Topic: Can you solve this riddle?

[Mandle]

Hmm... interesting one.  I thought I might be onto something with calculi / calculus or foci / focus- sadly not - but I shall continue to cogitate...

It's kind of a cheeky solution and not officially sanctioned by Webster...

[CaptainD]

HAHA I just worked it out... DUH...

"I" is singular
"Us" is plural!

Nice one, you evil maniac.

[Andail]

HAHA I just worked it out... DUH...

"I" is singular
"Us" is plural!

Nice one, you evil maniac.

Nice, although technically 'I' corresponds to 'we', and 'us' in singular would be 'me'.

Yes, I'm fun at parties.

[CaptainD]

Nice, although technically 'I' corresponds to 'we', and 'us' in singular would be 'me'.

I WILL NOT BE ROBBED OF MY MOMENT OF VICTORY!!!!! 

It's kind of a cheeky solution and not officially sanctioned by Webster...

Natch.

[Creamy]

What about a little math problem?

EDIT :
The prince is three times as old as the princess was when the prince was twice as old as the princess is. How old are they?

The prince is three times as old as the princess was when the prince was half as old as the princess is. How old are they?

There are several good answers.

[CaptainD]

Dunno if I've fully understood the question, but...

Spoiler: ShowHide

If the prince is 6 and the princess is 4, the prince is now 3 times as old as when he was 2 and therefore twice the princess' age of 1.

The reason I'm not sure if I've understood you properly is that it seems pretty straightforward, so maybe I'm missing something?!

[Creamy]

No, you didn't get the question right. Let's take your hypothesis of the prince being 6 and the princess being 4 :

	prince	princess
old age	4	2
current age	6	4

"Old age" depicts the moment when the princess was a third of the prince's current age (The prince is three times as old as the princess was...")
When she was 2, he was 4. Therefore he wasn't half of her current age (which is also 4).

[CaptainD]

Ah okay, gotcha.  Misread it I think!

[Mandle]

HAHA I just worked it out... DUH...

"I" is singular
"Us" is plural!

Nice one, you evil maniac.

BINGO! And very well done!

[CaptainD]

@Mandle - it was a terrific example of obfuscation.  SO obvious, yet you cleverly set up a completely erroneous train of thought.  It was only when I scribbled down "i - singular ... us - plural" as a reminder to come back to the riddle later that the painful obviousness hit me!

[Riaise]

The prince is three times as old as the princess was when the prince was twice as old as the princess is. How old are they?

It took a while for me to get my head around the wording, but I got there eventually.

Spoiler: ShowHide

The prince is 9 and the princess is 4. Or any multiple of both those ages e.g. 18 and 8, 27 and 12, 36 and 16. It works like this:

The prince is 9 years old, three times the age that the princess was one year ago when she was 3 and the prince was 8, which is twice the age that she is now at 4.

[Creamy]

Well done Riaise!

It took a while for me to get my head around the wording

Yeah, that's what makes it difficult

You made me realize there was a mistake in the problem statement. Sorry about that  
Your reasoning is good nonetheless. It should have read :
The prince is three times as old as the princess was when the prince was half as old as the princess is. How old are they?

Here's a math way to solve it :

Spoiler: ShowHide

We have 4 unknowns :

	princess	prince
old age	Xa	Ya
current age	Xb	Yb

We can make 3 statements :
(1) Yb = 3Xa (The prince is three times as old as the princess was...)
(2) Ya = Xb/2 (...when the prince was half as old as the princess is)
(3) Yb - Ya = Xb - Xa (the difference between current/old age is the same for both of them)

We're looking for Xb and Yb.
If you replace Ya and Xa in (3), you get :
Yb - Xb/2 = Xb - Yb/3
From there :
4/3 Yb = 3/2 Xb
Yb = 9/8 Xb

That's it : when the prince is 9, the princess is 8. It works with any multiple of these ages too :

	princess	prince
old age	6	8
current age	16	18

	princess	prince
old age	9	12
current age	24	27

...

[mkennedy]

More Hobbit riddles! Don't answer if you read the book or seen the movie and already know the answers.

1
What has roots as nobody sees,
Is taller than trees,
Up, up it goes,
And yet never grows?

2
Voiceless it cries,
Wingless flutters,
Toothless bites,
Mouthless mutters.

3
An eye in a blue face
Saw an eye in a green face.
"That eye is like to this eye"
Said the first eye,
"But in low place,
Not in high place."

[Mandle]

I don't know if I'm solving the riddles or remembering the solutions. It's been so long since I read the book and I never got that far in the movie series. I gave up after the first one was so painfully trying to be LOTR except without the entertainment, and just decided to keep my good memories of the LOTR films intact.

But I will have a hidden try:

1

Spoiler: ShowHide

A mountain!

2

Spoiler: ShowHide

A river?

[AnasAbdin]

Find EDB

Given that AB = AC

[Hobo]

Find EDB

It was tough, but I found them all!

Spoiler: ShowHide

Also, I think you made typo, there should be a 30º instead of that ?.

[AnasAbdin]

Ha ha

The solution is available online of course, tell us how you got 30°

[Mandle]

My solution is 25...

Isocolese triangle therefore:
ABC=80 & ACB=80

Therefore:
ACE=30
EBD=20

Also:
The peak of intersecting lines of BD and CE=70

Therefore the inverse of the valley of intersecting lines of EC and BD also=70

Therefore the left side of the intersecting X=120 and the right side=130

Therefore CEB=40 and CDB=20

And then I got lost with my calculations because I had to go to the toilet but it seemed that proving both EBC and DBC triangles to add to 180 ended up with angle EDB=25...

I could be very wrong of course

[Hobo]

The solution is available online of course, tell us how you got 30°

I'd like to say that I used my amazing math skills, but I've actually tackled this puzzle before and remembered the answer.

[AnasAbdin]

My solution is 25...

I could be very wrong of course

You are, but the toilet visit got you on track.