There are two tricks to this one. The first is 1 × 0. But it’s mostly there as a distraction. Yes, 1 × 0 is 0, but that doesn’t affect anything else in the equation. The second, far trickier element is that the lines ending with 1 don’t have a + sign next to them. That means they should be combined with the following line.
Wallace died a wealthy, if somewhat odd, man without any living relatives. He left his money in four different cities for the first four people who could find it. The only clue he left was this poem:
Do not go solo,
Pairs up with a friend,
Though I hasten to add,
I’ll avenge my end.
The letter ‘b’, the verb to be or a bee. The letter b and a bee are both small and to be means you exist. Bees make honey, which is sweet, and their wings are going at around 230 beats per second. Bees are valuable because they pollinate flowers. They live in hives and the queen bee runs the show. If it weren’t for bees, we would probably starve to death.
You are the bus driver. At your first stop, you pick up 29 people. On your second stop, 18 of those 29 people get off, and at the same time 10 new passengers arrive. At your next stop, 3 of those 10 passengers get off, and 13 new passengers come on. On your fourth stop 4 of the remaining 10 passengers get off, 6 of those new 13 passengers get off as well, then 17 new passengers get on. What is the color of the bus driver’s eyes?
You are given eight coins and told that one of them is counterfeit. The counterfeit one is slightly heavier than the other seven. Otherwise, the coins look identical. Using a simple balance scale, how can you determine which coin is counterfeit using the scale only twice?
First weigh three coins against three others. If the weights are equal, weigh the remaining two against each other. The heavier one is the counterfeit. If one of the groups of three is heavier, weigh two of those coins against each other. If one is heavier, it’s the counterfeit. If they’re equal weight, the third coin is the counterfeit.
Brief (or briefs). A legal brief is a short outline of the arguments in a court case, briefs are worn by men to cover their privates. Brief also means to not last long and brief rhymes with grief, a kind of misery.
The problem works out to a set of three equations:
b + c + d = 22
a + c + e = 22
a + b + c + d + e = 30
Solving for c = 14, leaving d = 8 – b and e = 8 – a. In other words, c must be 14, but the other two numbers just have to add up to 8. The requirement that they be unique rules out 4 + 4, so you’re left to choose from the following combations for b + d and a + e:
0 + 8
1 + 7
2 + 6
3 + 5