Crossword Help Forum
Forum Rules

Alyssa, the daughter of the school's music teacher, got to attend all of the concerts for the band. Always willing to help out, Alyssa was asked to raise and lower the piano stool at a recent recital. Taking her task seriously, Alyssa learned that while it takes two clockwise spins to raise the stool one inch, just one counterclockwise spin will lower the stool the same distance. The stool, which has a range of 2 feet from its lowest point to its highest, was set at its exact midpoint when Frances, the first student to perform that day, played her piece.

Immediately before Jack played, Alyssa spun the stool 14 times, one way or the other. At two different times during the recital, Alyssa gave the stool 16 clockwise spins. Selwyn likes the stool at 16 inches above its minimum height when he plays. Maureen likes the stool two inches lower than does Brenda. Alyssa, who never spun the stool in the same direction for two performers in a row, counted a total of 50 spins for the entire recital. In what order did the students perform, and at what height did Alyssa set the stool for each one?

Frances plays at 12 inches, the midpoint

Alyssa spins 4 times anticlockwise. Stool goes to 8 inches

Maureen plays.

Alyssa spins 16 times clockwise. Stool goes to 16 inches

Selwyn plays

Alyssa spins 14 times anticlockwise. Stool goes to 2 inches

Jack plays

Alyssa spins 16 times clockwise. Stool goes to 10 inches

Brenda plays

So Selwyn plays at 16 inches, Brenda is at 10 inches, two inches higher than Maureen, who is at 8 inches. Jack is at 2 inches. All spins are in different direction, and (4+16+214+16) = 50 spins

Obviously last part should read (4+16+14+16) = 50 spins

Wow, Im impressed this is completely over my head. Just to clarify, which part goes with which answer. In other words is this:

******Frances plays at 12 inches, the midpoint

Alyssa spins 4 times anticlockwise. Stool goes to 8 inches

Maureen plays.

Alyssa spins 16 times clockwise. Stool goes to 16 inches

Selwyn plays

Alyssa spins 14 times anticlockwise. Stool goes to 2 inches

Jack plays

Alyssa spins 16 times clockwise. Stool goes to 10 inches

Brenda plays****

Did that whole thing refer to the order the students performed?

Yes. So the recital went as follows.

1. Frances plays at 12 inches
2. Maureen plays at 8 inches
3. Selwyn plays at 16 inches
4. Jack plays at 2 inches
5. Brenda plays at 10 inches

And in between each player, Alyssa span as follows:

4 times anticlockwise after Francis (down 4)
16 times clockwise after Maureen (up 8)
14 times anticlockwise after Selwyn (down 14)
16 times clockwise after Jack (up 8)

tks for the effort u put into it

No worries, and it's always appreciated when thanks are given on here