Problem of the Week - Algebra and Up - Oct. 4, 2020 to Oct. 10, 2020

Algebra and Up: 

Question: Decode the cipher to solve the problem.

VDOOB  KDV  WZR  DSSOHV.  WLPPB  KDV  ILYH  DSSOHV.  KRZ  PDQB  PRUH  DSSOHV  WKDQ  VDOOB  GRHV  WLPPB  KDYH?

Answer: 3 apples

Solution: This is a Caeser cipher - each letter has been shifted the same number of positions. One way to solve it is to look at the first word in the last sentence, which is a question. We can reason that KRZ must be “who,” “why,” or “how” because those are the three-letter words that begin questions. If we test those words by shifting the letters, we find that the word is “how” and that shifting each letter 3 positions backward decodes the cipher. The problem decodes to “Sally has 2 apples. Timmy has 5 apples. How many more apples than Sally does Timmy have?” The answer is 3 apples.