Henry Dudeney, 1857-1930AD, was one of Britain’s greatest puzzle geniuses. A mathematician, amateur theologian, self-taught shepherd and civil servant, he had a broad knowledge base and a love of playing with numbers. He was also a keen student of chess, particularly in his early years. His wife, Alice, was a celebrate author herself, and was frequently compared to Thomas Hardy for her dramatic and realistically-framed tales of rural life.
Dudeney wrote puzzles all throughout his life, most of which continue to have a strong influence on puzzling in the modern era, and a selection of some of his most impressive pieces can be found in the pages that follow. His puzzles were marked by a certain gentleness, which comes through clearly in this puzzle.
Tommy: “How old are you, mamma?”
Mamma: “Let me think, Tommy. Well, our three ages add up to exactly seventy years.”
Tommy: “That’s a lot, isn’t it? And how old are you, papa?”
Papa: “Just six times as old as you, my son.”
Tommy: “Shall I ever be half as old as you, papa?”
Papa: “Yes, Tommy; and when that happens our three ages will add up to exactly twice as much as today.”
Tommy: “And supposing I was born before you, papa; and supposing mamma had forgot all about it, and hadn’t been at home when I came; and supposing–”
Mamma: “Supposing, Tommy, we talk about bed. Come along, darling. You’ll have a headache.”
Now, if Tommy had been some years older he might have calculated the exact ages of his parents from the information they had given him. Can you find out the exact age of mamma?
If you want to do the puzzle, stop here.
No, really.
I mean it.
.
.
.
.
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The age of Mamma must have been 29 years 2 months; that of Papa, 35 years; and that of the child, Tommy, 5 years 10 months. Added together, these make seventy years. The father is six times the age of the son, and, after 23 years 4 months have elapsed, their united ages will amount to 140 years, and Tommy will be just half the age of his father.
