Ken's blog

Captain John has a boat with a crew consisting of his family: his wife Jeannie, sons Jack and Marvin, daughters Mary and Molly, and Troi the parrot.

Captain John is very proud of his boat, especially its length in feet, and travels the world with his family to share the rich adventures of sea life.

The bow of his boat is graced by a beautiful mermaid along with the boat’s name in golden letters, Sea Nymph. Lower down the number 288064524 is painted in black.

How old are the family members, the parrot and what is the length of the boat?

“Hurry, hurry, try your luck, folks. Get lucky and win a thousand dollars with one shot,” shouted the hawker at full lung power to announce the new game stand at the Jolly Woods Amusement Park.

People flocked to the stand in droves to learn more about this intriguing new game. When they arrived they saw a large semicircular amphitheater with a huge screen about 50 m away facing the spectators. The setup reminded them of a drive-in movie theater of old.

They were told that a yellow virtual pigeon with a blinking red light would be shot out on the screen at a very high speed, leaving a trail of light. To win a thousand dollars a player had to hit the pigeon using a special laser gun each seat was equipped with.

One shot cost $10 and players were told that the chance of hitting the speedy virtual pigeon was 4 in a thousand. Payment was via a card slot at each seat, wins immediately transferred to the card.

Another feature was that for $500 a player could once invite up to two hundred friends to simultaneously take a shot at the pigeon for free.

“C’mon Charlie, lets give it a shot,” shouted one burly onlooker, taking a seat and picking up the laser gun.

How many friends would you invite to this game to have a fifty percent chance of hitting the virtual speedy pigeon and winning five hundred dollars?

Accountant Seymour Smythe III was about to enter a shopping mall with some money in his pocket.

As was his custom before entering any mall, he scribbled the amount of money in his pocket into a small black notebook he carried for this purpose.

While in the mall, Seymour Smythe III spent half of the money in his pocket.

On leaving the mall, Seymour Smythe III pulled out his black notebook again to make an entry of the money he had left after making his purchases.

Looking at his previous entry, he was astounded that the number of dollars in his pocket was equal to half the number of cents he noted in his black notebook before entering the mall to splurge on shopping.

Moreover, the number of cents he had in his pocket on leaving the mall was the same as number of dollars of his previous entry in his black notebook.

Seymour Smythe III thought this was rather curious, if not strange.

…Was the great Accountant in the Sky monitoring his pecuniary activities?

Can you work out the amount of money Seymour Smythe III had in his pocket on entering the mall?

During a cold and crisp January afternoon with azure blue skies setting off peaked snow-capped mountains, Jack and Jill were enjoying a skiing holiday at a resort in the Bavarian Alps. They were busy checking out Dr. Feynstein’s souvenir shop.

“Jack, I want to buy you that cute lederhosen leather breeches outfit the strapping male model in that glass exhibition booth is wearing,” said Jill enthusiastically, pulling on his arm and pointing.

“I really like the colorful feather in his hat, and you’ll look great in that outfit,” said Jill clapping her hands with joy.

“I would prefer the five liter beer mug displayed in that other case over there, the one with a colored image of a castle,” said Jack sedately, scratching his Van Dyke beard.

“Sure, we can get that too, but the lederhosen outfit will really impress my uncle Fritz, who was raised in Bavaria,” said Jill.

“Jill, I think uncle Fritz will probably be more impressed with the beer mug,” said Jack laughing.

“Ok Jack, you win, you buy the lederhosen outfit, and I’ll buy the beer mug,” said Jill quickly.

“Deal?”

Jack mumbled something. “Well ok, Jill, but I’ll only wear it at uncle Fritz’ parties.”

“Fine, Jack, but you’ll change your mind when we go to the German bar with the Oompah band,” said Jill.

Jill, who spoke German, asked the salesman, a beer-bellied fellow named Herr Berger, how much the lederhosen and the beer mug cost.

Herr Berger explained that all items displayed in a glass case were created by the eccentric designer Dr. Gustav Feynstein.

To obtain such goods customers would have to purchase the special coins Dr. Feynstein had made for use in constructing a mini model of a Bavarian town he planned to become mayor of.

Dr Feynstein believed his election victory would be ensured  by the rational thought power imbued into the special coins by intelligent purchasers of his goods.

Herr Berger explained further that the correct combination of coins dumped into the funnel by the glass exhibition booths would open the respective door so the desired goods could be removed.

Herr Berger stated that the coins had holes of three types:  round, triangular and square in the center.

In conclusion, Herr Berger informed that the respective prices of the round, triangular and square coins were 190/29, 280/29 and 340/29 euros. All credit cards accepted for payment, of course.

Jill took some notes and then explained the procedure to Jack, who was dumbfounded shaking his head – but agreed anyway.

“You mean that the price of the beer mug is 160 euros and the lederhosen outfit costs 1600. What a ripoff, Jill,” groaned Jack.

“And we have to figure out how many coins are needed to pay for this stuff – incredible.”

“Yes, but think of how great conversation pieces they will be back home,” replied Jill.

Jack worked out the number of coins needed on his notebook and paid for both the lederhosen and the beer mug. Jill, with a big smile, dumped all the coins clanking away into the funnel.

“Jill, I’m thirsty. Let’s go to the nearest Hofbräuhaus to test the goods,” said Jack eagerly. Jill followed holding bags with the lederhosen and the beer mug.

How many coins in total did Jack and Jill need to purchase these items?