-1. In a box you have 13 white marbles and 15 black marbles. You also have 28 black marbles outside the box.
You remove two marbles, randomly, from the box. If they are of different colors, you put the white one back in the box. If they are the same color you put a black marble in the box.
Continue this until only one marble remains in the box.
What color is the last marble? Please explain your answer.

-2. If you say the first five letters of a particular seven-letter word out loud, you pronounce a vegetable (but only one).
If you say the last five letters of the same seven-letter word, you pronounce the same vegetable (but more than one).
What is the seven-letter word?

-3. Al, Bill and Cal are each trying to be the first to solve 50 puzzles. Two of them are already in double figures. Al has solved half as many again as Bill would have solved if Bill had solved half as many as Cal. Cal has solved half as many again as Al would have solved if Al had solved half as many as Bill. Who is winning so far?

-4. What is the next number in this sequence:

33278
9436
4278
2996

-5. You've been asked to buy 100 squeegies, using 100 dollars to do so. You may buy no more or less than 100 squeegies, and the total price must be exactly 100 dollars. There is no sales tax. Red squeegies cost $6.00. Yellow squeegies cost $3.00. Blue squeegies cost $0.10. How many of each must you buy?

-6. It takes 10 snails 50 minutes to cross a walkway from when the first snail slithers onto the walkway to the last snail leaving. The snails cross single file and the walkway is only wide enough to accommodate eight snails at a time. The snails travel at the same speed and each snail is on the walkway for the same length of time. How long is each snail on the walkway for?

1.

Spot on, flotsam!

Well, Sue?

I keep coming back to this Brain Tickler for a mental exercise workout ... whew ... these are good!

You want hints? I got hints:

2. it ain't easy being green
3. ask Manxman (seriously, he's our math guy)
4. an odd question, even in these times

Hmmm...

More hints?

2. accvvcv
3. I haven't even tried it yet, so good luck
4. multiply the o-- d----- b- t-- e--- d-----

4. multiply the odd digits by the even digits. Answer is 2574

337x28=9436
93x46=4278
7x428=2996
99x26=2574

Thank you for the hints Pandora

Well done, manxman. Can you make any sense of #3? These puzzles are from the Panthera puzzle contest site that doesn't seem to be up any more. I have the answer but not the math of it.

As Toby Keith would say

"I ain't as good as I once was
But I'm as good once as I ever was"

2. appease

appea = a pea
pease = peas

I was trying to find a word that fit if you said each individual letter out loud. But I was also trying to find a word that fit with the letter p.
Thanks for the headache, Sue!

I love you, Cheryl. Now go do #3.

Great solves
I love number 2.

Thanks, flotsam! Now go do #3.

I think the answer to 3 must be Bill but I cannot explain the calculation beyond concluding that each of the other two appear to have actually scored less than the leader.

I'll take that answer, Lex! Bill 16, Cal 12, and Al 9

Due to the huge popularity of this thread, I'll add a couple more puzzles to the initial post. No... no... you're welcome.

I'll never get to sleep tonight

6.

6.

Good tries, but neither correct.

6. Another shot

Try again!

Another nice try, soot, but not correct.

6. Are the snails equidistant from each other, an/or do the last two perhaps stop to chat while waiting to cross?
Third time lucky mayhap (and I think one of five options all of which seem to work mathematically)
... and to cover the final option which I can see (unless we are using fractions/decimals )

I think that at this point I'll give you the answer and explanation.

The easiest way is to set up a proportion. It takes 18 "steps" for all of the snails to cross. It takes 9 steps for one snail to cross.
18/50 = 9/x
25 = x

Wow Pandora, I must admit that I am totally confused on this one. I don't know where the steps come from

edit:
I imagine they were a way of definging time for the ratio.

These are great Brain Ticklers!

edit #2:

So your solution means each snail is on the track for 25 minutes?

5

In 6, I follow the idea of 18 "steps" for all the snails to cross, also that if 18 steps take 50 minutes, 9 must take 25 minutes, but somehow that seems to defy logic if I am trying to visualise a line of snails in the process of crossing...

Spot on, soot!