whiff of fresh air

Answer to Age problem

The product of the ages is 36 ( a x b x c = 36), the only possible combinations are as shown below. The sum of the ages (a+b+c) in each case is written on the side as sum.

1 1 36    sum  38
1 2 18    sum  21
1 3 12    sum  16
1 4 9      sum  14
1 6 6      sum  13
2 2 9      sum  13
2 3 6      sum  11
3 3 4     sum   10

So if the marketing guy saw the house nos 38, 21, 16, 14, 11, or 10 he would immediately guess the ages (as above). He saw no 13 - which had two combinations- and so he didnt know whether the ages are 1,6,6 or 2,2,9.  When the lady told him that her elder daughter was sleeping, he concluded that she had one elder child and so combination 1,6, 6 was out. Hence the correct combo is 2,2,9.

ANSWERS TO PUZZLE  “TRY THESE..”

1. 58

(LCM of 3,4,5,6 minus 2)

2. First you lock the valuable object in the box and send the friend
the box.  Then  he also locks the box with a lock of his own (The box has a locking ring which is more than large enough to have a lock attached !)  and sends itback.  Then you open your lock and send it back to him.  He can open his lock because he has the key.

(This is the principle that is used in one of the methods of encryption/decryption and sending information over a secure channel. )

3. Ten True Sentences Puzzle:

The number of times the digit 0 appears in this puzzle is       1

The number of times the digit 1 appears in this puzzle is       7

The number of times the digit 2 appears in this puzzle is       3

The number of times the digit 3 appears in this puzzle is       2

The number of times the digit 4 appears in this puzzle is       1

The number of times the digit 5 appears in this puzzle is       1

The number of times the digit 6 appears in this puzzle is       1

The number of times the digit 7 appears in this puzzle is       2

The number of times the digit 8 appears in this puzzle is       1

The number of times the digit 9 appears in this puzzle is       1

·