ERJ Brainteaser - June

Question 4: Flying colours

Gold, Red, Blue, _?_

Clues: Hood, Tell, Target…

Email your answer: correct replies on Friday.

Bonus question: Who’s who

Washington, Jefferson, Roosevelt,  _?_

Answer: Some great answers and interpretations to this week’s teaser(s). On or near the bullseye were: Kamila Staszewska, R&D / quality lead, Abcon Industrial Products Ltd, Cootehill, Co. Cavan, Ireland; Amparo Botella, responsable de Compras y Calidad, Ismael Quesada SA, Elche, Alicante, Spain; John Bowen, BSc [Hons], CEng, MIMMM, consultant, Bromsgrove, UK; Andrew Knox, Rubbond International, Ohé en Laak, The Netherlands; Bharat B Sharma, technical director TWC Group (Techno Waxchem & Rajsha Chemicals), Kolkata, India; John Coleman, membership manager, Circol ELT, Dublin, Ireland; Hans-Bernd Luechtefeld, consultant, Germany; Sabit Karayel, R&D director, Ozka Lastik ve Kaucuk, Ba?iskele, Kocaeli, Turkey; Dr Kate Burns, senior technologist and regulatory officer, Prisma Colour Ltd, Birch Vale, High Peak, Derbyshire, UK. Well done to all and everyone else who had a go.

SOLUTIONS

Kamila Staszewska

Taking a shot (!) here – these are colours on archery target, next are Black and White.

Bonus question: these are US Presidents which images are carved into Mount Rushmore – Lincoln is who’s missing

Amparo Botella

For the first teaser, I will wait for the clue, as I would say green as the most used colour combined with Gold, Red and Blue in some flags.

Subsequently: Now this clue helps a lot. I think these are the colors used in target archery, the target face has coloured scoring rings:

Gold = centre (10, 9)

Red = next ring (8, 7)

Blue = next ring (6, 5)

Black = next ring (4, 3)

White = outer ring (2, 1)

So the missing colour is: Black… and it will be followed by white.

Bonus question: I have no doubt: These are the surnames of four USA Presidents in the Mount Rushmore. So, Abraham Lincoln.

John Bowen

These are the five Olympic ring colours, which represent the 5 continents and their union in sport.

Subsequently: Alternatively, missing colours could be ; Black,White - the colours on an international archery target.

Bonus question: Answer is Abraham Lincoln  -  the fourth face on Mount Rushmore

Bharat B Sharma

Next colour is Green.

LOGIC

The Connection: Colours of the four student houses -- Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in the Harry Potter universe.

The Hogwarts Houses & Colours

• Gold: Gryffindor (Scarlet and Gold)
• Red: Gryffindor / Ravenclaw (in some branding)
• Blue: Ravenclaw (Blue and Bronze)
• Green: Slytherin (Green and Silver

The "Hood" Clue: This might be referring to Robin Hood.

In the series, the house associated with the color green is Slytherin (or more directly, coloured robes and hoods).

Bonus question: Lincoln (Abraham Lincoln)

Logic- Whos-who – meaning collection/ references of people grouped together.

These could be the four US Presidents carved into famous Mount Rushmore (Sculptor Gutzon Borglum designed the monument to commemorate the first 150 years of United States history and had selected 4 presidents-- .

George Washington (Birth):

Thomas Jefferson (Growth):

• Theodore Roosevelt (Development):

Abraham Lincoln (Preservation):

Andrew Knox

"Flying colours" could of course refer to any number of flags, but I'm going to go here with the colours of the roundels used on RAF aircraft, especially those painted in (dark) camouflage colours, whereby the roundels begin with an outer ring of gold, followed inwards with rings of dull blue, white and a red dot in the centre. (The sequence of the colours in the question however is then not correct ...)

Subsequently: Oh, okay, so its a standard archery target with the centre being gold, followed by red, blue, black and finally white concentric rings, each colour themselves being divided into two rings with a one scoring-point difference, from 10 down to 1.

Bonus question: These I believe are three of the four USA presidents carved into the rock of Mount Rushmore in the USA, the fourth being president Abraham Lincoln. Apparently, there is no more suitably stable rock left on the mountain to carve the image of any more presidents, which is a relief (no pun intended)….

John Coleman

These are the colours of an archery target starting from the centre to the outside. Therefore, the next colour in the series is black.

Bonus question: Who’s who

Washington, Jefferson, Roosevelt,  _?_

This is a list of the US President’s likenesses carved into Mount Rushmore. Therefore, the fourth President in this series is Abraham Lincoln.

Hans-Bernd Luechtefeld

This sequence represents the standard concentric color rings on a modern archery target.

The target colors from center to edge:

Gold (Yellow) – Center / Bullseye (10 and 9 points)

Red – (8 and 7 points)

Blue – (6 and 5 points)

Black – (4 and 3 points)

White – Outer ring (2 and 1 points)

Bonus question: Abe Lincoln from Mount Rushmore

Sabit Karayel

Gold, Red, Blue, Purple

Washington, Jefferson, Roosevelt, Lincoln.

Dr Kate Burns

The answer to this week's brainteaser is black, the sequence is the colour of the rings on an archery target.

Bonus question is the US presidents featured on Mount Rushmore, so the missing answer is Lincoln.

New teaser on Monday

U, D, T (France) 

E, ?, D (Germany)

I, ?, S (Japan) - originally ?, N, S

E, T, ? (Sweden)

Answer: Ooops! Very unintentionally, the answer (to the question as originally set) read as an unwelcome skin condition. Anyway, undistracted, a select group of Brainiacs neatly decoded (Solutions below) this week’s teaser: Andrew Knox, Rubbond International, Ohé en Laak, The Netherlands; Dr Kate Burns, senior technologist and regulatory officer, Prisma Colour Ltd, Birch Vale, High Peak, Derbyshire, UK; Amparo Botella, responsable de Compras y Calidad, Ismael Quesada SA, Elche, Alicante, Spain; Bharat B Sharma, technical director TWC Group (Techno Waxchem & Rajsha Chemicals), Kolkata, India; John Bowen, BSc [Hons], CEng, MIMMM, consultant, Bromsgrove, UK; Hans-Bernd Luechtefeld, consultant, Germany; Kamila Staszewska, R&D / quality lead, Abcon Industrial Products Ltd, Cootehill, Co. Cavan, Ireland. Well done to all and everyone else who had a go.

SOLUTIONS

Andrew Knox

Answer: As the song goes, "it's as easy as One, Two, Three".

Okay, so the missing letters are Z (Zwei), I (Ichi) and T (Tre).

Hans-Bernd Luechtefeld

Looking for

un, deux, trois

eins, zwei, drei

ichi, ni, san &

ett, två, tre

Answer: zwei, ichi, tre (BTW: hitotsu might also be possible, but does not fit into your row)

Dr Kate Burns

The sequence is the first letter of the numbers 1, 2, 3 in the corresponding language:

French - Un, Deux, Trois

German - Eins, Zwei, Drei

Japanese - Ichi, Ni, San

Swedish - Ett, Två, Tre

Amparo Botella

The missing letter corresponds to the first letters of the numbers 1, 2, and 3 in each language

France -one-two-three (U, D, T)

Germany -eins-zwei-drei (E, Z, D)

Japan- ichi-ni-san (I, N, S)

Sweden -one-two-three (E, T, T)

So the missing letters are:

Germany: Z

Japan: I

Sweden: T

Bharat B Sharma

Again, taking clue from last puzzle, I and applying logic to see the similarity / pattern  between letters, countries name.

According to me analogy is describing something in these countries (in their countries language). Now, the words cannot be same – 3 digit, there is no pattern in the alphabets given.

I feel the logic is how the numbers 1,2,3 are spelled in the countries language  and the first word is captured

                1,2,3 in France:                 Un, Deux, Trois → U, D, T

                1,2,3 in Germany:             Eins, Zwei,Drei   → E, Z, D

1,2,3 in Japan:                   Ichi, Ni, San         → I, N, S

1,2,3 in Sweeden:             Ett, Två, Tre        → E, T, T

 Answer -- So the missing letters are Z  N & T (given below as required in puzzle):

                U, D, T (France) 

E, Z, D (Germany)

I, N, S (Japan)

E, T, T (Sweden)

John Bowen

These are the initial letters of the Country's words for one,two,three.

France: Un,deux,Trois

Germany: Ein,Zwei,Drei

Japan:Ich,Ni,San

Sweden:En/Ett, /Tva,Tre

So the missing letters are  Z,I,T.

Kamila Staszewska

The answer is in 1, 2, 3… in different languages

Un, Deux, Trois

Eins, Zwei, Drei à Z

Ichi, Ni, San à I

Ett, Tva, Tre à T 

New teaser on Monday.

207.65, 100.91, 43.03, 19.30, _?_.

Clues: Cu/Sn, Ag, Au.

Answer: We've finally crossed the finishing line of this extended teaser, where the key was to recognise these as record times in Olympic running races (Solutions below). On the podium were an elite group of Brainiacs: Andrew Knox, Rubbond International, Ohé en Laak, The Netherlands; Hans-Bernd Luechtefeld, consultant, Germany; Kamila Staszewska, R&D / quality lead, Abcon Industrial Products Ltd, Cootehill, Co. Cavan, Ireland; Dr Kate Burns, senior technologist and regulatory officer, Prisma Colour Ltd, Birch Vale, High Peak, Derbyshire, UK; Bharat B Sharma, technical director TWC Group (Techno Waxchem & Rajsha Chemicals), Kolkata, India. Well done to all, and everyone else who had a go. 

SOLUTIONS

Andrew Knox

Answer: 9.63

These are the official Olympic world record times (in seconds) for men's athletics races, in descending order from 1500m down to 200m, so the next in sequence will be the 100m record of 9.63 seconds set by Usain Bolt at the 2012 London Olympics (the games with the unparalleled opening show which will NEVER be bettered).

STAR ANSWER

Before making the Olympic connection, Hans-Bernd Luechtefeld came up with this interesting, alternative maths-based interpretation:

The next figure is 15.01.

The sequence corresponds to a cubic function (a third-degree polynomial) of the form: (f(x) = ax³ + bx² + cx + d). Substituting the known values for (x = 1, 2, 3, 4) yields the following coefficients:

a = -2,451

b = 39,14

c = -206,998

d = 377,96

If we substitute x = 5 into the equation, we get exactly 15.01.

Kamila Staszewska

The answer is 9.58 (s) thanks to Usain Bolt for 100m world record established in 2009. These are world record times for running distances 1500m  - 3:37.65 (207min.65s) by Hocker in 2024, 800m – 1:40.91 (100min.91s) by Rudisha in 2012 , 400m – 43.03 by van Niekerk in 2016, 200m – 19.30 by Bolt in 2008. The clue refers to Bronze (alloy of copper and tin), Silver and Gold!

Dr Kate Burns

I think these are the world record times for running, counting down in distance. The final distance is the 100m, for which the record time is 9.58 seconds.

John Coleman

The sequence appears to represent men’s Olympic record times (in seconds) across standard track distances, decreasing:

1500m → 207.65 → Cole Hocker (3:27.65 = 207.65 sec)

800m → 100.91 → David Rudisha

400m → 43.03 → Wayde van Niekerk

200m → 19.30 → Usain Bolt

Following the same pattern, the next event is the 100m, whose Olympic record is:

100m → 9.63 seconds → Usain Bolt

Therefore, the answer is 9.63. 

3, 11, 19, 37, 55, ?.

Clues: Metal, Group...

Answer: 87 for Francium. Extra well done to: Andrew Knox, Rubbond International, Ohé en Laak, The Netherlands; Amparo Botella, responsable de Compras y Calidad, Ismael Quesada SA, Elche, Alicante, Spain; John Bowen, BSc [Hons], CEng, MIMMM, consultant, Bromsgrove, UK; Kamila Staszewska, R&D / quality lead, Abcon Industrial Products Ltd, Cootehill, Co. Cavan, Ireland; Dr Kate Burns, senior technologist and regulatory officer, Prisma Colour Ltd, Birch Vale, High Peak, Derbyshire, UK; Bharat B Sharma, technical director TWC Group (Techno Waxchem & Rajsha Chemicals), Kolkata, India; Hans-Bernd Luechtefeld, consultant, Germany; and everyone else who had a go. 

SOLUTIONS

Andrew Knox

STAR ANSWER: Replied before seeing any clues… or even the French connection!

Answers:

1. If this were a mathematical sequence then one answer would be 83.

Taking the differences between the numbers gives 8, 8, 18, 18, and repeating this step gives 0, 10, 0, giving a repeating pattern of 0 and 10 to predict the next number as being  10+18+55=83. A bit weak but it works in the sense that a pattern has been found that can be used to predict the next numbers in the sequence.

1. Probably a better answer is that this sequence is based on the atomic numbers of the alkali metals (Group 1 elements) in the periodic table:

3: Lithium (Li)

11: Sodium (Na)

19: Potassium (K)

37: Rubidium (Rb)

55: Cesium (Cs)

87: Francium (Fr)

Still no idea what led to the question being asked in French...

{I was] thinking it must have something to do with Paris St. Germain beating Arsenal....

Amparo Botella

I think we refer to the atomic numbers of Alkali metals in the chemical elements periodic table:

3-Tithium

11-Sodium

19-Potassium

37-Rubidium

55-Cesium

So next on will be 87-Francium

The reply is 87.

John Bowen

Next number is 87.

These are the atomic numbers of Group 1 metals - Lithium, Sodium, Potassium, Rubidium, Caesium, next with Atomic Number 87 is Francium.

[A bit slow to spot the Rule of Octaves...]

Kamila Staszewska

The answer lies - quite literally-  on the periodic table of elements (first column=alkali metals).

3-Lithium , 11-Sodium, 19 -Potassium, 37-Rubidium, 55-Cesium and the answer: 87-Francium (hence the question).

Voilà!

Dr Kate Burns

The next number in the sequence is 87, s'il vous plaît. The sequence is the atomic numbers of the Alkali metals, ending in Francium, 87. 

Bharat B Sharma

Based on clue, it’s the list of metals and that too of group 1 of periodic table (Alkali Metals).

The answer will be 87

Detail--

The rule of given sequence

The numbers are the atomic numbers of the chemical elements appearing in the first column of the periodic table (Group 1) also known as known as alkali metals.

• 3 : Lithium
• 11 : Sodium
• 19 : Potassium
• 37 : Rubidium
• 55 : Cesium
• 87 : Taking the clue further, we get the Francium Fr

Hans-Bernd Luechtefeld

87 for Francium

The numbers (3, 11, 19, 37, 55, ?=87) represent the chemical elements in Group 1 of the periodic table. They are also known as the alkali metals:

3 = Lithium (Li)

11 = Sodium (Na)

19 = Potassium (K)

37 = Rubidium (Rb)

55 = Cesium (Cs)

87 = Francium (Fr)

New teaser on Monday.