My sister-in-law sent me this puzzle. She works in a dental office and the staff tried to solve the puzzle and got different answers (not surprizingly).
Here is the puzzle:
[
attachment=8861]
109
(This line is filler because posting just that number is not allowed.)
(11-11-2020 01:11 AM)rprosperi Wrote: [ -> ]Why not 112?
I agree with Thomas (109) because:
Line 1: each measuring cup = 10
Line 2: each cookie (cooked or not) = 1
Line 3: subtract cup (10) and 12 cookies (12) from both sides: wooden spoon (?) = 5
Line 4: spoon (5) + cup (10) + 1 cookie = 16
Line 5: 9 cookies (9) + cup (10) × 2 spoons (10) = 9+10×10 = 109.
If left-to-right math is used ("chain mode"), you get 190.
Aha, I didn't notice that there were varying amounts of cookies on the trays, I thought 'tray of cookies' was a unit. Which made the puzzle silly.
Should have known... and it's rare that I miss details that involve cookies.
Maybe it's just a coincidence, but I've seen several puzzles like this lately, always involving some detail that turns out you have to count, like the cookies in this one. This one was a bit less sneaky than some of the others, in that the fourth equation provides a hint that something is up. If "tray of cookies" were a unit by itself then that fourth equation would be redundant...
Thomas, I've got to hand it to you, you are da' man! I thought 112 like Bob (and my sister-in-law). She couldn't figure out why the girl that guessed 109 was the winner, neither could I until I saw your post and explanation (and Joe too).
You've got to pay attention to the details.
(11-11-2020 02:06 AM)Thomas Okken Wrote: [ -> ]Maybe it's just a coincidence, but I've seen several puzzles like this lately, always involving some detail that turns out you have to count, like the cookies in this one. This one was a bit less sneaky than some of the others, in that the fourth equation provides a hint that something is up. If "tray of cookies" were a unit by itself then that fourth equation would be redundant...
Yes, I looked and looked at the 4th line, and finally concluded it was simply extraneous info intended to distract; cookies will do that. Nowhere was it said that all information was necessary, although it's typically assumed to be so in these puzzles.
Also got 112 like most others here, but for some reason those cookie trays looked like pills and the stirrer a toothbrush, so well I didn't even notice it as a tray of cookies until that was pointed out!
Still if that was the way they're playing it, why is the single cookie not on a tray...selective visualization, I call foul!
(11-12-2020 04:32 AM)Mjim Wrote: [ -> ]Still if that was the way they're playing it, why is the single cookie not on a tray...selective visualization, I call foul!
But it looks like a chocolate chip or oatmeal raisin cookie! Surely you must make allowances for those yummy Bastions of Biscuitness!
(11-11-2020 02:38 AM)Don Shepherd Wrote: [ -> ]You've got to pay attention to the details.
The trouble with paying close attention to the details is that row 4 starts to look like spatula plus jug plus petri dish of some horrible bacterial culture, probably botulism. ;-)
OT: I recently took the UK's amateur radio exams; there, it's common for them to put in a bit of extraneous detail, not needed to answer the question, deliberately to lead you astray.
Or, as they would no doubt put it, to make sure you understood it correctly
