Snow Day

They should have called one today, instead they had everyone come in to school and now they are closing school at noon. Good Grief! I kept getting messages at work. I am soooo glad they finally got things figured out!

At any rate, it promises to be a busy afternoon for me.... Luckily, the snow is heavy and wet so maybe everybody can entertain themselves outside this afternoon. One can hope.

Today's brain bender is much more reminiscent of Spring. Ready? Here you go!
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Kim has three vases in her living room, each containing the same number of flowers. Kim adds three fresh flowers to one vase, which now has two more than the new average. How many flowers were in the vases originally?

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As always, answers to follow in the comments.

Update: (5:00pm Central) No correct answer yet. I'll give it until 8pm central time... :)

Update 2.0: Holy crap! Cal Tech Girl and jvh and an old friend Rich had the answer exactly right! It just was not the answer my discount "MENSA" calendar had...

From the comments, here is CTG's brilliant analysis:

X + 3= (3X +3)/3 +2;
where X is the ORIGINAL # of flowers (also the original average),
and (3x + 3)/3 is the new average.
3X + 9= (3X + 3) + 6 (multiplying through by 3)
3x+9=3x+9 (simplifying right side)
1 = 1 (dividing through by 3x+9)
So this works for ALL values of X.
try 12, or 200, or -2. It works.
All answers are correct.

Any logical flaws? Something I'm missing?
caltechgirl Email Homepage 02.16.06 - 6:45 pm

Sometimes it's really nice when smart people visit your blog.... :)

The answer on the MENSA calendar was six. (6+3 is 9, the old average was 6, the new average is 7) .

I'd like to give a nod to everybody who answered today... SarahK from Mountaineer Musings, VW of One Happy dog Speaks, jvh from Showcase of a Shattered Mind, Rachel From Pereiraville, Rich from St. Louis, Tige who writes at Blue Tige , and CalTechGirl from Not Exactly Rocket Science.

Nice going MENSA -- CTG just handed your ass to you.... How do you like that?!?!

Me? I can't believe I couldn't wrap my brain around the obviousness of the answer. Thanks a ton CTG!