March 29th, 2016
Today's Question - Okay try this series: 4, 5, 9, 18, 34, 59, __
Reveal Answer
Answer - The next number in the series 4, 5, 9, 18, 34, 59 would be "95" (The series increases by the squares of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, etc.)Doesn't match Missing info Like question
March 24th, 2016
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? Cashin’s Comments March 24, 2016 Page 3 of 3 There will be No Comments Monday Wonder Woman is on a Special Mission And with the brains of the operation out, I may even take Monday off Myself. Notice Happy Purim!
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 23rd, 2016
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.)
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 April 22nd, one of the widest spreads ever. Easter is different for orthodox Christians since they use the old Julian calendar, devised by Julius Caesar. This year Orthodox Easter is all the way out on May 1st. (Special thanks to Mr. Joseph Berman for his input on the Biblical Lunar Calendar.)Doesn't match Missing info Like question
March 22nd, 2016
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 21st, 2016
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). \x0c Cashin\xe2\x80\x99s Comments March 22, 2016 Page 3 of 3 You start with AAAA BBBB __ __ Move 1: A __ __ A BBBB AA Move 2: ABBA __ __ BBAA Move 3: ABBABAB __ __ A Move 4: __ __ BABABABADoesn't match Missing info Like question
March 18th, 2016
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 17th, 2016
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 \x0c Cashin\xe2\x80\x99s Comments March 18, 2016 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 16th, 2016
Today's Question - This never happened at the "A&P". Alan was trying to save money by buying at a farmers market. He was preparing a dinner for his boss, Richie. He saw a plastic bag of mozzarella balls. (Richie’s favorite.) To see if it was a bargain, Alan asked how much did the bag weigh. He was told that it weighed 32 lbs divided by half its actual weight. Can you help Alan figure how much the bag weighs?
Reveal Answer
Answer - Even though Alan and his boss Richie couldn't figure it out, we're sure you did (unless you too were budding your head against the wall). The weight of the unmarked mozzarella has to be a factor of the number 32. Given the other conditions we discover that the weight is 8 pounds.Doesn't match Missing info Like question
March 15th, 2016
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
Answer - Lots of folks seemed to have trouble with the wording of the question. We'll rephrase - What is the smallest number of coins you need to make change of a dollar for any single purchase from 1 cent to 99 cents. 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 14th, 2016
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
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 11th, 2016
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 10th, 2016
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. March 11, 2016 Page 3 of 3Doesn't match Missing info Like question
March 9th, 2016
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? Cashin’s Comments March 9, 2016 Page 3 of 3
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 8th, 2016
Today's Question - Help me, I'm all mixed up! Can you unscramble these 3 words:
Reveal Answer
Answer - The unscrambled words (we think) are: A) MERASKHLAC = Ramshackle; B) CAROUGIS = Gracious; C) DEOLATINOS = DesolationDoesn't match Missing info Like question
March 7th, 2016
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?
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
March 4th, 2016
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
March 3rd, 2016
Today’s Question – There are two words of five letters that are virtual opposites. The both begin with “u” and have all the same letters (but not in the same order – obviously!). What are these antonyms?
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
March 2nd, 2016
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 - In paying out the $1500, the teller issued ten $1 bills; one hundred $5 bills, nine $10 bills and eighteen $50 bills.Doesn't match Missing info Like question
March 1st, 2016
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?
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
February 29th, 2016
Today's Question - Algebra for logicians - What is the only possible number that can be the answer to the following series (X - A) x (X - B) x (X - C)....(X - Y) x (X - Z)?
Reveal Answer
Answer - The logic of the series was that at some point down the alphabet you'd wind up with (x-x) which has to equal zero. So whatever product you had up to then became zero when multiplied by zero.Doesn't match Missing info Like question
February 26th, 2016
Today's Question - An old Sr. Partner decided to really test a hotshot job applicant. He said - "My son is 24 years younger than I am. My grandson is 25 years younger than my son. My age plus my grandson's age equals 73 years. If you want the job tell me how old I am." Well??
Reveal Answer
Answer - The Senior Partner is 61 years old. (A barroom short hand trick for this one - add the number 24, 25, 73 and divide by 2.)Doesn't match Missing info Like question
February 25th, 2016
Today's Question - What's my handicap - Bob and Ross ran a race of 100 yards. Bob won by 10 yards. Ross proposed they race again but Bob should start 10 yards back. Thus Bob had to run 110 yards while Ross ran 100. All things being equal - who won?
Reveal Answer
Answer - Bob won the new race by a yard. In the first race Bob ran 100 yards while Ross ran 90. If the race took, say, 10 seconds than Bob ran 10 yards per second while Ross ran 9 yards per second. Thus Bob would run the 110 yards (100 + 10 yard handicap) in 11 seconds enough time for Ross to run 99 yards.Doesn't match Missing info Like question
February 24th, 2016
Today's Question - Work smarter not harder - If 6 people can paint 9 landscapes in a day and a half.....how many people would it take to paint 270 landscapes in 30 days?
Reveal Answer
Answer - It would take 9 painters to paint 270 landscapes in 30 days. (If six painters paint 9 landscapes in a day and a half, they paint 6 in 1 day or 1 per day per painter.) \x0c Cashin\xe2\x80\x99s Comments February 25, 2016 Page 3 of 3Doesn't match Missing info Like question
February 23rd, 2016
Today's Question - It was for a good cause anyway – With a break in the artic chill, half the floor turned out to watch a charity mini-marathon. The runners were Mike, Pete, Rich, Dan and Ed. Mike finished in front of Pete but behind Rich. Dan finished in front of Ed but behind Pete. What was the order of finish?
Reveal Answer
Answer - The order of finish was Rich, Mike, Pete, Dan and Ed. \x0c Cashin\xe2\x80\x99s Comments February 24, 2016 Page 3 of 3Doesn't match Missing info Like question
February 22nd, 2016
Today’s Question - If you've got it all together, you may know a fairly common word that has 6 i's?
Reveal Answer
Answer - The word with all the "i\'s" is indivisibility (we said not uncommon).Doesn't match Missing info Like question