62.    Pigs and Ducks

While driving through the countryside one day I saw a farmer tending his pigs and ducks in his yard. I was curious to know how many of each he had. I stopped the car and inquired.

Leaning on the stile jovially, he replied, ‘ I have altogether 60 eyes and 86 feet between them’.

I drove off trying to calculate in my mind the exact number of ducks and pigs he had.

What do you think is the answer?

63. The Faulty Watch

One day I found a strange thing happening to my watch   the minute hand and the hour hand were coming together every sixty-five minutes. I decided to get it checked.

Was my watch gaining or losing time, and how much per hour?

64.      The Egg Vendor and His Eggs

Rasool, the man who delivers eggs to my home everyday, did not turn up one day. So when he came the next morning I demanded an explanation from him. He told me the following story:

The previous morning when he just came out of the house carrying a basketful of eggs on his head to start his daily rounds and stepped on to the street, a car going at full speed brushed against him and knocked down his basket destroying all the eggs. He driver, however, a thorough gentleman admitted his responsibility and offered to compensate him for damages. But Rasool could not remember  the exact number of eggs he had, but he estimated the number between 50 and 100. He was also able to tell the gentleman that if the eggs were counted by 2’s and 3’s at a time, none would be left, but if counted by 5’s at a time, 3 would remain, and that he sold the eggs  50 paise a piece.

The gentleman made some quick calculation and paid Rasool adequately.

How much did the gentleman pay Rasool?

65.    Some Luck!

A society of farmers who own farms in the vicinity of my home town Bangalore, planned on holding a raffle and persuaded me to buy a ticket. The value of the ticket was Rs.5. As I did not want to pay the entire amount myself, I asked my friend Radha to chip in with me, and offered to share with her in proportion the prize bounty    if there was going to be any. She paid Rs.2 and I paid the rest.

As luck would have it   Bingo!…. we won the first prize   a flock of 50 sheep! Good God! …. Neither of us knew what to do with the sheep ….where would we take them in the first place? Neither of us had had any training as shepherds! So we decided to sell the sheep back to the farmers.

As per our original understanding 20 of the sheep belonged to Radha  and 30 were mine.

However, I decided that we had won the prize because of our combined luck, and so we should divide its value equally.

The sheep-30 of mine and 20 of Radha’s-were sold, each at the same price, and I paid her Rs.150 to make the equal.

What was the value per sheep?

66.    The Trains and the Falcon

Two trains start from two opposite direction towards each other. The stations from which they start are 50 mile apart. Both the trains start at the same time on a single track. A falcon which is sitting on one train, starts at the same time towards the other train, as soon as it reaches the second one, it files back to the first train and so on and so forth. It continues to do so, flying backward and forwards from one train to the other until the train meet.

Both the trains travel at a speed of 25 miles per hour, and the bird files at 100 miles per hour.

How many miles will the falcon have flown before the trains meet?

67.   Which is more Lucrative?

A businessman advertised two job openings for peons in his firm. Two men applied and the businessman decided to engage both of them. He offered them a salary of Rs.2,000 per year; Rs.1,000 to be paid every  half year, with a promise that their salary would be raised if their work proved satisfactory. The could have  raise of Rs.300 per year, or if they preferred. Rs.100 each half year.

The two men thought for a few moments and then one of them expressed his wish to take the raise at Rs.300 per year, while the other man said he would accept the half yearly increase of Rs.100.

Between the two men, who was the gainer, and by how much?

68.       Little Mammu and the Marbles

Little Mammu was playing marbles with her friend Nawal I heard her say to him, ‘if you give me one of your marbles I’ll have as many as you.’ Nawal replied, ‘if you give me one of your marbles, and I’ll have twice as many as you.’

I wondered how many marbles each had! What do  you think?

69.          A Family Matter

Fifteen years back my neighbour Mrs. Sareen had three daughters Sudha, Seema and Reema   and their combined ages were half  of hers. During the next five years Sonny was born and Mrs. Sreen’s age equaled the total of all her children’s ages.

After some years Kishu was born and then Sudha was as old as Reema and Sonny together. And now, the combined age to all the children is double Mrs. Sareen’s age, which is, as a matter of fact, only equal to that of Sudha and Seema together. Sudha’s age is also equal to that of the two sons.

What is the age of each one of them?

70.      The High-Rise

While in Canada, I visited a beautiful high-rise building in the Metropolitan city of Toronto. The manager of the building told me that the building cinsisted of different kinds of apartments large and small. Two room apartments were 5% in number, 2 ½’s-7% in number, 3’s-15% in number, 3 ½’s-20% in number, 4 ½’s-49% in number, 5’s-33% in number, 5 ½’s-12% in number, 6’s-3% in number and in addition several 4 room apartments. Altogether the building contained 437 apartments.

Can you figure out how many apartments are there in each type, using round figures?

To view answer Click Here and check answers respectively to question number.