Ken's blog

Iggy was playing “Dragon Slayer” on the screen. On his quest for the Holy Grail, Sir Lancelot mounted on his white charger was nearing the bridge of the Grand Dragon who posed a riddle, and the eerie scream of the Knight who answered incorrectly as he was hurled into the dark abyss with his steed could be heard fading away.

The Grand Dragon breathed fire and spoke in a hollow, deep voice: “Answer my riddle Knight or perish in the abyss.”

“Pose your riddle, Grand Dragon and be quick about it,” replied Sir Lancelot defiantly.

“As you wish, bold Knight: The generators of a right triangle are the numbers of the Beast and of Man. The area will be a number that attracts all vibrations from zero to nine. What is the number my brave Knight?” boomed the Grand Dragon.

Iggy put the game on hold to be able to work out the answer to the riddle, which puzzled him no end. He called his friend Leonard to ask what a triangle generator was, which Leonard quickly explained.

With a calculator, Iggy was able to work out the answer fairly rapidly, which he entered for the Grand Dragon’s approval.

“You may cross the bridge Knight,” boomed the Grand Dragon, “and go in peace.”

Can you work out the area of the triangle?

The McDuffy Travel Agency was offering special prizes for vacationers to improve its turnover. The advertising stated that the prizes would be determined on the airport bus.

One day there were fifteen vacationers going to the Caribbean island of Buena Siesta for a two week holiday at the Balmy Breezes Beach Resort. Before boarding the airport bus, which seated twenty persons, they were addressed by their charming tour guide Melanie Goodbottom.

“Two of you could win some awesome prizes if you are lucky enough to sit in the two seats with pre-determined prize seat numbers,” explained Melanie Goodbottom waving a clipboard with the passenger list at the entrance to the airport bus, skirt flapping in the wind.

“The winners will receive a week of free dinners for two at any of the best restaurants in Morgan Town, their choice of sightseeing tours for two all over the island and/or scuba diving lessons for two – for those of you who are of the sporty type, of course,” said Melanie Goodbottom enthusiastically, brushing some windblown locks out of her eyes.

The vacationers eagerly thronged towards the airport bus door, climbing over each other to mount the steps of the bus. Those who entered scurried to seat themselves at random, leaving five seats unoccupied for staff.

The bus driver grunted, sitting down at the wheel, and the porter got busy loading luggage into the lower compartments of the airport bus, while Melanie Goodbottom helped pull a number of the more portly passengers up the steps leading to the seating level of the bus.

When all the passengers were finally settled into their lush seats eagerly anticipating the results, Melanie Goodbottom picked up a microphone to announce any winners via the loudspeaker system, and the bus driver switched gears to get the show rolling towards the airport.

What would you say is the probability of two passengers winning these prizes?

Some years ago, there was a town called Blarneystone with a population of 25,000, whose mayor Seamus O’Shaugnessy instituted an identification system for the inhabitants that was based on their initials.

Residents might have from one to three given names, and when it occurred that two people had the same initials one of them was moved to a higher administrative level of the town named Blarneystone-2.

Seamus O’Shaugnessy’s portly wife Marybelle was in charge of administrating the initials system.

Seamus O’Shaugnessy wanted to preserve order in the initials system and was prepared to go to any level of Blarneystone-n necessary for this purpose.

What would you say was the minimum number of persons living in Blarneystone-1 with three given names?

At the time, Blarneystone 2 had 1000 residents. How many of them had two given names?

What would be the minimum number of persons needed to start a new level of Blarneystone?

“How old are you and your wife, Capt. Haddock?” asked the insurance man.

“When we were married 18 years ago I was thrice as old as Julia. Now I am twice her age,” said Capt. Haddock.

“Hmm…“ The insurance man was busy scribbling in his notebook.

Can you work out the present ages of Capt. Haddock and his wife?