April 5th, 2018
Today's Question - The Friends of Fermentation gave out awards to the best cocktail napkin chartists. Todd got 1 more than Steve. Alan got 1 less than John. John got more than Willy but less than Steve. Willy got fewer than Alan. Who got the most awards??
April 4th, 2018
Today's Question - Stop helping me!! - Nick and Dave are rewiring a very large house. Nick is a master electrician and can sometimes work alone. Dave is the assistant and only works in a team. Nick makes $150 per day (non- NYC rates, obviously) while Dave makes $30 less. When they finished the job, the total labor cost was $2,190. How many days did each work? (No fractional days.) Cashin’s Comments April 4, 2018 Page 3 of 3
Reveal Answer
Answer \xe2\x80\x93 Nick worked nine and Dave worked seven. Alternate (but unlikely), Nick worked thirteen and Dave two.Doesn't match Missing info Like question
April 3rd, 2018
Today’s Question – Timmy refused to pay off his March Madness bets with his twin brother, Tommy. He challenged Tommy, double or nothing, to solve this puzzle: Find a two digit number that is double the product of its two digits. (That means multiplying the two digits just in case you have a graduate degree.) What’s the number?
Reveal Answer
Answer - Timmy's twin brother, Tommy, nearly popped a staple trying to figure this one. Skip the algebra and use logic. Since the number was two times the product of its digits, it had to be an \xe2\x80\x9ceven\xe2\x80\x9d number. The product had to be under 50 since twice that would be a three digit number. Also, the number could not have a zero in it since multiplying by zero equals zero. So our number must be an even two digit number below 50 with no zeroes. There are other tricks that take up too much space. Anyway, from the universe you narrowed you eliminate down to the number 36 which gives you a product of 18 exactly one half its value.Doesn't match Missing info Like question
March 29th, 2018
Today's Question - You're hard boiling your Easter eggs for coloring. Someone comes to the door. When you get back to the kitchen, you forget which are raw and which are hard boiled. How can you easily tell? There will be No Comments Monday Happy Easter Sweet Pasach
Reveal Answer
Answer - A hard boiled egg can be made to spin on its edge while a raw egg cannot.Doesn't match Missing info Like question
March 28th, 2018
Today’s Question - A seasonal repeat - Who or what determines when Easter falls each year? (Hint: It is based on Passover so you get bonus points for answering both.) Cashin’s Comments March 28, 2018 Page 3 of 3
Reveal Answer
Answer - The formula for when Easter falls, as you probably know, is that it shall be the first Sunday on, or after, the first full moon following the Vernal Equinox, the first day of Spring. It was set by the Council of Nicaea in 325 A.D. which as you remember was called by the Emperor Constantine. Because of the formula's basis in Astronomy, Easter can never be later than April 25 nor earlier than March 22. Passover, on the other hand is on the 15th day of the month of Nisan. Now as you may have guessed, the Council of Nicaea suspected that not everyone's calendar, even with the picture of the two kittens climbing out of a basket, would have the month of Nisan on it. So to avoid bothering their Jewish neighbors by asking each Spring when is the 15th of Nisan, they approximated the date with the above mentioned astronomical formula. Since the month of Nisan always starts on a new moon (as does every month in the Jewish calendar), the 15th of the month would be at - or proximate to - a full moon. That's why the two holidays are usually tied so closely together each year. Passover was on Thursday before the first Easter. (The Last Supper was, in fact, a Seder or Passover ritual meal.) This year, however, Passover will start at sundown on March 30, one of the narrowest spreads ever. Easter is different for orthodox Christians since they use the old Julian calendar, devised by Julius Caesar. This year Orthodox Easter is April 8th (Special thanks to Mr. Joseph Berman for his input on the Biblical Lunar Calendar.)Doesn't match Missing info Like question
March 27th, 2018
Today's Question - I've got your number - or maybe you've got mine. Jason posed the following question to his boss: "I'm thinking of a two digit number. If I multiply the 2 digits, then add 19, then multiply the 2 digits of the new number, I get a number that is exactly 1 less than the original number." What was the original number?
March 26th, 2018
Today's Question - Mike is on a ladder placed against a wall he is painting. He starts on the middle rung, goes up five rungs, down seven rungs, up four rungs, and up nine more rungs, to reach the top bar. How many rungs are there on the ladder?
Reveal Answer
Answer - There would be 23 rungs on the ladder.Doesn't match Missing info Like question
March 23rd, 2018
Today’s Question - Pass the leftovers - Some numbers leave remainders when divided. What is the smallest number that leaves 1 when divided by 2; 2 when divided by 3; 3 by 4; and 4 by 5? We want a single number that meets all conditions (obviously it's an odd number).
Reveal Answer
Answer - The lowest number to meet all the criteria is "59."Doesn't match Missing info Like question
March 22nd, 2018
Today's Question - "It's the new sneakers, I tell you!" Teddy challenged his pal, Art to a speed walk race around several trading posts. Teddy covered the course 2 1/2 times faster than Art and beat him by 60 seconds. How long did it take Teddy to cruise the course?
Reveal Answer
\x0c Cashin\xe2\x80\x99s Comments March 23, 2018 Page 3 of 3 Answer - Teddy covered the course in 40 seconds while Art needed a minute and 40 (or 100 seconds). Thus the 60 second difference.Doesn't match Missing info Like question
March 20th, 2018
Today's Question - In the old caution, "mind your P's and Q's", what are P's and what are Q's? Also what is the assumed origin? NO COMMENTS WEDNESDAY WEATHER FATIGUE
Reveal Answer
Answer - The adage "mind your P\'s and Q\'s" are thought to have sprung from the wifely admonition to husbands sent on errands near taverns to - "Mind your Pints and Quarts!" (As in - I only ordered two pints, dear, but he must have served me quarts.)Doesn't match Missing info Like question
March 19th, 2018
Today’s Question - Little Staten Island House on the Prairie – In honor of St. Joseph’s Day - sort of. Sal, brother Al and sister Val show up at Nino's sharpeners. Nino's two nephews are on duty. They both work at exactly the same pace. Sal, Al and Val each need one hacksaw sharpened and one "penknife" sharpened. If it takes 15 minutes to sharpen one hacksaw and 5 minutes to sharpen one "penknife"; what is the best division of labor for the nephews to choose? We take this opportunity to wish you - A Happy St. Joseph's Day. And, if those of you blessed with Italian ancestry don't mind, the rest of us may share a sfingi or a cannoli or (In my old maybe even a neighborhood celebrants would contend that "Devil Dogs" were the Irish cannoli.) zeppole. some Buona Festa Di San Giuseppe!
Reveal Answer
Answer - The fastest way for the nephews to finish would be to have one sharpen two hacksaws while the other sharpened one hacksaw and three "penknives". (Elapsed time: 30 minutes.)Doesn't match Missing info Like question
March 16th, 2018
Today's Question - At the last mayoral election in Gotham City a total 54,730 votes were cast. The Democrat won with 180 votes over the Republican, 1460 over the Reform candidate and 5750 over the Libertarian. How many votes did each candidate get?
Reveal Answer
Answer - In the Gotham election, the Dem got 15,530, the Republican 15,350, the Reformer 14,070 and the Libertarian 9,780. (You didn't need a formula. All you had to do was add the winning margins to the total vote and divide by 4. That gave you the Democrat and then start subtracting.)Doesn't match Missing info Like question
March 15th, 2018
Today's Question - The late and great Grandma Cashin made little Irish soda breads for her grandchildren each St. Paddy's Day. She usually made enough that each child got three. But today when she put them in the serving basket, she realized she had two more than she needed. Her son was delighted. Now he and his brother could have some too. And, if Grandma Cashin wanted to join in everyone would have just two apiece. How many little breads are in the basket? How many grandchildren does she have?
Reveal Answer
Answer - Okay! So they all shared equally and thus ate two soda breads apiece. So....Grandma and her two sons had a total of 6 (or 2 each). Of these, 2 came from the "surprise" extras. So that left 4 breads that "For those who are with us For those who are against us And if God cannot turn their hearts So we may know them by their limp!" May He at least turn their ankles May God turn their fortunes bright May God turn their hearts toward us \x0c Cashin\xe2\x80\x99s Comments March 16, 2018 Page 3 of 3 represented the grandchildren getting 2 instead of 3 apiece. That means there were 4 grandchildren and a total of 14 cakes (4 x 3 + "2").Doesn't match Missing info Like question
March 14th, 2018
Today's Question - Stan and Ollie want to compare their bicycling speeds but they only have one bike (a two- seater). So they find a long stretch of level road. In leg 1, Stan races from milepost 1 to milepost 12 with Ollie on the backseat with a stopwatch. Ollie then races from milepost 12 to milepost 24 with Stan on the backseat timing him. Stan wins easily. Is it most likely because he rides faster, he weighs less or for some other reason??
Reveal Answer
Answer - The reason that Stan won easily was that he had one less mile to travel (12-1=11; 24-12=12). \x0c Cashin\xe2\x80\x99s Comments March 15, 2018 Page 3 of 3Doesn't match Missing info Like question
March 13th, 2018
Today's Question - Give me a sporting chance - spell the name of a popular sport backwards and the last 3 letters give you the name of a piece of equipment needed in that sport. What is the sport? What is the equipment?
Reveal Answer
Answer - If you spell "Tennis" backward, you find the last 3 letters spell "Net" - a piece of equipment used in Tennis.Doesn't match Missing info Like question
March 12th, 2018
Today's Question - Line up in alphabetical order! Not really! Start with 4 A's and 4 B's: AAAA BBBB - Rearrange into a row of alternating A's and B's in only 4 moves and you must move 2 adjacent letters on each move. Good Luck!
Reveal Answer
Answer - Here's the way we thought you might do it (assuming no squeezing between). You start with AAAA BBBB __ __ Move 1: A __ __ A BBBB AA \x0c Cashin\xe2\x80\x99s Comments March 13, 2018 Page 3 of 3 Move 2: ABBA __ __ BBAA Move 3: ABBABAB __ __ A Move 4: __ __ BABABABADoesn't match Missing info Like question
March 9th, 2018
Today's Question - I never promised you a rose garden - The letters of each of these words can be shuffled to find a garden growth – A) Promiser, B) Tears, C) Measuring, D) Sayid, E) Occurs.
Reveal Answer
Answer to garden growths - A) Promiser = Primrose; B) Tears = Aster; C) Measuring = Geraniums; D) Sayid - Daisy; E) Occurs = Crocus.Doesn't match Missing info Like question
March 8th, 2018
Today's Question - What is the smallest number of coins you would need to make change for any purchase from 1 cent to 1 dollar?
Reveal Answer
The answer is 9 coins: 4 pennies; 1 nickel; 2 dimes; 1 quarter and a half dollar.Doesn't match Missing info Like question
March 7th, 2018
Today's Question - You have a deck of cards from which you take 5 Diamonds and 5 Spades. You shuffle these 10 cards and deal them face down on the table. If you pick two cards, what are the odds they will both be of the same suit?
Reveal Answer
\x0c Cashin\xe2\x80\x99s Comments March 8, 2018 Page 3 of 3 Answer - In which you were asked the odds of picking the same suit - The odds are 4 out of 9. You started with 10 cards. If you picked 1 spade that left 4 spades among the remaining 9 cards.Doesn't match Missing info Like question
March 6th, 2018
Today's Question - "Now cut that out." There is a 7 letter word with a double "s." Take out the double "s" and the remaining word has the same meaning. Hint - both start with a "B."
Reveal Answer
Answer - If you prune the double "s" from "Blossom" you get "Bloom" which is a synonym.Doesn't match Missing info Like question
March 5th, 2018
Today's Question - We know the Speaker of the House is second in line of presidential succession (after the V.P.). Who is 3rd, 4th, and 5th?
Reveal Answer
Answer - The Presidential succession runs 1) V.P.; 2) House Speaker; 3) Pres. Pro Tem of the Senate; 4) Secretary of State; 5) Secretary of Treasury.Doesn't match Missing info Like question
March 1st, 2018
Today’s Question - Let’s all hang together. When they took a vote on Independence for the U.S., which two colonies voted “No” in the initial vote? NO COMMENTS FRIDAY Cashin’s Comments March 1, 2018 Page 3 of 3
Reveal Answer
Answer - The two states, or more correctly, colonies to vote no in the first poll on Independence were: Pennsylvania and South Carolina.Doesn't match Missing info Like question
February 28th, 2018
Today's Question - Don't crossword puzzles use letters? Design a square that is 5 boxes by 5 boxes. Put the number "1" in the center box. Now - using all numbers starting with 2 and ending at 25 - fill in each box so that any vertical or horizontal row and the diagonals from the corners add up to the number 65.
Reveal Answer
Answer - To save space the horizontal rows should be: 9, 11, 18, 5, 22 - 3, 25, 7, 14, 16 - 12, 19, 1, 23, 10 21, 8, 15, 17, 4 - 20, 2, 24, 6, 13. Easy, huh?Doesn't match Missing info Like question
February 26th, 2018
Today's Question - The teller at a bank pays out $1,500, using a certain number of $1 bills, and ten times as many $5 bills, plus a certain number of $10 bills and twice as many $50 bills. How many bills of each kind does he pay out?
Reveal Answer
Answer - The five letter antonyms beginning with "u" and sharing the same letters are - "untie and unite."Doesn't match Missing info Like question
February 23rd, 2018
Today’s Question - The other night 32 people showed up for the meeting of the Friends of Fermentation. All the specialists under 40 had brown hair. The specialists under 40 with brown hair were 5% of all the specialists with brown hair. Not everyone was a specialist. How many brown haired specialists were there? How many under 40? Cashin’s Comments February 23, 2018 Page 3 of 3
Reveal Answer
Answer - Though specialists once traded in fractions, they don't come in fractions. So the answer to both questions could not be a fractional number. Since it was less than 32 (not all specialists), the only combination would be 20 brown-haired specialists and only 1 under 40 years old. I'll drink to that.Doesn't match Missing info Like question