Can you solve this?

A train going 60 mph starts from Bustletown heading to Ironchester. Another going 40 mph starts at the same time traveling from Ironchester to Bustletown. Assuming distance between towns is over 250 miles, how far apart will they be an hour before they meet? (No stops for either, and no algebra needed).

Your turn to set one? :-)

Great- my logic was slightly different but at least I came up with correct answer?. More puzzles please- I’m in time-wasting mood. Raining outside and just got rid of French guests for a few hours.

That's right!
Since the product is 36, the possibilities are:
36, 1, 1 ---> sum = 38
18, 2, 1 ---> sum = 21
12, 3, 1 ---> sum = 16
9, 4, 1, ---> sum = 14
9, 2, 2 ---> sum = 13
6, 6, 1 ---> sum = 13
6, 3, 2 ---> sum = 11
4, 3, 3 ---> sum = 10

Since the sum is the next door house's number, it does not give enough information only in the case of the two answers that have the same sum;
thus, either 9, 2, 2 or 6, 6, 1.

Since there is an oldest child, the answer is 9, 2, 2.

There could be 2 year old twins and a 9 year old.

No. Stop making assumptions :-))

Can't help thinking that I'm missing something here, but assuming the children are different ages, the only figures that come immediately to mind are 6, 3 and 2 years respectively.

Haven't yet found the connection to the number of the house next door but with regard to piano-playing ability, I suspect that the 6-year old could manage that whereas the two younger ones probably could not!

Am I anywhere close?

The Insurance Salesman
An insurance salesman walk up to house and knocks on the door. A woman answers, and he asks her how many children she has and how old they are. She says I will give you a hint. If you multiply the 3 children's ages, you get 36. He says this is not enough information. So she gives a him a 2nd hint. If you add up the children's ages, the sum is the number on the house next door. He goes next door and looks at the house number and says this is still not enough information. So she says she'll give him one last hint which is that her oldest of the 3 plays piano.
Can you tell now?

* CROSS
+ ROADS
DANGER

96233
62513
-----
158746

I thought I had done that :-) I sat here for some time writing on a piece of paper that has now gone missing.
Oh well start again

I see that we've not had any postings re the 'SEND + MORE = MONEY' problem, so perhaps a couple of pointers may be in order.

First letter to find is 'M'. This has to be equal to '1' since the sum of two 5-digit numbers producing a 6-digit answer can only result in M = 1.

Next to find is 'O': the sum of S + M (either with or without a carry forward from the sum of E + O) means that in order to produce the carry that gives 'M' in the answer, S must be either 8 or 9.

At this point, let's assume that E + O does produce a carry; this means that S would be equal to 8 and consequently 'O' must be '0' (zero).

But for E + 0 (zero) to = N + c/f, there is no value for E (with or without a carry from N + R) that will give us this result. Consequently, E + 0 (zero) does NOT produce a carry forward to S + M and therefore S = 9 and O is still 0 (zero).

Next, there must be a carry from the sum of N + R otherwise E + 0 (zero) could not be equal to 'N' (i.e. N must = E + 1)

In summary, we now know that M = 1, O = 0 (zero), S = 9 and N + R = E + c/f

I'll leave it at there for the moment to see how you get on!

Ah, so I was on the right track, but hadn’t gone far enough along it!! ??

The answer to the Two Balloons puzzle is counter-intuitive as the likely outcome is that when the valve is opened, 'B' (the balloon at 25% capacity) will deflate, further inflating Balloon 'A'!

Avoiding fairly involved maths, the best way to explain it that when inflating a balloon, it takes more effort initially to overcome the elasticity of the rubber. Consequently, a balloon inflated to around 25% of its final capacity, is at a higher internal pressure than a balloon that has been inflated to 75%.

If you think about it, when blowing up a balloon by mouth, once you have overcome the initial resistance, it is much easier to continue inflation all the way until the bursting point is reached.

This is generating some interesting comments!

I will post the answer a little later today but in the meantime, here's another that appeared on Dara's TV show.

**S E N D
+ M O R E
M O N E Y

Again, ignore the asterisks, they are there simply to space the letters.

Good luck! (it took me a while to solve!)

I thought the same, but wondered whether A would have been affected by being stretched to 75%, thus rendering the fabric floppier than B (IYSWIM!)

TWITT

Assuming the opened valve allows air to flow between the balloons, it will flow from A to B as the pressure in A is higher. The pressure and % capacity in both will end up the same.

Time for another puzzle!

This one is called, 'Don't be deflated!'

Two identical balloons are fitted to a piece of tubing that has a valve at its centre. The valve is currently closed, preventing any flow of air through the tube.

Balloon 'A' (left-hand balloon) is currently inflated to 75% of its capacity whilst Balloon 'B' (right-hand balloon) is inflated to just 25% of its capacity.

What is likely to happen when the valve is opened?

Well done, Squiffy, spot-on!

New York?

The USA counts the Ground Floor as their First Floor.

Bathsheba

That's good thinking, but sorry to disappoint you; I'm afraid that in this case, any variations in gravitational attraction have a negligible effect on the outcome.

I think it would be the ball in London, which is further north than NY, and therefore has a slightly stronger gravitational pull.

Here's a variation on another elderly puzzle:

If you dropped a tennis ball from the window of the 29th floor of a New York skyscraper at precisely the same moment as someone else dropped a tennis ball from the 29th floor of a similar-sized building in London, which ball would hit the ground first?

If necessary, I occasionally add extra clues, such as:

'If it's raining in the morning, when he comes home, he gets out of the lift at the 10th floor' or

'He sometimes travels up in the lift with one of his neighbours, in which case he gets out at the 10th floor'

yes I know that, he's a dwarf who can't reach the top button:-)