IMPOSSIPUZZLES

1

“What a lot of marbles,” Martha exclaimed, finding the boy playing on the floor. “And only in those three colours. How many have you got there?” Bobby looked up. “Half of them are red, Mum, but seven are green,” he replied. “There are one and a half times as many reds as blues.” How many in all?

2

“What’s the time, John?” Helen asked. “My watch has stopped.” The old man checked. “Let’s see if you can figure it out yourself,” he replied. “At the next exact minute, the minute hand will be just seven minutes ahead of the hour hand.” What was the time that afternoon?

3

Betty was waiting at the gate when her husband arrived. “You’re ten minutes late,” she told him. “Did you leave late?”

“No, and I came the same way as yesterday, and drove a steady 42 kilometres an hour,” Keith replied. “I just don’t seem to get it right. Yesterday I did a steady 54 kilometres an hour, and arrived ten minutes early.” How far had he driven?

4

How old is Jane?” asked Greg, looking at the photo on the table. Susan shook her head. “Work it out yourself,” she replied. “The square of twice her age is 3698 more than twice the square of her age.” How old?

5

“These 22 toy soldiers were cheap, Dad,” Mike said. “32 pence, 60 pence and 80 pence each. They cost me just twelve pounds the lot.” After scribbling some figures on a scrap of paper, Dad shook his head. “I still can’t make out how many you got at each price. Did you buy most at 60 pence?” Mike replied “No” – and that enabled his father to solve the little problem. You try!

6

Keith was looking out of the window. “You’ve changed your patio,” he said. “It used to be square.” “That’s right, but it’s a dirty word these days.” Ron chuckled. “We made it four feet longer and took three feet off the width, so it’s just one square foot bigger than it was.” What were the new dimensions?