Ken's blog

After a great battle with a Spanish treasure fleet, Captain Long John Silver decides to share the booty with his loyal crew.

Standing on the aftcastle Captain Silver summons the crew.

“Sea dogs,” he booms, “the treasure chest you see before you contains 10,000 doubloons you have liberated from the Spanish crown, and will be shared fairly among ye, Our navigator Leonard says he has devised a sure way to do so. Isn’t that right Leonard?”

“Here is what you do: Jack, the First Mate, takes A doubloons and the 20th part of the remainder in the treasure chest. Peg Leg, the Bosun, takes 2A doubloons and the 20th part of the remainder in the treasures chest,” shouted the Captain.

“The rest of you continue taking A doubloons more than your predecessor and the 20th part of the remainder in the treasure chest, and by gum, I declare that the treasure chest will be divided equally among you,” he growled, a golden tooth glinting. Leonard guarantees it, isn’t that so Leonard,” giving him a threatening look.

How many crew members does Captain Silver have, and how many doubloons was the equal share worth.

If you have questions regarding any of the puzzles on this blog, feel free to fill out the attached question form.

I may not answer you directly, but will certainly post answers, partial answers or hints.

Thank you for your interest in my puzzle blog.

Casino manager Mango is worried about the new dice game “Elevens and Twelves” he invented, as the casino is losing money on it at a rate of about 1%. He fears that casino owner Don Corleone will certainly not be very happy about this.

The game is based on throwing three dice and getting 11 or 12 as a result. The casino pays even money to the player on throws of 11 and the player loses on throws of 12.

Players throw the three dice until they get an 11 or a 12. Then they can make another bet and repeat the process.

Mango had studied probability theory, made some calculations and concluded that the casino would make a profit of about 1% on this game, but, alas, it has not been working out that way.

How did Mango mess this up?

Sir Lancelot with his squire Jerkin wants to rescue the lovely princess Jennivere, kept prisoner by the Black Knight in his impregnable castle.

His obstacle is a rectangular moat full of poisonous dragon fish.

Looking about for useful resources, Jerkin finds two planks each of which is exactly as long at the moat is wide.

How will they get across without falling into the moat?

A billionaire enters a reality show saloon with five bellboy hats, three red and two white.

“I need three volunteers to play a game for a million dollars,” he said. “Any takers?”

Three men put down their beer mugs immediately and volunteered: Jack, Tobias and Charlie.

“Very well. Set up three chairs in a triangle so each of you can see the other two,” commanded the billionaire.

This was speedily arranged.

“Close your eyes while I place one of these five hats on each of your heads. I’ll tell you when to open them. The hats are so small you won’t be able to see the color of your own hat,” he explained cheerily.

He put the hats on their heads and threw the remaining two out the window.

“I’ll give a million dollars to the man who can say which color hat he has on his head,” he said.

They opened their eyes and looked eagerly at their respective companions.

“What do you say, Jack?” asked the billionaire.

“Ummm, I don’t know,” Jack said with a sad face.

“What about you, Tobias?” asked the billionaire.

Tobias looked studiously at his two companions. “Well, I can’t say either,” he grumbled.

“But I know,” exclaimed Charlie jubilantly, “and I am blind.”

And, sure enough, he did know and received the million dollars with a big smile.

What was the color of Charlie’s hat, and how did he know?

Three piles of coins are placed in front of you, which respectively contain 11, 7 and 6 coins.

You are to obtain three piles with eight coins each.

The rule is that you can only move the same number of coins onto a pile which the pile already has.

You have three moves.

“Can you tell me about the ages of the new caretakers, the Jones family?” asked the math student Lanoo of his teacher Orion.

“Yes, I will be happy to. Perhaps you won’t be so pleased,” smiled Orion, “when smoke starts coming out of your ears.”

“The difference between the ages of John and Mary is twice that of Cuthbert.

One of the former is ten times as old as Cuthbert. Reading backwards, the age of John is the same as that of Mary.

What are their ages?”

Supposedly Einstein solved this problem in three minutes. It might take you longer.

You are given 12 balls and told that one of them has a different weight, whether lighter or heavier.

With three weighings using any scale you are to locate this ball.

Patience is a virtue.

Good luck!

A mathematician named Albert meets a colleague and says: “Nice to see you again John. How is life?”

“I am prosperous, Albert, and happily married with three kids.”

“That’s nice. How old are they?” asked Albert.

“The product of their ages is 36 and the sum is equal to the number of swans you can see in my private lake,” pointing out the window.

Albert thought for a while, then he said. “That’s not enough information, John”

“You are right, I forgot to tell you that the age sum divides that of their squares,” replied John.

Albert thought for a while, smiled and said: “Ok, now I know how old they are, John”

How old are the kids and how many swans are in the private lake?

Joe gets up in the morning whenever he wakes up, rubs his eyes, jumps out of bed and runs down to the train station to jump on the first train that arrives to go to work.

It is a one-track station and trains have a 20 minute interval between their respective arrivals.

The problem is that nine out of ten times Joe arrives in the wrong city. Soon he will get fired for coming late to work so often.

How is this possible?