It takes 15 minutes to bake, 30 minutes for the white icing to harden and 30 minutes for the chocolate icing to harden so it takes 15 + 30 + 30 = 75 minutes. Every hour has 60 minutes and it takes her 2 hours so it takes 60 * 2 = 120 minutes to make the cookies. It takes 120 minutes to make the cookies from start to finish and she spends 75 minutes baking and hardening icing so it takes her 120 - 75 = 45 minutes to make the batter and cool the cookies.
The answer: 45
Reverse engineering the question: For every black & white cookie that Elsa makes, she has to make the batter, bake the cookies for 15 minutes and then allow to cool. She then has to dip the cookies in white icing and allow the icing to harden for 30 minutes. Then she has to re-dip them in chocolate icing and allowed to harden for an additional 30 minutes. If it takes her 2 hours to make the cookies from start to finish, how long does it take to make the dough and cool the cookies before she can start dipping them?


Reasoning and answer: The pumpkin patch sold 96 / 3 = 32 pumpkins. They have 83 - 32 = 51 pumpkins left. Thus, the pumpkin patch will produce 51 / 3 = 17 cans of pie filling.
The answer: 17
What was the question?
Question: A pumpkin patch allows people to come pick pumpkins to carve in the fall every year. They charge $3 per person for a pumpkin. The remaining pumpkins get turned into cans of pie filling, 3 pumpkins to a can. They grew 83 pumpkins this year and made $96 selling pumpkins for carving. How many cans of pie filling will the pumpkin patch produce?


Angeli and Marlon ate a total of 3 / 2 x 2 = 3 slices of pizza. Thus, 8 - 3 = 5 slices of pizza are left.
The answer: 5
Reverse engineering the question: A whole pizza was cut into 8 slices. Angeli and Marlon ate 3/2 slices each. How many slices of pizza are left?


Reasoning and answer: At each feeding Billy serves 4 horses x 4 pounds of oats / horse = 16 pounds / feeding. Each day Billy uses 16 pounds of oats / feeding x 2 feedings / day = 32 pounds of oats / day. Triple that amount to find the amount of oats needed to feed the four horses for three days: 32 pounds of oats / day x 3 days = 96 pounds.
The answer: 96
What was the question?
Question: Billy has four horses. Each one eats 4 pounds of oats, twice a day. How many pounds of oats does he need to feed his horses for 3 days?


Matias sold 7 * 3 = 21 books on Wednesday, as he sold three times more books than on Tuesday. The sales from Wednesday were tripled on Thursday, which means Matias sold then 21 * 3 = 63 books. That means in total Matias sold 7 + 21 + 63 = 91 books during these three days.
The answer: 91
Reverse engineering the question: Matias is a salesman in a bookstore. He sold 7 books on Tuesday and three times as many on Wednesday. If the sales from Wednesday were tripled on Thursday, how many books did Matias sell during these three days combined?


First find how many of the peaches are fresh, which is 250 peaches * 60% = 150 peaches. Then, subtract the number Brenda throws away after the fresh count, which is 150 peaches - 15 peaches = 135 peaches.
The answer: 135
Reverse engineering the question:
Brenda picks 250 peaches. When she sorts through them, only 60% are fresh, and Brenda has to throw 15 away for being too small. How many peaches does Brenda have left?