Silver tears falling down, Nature’s clear imposter, Sparkling, shining like a gown, Adorn an elephant or horse, Silver, PVC or even lead, Bringing cheer to all around, For such a simple thread.
Tinsel emulates icicles, which are like tears and are clear in nature. Tinsel sparkles and shines, and is used to adorn elephants and horses in India. Tinsel is made from silver, PVC and was once made from lead. Tinsel brings back fond memories to many (including myself) and represents far more than a simple metallic thread would normally warrant.
A princess is as old as the prince will be when the princess is twice the age that the prince was when the princess’s age was half the sum of their present ages.
This one took a while to figure out and there are numerous valid ways of finding the answer.
Here is the solution I came up with
I created the following table from the riddle:
Current
Future
Past
Princess
x
2z
(x+y)/2
Prince
y
x
z
I then created three equations, since the difference in their age will always be the same. d = the difference in ages x – y = d 2z – x = d x/2 + y/2 – z = d
I then created a matrix and solved it using row reduction.
x
y
z
1
-1
0
d
-1
0
2
d
.5
.5
-1
d
It reduced to:
x
y
z
1
0
0
4d
0
1
0
3d
0
0
1
5d/2
This means that you can pick any difference you want (an even one presumably because you want integer ages). Princess age: 4d Prince age: 3d
Ages that work
Princess
Prince
4
3
8
6
16
12
24
18
32
24
40
30
48
36
56
42
64
48
72
54
80
60
To see other solutions check out the comments from when I posted this on my blog.
91. To get the number in the fourth column, you add the numbers in column 1 and 2, then multiply by the number in column 2. f(n,m) = (n + m) * m For example, f(2,3) = (2 + 3) * 3 = 15. Thus f(6,7) = (6 + 7) * 7 = 91
Rhonda will go see ballet but not the opera. Her favorite number is eight and she doesn’t like nine. She likes salmon but not trout. She hates Mondays and likes Wednesdays. Does she use a comb or a brush?