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Puzzling

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    $\begingroup$ After the farmer has sold 120 calves and 80 cows (40 units of "5 for 2"), his only option is to sell 40 cows for 20 coins. I struggle to see how that can be viewed as "5 for 2 coins". At some point, he must stop selling entire units of "3 calves + 2 cows for 2 coins". This strikes me as rather weaselly - he can sell "5 cows for 2 coins" by charging 2 coins for a single cow and giving the others away for free, but only choosing to actually give you the ones you pay money for. I don't think an "offer" that is impossible to take someone up on is much of an offer. $\endgroup$
    – Nuclear Hoagie
    Commented Dec 4, 2023 at 15:39
  • $\begingroup$ This answer is just playing with the rule of "5 for 2 coins". If he sold according to the rule there was no profit. The accepted answer is the most logical one, but the puzzle designer intended a mathematical approach. $\endgroup$
    – Shahram Alemzadeh
    Commented Dec 4, 2023 at 15:54
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    $\begingroup$ I don’t see how this answer makes sense. How does “sell 120 cows for 60 coins” match the rule “5 for 2 coins”? $\endgroup$
    – Sneftel
    Commented Dec 4, 2023 at 18:41