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  • The Three Children Problem: An oldie but a goodie (for newcomers)

    From Ammammata@ammammata@tiscali.it to rec.puzzles on Tue Jul 28 08:37:25 2026
    From Newsgroup: rec.puzzles

    Two old friends meet again after a long time and catch up on small talk
    and their families.
    The first says to the second: 'I have three children. The product of
    their ages is 36 (for example 2x3x6). The sum of their ages is equal to
    my house number,' and he points it out to him. 'How old are my three children?'
    The second thinks for a moment and says: 'I can't answer with just that information.'
    So the first says: 'The oldest has blue eyes.'
    And the second friend guesses the three ages.
    --
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    -.-. .... . ... .. ...- .. -. -.-. .- --- -.-. .... . ... .. .--. . .-.
    -.. .- ..-. --- .-. --.. .- - --- .-. --- . .--- ..- ...- . -- . .-.
    -.. .-
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  • From HenHanna@NewsGrouper@user4055@newsgrouper.org.invalid to rec.puzzles,sci.lang,alt.usage.english on Tue Jul 28 18:31:30 2026
    From Newsgroup: rec.puzzles


    Ammammata <ammammata@tiscali.it> posted:

    Two old friends meet again after a long time and catch up on small talk
    and their families.
    The first says to the second: 'I have three children. The product of
    their ages is 36 (for example 2x3x6). The sum of their ages is equal to
    my house number,' and he points it out to him. 'How old are my three children?'
    The second thinks for a moment and says: 'I can't answer with just that information.'
    So the first says: 'The oldest has blue eyes.'
    And the second friend guesses the three ages.



    (in the usual language of Math Puzzles)

    I am not certain that... in this context, [guesses] means what the problem OP intends = [could guess the answer correctly]

    _____________

    iirc, Your Sig used be like ASCII-art, but is currently broken (or garbled) (munged)

    _____________

    Can't post from CsiPh ----I dont mind such malfunctions, (glitches) sometimes.....
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  • From Ammammata@ammammata@tiscali.it to rec.puzzles on Wed Jul 29 16:18:47 2026
    From Newsgroup: rec.puzzles

    HenHanna@NewsGrouper wrote on 28/07/2026 :
    iirc, Your Sig used be like ASCII-art, but is currently broken (or garbled) (munged)

    the first line is the nickname
    the second just a divider
    then a note
    last (long) line is morse code lol

    years ago someone said the first line was "a bunch of twats" lol
    --
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    -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- - -=-
    ........... [ al lavoro ] ...........
    -.-. .... . ... .. ...- .. -. -.-. .- --- -.-. .... . ... .. .--. . .-.
    -.. .- ..-. --- .-. --.. .- - --- .-. --- . .--- ..- ...- . -- . .-.
    -.. .-
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  • From David Entwistle@qnivq.ragjvfgyr@ogvagrearg.pbz to rec.puzzles on Fri Jul 31 19:36:50 2026
    From Newsgroup: rec.puzzles

    On Tue, 28 Jul 2026 08:37:25 +0200, Ammammata wrote:

    So the first says: 'The oldest has blue eyes.'
    And the second friend guesses the three ages.

    Nice question.

    Spoiler:

    There are two combinations of three ages which, when multiplied equals thirty-six, but provide an ambiguous sum of thirteen. By indicating the
    the oldest is not a twin, the ambiguity is resolved.
    --
    David Entwistle
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