MATTERS OF SMALL MOMENT

New Zealand Listener, Volume 3, Issue 67, 4 October 1940, Page 16

MATTERS OF SMALL MOMENT

week, or seems to be. The belligerents have settled down and there is no sign of any obstreperous minority waiting to cause trouble. So we concern ourselves with matters of small moment; but pleasant enough. Rob takes a risk by inviting us to start shunting trains again, but the problem is very easy, and will probably not cause quite as much trouble as the last. That other train problem, about Time for the Guard, is still undecided. Perhaps more comment will come in by the time readers have had a good look at W. Robinson’s working in last week’s issue. PROBLEMS Overboard A man wanted to dispose of a quantity of old iron, so he carried it in a boat to the middle of a reservoir and | is in order this

dumped it overboard. How did this effect the level of the water? Did it rise, fall, or remain the same?-(Prob-lem from R.G.). Tricky Trains Two trains, each consisting of 40 waggons, an engine, and a guard’s van, have to pass. The trains, A, and B, meet on a single line at C, where there is a single-line siding, with only one entrance from the main line, capable of holding 20 trucks and either an engine or a van, but not both. The problem is to pass the trains and Rob (Ahipara), who sets the problem, sets a limit of four moves. Cucumbers I pay as many shillings for six dozen cucumbers as I receive cucumbers for 32/-. What is the price of a cucumber? -(Problem from R.C.J.M.).

Condensed Crossword (Zach word is of four letters only) CLUES ACROSS: Shuffle a fruit to get what you do to its skin or your toenails. A common internal reaction to ex- . cess carbohydrate. Fighting formation of a famous army of savages. And be thankful. CLUES DOWN: Two of a kind. Take an old weapon associated with beef and change it round to get the ultimate What the old weapon does. What the editor does, Maths. The four sides of a garden are known to be 20, 16, 12 and 10 rods long, and it has the greatest area possible for those sides. What is the area? -(Problem from R.G.). Triangle to Square Divide an equilateral triangle into four pieces so that they can be fitted into a square-(Problem from R.C.J.M., Invercargill). ANSWERS (See issue of September 20) -Farm Labour: The new man goes to a worker in a corner paddock and tells him to move into a middle paddock next door. He then moves in to the middle paddock in the side of the estate forming the other wing of that corner,

and the farmer sees 24 men wherever he looks. The greatest number of men able to work in the paddocks under that condition would be 92: 22 in each of the middle paddocks and 1 in each corner. — (Problem and answer from R.C.J.M., Invercargill). A Gamekeepers Problem: 20. Ducks, Geese, and Turkeys: 26 geese, 13 turkeys, 39 ducks. Counting the Cows: 10. A Mystifying Race: It would be a tie if the race were over a_ straight course, but each half of the race from the tree to the stake and back is 112% feet. The dog would have to make 23 leaps both ways, thus travelling 230 feet. The cat would take 76 leaps, or 228 feet. So the cat would win by two feet.-(Problem and answer from R.G., Waihi). For the Hostess: 40,320, says J.C.L., who set the problem.