Sandy Wood
Brain Game: Write Right
by Sandy Wood - February 2, 2009 - 7:30 AM

bloghead_braingames.jpg

You’re starting a new year at a new school. You arrive in the morning with a notebook and most of the other essentials. Suddenly, you realize that you forgot to bring something to write with. it would be tough to borrow something since you don’t know anyone, so you visit the school store prior to your first class. There, you purchase one pen and one pencil. Without tax, the total comes to $1.10.

If the pen cost $1 more than the pencil,
how much did the pencil cost?

Here is the ANSWER.

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Comments (13)

  1. sneeeeeky- since you really want to say that the pencily cost 10 cents… my 8th grade math teacher would have loved this!

    posted by ann on 2-2-2009 at 9:32 am

  2. Mental floss! You let me down! I was expecting a trick or a puzzle, not subtracting a dollar from 1.10.

    I usually do a happy dance when I solve one of your brainteasers but there’s nothing challenging in getting this one right.

    posted by Meg on 2-2-2009 at 11:27 am

  3. Meg, if you subtracted a dollar from $1.10, you got the wrong answer. That would make the pencil a dime, not a nickel. Therein lies the challenge.

    posted by Sandy Wood on 2-2-2009 at 11:35 am

  4. I had to stop myself and think about this for a second. Perfect for a Monday post-Super Bowl (and for me, post-Mardi Gras Ball) weekend.

    posted by Lindsey on 2-2-2009 at 11:57 am

  5. I don’t know if you’ve heard of this game “Professor Layton & the Curious Village” It’s a game for Nintendo DS, and the gameplay is all puzzles & brainteasers. I was reminded of it because just yesterday I came across this puzzle in the game:

    “A street-corner merchant is selling a camera with a case for $310. You want to buy just the case alone. He says that the camera costs $300 more than the case. You pay with a $100 bill. How much change should you get back?”

    If you haven’t heard of it, I’d recommend checking it out! There are hundreds of puzzles, and some of them are really good.

    posted by Kurt on 2-2-2009 at 12:10 pm

  6. Meg made my Monday. being able to start every word in a sentance with the Letter M was only slightly topped by her comment of how easy this puzzle was, when she got it wrong. Classic.

    posted by Ryan on 2-2-2009 at 12:13 pm

  7. Never seen it, Kurt (don’t own a DS) but I’ve heard good things about it. But yes, there are several variations of this old puzzle. It’s deceptively tricky!

    posted by Sandy Wood on 2-2-2009 at 1:31 pm

  8. Meg, Meg, Meg. (x + 1) + x = 1.10. Solve for x.

    There’s a phone number in my reCaptcha.

    posted by Dinosaur on 2-2-2009 at 1:51 pm

  9. If the pen costs $1.00 more than the pencil, why couldn’t the pencil be free? (asked the rhetorician)

    posted by Adrienne on 2-2-2009 at 4:25 pm

  10. Ignore the last reply. My pencils are always free so I would have pocketed the dime.

    posted by Adrienne on 2-2-2009 at 4:36 pm

  11. I LOVE the Curious Village game!

    posted by Danie on 2-3-2009 at 4:15 am

  12. okay… the Pencil cost .o5, and the pen cost $1.05.

    posted by Vickey on 2-3-2009 at 6:21 am

  13. Got it right! Yet I needed to think about it a little, because my first reaction was $0.10 and then realized that it couldn’t be.

    posted by Roberto on 2-3-2009 at 2:15 pm

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