Sunday Puzzle 6/29
From a 19th century trade card advertising Bassetts Horehound Troches, a remedy for coughs and colds: A man buys 20 pencils for 20 cents and gets three kinds of pencils in return. Some of the pencils cost 4 cents each, some are two for a penny and the rest are four for a penny. How many pencils of each type does the man get?
Ok, I admit it. I set up an Excel Solver model to do this one for me, mostly because I wanted to remind myself how to use Solver. I do this every so often now that I don’t use Excel on a daily basis, just to stay familiar with the program.
Buy 3 of the 4¢ pencils for 12¢
Buy 15 of the ½ pencils for 7½¢
Buy 2 of the ¼ pencils for ½¢
Total: 20 pencils for 20¢.
