"NUTS !"

Evening Post, Volume CXI, Issue 114, 16 May 1931, Page 6

"NUTS !"

z.■ ■ T I I INTELLECT SHARPENERS] 1 All rights reserved. | I (By T. L. Briton,) | r|i,,1,.1, 8 ..1..1.1...1.!M11M.M1M| 1) 111|MMM"1.M.M.....,.. I lf|

Readers with a Uttlo ingenuity will find in this column an abundant store of entertainment and amusement, and the solving of tho problems should provide excellent mental exhilaration. While some of tho ('nuts" may appear harder than others, it will he found that none will require a sledge-hammer to crack them. A LITTLE LOAN. A clerk out of woik desired to boriqw £0 (nine) iiom a pawnbroker for .1 period of four months, and offered (0 give sixty per cent, per .innuni if ]iii> o\ui note be accepted without cudoisc mCnt. The money-lender agreed to this piovided tho Jjorj-owcr vyould takp two pounds of the ■ulvanco in Ejoods instQJd of rash. The clerk consented to this, taking as pnrt ■payment oi tho loan a shaving outfil ior twonty-one shillings iiud seven mamophoiie jecoidb lor nineteen Iho intciest 1 cmg deducted Jiini tho amount handed ovei. As an iiimjiait pjoTblem, can the reader iliul how uiUeh enhh the impecunious one received I'iom tho piwnbrolcei if the lattei th.ngcd foi the goods, at tho prices mentioned, exactly tour times as nfuch as the article cost him, and what was the rate per cent, per annum charged for thp accommodation? Theic is a little point in this simple calculation that is* liable to Tjo overlooked, and if not obseived by tho would be j solver the eouect bolution will bo difficult to an he fit,

A "SHUNTING" PUZZLE. A loop line, BGB, connects two points B and U on a railway Uack, AF, which is WoeJccd at botli ends, the t)a<* AY boing fifty-four yards 3-,-ng, while AB and EV aie each olovon yards in length. On tho hack and loop aro eight Wflgons >\Juch ajo numbered pucccsiiivcly 1 to 8, each bejng six yai3s long, and an engijio of tho s.amo length. The, wagons aro on the tiack AP in. proper numerical order, and -the engine ia on the loop. Not more than eight vehicles can be on tho ti-iek at tho same time, and if the full number aro op. it the penultimate vehicle only at eithei end can be moved on to tho loop, but if fewer than eight are on tho track then the last two vehicles at either end can be moved on to tUe loop- The loop Hne will hold toMi Vehicles piovided tho points at each end are clear, but never moio than four. Tie problem, which should interest othois bcfeideg thq "railway" leadeis of this column, is to reverse, by ordinary shunting jnothods, tho 01 dor of the wagoug on tho track go Umt fiom A to F they will lie numborod 8 to 1, tho engine to be theoretically used for tho operations. What aio the fewest transferences of the engine or a wagon to 01 iiom the loop"

LADIES' PREROGATIVE. Heio is an' excellent little problem sent by an esteemed correspondent, "Colcnso," wljich the reader no doubt Trill enjoy, the particulars being tJtkqn 'fiom aii article in the wgpion's section of a weekly publication. During Jeap year 19 — a eeitain number of ladies old,and young made proposals of _ marriage, of whom ono-eighth were widows wliose offers were acceptable in every case. Consequently a number of men ioimd themselves "engaged," of. whom onii-clcventH- weio wido^eis. One-fifth of the proposals miido to the latter class woio declined, but all the widows were accepted, Thirty-five fpi ry-fourths married barheloii= nnd 1231 (one/ two, two. one) -were declined by. these iyiQß iflL-fliHfciiuaoiiial experience, but j»lill the nunibei of maidens accepted by them was peven times as many as the number of widgws whose proposals Xvafb agrceaWi} to. these young gentlemen. No other dutailu uavo been sent by "Colqn'so," but jf wp assume that no woman madq more than one proposal perhaps tho reader will find no difficulty in calculating how many -Indies exercised, thclr v prerogative in that eventful year.

ONE FOE THE ARMCHAIR. The leader will no doubt retiain from taking advantage of pen oy pencil when finding the solution of iMs little pioblem, and treat it m the manner suggested by its heading. A }andoTv«ci provided in hi? will that an uufeueed block of land containing oighty-four acres be dnided between thice iieeplo, X, V, and 7i, in the proportions, of onetliiid to X, one-±ouith tQ T, and oncfiCth to Z. Two concjitLons wqib imposed by this bequest, one that each should erect a building on his portion for personal residence thereon, and that each legatee should fenco his own section without any outside aia. 'I died befoie the division could possibly bo made, and a% the. o(,her two conformed to the terms of the stipulations made as to residence and fencing, what aieas should X and V be fairly entitled to under the termg of the ]n.nd<rwnci 'g will?

MARKETING TOGETHER. Tlueo wiycs went out marketing with Ihcir husbanilSJ1 * but each of the sis bought independently i>t -ono another, and their. tianßactions m the poultiy ■section arc the only ohp? th.-a.t concern, this problem. Muuli of them bought as many >inglo articles '(which wore confined to eggs and fowls) us.she or he gave pence for quo, jjnd each ot the thice husbands, WiJHam Adams, George Bak«, and Jlenry (Me, purebred to the extent of 5a 3d (fiye and three* ponce) more than his wife, William1 bougM twonty/throo (of one pr other of the pioducts named) moie 1 han Bessie, mill George eleven more than Mar,}. The Cluistiau name of the! Lhird wife w_as^Kate t and the innocent i question fOl ~lhQ'reader to find the cor-j loct answer to is whfit the names i of- the three manied couples? It may possibly be found mole inleissting to I sock the solution of this, problem by a scries of jnfithodwnl tiials instead oi by formal'jnathomatical pioeess.

LAST WEEK'S SOLUTIONS. ■Two Window easements.—Each window was four foet; square, the panes "I the- respective sashes being tour inches by three and pji. inches by one a.ii(l a half, School Statistics.—At the commencei incut of the soho-ol jear leferred to ihe-io were thiee gnls to every two | hoj s." 'In Opposite Pirect4on,s. —They arrived i ,?it their destinations at 5 p.m./the dislanoo fcetweca the two- places being SJ-'o miles. Tho two pcr&ons piihscd at thp 135-mile post from X, A Triangular Plot. —Eight and onociffhlh feet from j?ach comOi. Multiply (1)0 thice, M4cs. together and divido by four timeii the aica (S-l).

If it Woie Four-sided.—Thiity-threo fuel. Kule; fiom Ifalf^ the siiin of the tour sjdes deduct in (urn the length uf each, Mujliply tjicsc four results to find tlje nica pf the quadrilateral. ,

ANSWERS TO;. .CORRESPONDENTS; •' rJ?ho: tirnH : taken diminishes ' at' the isiVnie; rate', a? tlie nunilicr pf mnitsvincreases.- .•■-;•■■" :,.' H.N-.8.—N0 • digit, or colour.. sJiQiild, appear j;\yioe in t}ie samp rqwj ./jpjymn/or diagonal,'■' Tlrere: is-.no/sDlution for iv.six.• squjtrf;" Tltis answers .IVR.S. aiul B.G.^ .'•■■ ■' '.' ' '- . "Slacker."—Q.uiVn ? correct .as stilted. See above;. . ■ ' " .