Top 10 answered Chinese riddles:
1. How long will an 8 day clock run without winding?
.....not long at all if it needs winding
2. From what number can you take half and leave nothing?
.....the number 8
3. Why should the number 288 never be spoken in refined company?
.....Because it is two gross
4. If a man gives one son fifteen cents and another ten cents, what time would it be?
.....A quarter to two
5. A farmer combined 2 compost heaps with 3 others. How many compost heaps does he have?
.....One
6. Take ten from nine and leave only yourself.
.....From the Roman number IX, take away the X and I is left
7. What would you add to nine to make six?
.....The letter "S" would be added to IX and then you would have SIX
8. Why is the number 9 like a peacock?
.....Because it is nothing without its tail
9. Take 2 letters from a 5 letter word and have one left.
.....Take off the letters "st" from "stone" and "one" is left
10. What is the longest sentence in the world?
....."Go to prison for life."
As usual the quality of replies did not fail to impress.
Rap:
Jest a sec (That should have been the answer to 1)
Digits---342
Multiples of 3--33
Triples--42
Divisible #--270
Bicycles---7 tendems
1--8 days
2---0
3---it's two gross
4
5---one
6
7
8
9---loner->one
10
Mark:
1 TO 150
9*1 + 90*2 + 51*3 = 342
1 TO 101
16
SUM IS 11
10 (What would you say if I suggested 9?)
200 TO 300
270
TANDEMS
7
1. clocks can't run - they don't have legs
2. 1/2
3. it's two (too) gross
4. quarter to two
5. one
6. take X from IX leaving I
7. S
8. neither can lay an egg
9. stone - st = one
10. as a statement, it is false; as a question, a life sentence
Mark wrote, "Where did you get your data for the number of lines required for the various sizes of squares?"
Good question, give me some time.
Whim:
1. 0 days
2. 10 (take away first half which is 1 leave 0)
3. Because it is TOO gross (2 gross)
4. adds up to a quarter to two
5. 1 big heap
6. Take X from IX leaves I (I am I)
7. the letter S ( S + IX)
8. ?
9. phone - PH = ONE
10.?
Whim also wrote, "I posted the 7 line solution. I think 6 is not possible"
Sorry, somehow I missed that first time round. Although I went another way, you are right. The question as stated cannot be done.
I wrote:
"he other day upon the stair,
I met a man who wasn't there.
He wasn't there again today,
I wish, I wish he'd return today."
Francis replied, "thank you for your kind comments!"
You are as always, most welcome.
Canadian Higher Math Paper Part I
1. What letter is nine inches long
4. Why is the letter A like noon
5. Why is the letter E like London
6. What ends with E and begins with P and has a thousand letters
7. How do we know that S is a scary letter
8. What starts with T, ends with T, and is full of T
9. Tommy Tucker took two strings and tied two turtles to two tall trees. How many T's in that
10. From a word of 5 letters, take 2 letters and have 1
11. What letter is most useful to a deaf woman
A school has 90 children. During the day, each child attends 4 classes. Each class has 15 children and 1 teacher. During the day, each teacher teaches 3 classes. What is the smallest number of teachers the school can have
A box contains over 100 marbles. The marbles can be divided into equal shares among 6, 7, or 8 children with 1 marble left over each time. What is the least number of marbles that the box can contain
A prime number is a natural number greater than 1 that has no divisors other than 1 and the number itself. The first five prime numbers are: 2,3,5,7, and 11. How many different pairs of prime numbers have a sum of 36 if the order of the numbers in a pair does not matter