Braingle: 'Brave Sailors' Brain Teaser

Brave Sailors

Math brain teasers require computations to solve.

Puzzle ID:	#6923
Fun:	(2.82)
Difficulty:	(1.97)
Category:	Math
Submitted By:	majd
Corrected By:	cnmne

We are brave sailors always riding the sea
We are less than one hundred but as tough as can be
We sleep in three bunkers on top of each other
Our numbers double from one bunker to another
We dance in joy all through the night
In groups of fives under the moonlight
Last night twelve of us were swallowed by waves
Leaving alive more than two third of the braves
Still we continue the journey refusing to fail
So tell me how many of us are left to sail?

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Comments

sillywilly Sep 09, 2002	This was a good presentation of the facts.. well thought out. Nice puzzle.
Ember Oct 26, 2002	nice 1
waffle Feb 27, 2005	I got the answer really quickly, but I guess that was just luck. It seems like their would be way more answers, but there's just one. Cool teaser!
waffle Feb 27, 2005	I got the answer really quickly, but I guess that was just luck. It seems like their would be way more answers, but there's just one. Cool teaser!
karma48 Jun 22, 2005	Fun; easy but made me think; Thanks
JameGirl33 Jun 23, 2005	Good one....i got 48 , but i just misunderstood the line about the numbers doubling. Looking back, it was a really stupid mistake lol Still an awesome problem tho
norcekri Jul 24, 2005	Love it! The math is easy enough, but the poetic presentation is well worth the time to solve the puzzle.
therealerik Sep 03, 2008	At first the question was a bit unclear to me. Was not sure whether the lines about the bunkers and the dancing referred to the original situation or to thesituation at hand (so before or after the 12 were drowned) after all everything was in present tense. Well if it referred to the situation at hand there was not a single unique answer while if it was the original situation there was. Certainly a great way to format a puzzle ! Nice poem.
Paladin Mar 13, 2009	Going to try this without looking at the answer x = original # of sailors b = # of sailors in first bunker x < 100 b + 2b + 4b = x 7b = x x mod 7 = 0 x mod 5 = 0 x - 12 > 2/3 x x > 36 36 < x < 100 and x is evenly divisible by 5 and 7, so x = 70 x - 12 = remaining pirates 70 - 12 = 58 Going to check now
Paladin Mar 13, 2009	WOOT! Nice puzzle!
puzzlebuster Aug 26, 2011	This teaser is flawed. The ambiguity involves a lacking condition that must be stated if a doubling cumulative ratio between bunkers is to be achieved. Without this modifier moving between bunkers does not necessary guarantee that 2(A+B) = C. The movement between bunkers could also be random in that it is not ordered to move from smallest to largest. 48 is also a correct answer for the problem the way it is worded.
puzzlebuster Aug 26, 2011	The correction should read "from one to another and another." This would be a correct version of what the author intended, but then what do I know?
Jimbo May 13, 2012	Good puzzle. It was obvious that the numbers were either 35 or 70. I see no ambiguity in the doubling from one bunker to another (but sometimes these teasers are edited after the comments). Easy.
ariel777 Jul 22, 2012	Nice work..I got it...but only after assuming you meant "We dance(d) in joy all through the night In groups of fives under the moonlight". If there's only 58 NOW...(full) groups of 5 ain't possible