Brainteasers: February 2008
LCE Brainteasers
January/February 2008
Compiled by Julianne Scibetta-Messia
Welcome back to a new year of Brainteasers!
Congratulations to our intrepid December players: Bruce Epps, Karey Pharris,
and Rick Muthiah!
Answers to December:
- Farmer Brown has 3 ducks.
- Today is the first of January. Charlie’s birthday was on the 31st
of December, yesterday, when he was 21. The day before yesterday he was 20,
he will be 22 this year, and 23 next year.
- A sphere has three, a circle has two, but a point doesn’t have any….
Dimensions.
- There are only 2 grooves on a record; one on each side.
- Safety in numbers!
January/February 2008
(A)Political Slant
As political interest and chatter begins to swell this great nation, and as
the world begins to tune in to watch, let’s gather seats by the fireside
and play a good old-fashioned game of trivia. All puzzles were deliberately
chosen; I hope you will find the clues.
- Lincoln – Kennedy “Coincidences.”
- Lincoln was elected in (what year), Kennedy in (what year)?
- HINT: They were elected into office 100 years apart
- Both men were assassinated on what day of the week?
- Lincoln was killed in _____ Theater. Kennedy met his death while riding
in a ________.
- Both men were succeeded by vice-presidents named ___________.
- A year ago Farmer Brown put his five horses and five donkeys in the same
field to save space. No other animals had access to the field and so the horses
and donkeys were able to graze together undisturbed. Two days ago Farmer Brown
took all the horses to fresher pastures. There are now six animals left in
the field. Only five of them are donkeys. How can this be?
- You want to hire a temporary employee for one month. You offer him reasonable
wages, but the employee suggests an alternative. For the first day of work,
he will be paid a penny. For the second day, two pennies. For the third day,
four pennies. The salary for each subsequent day will be double the previous
day's, until the one month term is over. Ignoring the legalities of such a
situation, would it be a good idea to accept the potential employee's proposal?
- I'm going to buy Tiffany-lamp one-cent, Oklahoma two-cent, coffeepot three-cent,
wagon five-cent, and Marine ten-cent stamps. I'm going to buy four of each
of two sorts, and three of each of the rest, and I have exactly enough to
buy them -- just this handful of dimes. How many of each type am I going to
buy?
Word Boxes are like miniature crossword puzzles, except that each word is filled
in across and down the grid. That is, the answer to 1 across is the
same word as the answer to 1 down; 2 across is the same as 2 down; etc. Can
you solve this Word Box?
1.
sheriff, for example
2. fly
3. the wheat from the chaff
4. disfigure
5. coral islands with lagoons
6. most recent
As usual, express your opinions and submit your votes
best guesses to Julianne at messiaj@acp.edu.
Got a puzzler you’d love to share? Send it to me and I’ll feature
it in the next Brainteaser!
Good luck!