Impossipuzzles

Test your problem-solving prowess and numerical knowhow with these teasers.

1. “When they were younger it was more obvious that all five were different ages,” Don declared. “They were born two years apart. Gave my wife and me a hard time for a while.” Rowan nodded. “I bet they did, but how old are they now?” Don replied, “If you divide the square of the age of the oldest by a quarter of that same age, you get the total of their ages.” Well?

2. Joan shook her head. “So you find Jill’s new number interesting?” she asked.

“Yes,” replied John, “it is an interesting number. Just one and a half times as much as what you get if you square the total of its three digits.”

What do you make of it?

3. “Do you remember that cold spell last winter?” Ezra asked. “There was actually ice on the lake.”

Lottie nodded. “Yes, I remember. But why?”

Her husband glanced at a piece of paper in his hand.

“I just figured out something about the temperature that day,” he replied. “The Celsius and Fahrenheit readings both had 5 as the last figure.”

What were those readings?

4. Linden Lane is a long road,” Hagar commented. “What’s your number on it?”

David smiled. “You figure it out,” he replied. “We’ve got all the numbers from 1 to 288, and it just happens that the numbers above mine total exactly the same as those below mine.” Well?