigarettes have been smoked
there will again be 6 butts which can be made
into another cigarette.
The answer is 7.
130. The driver's number was 121.
131. The first and second labourers should each take a
crate with the former carrying his load one mile
and turning it over to the third, who will carry it
131

two miles. Then the second labourer should carry

his crate two miles and turn it over to the first,
who will then carry it one mile. Thus each
carries a crate 2 miles.
The following solution in eleven manipulations
shbws the contents of every vessel at the start and
after every manipulation:
10 Quart
10
5
5
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
4
4

10 Quart
10
10
10
10
6
7
7
3
3
8
8
10

5 Quart

J Quart

0
5
1
1
1
0
4
4
5
0
5
3

0
0

4
0
4

4
3
3
3
3

133.

134. The number of bees are IS.

135. Every time a match is held, one player is eliminated and to eliminate 29 of the 30 players, 29
matches are required.
136. 20 triangles.
137. 348 miles in 12 days.
133

138. From the Jews abode the Christian and the Turk
set out on a tour round the world, the Christian
going due east and the Turk due west. This way
the Christian gains a day and the Turk loses a
a day. So that when they meet again at the house
of the Jew their reckoning will agree with his and
all three may keep their Sabbath on the same
day.
139. The canvas must be 10 inches in width and 20
inches in height and the picture itself 6 inches
wide and 12 inches high.
140. With some trial one will find 987652413 as the
highest possible number containing 9 of the 10
digits that is divisible by 11, without a remainder.
141. Half the sum of the sides is 29 and from this we
deduct the sides in turn, which gives us 9, 13, 17,
19, which when multiplied together make 37791.
The square root of this number is 194.4.
194.4 square rods will be the answer.
142. 30 squares.
143. He bought at least 1 mule, 1 ox, 2 gpats and
1 pig*
Other answers are possible.
134

144. Assuming only 4 mangoes remained ia the

morning, this would mean that the third boy must
have found 7 mangoes left when he got at the
basket. But 7 is not f of a whole number, so
this is impossible.
The next possibility is 7 mangoes left ia the
morning, which is again impossible.
Now the next possibility is 10, which is } of 15.
This means that the third boy found 16 mangoes,
took one and then took 5 more. The second boy
then must have found 25 mangoes, taken one and
then taken 8 more. But 25 is not f of a whole
number and therefore the assumption that 10
mangoes remained in the morning is absurd.
By similar reasoning the numbers 13, 16 and 19
can be eliminated, but 22 will be found to meet
the required conditions.
The third boy found 34, took one and* left j of
33 or 22, the second boy found 52, took one and
left | of 51 or 34, the first boy found 79 took 1
and left | of 78 or 52.
The answer is the boys stole altogether 79
mangoes.
145. The numbers of the houses on each side will add
up alike if the nuniber of the house be 1 and
there are no other houses, and if the number be
6 with 8 houses in all, if 35 with 49 bouses, if 204
with 288 houses, if 1189 with 1681 houses and so
on. But we know that there were more than SC
and lesser than 500 houses, and so we are limitei
to a single case.
The number of the house must be 204.
135

146. 25" paise+50 paise+ 100 paise = 175 paise ana

Rs. 700 = 70 000 paise
400
400 is the number for each denomination.
14? It cannot be done in less than six cuts, because
the cube which is formed in the middle of the
original cube has no exposed surface.
Since a cube has 6 sides, the saw must create this
cube by 6 passes of the saw, no matter how the
slices are rearranged.
148 One train was running just twice as fast as the
other.
149. Besides several other answers, the smallest
numbers that satisfies the conditions are:
a = 10430, b = 3970, c = 2114, d = 386
a + b = 10430+ 3970 = 14400 = 120
a + c = 10430+ 2114 = 12544 = 112*
a+d = 10430+ 386 = 10816 = I04
b + c = 3970+2114 = 6084 = 78
b+ d = 3970+ 386 = 4356 = 66
c+d = 2114+ 386 = 2500 = 50
a+ b+c+ d = 10430+ 3970+ 2114=386 =
16900=130*
2

2
s

150. 45 years.
4

"...engrossing and entertaining...

of interest for all "
The

Statesman

Shakuntala Devi
PUZZLES TO PUZZLE
YOU
Shakuntala Devi is a w o r l d famous
mathematical prodigy who has for years
dazzled international audiences by her
incredible feats of computing. Recently, she
took only fifty seconds to calculate the
twenty-third root of a 201 digit number. To
verify her answer, a computer in Washington
programmed with over 13,000 instructions
took ten seconds longer !
Shakuntala Devi firmly believes that
mathematics can be great fun for everybody.
The 150 puzzles included in this book are
enjoyable excercises in reason intended t o '
sharpen your wits. Not only w o u l d you enjoy
pitting yourself against the author's ingenuity
but the puzzles w o u l d also provide great party
entertainment for your family and friends.

ORIENT PAPERBACKS