Problematics | Chaplin vs Ray vs Hitchcock
They are part of a bowling line-up with Kurosawa and Renoir completing the attack. Find out which bowler took how many wickets in how many overs.
Some weeks ago, a reader wrote to me that Einstein puzzles were becoming frequent and repetitive in Probelmatics. While I appreciate the reader’s keenness on variety, the fact remains that Einstein puzzles are popular, fun to solve and, in my opinion, dserve to appear at some sort of frequency.
What we can do, however, is try and make them less repetitive. I have tried to create one with a slightly higher level of diffficulty than previous ones, but readers are always the only judges of difficulty. As time progresses, I shall try and innovate on my Einstein puzzles further. In the meantime, do have a shot at the following and let me know if it’s more challenging than the countless puzzles you have solved previously.
#Puzzle 134.1
In an ODI of 50 overs per side, five bowlers finish off the opposition with 10 overs still unbowled.
(a) Only one bowler completes his quota of 10 overs. The others bowl 9, 8, 7 and 6 overs.
(b) One bowler goes wicketless. The others take 1, 2, 3 and 4 wickets.
(c) Each bowler concedes a different number of runs: 33, 44, 45, 46 nd 52.
(d) To protect their real identities, we are calling the bowlers Chaplin, Hitchcock, Kurosawa, Ray and Renoir. The story in this puzzle is, of course, a work of fiction and any resemeblance to any real persons is... never mind.
(e) The bowlers are from five different parts of the country: Assam, Bihar, Gujarat, Kashmir and Punjab.
(f) The bowling analysis lists the players in the order in which they bowled their respective first overs, with the earliest bowler named first. Please bear that in mind when the clues use terms such as “before/after” and “consecutive places in the bowling order”.
The above was by way of introduction. The real clues come now.
(1) The fourth bowler to be introduced takes 1 wicket.
(2) The fifth bowler concedes 33 runs.
(3) One bowler’s figures are 4 wickets for 52 runs.
(4) Kurosawa bowls 8 overs.
(5) Ray is a Punjabi.
In the bowling analysis:
(6) Ray comes after Hitchcock, who comes after the bowler with a 9-over spell.
(7) The Gujarati comes before Hitchcock, who comes before the bowler with a 10-over spell.
(8) The bowler with 8 overs comes after Chaplin, who comes after the bowler who’s conceded 45 runs.
(9) The wicketless bowler and the 4-wicket bowler are in consecutive places.
(10) The Assamese and the Punjabi are in consecutive places.
The Kashmiri and the bowler conceding 33 runs are in consecutive places.
(11) The Punjabi and the bowler conceding 44 runs are in consecutive places.
(12) Ray’s name appears somewhere before the bowler with a 7-over spell.
(13) Hitchcock’s name is one place after the bowler with 3 wickets.
(14) The bowlers who’s conceded 52 runs is one place before the bowler who’s conceded 46.
(15) The wicketless bowler is one place after the bowler who’s conceded 45 runs.
Which bowler is from where, and which one took how many wickets for how many runs in how many overs? As usual, your solutions will work best in a tabular format.
Puzzle #134.2
A business is run by two partners, with A having invested 1.5 times as much as B. They would like to be equal partners, but B is not in a position to pay A the necessary amount. The problem is solved when a third partner joins in with a payment of ₹5 lakh.
How should A and B divide this so that all three can be equal partners?
MAILBOX: LAST WEEK’S SOLVERS
#Puzzle 133.1
Dear Kabir,
Such an interesting puzzle. I enjoyed solving it. I have given my solution in a graphical format. Also, to help others to understand how I approached and identified that there is only one unique solution, I have made a video solution.
Even though I had taken a long break and not been mailing you, I had been in constant touch with Problematics every week. I have solved all the puzzles in the past 10-12 weeks, only I did not mail the answers.
— Sampath Kumar V, Coimbatore
Sampath’s video solution is on YouTube; if any reader would like to watch it, just mail me asking for the link. Sampath, who coaches candidates for CAT, encourages his students to solve my puzzles, and some of them mail me their solutions from time to time. It is nice to know that Problematics has a niche but regular following.
#Puzzle 133.2
Hi Kabir,
In 1968, coins of 3 paise and 20 paise were introduced. The seller must have given 3 coins of 20 paise and 5 coins of 3 paise.
Dr Sunita Gupta, Delhi
***
In 1977 there were 3-paisa coins also. If the shopkeeper had only 3p coins, he could return 75 paise but not 25 paise.
Kanwarjit Singh, Chief Commissioner of Income tax (retired)
Yes, both the above are possible combinations. The important thing to note, however, is none of the combinations should contain coins that can also give you 25 paise. As the puzzle had stated, the shopkeeper was able to return 75p but not 25p.
Solved both puzzles: Sampath Kumar V (Coimbatore), Dr Sunita Gupta (Delhi), Kanwarjit Singh (Chief Commissioner of Income tax, retired), Yadvendra Somra (Sonipat), Professor Anshul Kumar (Delhi), Shishir Gupta (Indore)
Solved Puzzle #133.1: Ajay Ashok (Delhi)
Solved Puzzle #133.2: Vinod Mahajan (Delhi)
Problematics will be back next week. Please send in your replies by Friday noon to problematics@hindustantimes.com.
