IMPOSSIPUZZLES

1

“What was that number?” asked Susan. “I forgot to write it down.” “You did? Then work it out yourself,” replied Andy. “It’s 17 more than one perfect square, but 6 less than another perfect square.” You try!

2

“So Miss Stanton’s your new teacher,” Sam commented. “D’you like her?” “She’s okay.” Doug grinned. “But I haven’t worked out how old she is. She told us we can get her age by adding five times its last figure to three times its first.” You work it out.

3

“Your Uncle Andy sent these for you three kids,” said John, putting some stamps down on the table. “Between three and four dozen of them.” “Fred’s taken one and a half times as many as Carol,” cried Wendy. “It’s not fair.” “Why not, I’m the oldest,” her brother declared. “And anyway you’ve taken half as many as Carol and I together.” How many had Fred taken?

4

“Lend me two pounds,” said Jill. “I’ll pay it back.” “But I haven’t got that much,” Jack replied, checking his cash. “I’ll let you have what I’ve got if you guess how much it is. If I added half the square of half of it in pence I would get an exact number of pounds.” How much did he have?

5

Doug held up a sheet of paper. “Look, Dad,” he said. “Our new phone number.” “That’s right. Seven figures to remember now. It was much easier with letters.”

6

Harry smiled. “What about it?” “I found something,” replied the boy. “If you add the square of the first three figures to the square of the last four, you get the whole number again.” What was it?

“That’s my husband, Eddie,” said Stella. “He’s ten years younger than me.” Charlotte put down the photo. “Attractive! And those will be your kids. How old are they?” Stella smiled. “It’s funny about their ages,” she replied. “Kim’s added to the square of Betty’s is Eddie’s age, while Betty’s added to the square of Kim’s age is my age.” How old were the children?