Syntax wrote:
Ok, here's one you may have heard.
I haven't, so I'm guessing that this is a logic/maths puzzle, right?
It goes something like this (and yes, there is only one answer).
Only
one answer? If that's so, then I guess you've got some in-built assumptions to the puzzle that you haven't stated.
"Ok, so how old are they?"
"Well... multiply their ages, and you get 72"
There are several theoretical possibilities for this, I think, so I guess the next lines contain clues to narrow down the choices for solutions.
"Hmmmm.... That doesn't answer my question".
"Ok, well, if you add them up you get your oldest kids age".
Does this mean that the total of the ages of person 2's children is equal to the age of the eldest child of person 1? If so, that doesn't make any sense, as person 1 might have only one child, and he could be of any age.
"Yeah, but that still doesn't answer the question. How old are they ?"
"Well my eldest plays the piano".
Is this a part of the puzzle? The definition of "
playing the piano"
is quite indistinct with regards to age, so a real prodigy could have been started at a very young age, for example. I guess there is some sort of lowest cut-off point, for the age that a person to be perceived as being able to play, but I don't think it's very high.
"Oh right. Got it. Fancy another pint ?"
"Sure..."
Okay... So I may be on the wrong track, in which I guess I'm not interpreting the puzzle properly, but here's my guess.
Click here to view the secret text
×From the age product clue, we have a certain number of possibilities for ages. All of these are technically possible unless a set of restrictions are imposed (which makes this puzzle reasonably flawed, as these assumptions weren't stated anywhere).
Anticipating the possible assumptions, I guess that...
1. The second person hasn't had twins, or several possibilities are valid.
2. The youngest age that you can be considered able to play the piano is above 6, or one solution is valid.
3. The oldest age that an individual can be considered a child is below 17, or one solution is valid.
This leaves one answer (which, if I've been following the logic/assumptions carefully, should be obvious), although I won't mention it here.
Of course, I could be totally wrong with my analysis, since I don't seem to be very good at certain types of logic puzzles like this, so I apologise if I am.
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Resident Medic/Mycologist
[Last edited by agaricus5 at 09-09-2005 12:02 AM]
/dy