5. The Father
A mother is 21 years older than her child. In exactly 6 years from now, the mother will be exactly 5 times as old as the child.
Where's the father?
Added 1 January 2007
Solution:
With the mother. If you do the math, you find out the child will be born in 9 months.
Comments (28)
The FATHER puzzle is frustrating and not well-designed.
Question number 5 lacks lateral thinking; it's not engaging.
The Father puzzle is not well-designed.
The solution for number 5 is incorrect. The math shows that the child would be 3.75 years old in six years, meaning the child won't even be conceived for another three years.
Why can't a surgeon operate on her child? Is there a law prohibiting surgeons from operating on close relatives? This seems like an important detail.
Puzzle #5 was completely absurd to even include in these puzzles. Was that a joke? I enjoyed the others though.
Answer no. 5 is not well thought out.
The maths doesn't work out. The child would be 5.4 years in 6 years which would mean 0.6 years gestation! It would work if it said the mother is 18 years older than her son and in 7 years she will be 4 times as old as her son.
The puzzle was good, I'm glad I got it right.
Problem #5 is often viewed by younger people. It would be better stated as: A mother is 24 years older than her child...where age of child works out as zero... In which case the father ends up in the delivery room, instead of in the BEDROOM !!!.............
I found Number 5 to be the best puzzle; I actually got the answer right!
Number 5 makes no sense. That really cannot be answered.
What is the issue with riddle 5?
I find it hard to understand how puzzle number 5 qualifies as a lateral thinking problem. It seems more creepy than logical.
Puzzle #5 is nonsense. The others are very good.
Problems 5, 6, and 7 were not challenging and seemed poorly designed.
There's an easier way to solve the 5th problem. Either string burns for 1 hour. Fold either string into half and find 30 minutes. Then fold it again to find 15 minutes. Then tear off the quarter: 60 - 15 = 45... Watch it burn.
The father riddle is wrong. It should be: mother aged 21 is 4 times as old as her child in 8 years.
The father riddle is incorrect. It should state that the mother, aged 21, is four times as old as her child in eight years.
I think the answer to number 5 (The Father) is wrong. If you do the maths, you find that the child has got a negative age (-3/4 or -9 months), which does not make sense.
The answer to the puzzle seems incorrect. The calculations show that the child's age is negative (-3/4 or -9 months), which contradicts the suggested age of 9 months.
In number 5, your wording implies the child is already born, making the numbers impossible. It would be more appropriate to word the riddle: A child, 6 years from now, will be exactly 1/5 the age of its mother, and the mother exactly 21 years older than the child.
The riddle is not challenging as it relies on prior knowledge of the answer, which seems trivial.
The solution to puzzle No 5, 'The Father', is rather trite and explains nothing. It just says 'do the math' but I have and it still makes no sense. I'd recommend either removing it or expanding on the solution.
Question number 5 seems silly and doesn't make sense; it should be removed.
Question number 5, 'The Father', has an answer that is culturally biased. Just because the Mother is pregnant, the whereabouts of the Father are not given. 'With the Mother' reveals the puzzle writer's assumptions, not any insight into deduction or logic.
The puzzle 'The Father' has an answer that is culturally biased. The assumption that the Father is with the Mother is not a logical deduction but rather a reflection of the writer's assumptions.
The suggested solution for the puzzle about Pierino's mother could be that she goes to the cellar to get something and gives birth there, which explains why Pierino was locked in the cellar his whole life.
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