Dying Cows

[Guest]

A farmer has 17 cows all but 9 die. How many did he have left

[Guest]

Self-discrimination. Wow. I never met someone who would do that. It doesn't matter where you come from, everybody's equal.

Seriously I'm not really like that, but I am able to laugh at myself when I say or do something odd or silly, not everyone can do that right?

[Guest]

A farmer has 17 cows all, but 9 die. How many did he have left? = 8 left alive (the wording sounds strange but so does Shakespeare sometimes)

Shouldn't this be read:

"A farmer has 17 cows IN all, but 9 die." for it to be correct?

J/K...this has been a totally hilarious read through with all the comments. Thanks for the laughter this morning!! :-)

[Guest]

lol,

all BUT 9 cows..... sow there r 9 cows left

[Guest]

I have no new answer, I just wish to give credit where due. Hats off to vanango (a cow is a cow dead or alive) and kudos to the person (starting with "Jac" (A cow NAMED one.) _sorry forgot name For thinking out side the envelope FIRST!

Side Pocket

Edited July 20, 2008 by side pocket

[Guest]

Hahahaha,had one like this in the fourth grade...

It was: "There is 6 lit candles and 4 of them were put out...how many candles were left?"

If you said "2",the most of the class made fun of you...luckily,wasn't me,though...

[Guest]

He has 8 deceased cows left.

(The remaining 9 got freaked out over the sudden bovine death syndrome which struck the other 8 and legged it.)

LOL, I think that means 9 cows have left (legged it).

Aren't deceased cows merely cow carcasses (or steak)? They are no longer "left" (or right) cows.

Even if you were to argue that the dead cows are still cows (as those who answered 17 have said), the question's final word is "left".

Left must mean remaining ALIVE, or there would be no reason for the word left to appear in the puzzle (it could simply say how many cows did he have?). The clear answer without the word "left" at the end of the question would be 17, he did have 17... (then all but 9 died). If left merely meant remaining (dead or alive), then we would need more information to answer the question (are the carcasses still there or are they at McDonalds? By similar argument, if the puzzle was: "A farmer has 17 apples, all but 9 are used to make a big pie, how many did he have left?" Would the answer be 9 or 17 (By similar argument 8 could still be considered to be apples (they are just in a pie right?)). If you omit the word left, is the answer more clearly 17? Is a cut up apple still an apple? A mother will say "eat your apple" when referring to a cut up and peeled apple, but do we say "eat your cow" when at a BBQ? When you say "he had a cow" do we immediately think someone ate a steak? Gave birth to a cow? ....

Where was I?

I say the answer is 9, and when I say "9" I aim to cover two of the previous posted answers: (a) that there are nine cows left and (b) that there is just one cow left, that cow being named "9" (great answer BTW!).

Thanks to whoever bumped this old puzzle, it has been funny reading!

[Guest]

Damn, my maths teacher told me this and the answer but i can't remember it

[Guest]

he still has 17 cows, but 9 are dead.

[Guest]

he still has 17 cows, but 9 are dead.

[Guest]

All but 9 what? If you mean all but 9 cows die. Clearly, he has 8 cows alive.

This is like a kiddy math problem

Oh dear...clearly he has 9 cows alive...not so easy after all eh?

[Guest]

9

[Guest]

17 cows.

a cow is a cow, dead or alive.

you've got a point. i agree. but if we're talking about live cows then obviously nine-i repeat nine live cows-and does not involve math at all, smart peoples.

Edited September 29, 2008 by actressgirl

[Guest]

clearly he only has ONE COW LEFT!!! look at this

1 -2- 3- 4- 5- 6- 7- 8- 9- 10- 11- 12- 13- 14- 15- 16- 17

All the cows die. #9 is still alive - all the cows except 9 die. 9 is not the number of cows. each cow has a name, i.e. the first cow is called "one", the second "two".

[Guest]

clearly he only has ONE COW LEFT!!! look at this

1 -2- 3- 4- 5- 6- 7- 8- 9- 10- 11- 12- 13- 14- 15- 16- 17

All the cows die. #9 is still alive - all the cows except 9 die. 9 is not the number of cows. each cow has a name, i.e. the first cow is called "one", the second "two".

:applaud:

Very clever answer.

[Guest]

It's actually rather surprising how many different answers people have gotten and how what seemed easy to some, really wasn't. Mwah ha ha!!!

[Guest]

The answer can also more than 17 cows, since it doesn't say he had a total amount of 17 cows... So it's possible that he had 100 cows for example...

[Guest]

it depends on the formation of sentence and punctuations.

maybe what he meant is:

A farmer has 17 cows, all but 9, die. How many did he have left?

added 2 commas in it...it would turn into different meaning.

[Guest]

Is a dead cow the same as a live cow? I would figure that a live cow would be defined as the living, breathing animal. What you have when a cow dies is not a cow, but a body, a piece of meat. It goes from being a living creature to an immaterial object and thus, not a cow. Therefore, the farmer has nine cows left. And really, are all the stabs necessary guys? It's a riddle, and it's not like it really makes a huge difference to any one of us personally if the farmer has 9, 8, 17, or 1000 cows left.

[Guest]

Is a dead cow the same as a live cow? I would figure that a live cow would be defined as the living, breathing animal. What you have when a cow dies is not a cow, but a body, a piece of meat. It goes from being a living creature to an immaterial object and thus, not a cow. Therefore, the farmer has nine cows left. And really, are all the stabs necessary guys? It's a riddle, and it's not like it really makes a huge difference to any one of us personally if the farmer has 9, 8, 17, or 1000 cows left.

Welcome to the Den!

It is my experience that the "simpler" a riddle, the more it gets dismantled. This exercise is usually not mean spirited, but merely a reminder that nothing around here is as simple as it seems.

Simply put, if another solution can be found to fit the parameters of the puzzle, it will be found... several times... ad naseum.

Edit: ESPECIALLY if there is a pun available to go with it.

Edited December 8, 2008 by Grayven

[Guest]

Is a dead cow the same as a live cow?

No.

I would figure that a live cow would be defined as the living, breathing animal.

So does everyone else.

What you have when a cow dies is not a cow, but a body, a piece of meat.

No. Dead cows are commonly called dead cows just as dead people are called dead people.

It goes from being a living creature to an immaterial object and thus, not a cow.

Wrong on two counts. Dead animals are not immaterial and dead cows are cows that are dead.

Therefore, the farmer has nine cows left. And really, are all the stabs necessary guys? It's a riddle, and it's not like it really makes a huge difference to any one of us personally if the farmer has 9, 8, 17, or 1000 cows left.

The stabs are unnecessary, but nitpicking answers are a big part of what this board is about (and you seem to be attempting to do the same thing).

[bhramarraj]

A farmer has 17 cows all but 9 die. How many did he have left

OP says farmer presently has 17 cows, after 'all but 9 cows die'. So answer to the question 'how many did he have left' is 17+9=26 cows, before 9 cows die.

Otherwise OP would be like this "A farmer had 17 cows, all but 9 die. How many is he left with?"

[Silentlunch]

The answer is 9 for those of you who think that 9 cows have died it isn't 9 who have died if you change but to except it makes more sense "a farmer has 17 cows, all except 9 died, how many cows remain?" That would make more sense it's the way it's worded that confuses everyone all of the cows BUT 9 have died so only 9 remain or are left.

[Guest]

All but 9 what? If you mean all but 9 cows die. Clearly, he has 8 cows alive.

This is like a kiddy math problem

[Guest]

If a farmer has 17 cows, and all but nine die, then he would have eight left. I am still trying to figure out how some people came out with nine cows are alive. 17-9=8, there is no nine included.

[Guest]

If the problem isn't completed, it could be any from 0 to 17. Note that there is no period at the end of the problem, so it might be how many did he have left of him, and he might be standing to the right, left, or in the middle of them, so you don't know how many are to the left of you.