0411 Puzzles

Puzzles
Coffee break
For a chance to win a 50 Amazon voucher, please send your answer to puzzles@the-actuary.org.uk by 15 April. Arthur, Bernie and Colin are having a cycle race on a circuitous route between Edinburgh and Fife. All three set out at 10am at different speeds from Edinburgh Arthur is 5km/h faster than Bernie and 10km/h faster than Colin. Most of the time all our protagonists maintain a constant speed over the course. However, also travelling the same route at a constant speed is a mobile catering van selling doughnuts. Any of the cyclists reaching the van are immediately seduced by its sugar-dusted fried produce and lose a constant 20km/h in speed due to the combined effects of having a bag full of doughnuts to carry on the handlebars and acute indigestion. The van leaves Edinburgh at 9am and arrives in Fife at 3pm; the race itself is a three-way tie. When does it finish?
April prize puzzle
April fuel
Terms and conditions
The prize will be awarded for a correct answer received before the closing date picked at random by the puzzles editor. The winners name will be announced in the next edition. Please note that the puzzles editors decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into. We reserve the right to feature the winners name and a photo (if supplied) in The Actuary. Your details will not be passed to any third party in connection with this draw.
Puzzle 470
Gilty pleasure
8 10 12
4 9
Across: 8. Received without common era, strangely, to deduce (6) 9. Double count, perhaps (8) 12. To not have one for retirement leaves one short (4) 13. Also known as rich funny place in Pakistan (7) 14. Disentangle locks (6) 15. Leave ones shores in a semi-grateful state (8) 17. Where approximations lie (9) 19. Reserving tree inside bite (8) 20. Trial in weird date? Proven! (8) 22. Buffing tool found inside flank (6) 23. Currency exchange of one rand (5) 25. Counterfeiting note with family before German capital (6) 26. The way someone who is testate goes? (8) 29. Protect loud substitute (8) 31. The way those without crosswords live! (10) 33. About half a buck the monarch has when reprimanding (8) 34. Exposed side that blows from below (6) 36. & 11. Down. The worth of a gift? (7,5) 37. The result of many ticks OR go through when dad boards ship (4) 38. Odd pulse and one thats in force (8) 39. One who wants to lose (6)
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More Puzzles online

To access the puzzles archive or to play daily interactive Sudoku, visit www.the-actuary.org.uk/puzzles.
The puzzles editor is pleased to receive ideas for new puzzles from readers at puzzles@the-actuary.org.uk
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April 2011
Down: 1. Where killer and victim are one among adolescents (7,7) 2. Underwriting arising from relative position after gamble (4,5) 3. Bring forth a pessimistic outlook (4) 4. Attempt, we hear, to find a babys bed with knitting fabric (6) 5. & 7. Down. Fatal for twentysomethings! (8,4) 6. They cover in more certain direction (8) 7. See 5 Down 10. Ancient common with stock, funnily enough, thats one of 6 Down (3,6) 11. See 36 Across 16. Urged, for example, by an earthsea wizard (5) 18. Its very dangerous for vertebrates! (9,5) 20. Pester any small number inside (5) 21. Least uniform jumble of venue sent (9) 24. Fresher for each after Rhode Island (5) 25. What one does after being patient, hopefully (4,6) 27. & 30. Down. Revealing garments? (8,5) 28. Final piece of mail for the sounding of the bugle (4,4) 30. See 27 Down 32. Youth leader with funny slide gives rates of interest (6) 35. Reserve thats initially interesting, but not really (4) 37. They meet when there is enough money going around (4)
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Bridge challenge 14
Double conundrum
A useful beginners guide to playing bridge can be found at
www.ebu.co.uk/education/learning/default.htm. Please send any comments you have to Tom Bratcher at puzzles@the-actuary.org.uk
You are sitting in the West seat and the (natural) bidding goes as follows: The bidding: s W n e 1 Pass 2 Pass 3 Pass 6 Pass Pass 832 J10975 108 532 N W S E 1. You pick up this almost pointless hand and can hardly believe your ears as the opposition sail into 6. They cannot make their contract, so why shouldnt you double? K75 Q8 AKQ75 A84
2. Norths hand is as follows. What should he have bid over 3?
Solutions for March 2011

March prize winner
Congratulations to this months winner, Lynne Davis
Bridge challenge 13 solution

Defending the defensible
The bidding: s W 1 Pass 2 Pass 4 n 2 3 e Pass Pass
March prize puzzle
bedfellows 1) Hamper / hamster / hamstring 2) Pinhole / pinion / pink 3) Unclassified / uncle / unclean 4) Peremptory / perennial / perestroika 5) Loganberry / logarithm / logbook 6) Bale / baleen / baleful 7) Ordeal / order / orderly 8) Legendary / legerdemain / legging 9) Juxtapose / ka / kabaddi 10) Hobo / hock / hockey 11) Julienne / jumble / jumbo 12) Perceptive /perch / perchance 13) Rack / racket / racketeer 14) Skinny / skint /skip 15) Verve / vervet / very 16) Nicety / niche / nick 17) Filibuster / filigree / filing 18) Ibex / ibis / ibuprofen 19) Wail / wain / wainscot 20) Loa / loach / load
Strange
You will need partner to take a couple of tricks to set the contract. From the bidding, spades and diamonds are unlikely prospects and, after your ace, Dummy has the top hearts. The best chance lies in clubs and if Declarer has enough club losers to allow you three winners, then its likely that K is a singleton and he is planning to discard his losing clubs on QJ. Therefore you must win with A immediately and then lead out A and another club and hope you are rewarded when partner turns up with KJ. K98 The full hands look like this: QJ2 J109 Q1072 752 64 N A1098 76543 W E 632 Q54 S A64 KJ9 AQJ103 K AK87 853 Without a club switch, Declarer can discard clubs and make an overtrick with the help of the diamond finesse.
A priori the probability of a student with a score of 12 having revised is slightly less than a half, but because we know that exactly three of the six students revised, the probability that Pete revised is (slightly) influenced by knowledge of Sharons score. Given the information in the question we can express the probability that Pete revised as ( P (ps) + P (ps) ) / ( P (ps) + P (ps) + P (ps) + P (ps) ) where, for example, P (ps) is the probability that Pete revised and scored 12 but Sharon didnt and scored 11. Working through to calculate the individual probabilities is a straightforward combinatorial exercise in Excel; the probability that Pete revised is approximately 52.7%.
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Puzzle 468 solution
20 questions
He is near the South Pole points off if you thought he was at the North Pole, which can be walked to when frozen, but is pack ice rather than land and so cannot support permanent buildings. The building could be on any one of a set of concentric circles slightly more than three miles away from the South Pole.
April 2011
Puzzle 469 solution
Circular argument
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Puzzles

April prize puzzle

Terms and conditions

More Puzzles online

A useful beginners guide to playing bridge can be found at

2. Norths hand is as follows. What should he have bid over 3?

Solutions for March 2011

Bridge challenge 13 solution

March prize puzzle

Puzzle 468 solution

Puzzle 469 solution

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