ERJ Brainteaser: May

What comes next in the following sequence?

Saturday, 2020; Thursday, 2024; Tuesday, 2028; Sunday, 2032; Friday, 2036;
 
 
Answer: A case of ‘look before your leap’, with the following sharp readers identifying these as a sequence of leap-year days, the next being Wednesday 2040: John Bowen, consultant, Bromsgrove, UK: David Mann, key account manager, SPC Rubber Compounding, UK; Vivian Zhou,senior business development & market intelligence analyst. BU RE PLT APAC, Continental Tires (Shanghai) Co. Ltd, Shanghai, China; Michael Easton, sales and marketing director, Globus Group, Manchester, UK; Kedar Murthy, Boston Materials Inc., USA; Michele Girardi, Scame  Mastaf Spa, Suisio, Italy; Stephan Paischer, head of product management special products, Semperit AG Holding, Vienna, Austria; Andrew Knox, Rubbond International, Ohé en Laak, The Netherlands; Paul Knutson, textile engineer, Timken Belts, Springfield, Missouri, USA; Yoganand Nannapaneni, director, Mascot Systems Pvt. Ltd, Navi Mumbai, India. Well done to all above and everyone else who had a go.

Bonus question

Try to guess the year-of-publication of the following snippet from the ERJ archives, which date back to 1884. 

A few answers came in right on the money at 1925 and, as it was 'hot news' in the 18 December issue, we should also accept 1926. So, well done to: David Mann, Stephan Paischer, Michael Easton and Andrew Knox (see note below):

Michelin decided to open a factory in the UK to combat high import taxes on cars and components. The factory supplied domestic car makers, outlets and customers in the UK & Ireland, with Stoke-on-Trent decided on as the destination in 1926. The first Stoke-On-Trent-made tyre was produced in November 1927.

New teaser on Tuesday

What number is missing from the fourth star?

Clues given during the week: Cube, root, read clockwise then centre...

Answer: More a case of seeing stars as most readers were left totally in the dark by this week’s teaser. One brilliant exception was Michele Girardi, who – with only the first clue – worked out that each central number was the cube root of those surrounding it, when read clockwise from the top. And, with some further assistance, other top Brainiacs eventually got there: making this week’s stellar set: Michele Girardi, Scame  Mastaf Spa, Suisio, Italy; John Bowen, consultant, Bromsgrove, UK: Stephan Paischer, head of product management special products, Semperit AG Holding, Vienna, Austria; Andrew Knox, Rubbond International, Ohé en Laak, The Netherlands. Well done to all and everyone else who had a go at this mind-bender.

Like most readers who replied to the Bonus question (below), I would have put this a year or two earlier than the actual publication date, February 1988. Very well done, so, to Stephan Paischer and Katharina Gottfried, technical manager, Arlanxeo Deutschland GmbH, Köln, Germany, who both came up with the exact year. 
 

Bonus question

Try to guess the year-of-publication of the following snippet from the ERJ archives, which date back to 1884: 

Can you work out the missing number in the series below?

12 + 11 = 68

10 + 9 = 52

8 + 7 = 36

6 + 5 = 24

4 + 3 = 12

2 + 1 = ?

Answer: This was definitely one of our tougher teasers, even with the clues given: ‘Prime’ on Tuesday and 31+37=68 on Wednesday.  So, an extra well done to Vivian Zhou, who came up with the correct answer ‘5’ first thing on Monday, ie without any clues.

This week’s order-of-congratulations, then, is: Vivian Zhou, senior business development & market intelligence analyst. BU RE PLT APAC, Continental Tires (Shanghai) Co. Ltd, Shanghai, China; Michael Easton, sales and marketing director, Globus Group, Manchester, UK; Stephan Paischer, head of product management special products, Semperit AG Holding, Vienna, Austria; Michele Girardi, Scame  Mastaf Spa, Suisio, Italy; and everyone else who had a go...

As Michele Girardi neatly summed up: This is the typical case where if you don't find the solution in 10 minutes it's better to desist to avoid becoming crazy.
The digits express the order of the prime number. So, 9+10 means the 9th prime number + the 10th prime number i.e. 31+37=68; going down 23+29 = 52; 17+19 = 36; 11+13 = 24; 5+7 = 12; until 2+3 = 5.

We also have a clear winner for our equally tricky Bonus question (see below). A bit misleading (apologies), but this was actually a post-war article: about ways of avoiding rubber shortages that had been experienced during WWI. The date at the top of the page is March 7 1925 and extremely well done to Michael Easton for identifying the exact year.
 

Bonus question

Try to guess the year-of-publication for the snippet (below) from the ERJ archives, which date back to 1884.

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Brainteaser results

Rudi is buying a set of four runflat tires. His employer has offered to pay 40% of the total price, as well as all tax on the purchase. The tire-set is on sale at €1,400 plus taxes of 18%. What is the total price of the four runflats and how much will Rudi’s company contribute to the purchase?

Answer: This one threw quite a few people, even some of our top Brainiacs. So extra well done for coming up with the correct answers €1652 and €812 to: John Bowen, consultant, Bromsgrove, UK; Andrew Knox, Rubbond International, Ohé en Laak, The Netherlands; Vivian Zhou, senior business development & market intelligence analyst. BU RE PLT APAC, Continental Tires (Shanghai) Co. Ltd, Shanghai, China; Liz O’Donovan, sales and admin assistant, Tyremaster, Dublin, Republic of Ireland; and (his working-out just below) David Mann, key account manager, SPC Rubber Compounding., UK.

Total price of the 4 runflats is €1400 plus 18% tax = €1652. His company will contribute .4 x €1400 = €560 plus all of the tax of €252 = €812.

Bonus question

Try a guess at the year-of-publication for the following snippet from the ERJ archives, which date back to 1884. 

Answer: After brushing away the cobwebs, the issue date for the item appeared as 7 April 1886.

Thanks to everyone who had a go but closest was David Mann with 1885 based, he reckoned, on the expansion of the Russian network from four cities in 1882 to nine in 1886.