A farmer has n cows that he takes to market and sells for £n each. With the proceeds of sale he buys an odd number of sheep at £10 each and a pig at less than ten pounds. How much did he pay for the pig?

ANSWER

The answer is £6

The sale of the cows resulted in a number of pounds that was a square number.

The smallest number of sheep that could be purchased was 1, the smallest odd number, costing £10. The next higher square is 16 so the farmer's change out of £16 was £6. That's one answer. In fact, you can try other possibilities and you either get change from the sale of the cows that is too big or £6.

I received 4 correct answers. They were from Richard Burkill, John Stafford (who won the draw), Michael Hodge and Christopher Broughton. Thank you for your entries. The June puzzle should be easier.