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A medieval wall painting in Bedingham Castle depicts four knights wearing armor, surcoats and holding weapons; lining up to take part in a tournament. From the following wall paintings and clues, can you determine below each knight’s name, what weapon he is holding and the heraldic or blazon on his surcoat? The Names of the Knights are, in no special order, Sir Edbert, Sir Gundolf, Sir Kenelm and Sir Rabart. Clues Knight C has a ‘eagle displayed’ on his surcoat, the lion rampant blazon is not worn by the knight holding the broadsword. Knight A is Sir Gundolf; he is not armed with a battle-axe. The knight with the mace, who has the bear passant on his surcoat, is standing immediately to the right of Sir Edbert, as you look at the Sir Rabart is depicted holding the curved blade called a falchion. |
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Last month's solutions
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What’s the value?Each of the five symbols below stand for a different number. In order to reach the totals at the end of each row and the bottom of each column and a diagonal, what is the value of the diamond, triangle, heart, club and spade? |
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Solution: |
Riddle Challenges1. In a stable there are men and horses. In all, there are 22 heads and 72 feet. How many men and how many horses are in the stable? Answer: 14 horses and 8 men |
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2. Dr Watson has a new card puzzle for Sherlock Holmes. He picks four cards out of the pack of 52 cards and lays them face down on the table. He offers five hints to Sherlock (below). Sherlock smiles and tells all the four cards to Dr Watson. What did he say?
Answer: 2, 3,10, and 10 Solution: To maintain the difference of 8 and keeping in mind the clues 3) and 4), the 1st and 3rd cards can only be 2 and 10 or 10 and 2. From clue 1), we know that the 1st card has to be a 2 and the 3rd a 10. Similarly, from clue 5), the 2nd and 4th cards have a different of 7 and therefore, can only be a 3 and a 10 or a 10 and a 3. .Also, from clues 1), 3) and 4); we know that the 2nd card has to be a 3 and the 4th a 10. |
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3. When completed in 1889 for the world fair in Paris, the Eiffel Tower was considered an ‘Engineering innovation’ but a ‘Monstrous creation’ and at the time, was the tallest man-made structure in the world. Designed by the French engineer Alexandre-Gustave Eiffel, its original height can be determined by the following description as 492 feet plus half its original height. From this description, can you determine the original height of the Tower (in feet and in metres)? Answer: 984 feet in height (984 ft * 0.3048 m/ft = 300 metres) Solution: |
Happy New Year to you and your family Mr. Burgin! 🎉
May 2026 be yet another magical year of maths puzzles, happiness, good health and many more incredible challenges!
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