Ken's blog

The generals Chi Wong and Chow Loo were having a discussion one day on the top of a hill overlooking the plains of their respective army camps.

“My army is bigger than yours,” said general Chi Wong to general Chow Loo. “I’ll wager my best concubine on it.”

“Wager likewise accepted,” said general Chow Loo. The generals decided to verify the facts of the matter and called in their major generals Soo Flick and Boo Mung to settle the issue.

“Soo Flick, arrange my army in a square below on the plain so you can more easily determine the number of men in my army,” commanded General Chi Wong.

Major general Soo Flick ran off to comply with the order, and major general Boo Mung ran off to carry out the same command issued by general Chow Loo.

The following day the armies were arrayed in square formation on the plain below and major generals Soo Flick and Boo Mung returned to report the result.

“Honorable generals Chi Wong and Chow Loo, we have determined that general Chow Loo has 3,011 more men than there are in general Chi Wong’s army,” reported major generals Soo Flick and Boo Mung.

“What a surprise! But I’ll win Li Mai back on the next bet,” said general Chi Wong confidently.

Can you work out how many men there were in the armies of the generals?

Albert Jones went to cash a check in a bank. The bank teller, named Bonzo Sludge, had just smoked some weed and his mental faculties were distorted leading him to wrongly read the amount written on the check, the numbers swimming around in his head and forming an amount in reverse order.

Bonzo Sludge paid Albert Jones the erroneous amount with a silly, cross-eyed grin on his face and continued playing his video game on the computer at the teller station.

After receiving the money, Albert Jones checked the amount paid out to him and noticed that money was missing and that the missing amount was a square number.

Albert Jones returned to resolve the error with bank teller Bonzo Sludge, but after receiving a vacuous, bovine and uncomprehending look Albert Jones decided to head for the bank manager’s office, where he received the missing amount of money and assurances the personnel glitch would be remedied.

Can you work out what the missing amount was?

It was a bright blue sunny Caribbean day with occasional fluffy clouds sailing by like galleons over an island with abundant jungle growth and a lively variety of bird chatter.

“Look there, Arby. Isn’t that a tombstone,” shouted Pascal, assistant to explorer Dr. Arbuthnot Smythe, as he ran to inspect a black rock hidden among foliage under some palm trees on the remote uninhabited Caribbean island Esmeralda.

“Well spotted,” Dr. Smythe followed Pascal to inspect the black rock. “Clean up the surface so we can see what’s written on it,” said Dr. Smythe, following close behind.

Pascal was already busy brushing the black rock free of debris and growth, revealing the large letters R I P with the name Jack Black Silver below.

“Could be treasure decoy work by Capt. Kidd, indicating that we are on the right track based on the parchment incrusted with an emerald and black seal we found in an old ship’s log at Boggs’ Antiquary in London,” said Dr. Smythe after examining the black tombstone.

“There is more text chiseled in under the name,” said Pascal enthusiastically. “Very strange, there are three large numbers with letters.” Pascal scratched his head with a puzzled look on his face.

“What are the numbers,” asked Dr. Smythe, standing ready with notebook and pen.

“Arby, they read as follows: 180XYZ34, 158XYZ and 982XYZ8, one number above the other,” replied a befuddled Pascal.

“I say, definitely not coordinates,” observed Dr. Arbuthnot Smythe, tapping his pen on the pad.

“Wait, I see some small writing below which reads:

‘By dyviding the dyvisor, ye pace 19 rest N, then pace 12 rest W.’

What in the world could all that gibberish mean?” exclaimed Pascal.

“Hmm,” said Dr. Smythe, scratching his van Dyke beard, concentrating on the numbers. “I would say we need to work out what the letters stand for. I believe Capt. Kidd’s treasure chest could be buried nearby,” said Dr. Smythe deep in thought.

“Maybe the word ‘rest’ means ‘remainder’,” commented Pascal.

“Inspired thought, Pascal, I think you are on the right track. Get your calculator out and let’s solve this riddle,” said Dr. Arbuthnot Smythe with enthusiasm.

About how many paces from the black tombstone would you say the treasure is located?

Marco Slivovitz, owner of The Brimchester Football Bar – dedicated to all fans of the honorable soccer sport – had just installed a perfect number of spherical beer kegs, painted to resemble footballs, which were placed around a large circular bar room.

Enthusiastic  fans celebrating the most recent victory of their beloved team could freely tap and drink beer from any one of the perfect number of spherical football kegs, conveniently placed around the extensive bar area – instant payment being made by card, and large beer mugs provided by saucily dressed waitresses.

Marco had a problem.  As the bar guests would usually empty all the kegs during an evening’s merrymaking, he needed a delivery truck with the correct spherical capacity to fill his perfect number of spherical beer kegs so they would be ready for the next bout. The radius of each of his spherical beer kegs was 21 inches.

Being a practical man, he turned to the yellow pages of the phone book to check for a firm specializing in beer delivery trucks with spherical containers, keeping in harmony with his own containers.

Luckily, after a persistent search, Marcho Slivovitz found the right company for his purposes, Acme Spherical Deliveries.

After contacting Acme Spherical Deliveries and giving the friendly sales person the details regarding his spherical beer kegs, Marco was delighted to hear that two spherical delivery trucks could actually be made available on a regular basis for his purpose, however each with a different diameter.

With the situation happily resolved, being a practical man, Marco Slivovitz proceeded to have one of his waitresses help him test his spherical beer kegs for proper functionality.

Can you work out the radii of the spherical containers on the Acme Spherical Deliveries trucks that will  completely fill up Marco’s empty spherical beer mugs after a spirited football victory celebration?