IMPOSSIPUZZLES

1

The tourists were comparing their souvenirs. “You got more silver spoons than I did,” said Susan. “I ran out of cash.”

Linda smiled. “Well, I actually got more than I needed,” she declared. “You can have, say, a quarter of mine at cost, if you like.”

“A quarter?” Susan repeated. “But that would leave you with three fewer than me.”

Given that Susan bought thirteen spoons, how many had Linda bought?

2

“You’ve been quick,” said Mary as her husband came in. “It’s over fifty miles from Fulford.”

“Well I started right away after calling you from there, and I didn’t speed,” replied Ted. “I had an exact number of miles to drive, and if I’d driven at as many miles per hour as the number of minutes it took me, the run would have been 19 per cent quicker.”

His speed was an exact number of miles per hour. How far did he drive?

3

Fred looked down over the boy’s shoulder. “That’s your Aunt Ada’s number,” he said. “What’s the idea?”

“I just figured out something on it,” Peter replied. “If you add its first digit to three times the square of the other two, you get just one less than her number.”

What was it?

4

Susan opened the box. “A frilly shirt and a fancy tie,” she exclaimed. “How much were they?”

“Not too much,” replied Bill. “But if you want, you can work out the prices yourself. If the shirt had cost £2.25 more it would have been two-thirds of the total cost, but if the tie had cost me £2.25 less it would have been just a quarter of the total.”

Well?