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  Word & Letter Play
 
Gone Fishing		  
Q Jared sent his cousin a postcard from the lake where he was vacationing with his family. Instead of directly telling his cousin the size of the fish he caught, he wrote a puzzle:

The fish's head was 5 inches long. The fish's tail was the length of the head plus half the length of the fish's body. The body equaled the length of the head plus the length of the tail.

What was the total length of the fish?


  
A The fish was 40 inches long: Its head was 5 inches long; its tail was 15 inches; its body was 20 inches.

STRATEGY: Draw a picture.

Source: Puzzle 2-24 (p. 25)in IQ Puzzles,compiled by Joe Cameron, New York: Barnes & Noble, 2000.