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Today I came across this puzzle:

How many minutes is it until six o'clock if fifty minutes ago it was four times as many minutes past three o'clock?

Any help?

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    $\begingroup$ This question seems a bit too specific... $\endgroup$
    – Xynariz
    May 22, 2014 at 16:34

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Right now, we have $x$ minutes left until 6 o'clock. 50 minutes ago, it was $4x$ minutes past 3 o'clock. That means that the time between 3 o'clock and 6 o'clock, 180 minutes, is equal to the sum of those times. In other words

$$\begin{align} 4x + 50 + x & = 180 \\ x & = \frac{180 - 50}{5} \\ x & = 26 \end{align}$$

So it's now 26 minutes until 6 o'clock, or 34 minutes past 5.

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  • $\begingroup$ Well-reasoned. Short, and to the point. $\endgroup$
    – Xynariz
    May 22, 2014 at 16:36

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