How Would YOU Solve This ‘Brain Game’ In The February 2020 “Reader’s Digest”?
Click to ENLARGE, study & solve.
Full disclosure. I love mathematical puzzles like these. In my late teens & early 20s (way before there was an ‘online‘, never mind a Web) I used to buy IQ test books and do all the puzzles for fun. I still do them, though not that often anymore, albeit now on the Web. So, with this one I knew what I needed to be looking for.
Then I noticed something incongruous in a puzzle of this nature. There was a perfectly valid and obvious sequence for the numbers on the apex of the triangles: 2, 3, 4, 5 & 6.
But, I knew that that was TOO easy.
So, I worked out, quite quickly what the ‘pattern’ was. Pretty obvious from the first triangle. 8+3 = 11 & ’22’ is 11*2. Easy enough to validate that against the others.
So, as for the triangle in question. 8+9=17. 68÷17 –> –> wait for it. Wait for it. 68÷17= 4.
So, ‘4’ as “Reader’s Digest” confirms in their answers is the right answer. See image below.
So, could I have cheated and just used the easy 2, 3, 4, 5 & 6 sequence at the top without bothering to do all the sums (though it wasn’t hard)?
Amused I.
Hence why I wanted to share it with you.
What do YOU think?
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My Latest Walking Stick — An Antique Gaff From Maine — For My Late Night Walks.
Since my knee surgery nearly a year ago I have become an expert on walking sticks — given that I now ALWAYS use one when I am out walking/hiking or running. Yes, I pick it up and hold it in my arms (as I would do a cricket bat) when I am running.
I have come to appreciate the benefits of using a walking stick — both in terms of reducing stress on my ‘damaged’ knee and giving me increased mobility. Prior to acquiring this stic, a week ago, in Rockland, Maine, I had seven, wooden walking sticks. I had three prior to my accident — which I had never used. The rest were post-surgery acquisitions. Initially I didn’t know what to look for and what I would enjoy using. Now I know.
It has to be light (given the 2-hours a day I spend with one). Heavy ones just detract and distract from the walking/hiking. I also insist on having a horizontal handle. That is how you transfer weight off your body onto the stick. That is what helps your knees. That transference of weight.
I saw this gaff at a consignment store. I knew, at once, what it was. I tried it out as a walking stick. I was amazed. Exactly the right height for I and the hook makes a nice handle — it is actually quite comfortable with gloves. It had a $22 sticker. There was NO WAY I was going to pay $22 for that — antique or no antique. I got it for $5. Yes, $5. A $17 a mark-down. SMILE. That was basically it. SMILE. Yes, the manager was a female and my wife accused me of ‘charming her’. What can I say. I smile.
I got the gaff for a specific purpose.
I walk late at night — whether I am at home or travelling. At home all I have to contend with is wildlife and not much of that around. Not so when I walk, 10:30 to 11:30 at night, in built up areas. You never know who you are going to meet. I don’t carry a gun. I am BRITISH. SMILE. Enough said. My nightstick — and that is very British.
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