Puzzle
Puzzle 1:
Only for the brave, this one!
This square has eleven letters missing, which you have to replace:
Every row, column AND the main diagonals contain all the letters in the word "BRAVE".
That reminds me, I must see the Postman about all those missing letters.
Our Solution:
Puzzle 2:
Given only one of each letter in the alphabet, what are the smallest and largest numbers that you could write down?
Our Solution:
Using only one of each letter in the alphabet, you can spell:
ZERO or NOUGHT
MINUS FORTY (allowing negative numbers)
FIVE THOUSAND
These are the smallest and largest possible numbers.
Puzzle 3:
What letter of the alphabet is the one which comes eight letters before the letter which comes five letters after the fourth appearance of the first letter to occur four times in this sentence?
Our Solution:
"r"
You get this by working backwards through the puzzle: the first letter to occur four times is t: WhaT leTTer of T....
Five letters after the fourth "t" is the letter "p", and eight letters before that is "r".
Puzzle 4:
If I said that in three days' time it would be a Thursday, I am sure that most of you would have no difficulty telling me that today was a Monday.
Try this one then. Yesterday was two days before Monday. What day is it today? Yes, you're right again. It's Sunday. Do you get the idea?
Now let's tackle a similar question from The National Mathematics Contest (1991) Paper:
Three days ago, yesterday was the day before Sunday. What day will it be tomorrow?
Our Solution:
When I tested this, the order of popularity of answers handed in were: Sunday (9), Thursday (4), Monday (3), Friday (2), Wednesday (1), Saturday (1). THE RIGHT ANSWER WAS THURSDAY. Why?
Three days ago, yesterday was the day before Sunday, so three days ago was itself Sunday.
That means today is Wednesday, so tomorrow is Thursday
Puzzle 5:
Find a 10-digit number where the first digit is how many zeros
Only for the brave, this one!
This square has eleven letters missing, which you have to replace:
Every row, column AND the main diagonals contain all the letters in the word "BRAVE".
That reminds me, I must see the Postman about all those missing letters.
Our Solution:
Puzzle 2:
Given only one of each letter in the alphabet, what are the smallest and largest numbers that you could write down?
Our Solution:
Using only one of each letter in the alphabet, you can spell:
ZERO or NOUGHT
MINUS FORTY (allowing negative numbers)
FIVE THOUSAND
These are the smallest and largest possible numbers.
Puzzle 3:
What letter of the alphabet is the one which comes eight letters before the letter which comes five letters after the fourth appearance of the first letter to occur four times in this sentence?
Our Solution:
"r"
You get this by working backwards through the puzzle: the first letter to occur four times is t: WhaT leTTer of T....
Five letters after the fourth "t" is the letter "p", and eight letters before that is "r".
Puzzle 4:
If I said that in three days' time it would be a Thursday, I am sure that most of you would have no difficulty telling me that today was a Monday.
Try this one then. Yesterday was two days before Monday. What day is it today? Yes, you're right again. It's Sunday. Do you get the idea?
Now let's tackle a similar question from The National Mathematics Contest (1991) Paper:
Three days ago, yesterday was the day before Sunday. What day will it be tomorrow?
Our Solution:
When I tested this, the order of popularity of answers handed in were: Sunday (9), Thursday (4), Monday (3), Friday (2), Wednesday (1), Saturday (1). THE RIGHT ANSWER WAS THURSDAY. Why?
Three days ago, yesterday was the day before Sunday, so three days ago was itself Sunday.
That means today is Wednesday, so tomorrow is Thursday
Puzzle 5:
Find a 10-digit number where the first digit is how many zeros