NUTS TO CRACK.

Otago Witness, Issue 3804, 8 February 1927, Page 25

NUTS TO CRACK.

By T. L. Briton. (For thb Witness.) Beaders with a little Ingenuity will find in iis column an abundant '"* store of entertainmert and amusement, and the solving of the problems should provide excellent mental exhilaration. While some of the. “nuts” may appear, harder than . others, it will be found that none will , require a sledge-hammer' to crack them. Solutions will appear in our next ■■ ■ Issue together ' with some fresh “nuts.',’ •: * : .: v - Readers -re requested not to send .* in their solutions, unless these are specially asked, for, but' to keep them for comparison with those published in the issue following . the publication of the problems. THE TRAIN FARES. Four schoolboys were going home for the holidays. After spending the morningin the city shops, two of them found, upon arrival at the railway station, that they -.id encroached upon the money that should have been eatmarked for train fares. ; The four then had a consultation to discuss ways and means, when it was found that Jack had t alf as much again as the single fare, Bruce was 4s short of his, Frank had only half as much as the railway clerk wanted, and Dick had 8s more than the cost of his ticket. As they were all bound for the same destination, it was agreed that Jack should collect all the money of the other .boys, add to it his own, and. buy the four tickets. The sum subscribed was. £3 Bs, and Jack received some change from the clerk, which, being divided equally, was sufficient for refreshments on the journey. How much was over, after purchasing the tickets?

BUYING RHUBARB. The professor surprised his wife the other day when he told her that upon the facts;she had related the Chinese veget-able-man had made a monstrous profit in the transaction she had with him; It appears that the professor's wife is accustomed to buy rhubarb in the large bundle, measuring 18m in circumference, but: on this particular day the itinerant vendor had only small ones left, which measured 9in in circumference. When she told the man that she would take two of them at the_price of one large bundle, the hawker replied that two Jsmall ones contained more rhubarb than one large one, but as she was a good customer he, would let her have them at; the same price. It was when the wife/Was relating these facts to her husband that the professor smiled and told her she had been cheated. Can the reader explain how? THE MOVING WHEELS. A “perennial” known to the average problem-composer is one called “The Moving Wheel,” a veritable paradox. The vexed question is: “Does the upper part of a wheel of a moving vehicle travel faster than the lower part?” I remember the correct answer to this query being published in a I’hiladelphia papep some few years ago, and it caused Snore controversy than the question itself, polimagnates, judges, etc., taking up sides for: ,;an<f .against. The’ anajorityj*., sttange to sajp'seemed .to be against the publishers' solution, which to my niind was undoubtedly the correct one. . Readeri: are particularly asked not to send ih them views, but should the answer, .to be*, giyeji Jfrext Tuesday, not be acceptable to. any 'reader, his views will be examined, and, if any new phase of the question is revealed, it will be published in due course.

A SAWMILLER’S CONTRACT. • A mari,owriing a small plant advertised that be-would'take contract sawing and dressing timber at so much per 100 feet or would accept one-tenth of the quan- : tity worked,.- in full payment. A farmer ■who ielled his own timber gave him a contract under- the latter conditions. When the wqik was finished, the quantity that the ■ farmer- took away (all flooring, boards) ?waS 5400 feet after the deduo tion of one-tenth had been made. What quantity did the sawmiller have left out of his share after flooring a room 20ft x 20ft, the lengths of the boards enabling the work to be done without waste? NUTS FROM BRAZIL. • Charley's aunt Tabitha'brought her thre.i nephews a 'large jar of choice nuts from Brazil. She did not know at first quite now _to divide them, but afterwards decided to share them m proportion to the boys ages, which together amounted to 55-years. Aunt labitha thereupon counted tlie nuts and found there were 1540, and after making a little calculation said:— I 1 or every eight nuts Charlie receives, Fred will get six, and for every 12 that Charlie gets, Harry will receive 14.” The distribution then proceeded on those lines, and it is quite a refreshing little calculation to discover how many nuts each no,.hew received, and also to find out their lespeclive ages. SOLUTIONS OF LAST WEEK’S PROBLEMS. THE COSMOPOLITAN PICNIC. The six men received £l2, 18 boys £lB. and the 12 girls £6. A QUEER AMOUNT OF £ S. D. The amount is £44,444 4s 4d. These figures add up to 28, and the digits in the number* of penCe in that sum—viz., 10,656,612 also add up to 28. COMMERCIAL OR ACADEMIC. The cost price of the car sold for £3OO, representing a 20 per cent, profit,, was £250, and the cost of the car sold for the same amount which involved a, loss of 20 per cent, was £375, making a total cost pt ice of the two cars of £625. As they were sold for £6OO, I lost £25 in the transaction. THE MILKMAN. The capacity, of the jug must have been, three gallons approximately—or to be exact 2.9 gallons. A RIFLE SHOT. Jack who saw the smoke knew first of the three boys that the. rifle had been fired, then Harry who saw the bullet strike the water,- rind Dick who; only heard the report was‘last of the three to know.