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Showing posts from March, 2014

And the winners are ...

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The winners of the March Mathville Puzzle are: 1st. place, winner of a $30 gift card to the PVCC Bookstore: Patrice West 2nd place, winner of a $15 gift card to The Mermaid Coffee Cart: Valerie Pors 3rd place, winner of a big Hershey's milk chocolate bar: Richard Lorensen Winners, please pick up your prizes  by Thursday, April 3rd at 9 p.m., and please bring your student I.D.  Congratulations to the winners! Thank you to all who played, and please play again next month! And now for the solution: After reading the clues, we can rule out Mayor Abscissa Adams, as she is the victim and has no motive to steal an uninsured item she owns herself. That leaves us with 5 suspects. One of the clues tells us the thief drives a black Nissan.   We know that the person who drives a black Nissan wore blue shoes, so we know the thief wore blue shoes. We know that the person who wore blue shoes weighs 190 lbs., so we know that the thief drives a black Nissan, wore

The Mathville Puzzles: The Heirloom Salt Cellar

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One thing everyone knows in Mathville is that Mayor Abscissa Adams hosts excellent dinner parties for the members of her cabinet. Fine food, champagne and good conversation combine to make a memorable evening. One Friday evening, as a thunderstorm brewed outdoors, Abscissa and her guests sat in the dining room, eating and chatting. The conversation focused on a beautiful salt cellar, which everyone knew had been in the Mayor's family for generations and was usually placed on the table during elegant dinners. Suddenly, a flash of lightning lit up the night sky outside, followed by deafening thunder. The lights went out for less than 5 minutes and then returned. After a few moments, the conversation resumed, until the Mayor noticed that her salt cellar was missing. The police were called, and after a couple of hours, the detective in charge arrested the thief. Can you figure out who stole the salt cellar? Here are your clues. Only these people were present in the Mayor&

Library Showcase: Fun With Art!

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Example of line art. (Source: Wikimedia Commons) Oscar Wilde wrote that "art is the most intense mode of individualism that the world has known." Art plays a big part in our lives, even if we are not aware of it. Art is present in great buildings, in music, in books, in comics, in drawings, in paintings, in photographs, in doodles, in food...in a word, everywhere . It can be solemn or irreverent, orderly or chaotic. It can be anything. What does art mean to you? This month the library showcases art in all its forms: digital photography, comics, calligraphy and much more! Come on over and take one of these books home! The Art and Wonder of Origami -- Learn origami , the traditional Japanese art of paper folding.  Beautiful origami patterns, clear instructions and a CD will help you become proficient in this beautiful art in no time.  The Art of Polymer Clay: Millefiori Techniques -- Millefiori are intricate patterns from the world of Venetian glass-making. Learn

And the winners are ...

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The winners of the February math puzzle are: Albert Hwang , first place, wins a $30 gift certificate to the PVCC bookstore. Ryan Harris , second place, wins a $15 gift certificate to the Mermaid Coffee Cart. Matthew Dean , third place, wins a big Hershey's milk chocolate bar. Congratulations to the winners! Winners must pick up their prizes no later than Thursday, March 13th, at 9 p.m. or they forfeit their prizes. And now the solution. Ages: 2, 2, 9 Events: 13 Reasoning The first thing you need to do is list the factor combinations that multiply to 36, and eliminate the duplicates (for example: 1,3,12 is the same as 12, 3, 1 and as 3,1,12, so you only need one of those). List the remaining factor combinations that multiply to 36, and list their sums:     1, 1, 36 - sum is 38     1, 2, 18 - sum is 21     1, 3, 12 - sum is 16     1, 4, 9 - sum is 14     6, 6, 1 - sum is 13     2, 2, 9 - sum is 13     2, 3, 6 sum is 11     3, 3, 4 sum