Try answering these challenging questions which are based on the theme of Kings and Knights.
Bertrand the Baker’s Reimbursement
Bertrand, the baker, works at the castle each day, and goes home each night, instead of staying overnight in the castle. He has been doing this for several years. Typically, after finishing work, Bertrand rides a horse for twenty minutes to Big Moss Ferry. After boarding the Ferry for the forty-five minute ride to Green Point Heads, Bertrand has a hot dinner. He then disembarks and walks for ten minutes until he gets to Cheshingham Hills Coaches Horse and Buggy taxi station where he pays a horse and buggy driver to give him a lift home, which takes a further fifteen minutes. Because Bertrand’s contribution to the kingdom is highly valued, his employer wishes to help pay for his travel. The employer will reimburse Bertrand half a piece of minor brass for every half-hour he spent travelling on the ferry and by Cheshingham Coaches Horse and Buggy over the past year. How much reimbursement will Bertrand receive for the past year?
a) 26 pieces of minor brass, b) 730 pieces of minor brass, c) 960 pieces of minor brass, or d) 2920 pieces of minor brass.
Show Answer
b) 730 pieces of minor brass. Explanation: The employer has promised to reimburse Bertrand for the time he is riding on the ferry and for his time spent travelling on hired horse and buggy which comes to two hours in total a day, considering that Bertrand also has to travel the same way to the castle every morning. Altogether Bertrand spent 45 minutes on the Ferry x 2 each day which equals one hour and a half, and 15 minutes on Cheshingham Coaches Horse and Buggy x 2 each day, which equals half an hour. That is two hours in total per day. 365 (days per year) x 2 hours (time each day travelled, which the employer will reimburse Bertrand for) = 730. Since the employer pay Bertrand a half piece of minor brass for every half hour he spent travelling, Bertrand will receive the equivalent of 730 pieces of minor brass.
Counting Stairs
Helga, a castle assistant, sleeps on the first floor and works on the fourth floor. She has to go up two flights of stairs to get between floors in her workplace. Early day in the early afternoon, Helga goes down to the ground floor to pick greens in the garden, then returns to the fourth floor to cook them for the Princess’s dinner. Afterwards, she enjoys her own dinner in the study on the fourth-floor, while the Princess reads. She then says goodnight to the Princess and returns to the first floor to relax and retire for the night. If each flight has 9 stairs, how many stairs does Helga go up and down in total each day? a) 180 stairs, b) 250 stairs, c) 252 stairs, or d) 369.
Show Answer
c) 252 stairs. Explanation: Between every floor are two flights of stairs. So 2 (the number of flights) times 9 (the numbers of stairs in each flight) = 18 ( the number of stairs between each floor). Every time Helga goes between floors another 18 stairs are added. So 3 × 18 = 54 stairs (for Helga to go from the first floor to the fourth floor), 4 × 18 = 72 stairs (for Helga to go from the fourth floor to the ground floor), 4 × 18 = 72 stairs (for Helga to go from the ground floor to the fourth floor), and 3 × 18 = 54 stairs (for Helga to go from the fourth floor down to the first floor again to retire for the night). (2 × 54) + (2 × 72) = (total number of stairs). 108 + 144 = 252 (total number of stairs that Helga has to go up and down each day)
Finding the Lost Watch
The King has promised his trusted tailor, Edowen, a bag of gold coins if he can find his lost watch. The King explains that he lost it in one of the castle’s 24 rooms over the last few days, as he has not left the building during that time, and Edowen should be able to find it in one of those rooms. Edowen knows he must search efficiently before someone else finds it.
Castle Layout Rules:
- The castle is split into two main sections which each have 12 rooms: the West Wing and the East Wing. You cannot travel between these two wings without going outside the castle.
- You can easily move from room to room on the same floor within a wing.
- Within the rooms themselves, floor-to-floor access is only possible through an internal stairwell between the 1st and 2nd floors located in the rightmost room of the West Wing and the leftmost room of the East Wing.
- Large stairways at the far-left end of the West Wing and far-right end of the East Wing provide access to the adjoining rooms on all levels. Both of these stairways have exit doors on the ground floor through which one can leave the castle.
- Entering through either of the two central front doors of the castle only gives you access into the adjacent ground-floor room.
If Edowen begins outside the front door of the castle (marked by the green dot), what is the most efficient path he can take in order to search all 24 rooms?
Show Answer
Suggested solution is shown. Explanation: If Edowen begins outside the castle door at the green dot he can go left into the first floor of the west wing. After working his way through the rooms in the first and second floors, he can then take the long stairwell down to the exit point at the base of the stairs, and go right across to the east wing of the castle. He goes into the entrance at the base of the stairs on the far right of the Diagram and then straight up to the second floor, in order to work his way through all of the rooms on the second, first and ground floors. By the time he has reached the orange dot by going out of one of the main doors of the castle, he should have found the watch, for which he will receive his well deserved reward, a bag of gold coins.