another puzzle

[Don Shepherd]

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:

   

[Thomas Okken]

109

(This line is filler because posting just that number is not allowed.)

[rprosperi]

Why not 112?

[Joe Horn]

(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.

[rprosperi]

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.

[Thomas Okken]

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...

[Don Shepherd]

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.

[rprosperi]

(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.

[Mjim]

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!

[toml_12953]

(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!

[SlideRule]

Lotsa Pampered Chef Math using Pampered Chef Math Challenge as a Search Engine target. Give it a go!

Best!
SlideRule

[BruceH]

(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. ;-)

[cdmackay]

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