"NUTS!"

Evening Post, Volume CXII, Issue 152, 24 December 1926, Page 19

"NUTS!"

I ix- ! | (By T. L. Briton.) c | All rights reserved. :

E T ~ i | INTELLECT SHARPENERS I

Readers with a little ingenuity will find in this column an abundant store of entertainment and amusement, and the solving of the problems should provido excellent mental exhilaration. "While somo of the "nuts" may appear harder than others, it will be found that none will require a sledge-hammer to crack them. A LONG WALK. Exactly one mile north from the Lower Hutt bridge, two bush bridle tracks branch off to the right, one going more to the east than the other. These tracks are perfectly straight, and one leads to a sawmilling camp at X— — the other to the little settlement at 0 . I set out one morning to walk from the bridge to 0 direct, but unfortunately at the turn I took the more easterly one to X , and did not discover the mistake until reaching the camp. Some men informed mo that the nearest point from X to the road I should have taken was three miles, but as there was no defined road to it I decided to continue on to 0 by the beaten track. Upon arriving at the latter place some hours later than intended, and informing my friend, the local schoolmaster, of the route I had taken, he told me that I had walked exactly eleven miles, adding that tho distance from O to X was the same as from XK — '— to the point where the two tracks branched off from the main road, one mile north of the bridge. What is the distance from the bridge to 0 , direct? AN APPLE ORCHARD. When a certain landowner near Levin was making a division of his property, he erected a fenco through an apple orchard, dividing it into two uneual parts, one containing exactly three times the number oi! trees as the other. The larger area he gave to his elder son, who had remained at home assisting in the work of the properties, tho smaller section going to the other son, a somewhat prodigal young man. Af.ter the father's death the latter decided to have his portion (being nearer to the town), subdivided into building sites, and when the surveyor had completed the subdivision he found two interest-:, ing mathematical facts. The first was that, besides the elder boy's portion containing three times as many trees as the other, it was exactly three times its size; and second, that the difference between the elder son's proportion of the original orchard and the younger's was exactly the same as the difference of their squares. What acreage did the orchard contain before it was divided? THE BISHOP'S VIEW. Two laymen and Bishop were chatting ii^ the golf club room a few Saturday afternoons ago, and amongst other things discussed was the evergreen one of gambling, '' Gambling,'' said his lordship, "in tho abstract is not a sin, and where no undue advantage is usurped by one player against another, no conceivable harm can result in one benefiting financially from the other, provided the loss be well within the means of the loser. Of course," he added, "I am speaking only of games or sport demanding the exercise of skill." "Then supposing," said Mr. H , that two friends sit down to play dominos, and before commencing one of them stated his intontion of staking exactly half of tho money he was holding on each game, which he did. They played twolve | games, strictly in accordance with rules and etiquette, and. each playor won six. In such an event woulct it be correct to say that neithor player had any | undue advantage over the other!" "Yes, undoubtedly," replied the bishop, particularly as they finished on equal terms, neither player winning from the other." Is the bishop's view I correct? A SOMEWHAT DIFPEBENT ONE. Here is a little variation from the orthodox crossword puzzle. Being entirely new, so far as I am aware, there can have been no published result to spoil it as an "Intellect Sharpener." Not that it is difficult, but the fact that in composiiijj it, no beaten track has been followed, efforts to discover the correct solution will perhaps be a little more speculative. Horizontal: 1 an animal, 5 a mistake, 6 on the Stock Exchange. 7 an edict. ' . .A J 2 3 4 |\ 7 Vertical: 1 insects, 2 to put to some purpose, 3 measures of length, 4 in "Intellect." . All squares are used. Although solvers are not asked to send in solutions of the problems in this column, I should like to hear from any reader who cares to send in a solution of this one before 28th December. MAST AND ANN. The late Sam Lloyd, although in his time one of the cleverest chess pro- • blom composers, he seemed to have found time for a great variety of other puzzle problems. Here is one of his which Mr. E ,of Nelson, has sont along, and, although not new, it seems to be an evergreen. My correspondent omitted to send the solution, and as I have no record of the problem it may be that I shall have to spend part of my holidays in solving it in time for next publication of "Nuts." The combined ages of Mary and Ann are 44 years, and Mary is twice as old as Ann was when Mary was half rs old as Ann wjy be when Ann is three times as old as Mary was when Mary was three times as old as Ann. How old is Maryt It reads rather formidable, but as the printer is waiting for "copy," there''is no time now to substitute another one more in keeping with the levity of the Beason; and, anyhow, it may not be as hard a "nut" as it looks. soLtmoNe of last week's PROBLEMS. The Old Boy.—The old boy was 24 years of age. A Eich Perfume.—The first son received three full jars, one half-full, and three empty ones; the second son received two full jars, three half-full, and two empty onos; the third son received two full jaTS, three half-full, and two empty ones.

The Two Typistes.—The reader may be surprised to know that by pa,ying her increase half-yearly Miss Bemington received in the five years exactly £12 10s more than Miss Underwood, who received hers annually, the former's earnings being £362 10s and the latter's £350 in that period. As the proportion of salary spent in dress, etc., by Miss Bemington was ono and a half times that of her cousin, tho former spent £217 10s (60 per cent.) and Miss Underwood £140 (40 per cent.); total £357 10s, with their dressmakers and milliners in the five years.

Two Lonely Numbers.—The two lonely numbers are 48 and 1680. By adding- 1 to each of these they both become square numbers, and if 1 be added to half of either number, a similar result is produced.

Black anil White Monkeys. —The squares should be numbered so that the figures are not obscured by the pieces. The blacks may bo transferred to squares 1, 2, 3, and the whites to 4, 5, 6, leaving 7 vacant, in ten moves, thus: