Mathville winners, September 2014


The September Mathville puzzle got a lot of responses, many from new PVCC students. Thank you to all who played!  In order to be included in the drawing for prizes, the answers to this puzzle had to be not only correct and have explanations, but there was an added layer: they also had to be in the form of a question.  From the answers that qualified, we drew 6 winners, two for each place:

First place - Each winner awarded a $30 gift card for the PVCC bookstore:

Danielle Taylor
Elizabeth Harrison

Second place - Each winner awarded a $15 gift card to the Mermaid cart:

Eric Byers
Brian Quinlan

Third place -  Each winner awarded a big Hershey's milk chocolate bar:

Logan Usmani
Michelle Langhorne

Winners must pick up their prizes by 4 p.m. on September 12th, or they forfeit their prizes. 

And now, the answers to September's puzzle

Round 1
Adding two letters to this word makes is shorter.
What is short?
short + er = shorter

Round 2
If you can purchase 8 eggs for 26 cents, how many can you purchase for a cent and a quarter?
What is 8?
A cent and a quarter is the same as 26 cents.

Round 3
I am an odd number. Take away two and I become even.
What is 11?
eleven - el = even

Final Risk
Why do people turn away in disgust from the number 288?
What is because it is too (two) gross?
The number 288 is 144 x 2, and 144 is called a gross (a dozen dozen), so 288 is two gross, which sounds the same as "too gross," hence the disgust.

Many answers about this last question said that it was because "2 ate 8" and this was repulsive because it was cannibalism, or repulsive because of how many the 2 ate.  This answer was not accepted because it is too vague. It could be 2 goats eating 8 carrots, in which case it isn't cannibalism, or 2 people eating 8 French fries, in which case it isn't too much.  Because it is so vague, this answer cannot be accepted.

Join us next month for a new puzzle and more prizes!