Reply To: Puzzles
Another (difficult?) math puzzle given in my own made up narrative.
A contest where YOU are one of the contestants.
The quizmaster host has brought six contestants to a stronghold building
having just one door, he tells them that “there is a pile of gold coins inside
and that it costs nothing to enter via the door but it will cost one coin
in a slot to exit. There are instructions inside telling you what to do, one
of you will not be going in and that person needs to be very good at maths,
as a correct answer from her/him will determine if you all win, so get to and
sort yourselves out and then we will begin, oh and you all must be honest and
accurate if you wish to win.”
YOU are chosen to be maths master!
The host asks each of the other five contestant in turn to enter the door.
The first contestant went in, the door closing behind, read the notice and conformed.
As did the second, third, fourth and fifth.
When all five had had their turn the host then instructs:
“Now all five of you are to enter together and take an equal share of the coins.”
He hands them a bucket each.
When they are finished the host says
“I can see there are no coins left over so you were all honest and accurate in all your
dealings. However to keep all your gold coins, each worth £100, your chosen player
needs to answer one question. One of you can tell the chosen math person how many
coins you have in your bucket and what the message inside instructed you to do.”
One of them steps up to YOU and says “204 coins and the message inside was
‘take one coin for the door, then count the remaining coins and remove one fifth of them
and put them into the hole nearby, then leave’.”
The host then gives YOU a bucket and instructs the other five to each put 35 coins into
it from their own bucket, to be your share of the reward if YOU win it for everyone.
The host then handed YOU a card with a question on it.
and said “No one else is to see it or help you, please write your answer on the card.”
The question on the card read:
‘What is the smallest possible number of coins that the original pile in the building
contained?’
Would your answer win £17,000 for each of you?
No pressure but the other five keep looking at their bucket then back at you!
Put up your answer and lets find out!
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Extra questions you may like to compute:
1] How many coins in total were put into the hole?
2] If the question on the card had read:
‘What is the smallest possible number of coins that the original pile in the building
contained if there was one coin left over after the five shared the remaining pile’
Then what would your answer be?
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