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Chat Area => General Discussion Area => Topic started by: jereboam on 22 September 2010, 19:03:53

Title: Maths puzzle
Post by: jereboam on 22 September 2010, 19:03:53
A man (with an arthritic knee and a dodgy back) owns 7 pairs of shoes, which he keeps lined up in pairs under the bed.  There are 3 pairs of tidy black shoes, 1 pair of scruffy black shoes, 2 pairs of brown shoes and 1 pair of white shoes. 

One day, the man decides to go to a Job Fair, and consequently wishes to wear his blue suit. 

Given that the man possesses a reasonable degree of sartorial discrimination, and that the man's wife does the vacuum-cleaning in the bedroom, how many shoes does he have to pull out before he can find a pair to wear?
Title: Re: Maths puzzle
Post by: Andy B on 22 September 2010, 19:08:24
8
Title: Re: Maths puzzle
Post by: Marks DTM Calib on 22 September 2010, 19:09:37
2, hes a bloke so the first pair he comes to will do
Title: Re: Maths puzzle
Post by: tidla on 22 September 2010, 19:15:03
0 , he will do as he is told and wear the shoes the missus gives him.
Title: Re: Maths puzzle
Post by: charlie on 22 September 2010, 19:16:01
6 :-/
ill change that to 8 :-/
Title: Re: Maths puzzle
Post by: PhilRich on 22 September 2010, 19:28:09
2, since any two shoes are a pair, even if they don't match! :y
Title: Re: Maths puzzle
Post by: Richgm on 22 September 2010, 19:37:30
None. He has an arthritic knee and a dodgy back so he gets his wife to get them for him.
Title: Re: Maths puzzle
Post by: Mysteryman on 22 September 2010, 19:41:50
Tell us J, we'll have a one-legged midget jumping into the calculations next. :(
Title: Re: Maths puzzle
Post by: jereboam on 22 September 2010, 19:44:03
Andy B Excellent and logical answer, but as I mentioned, the man considers that he possesses a degree of sartorial discrimination, so he's a bit fussy about which shoes he'll wear with a blue suit.

Marks DTM Calib He could easily have pulled out 2 left shoes.  The vacuum cleaning has somewhat disturbed the orderly arrangement.

tapper888 The lady wife was out at work, and, anyway, couldn't give a monkey's about the man's appearance.

charlie See first comment.

philrich See second comment

Richgm Relevant observation, but wrong conclusion.  The man is unable to bend down easily in order to see what shoes are where, so the process involves pull shoes out blindly.
Title: Re: Maths puzzle
Post by: jereboam on 22 September 2010, 19:47:48
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Tell us J, we'll have a one-legged midget jumping into the calculations next. :(

Good Grief - surely you can't imagine the answer is that interesting?
Title: Re: Maths puzzle
Post by: PhilRich on 22 September 2010, 19:49:08
None, he moves the bed instead!
Title: Re: Maths puzzle
Post by: Lizzie_Zoom on 22 September 2010, 19:49:46
He choses no pair, but goes out and buys a pair of blue shoes to match his blue suit :D :D ;)
Title: Re: Maths puzzle
Post by: Richgm on 22 September 2010, 19:52:48
Based on the theory that he wants a pair of tidy black ones then 9
Title: Re: Maths puzzle
Post by: Richgm on 22 September 2010, 19:55:26
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He choses no pair, but goes out and buys a pair of blue shoes to match his blue suit :D :D ;)
Lizzie were talking about a man not a woman  :D ;D :D
Title: Re: Maths puzzle
Post by: Lizzie_Zoom on 22 September 2010, 19:56:05
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He choses no pair, but goes out and buys a pair of blue shoes to match his blue suit :D :D ;)
Lizzie were talking about a man not a woman  :D ;D :D


Ah, right! :-X :-X :-X :D :D :D :D ;)
Title: Re: Maths puzzle
Post by: Banjax on 22 September 2010, 19:56:05
he'd have to pull 11 out, first nine could be scruffy, brown or white, then 3 so you definitely have a left and a right one  :y
Title: Re: Maths puzzle
Post by: Entwood on 22 September 2010, 19:57:43
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he'd have to pull 11 out, first nine could be scruffy, brown or white, then 3 so you definitely have a left and a right one  :y



now ... 9 scruffy + 3 to get a pair is 9 + 3 = ????   (I'm sure it's not 11)

:)

and where you get 9 scruffy, brown, white I'm not sure .... I make that 8 ..   :)

So .. correct logic, incorrect answer .. wrong working ... 2/10   :)
Title: Re: Maths puzzle
Post by: Banjax on 22 September 2010, 19:58:49
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he'd have to pull 11 out, first nine could be scruffy, brown or white, then 3 so you definitely have a left and a right one  :y



now ... 9 scruffy + 3 to get a pair is 9 + 3 = ????   (I'm sure it's not 11)

:)

good point  :y

the answer's 12  ;D ;D
Title: Re: Maths puzzle
Post by: Mysteryman on 22 September 2010, 19:58:52
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he'd have to pull 11 out, first nine could be scruffy, brown or white, then 3 so you definitely have a left and a right one  :y



now ... 9 scruffy + 3 to get a pair is 9 + 3 = ????   (I'm sure it's not 11)

:)


 ;D ;D ;D ;DWell spotted Nige...it's 13 :y
Title: Re: Maths puzzle
Post by: Banjax on 22 September 2010, 20:00:34
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he'd have to pull 11 out, first nine could be scruffy, brown or white, then 3 so you definitely have a left and a right one  :y



now ... 9 scruffy + 3 to get a pair is 9 + 3 = ????   (I'm sure it's not 11)

:)


 ;D ;D ;D ;DWell spotted Nige...it's 13 :y
no, you've confused me, 8 plus 3 is 11

it's 11 - right first time  :y
Title: Re: Maths puzzle
Post by: charlie on 22 September 2010, 20:01:26
14 ;)
Title: Re: Maths puzzle
Post by: Mysteryman on 22 September 2010, 20:02:59
Let me see. We've had 2,3,6,8,9, 11,12 and 13. Hmmmm.....7. ;D
Title: Re: Maths puzzle
Post by: Marks DTM Calib on 22 September 2010, 20:04:43
It could be upto 14
Title: Re: Maths puzzle
Post by: PhilRich on 22 September 2010, 20:05:32
If he's got a dodgy back & gammy knee then he will be drawing sickpay & or disability benefits, get Council tax rebate, & god only knows what other Benefits! Assuming he is not mentally ill/unstable, why would he be going to a Job Fair? :-? ;D
Title: Re: Maths puzzle
Post by: charlie on 22 September 2010, 20:07:59
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It could be upto 14
Have you changed that :o
Title: Re: Maths puzzle
Post by: Mysteryman on 22 September 2010, 20:09:57
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It could be upto 72
Have you changed that :o


Obviously.
Title: Re: Maths puzzle
Post by: charlie on 22 September 2010, 20:12:30
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Quote
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It could be upto 172
Have you changed that :o


Obviously.
THought soo :y
Title: Re: Maths puzzle
Post by: jereboam on 22 September 2010, 20:17:34
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If he's got a dodgy back & gammy knee then he will be drawing sickpay & or disability benefits, get Council tax rebate, & god only knows what other Benefits! Assuming he is not mentally ill/unstable, why would he be going to a Job Fair? :-? ;D

A dodgy back and arthritic knee are no bar to carrying out a desk job, and this particular man had 40-odd years experience of desk jobs before being made redundant.

And as mentioned earlier, his lady wife has a job.  This job is sufficiently well remunerated to ensure that the man cannot claim any means-tested benefits whatsoever, but does not actually yield sufficient funds to cover the monthly outgoings established when the family income was more than twice what it is now. 

Hence the Job Fair, which turned out to be a complete waste of time, as always.
Title: Re: Maths puzzle
Post by: Entwood on 22 September 2010, 20:19:33
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If he's got a dodgy back & gammy knee then he will be drawing sickpay & or disability benefits, get Council tax rebate, & god only knows what other Benefits! Assuming he is not mentally ill/unstable, why would he be going to a Job Fair? :-? ;D

A dodgy back and arthritic knee are no bar to carrying out a desk job, and this particular man had 40-odd years experience of desk jobs before being made redundant.

And as mentioned earlier, his lady wife has a job.  This job is sufficiently well remunerated to ensure that the man cannot claim any means-tested benefits whatsoever, but does not actually yield sufficient funds to cover the monthly outgoings established when the family income was more than twice what it is now. 

Hence the Job Fair, which turned out to be a complete waste of time, as always.


Due to his late arrival having spent so long faffing about trying to find a pair of shoes....

 :D :D :D :D :D
Title: Re: Maths puzzle
Post by: jereboam on 22 September 2010, 20:26:12
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Due to his late arrival having spent so long faffing about trying to find a pair of shoes....

 :D :D :D :D :D

You are not far off the mark there!  The man had to drive into town, as he missed the bus (where he could have used his over-60s bus pass) and had to pay £1.80 in a car park! :( :( :(
Title: Re: Maths puzzle
Post by: Mysteryman on 22 September 2010, 20:28:45
It's YOU!!! Isn't it? :o :o :o
Title: Re: Maths puzzle
Post by: charlie on 22 September 2010, 20:32:50
Wheres the bed again ::) ::)
Title: Re: Maths puzzle
Post by: jereboam on 22 September 2010, 20:40:44
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It's YOU!!! Isn't it? :o :o :o

There's no fooling you, is there?  But you haven't got the answer, have you? :)
Title: Re: Maths puzzle
Post by: Mysteryman on 22 September 2010, 20:41:45
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It's YOU!!! Isn't it? :o :o :o

There's no fooling you, is there?  But you haven't got the answer, have you? :)


It's you. There is no answer to you I'm afraid. ;D
Title: Re: Maths puzzle
Post by: Marks DTM Calib on 22 September 2010, 21:07:55
You went in your slippers didn't you.....
Title: Re: Maths puzzle
Post by: Welung666 on 22 September 2010, 21:14:20
You wanted a blue pair to match the suit, that's why you went to town ;)
Title: Re: Maths puzzle
Post by: jereboam on 22 September 2010, 21:25:43
[size=16]The Answer[/size]
[/u]

The correct answer is 12, I think. 

Banjax got the reasoning right, then the answer wrong, then right, then wrong again.

The man in question will not wear brown, white or scruffy shoes with a blue suit.  So there can be 8 discarded shoes before the first acceptable shoe appears.  The worst case is that he then picks out 3 right tidy black shoes before a left shoe is pulled out, and that would be the 12th shoe to be pulled out.

The man in question has just been upstairs and observed that there are 10 shoes scattered across the bedroom floor.  The white shoes remain under the bed because they were known to be at the end of the line of shoes, and, in any case, they're made of canvas and don't feel like a leather shoes.

I wonder what happened to my beige shoes?  I know I took them on holiday.  They must be in the cupboard. :)
Title: Re: Maths puzzle
Post by: Mysteryman on 22 September 2010, 21:27:25
I have lots of shoes, none of them live underneath my bed. Interesting eh?
Title: Re: Maths puzzle
Post by: jereboam on 22 September 2010, 21:30:13
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You wanted a blue pair to match the suit, that's why you went to town ;)

Blue shoes?  Blue, with a suit?  Good Grief, you might as well suggest suede shoes.  Now that's a good idea - blue suede shoes.  Where have I heard that before?

Come to think of it, I've got a pair of blue shoes somewhere.  Not under the bed though. :)
Title: Re: Maths puzzle
Post by: jereboam on 22 September 2010, 21:31:25
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I have lots of shoes, none of them live underneath my bed. Interesting eh?

I'm very sorry, if not particularly surprised, to hear that your shoes live at all. :)