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_ Clue
THE SECRET CODE IS 7,4,6,5,8. LET THE NUMBERS = A, B, C, D, E BASED ON 1ST CLUE: E + C = 14 BASED ON 2ND CLUE: A = 2B - 1 BASED ON 3RD CLUE: D = B + 1 BASED ON 4TH CLUE: B + C = 10 BASED ON 5TH CLUE: A + B + C + D + E = 30 ALL NUMBERS CAN BE REPRESENTED BY B EXCEPT FOR E SO WE NEED TO REWRITE EQUATION 1. SUBSTITUTE C = 10 - B FROM EQUATION 4 INTO EQUATION 1. E + (10 - B) = 14 E = B + 4 SUBSTITUTE A,C,D,E IN EQUATION 5 (2B - 1) + B + (10 - B) + (B + 1) + (B + 4) = 30 SOLVING FOR B GIVES 4. USE THE OTHER EQUATIONS TO FIND THE VALUES OF A,C,D AND E THE CORRECT COMBINATION IS 65292. SINCE THE THIRD DIGIT IS THREE LESS THAN THE SECOND, AND THE FOURTH IS FOUR GREATER THAN THE SECOND, THERE ARE ONLY THREE POSSIBLE COMBINATIONS FOR THE SECOND, THIRD AND FOURTH DIGITS. THESE ARE -307-, -418-, AND -529-. WITH THE FIRST DIGIT THREE TIMES THE FIFTH, THE ONLY POSSIBLE COMBINATIONS FOR THE FIRST AND FIFTH DIGITS ARE 0 0,3 1, 6 2, AND 9 3. THE SOLUTION ARISES FROM COMBINING THESE TWO SETS OF POSSIBILITIES, WITH THE ADDED CRITERIA THAT THERE ARE THREE COMBINATIONS OF TWO DIGITS THAT THAT EACH SUM TO 11 THE CONTENTS OR THE TEN ENVELOPES (IN DOLLAR BILLS) SHOULD BE AS FOLLOWS: $1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, 256, 489. THE FIRST NINE NUMBERS ARE IN GEOMETRICAL PROGRESSION, AND THEIR SUM, DEDUCTED FROM 1,000, GIVES THE CONTENTS OF THE TENTH ENVELOPE THE ADDRESS IS 1460 SUNSET BOULEVARD. YOU KNOW THAT THE HOUSE NUMBERS ARE EVEN AND CONSECUTIVE, SO THEY MUST BE APPROXIMATELY 1/6TH THE VALUE OF THE SUM 8790. IN FACT, THE NUMBER THAT IS 1/6TH THE TOTAL IS THE MEAN (AVERAGE) FOR ALL 6 HOUSES. THE AVERAGE NUMBER IS 1465 (8790 / 6). THERE MUST BE 3 HOUSE NUMBERS GREATER THAN THAT NUMBER, AND 3 HOUSE NUMBERS LESS THAN THAT NUMBER, ALL BEING EVEN AND CONSECUTIVE. THEREFORE, THE 6 HOUSE NUMBERS ARE 1460, 1462, 1464, 1466, 1468, 1470. THE LOWEST HOUSE NUMBER, AS PER THE QUESTION, IS THE ANSWER: 1460