Another puzzle from "Something to Think About":

THE SCHOOL PICNIC

"Five boys,", the Headmaster reported, "were unable to attend the
school picnic. The picnic, therefore, cost £23 2s. 6¼d. so far as the
boys attending it were concerned. We had arranged, with the
contractors, to pay so much per head in respect of each boy who
came."
How many boys were there in the school?


The symbol ¼ which may be unreadable in the above passage is 1/4, one
quarter.

Nick Wedd said:

Another puzzle from "Something to Think About":

THE SCHOOL PICNIC

"Five boys,", the Headmaster reported, "were unable to attend the
school picnic. The picnic, therefore, cost £23 2s. 6¼d. so far as the
boys attending it were concerned. We had arranged, with the
contractors, to pay so much per head in respect of each boy who
came."
How many boys were there in the school?


The symbol ¼ which may be unreadable in the above passage is 1/4, one
quarter.

Spoiler





Spoile





Spoil





Spoi




Spo




Sp




S




Since there are twenty shillings in a pound, twenty-three pounds are
equivalent to 460 shillings. Add the 2, and that's 462 shillings. There are
twelve pennies in a shilling, and 462 * 12 = 5544 pennies. Add the 6, and
that's 5550. There are four farthings in a penny, so 5550 pennies worth of
farthings is 22200. Add the extra farthing, and we have 22201 farthings.

This is 149*149, and 149 is prime. So there are three solutions. One (six
boys in the school, one of whom attends the picnic) is unacceptable because
the puzzle text says that boys (plural) attended. One is unlikely (22206
boys in the school, of whom 22201 attend the picnic at a farthing each).
The third is far more likely: 154 boys in the school, of whom 149 attend,
each accounting for 149 farthings

= 12 shillings 4 pennies 1 farthing of
the contractors' bill.

Farthings ceased to be legal tender in 1960. The cost of living in the UK
has increased roughly sixteenfold since then, so in today's money the cost
was around ten pounds per head - not a bad picnic, then, assuming the
contractors provided value for money and had access to some decent
bulk-order discounts.

Nick Wedd said:

Another puzzle from "Something to Think About":

THE SCHOOL PICNIC

"Five boys,", the Headmaster reported, "were unable to attend the
school picnic. The picnic, therefore, cost £23 2s. 6¼d. so far as the
boys attending it were concerned. We had arranged, with the
contractors, to pay so much per head in respect of each boy who
came."
How many boys were there in the school?

The symbol ¼ which may be unreadable in the above passage is 1/4, one
quarter.

Spoiler

Spoile

Spoil

Spoi

Spo

Sp

S

Since there are twenty shillings in a pound, twenty-three pounds are
equivalent to 460 shillings. Add the 2, and that's 462 shillings. There are
twelve pennies in a shilling, and 462 * 12 = 5544 pennies. Add the 6, and
that's 5550. There are four farthings in a penny, so 5550 pennies worth of
farthings is 22200. Add the extra farthing, and we have 22201 farthings.

This is 149*149, and 149 is prime. So there are three solutions. One (six
boys in the school, one of whom attends the picnic) is unacceptable because
the puzzle text says that boys (plural) attended. One is unlikely (22206
boys in the school, of whom 22201 attend the picnic at a farthing each).
The third is far more likely: 154 boys in the school, of whom 149 attend,
each accounting for 149 farthings = 12 shillings 4 pennies 1 farthing of
the contractors' bill.

I agree the solution of 154 boys, but just to be accurate, the cost
per boy = 149 farthings = 3 shillings 1 penny 1 farthing (about 15.5p
in the UK's modern decimal money)

jonnie303 said:

snip

I agree the solution of 154 boys, but just to be accurate, the cost
per boy = 149 farthings = 3 shillings 1 penny 1 farthing (about 15.5p
in the UK's modern decimal money)

Ouch! Sorry about that. The easy bit is always the hardest to get right,
isn't it?

So - about two or three quid a head in today's terms, then. Not quite so
good a picnic after all.

Or, more likely perhaps, the picnic was held in August 1933 rather than some time in 1960.

In article <NLmdnZMnGtitTl7YnZ2dnUVZ8qXinZ2d@bt.com>,
rjh@see.sig.invalid says...
jonnie303 said:

snip

I agree the solution of 154 boys, but just to be accurate, the cost
per boy = 149 farthings = 3 shillings 1 penny 1 farthing (about
15.5p in the UK's modern decimal money)

Ouch! Sorry about that. The easy bit is always the hardest to get
right, isn't it?

So - about two or three quid a head in today's terms, then. Not quite
so good a picnic after all.

Or, more likely perhaps, the picnic was held in August 1933 rather
than some time in 1960.

Mike said:

In article <NLmdnZMnGtitTl7YnZ2dnUVZ8qXinZ2d@bt.com>,
rjh@see.sig.invalid says...
jonnie303 said:

snip

I agree the solution of 154 boys, but just to be accurate, the cost
per boy = 149 farthings = 3 shillings 1 penny 1 farthing (about
15.5p in the UK's modern decimal money)

Ouch! Sorry about that. The easy bit is always the hardest to get
right, isn't it?

So - about two or three quid a head in today's terms, then. Not quite
so good a picnic after all.

Or, more likely perhaps, the picnic was held in August 1933 rather
than some time in 1960.

In that case, could I just have one more of those chocolate eclairs?

You could, but they will be very stale by now.