Last visit was: 24 Apr 2026, 12:08 It is currently 24 Apr 2026, 12:08
Home
Messages
Tests
Schools
Events
Close
GMAT Club Daily Prep
Thank you for using the timer - this advanced tool can estimate your performance and suggest more practice questions. We have subscribed you to Daily Prep Questions via email.

Customized
for You

we will pick new questions that match your level based on your Timer History

Track
Your Progress

every week, we’ll send you an estimated GMAT score based on your performance

Practice
Pays

we will pick new questions that match your level based on your Timer History
Not interested in getting valuable practice questions and articles delivered to your email? No problem, unsubscribe here.
Go to My Error Log Learn more
Close
Request Expert Reply
Confirm Cancel
Back to Forum
Create Topic
User avatar
goodyear2013
User avatar
Joined: 21 Oct 2013
Last visit: 29 May 2020
Posts: 389
Own Kudos:
5,740
 [10]
Given Kudos: 289
Posts: 389
Kudos: 5,740
 [10]
On Sunday morning, Pugsley and Wednesday are trading pet 06 Jun 2014, 13:32
Kudos
Add Kudos
10
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
00:00
Start Timer
Pause Timer
Resume Timer
Show Answer
Hide
Show
History
B
Be sure to select an answer first to save it in the Error Log before revealing the correct answer (OA)!

Difficulty:

65% (hard)

Question Stats:

64% (02:55) correct 36% (02:48) wrong based on 306 sessions

History

Date
Time
Result
Not Attempted Yet
On Sunday morning, Pugsley and Wednesday are trading pet spiders. If Pugsley were to give Wednesday four of his spiders, Wednesday would then have five times as many spiders as Pugsley does. But, if Wednesday were to give Pugsley four of her spiders, Pugsley would now have four fewer spiders than Wednesday had before they traded. How many pet spiders does Pugsley have before the trading game commences?

(A) 7
(B) 8
(C) 9
(D) 10
(E) 11

Hi, Though it looks easy, it has a trick at last step. Can anyone help me with this question, please.
ShowHide Answer
Official Answer
B
User avatar
Bunuel
User avatar
Math Expert
Joined: 02 Sep 2009
Last visit: 24 Apr 2026
Posts: 109,818
Own Kudos:
811,053
 [2]
Given Kudos: 105,873
Products:
GMAT Club Tests Forum Quiz
Expert
Expert reply
Active GMAT Club Expert! Tag them with @ followed by their username for a faster response.
Posts: 109,818
Kudos: 811,053
 [2]
On Sunday morning, Pugsley and Wednesday are trading pet 06 Jun 2014, 13:57
2
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
goodyear2013
On Sunday morning, Pugsley and Wednesday are trading pet spiders. If Pugsley were to give Wednesday four of his spiders, Wednesday would then have five times as many spiders as Pugsley does. But, if Wednesday were to give Pugsley four of her spiders, Pugsley would now have four fewer spiders than Wednesday had before they traded. How many pet spiders does Pugsley have before the trading game commences?

(A) 7
(B) 8
(C) 9
(D) 10
(E) 11

Hi, Though it looks easy, it has a trick at last step. Can anyone help me with this question, please.
Show more

If Pugsley were to give Wednesday four of his spiders, Wednesday would then have five times as many spiders as Pugsley does:
(w + 4) = 5(p - 4)

If Wednesday were to give Pugsley four of her spiders, Pugsley would now have four fewer spiders than Wednesday had before they traded:
p + 4 = w - 4

Solving gives p = 8 and w = 16.

Answer: B.
User avatar
goodyear2013
User avatar
Joined: 21 Oct 2013
Last visit: 29 May 2020
Posts: 389
Own Kudos:
5,740
Given Kudos: 289
Posts: 389
Kudos: 5,740
On Sunday morning, Pugsley and Wednesday are trading pet 07 Jun 2014, 02:50
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
Hi Bunuel,

Thank you for the explanation.

Could you explain what "Pugsley would now have four fewer spiders than Wednesday had before they traded" is doing in this question, please.
User avatar
manpreetsingh86
User avatar
Joined: 13 Jun 2013
Last visit: 19 Dec 2022
Posts: 218
Own Kudos:
1,194
 [1]
Given Kudos: 14
Posts: 218
Kudos: 1,194
 [1]
On Sunday morning, Pugsley and Wednesday are trading pet 07 Jun 2014, 04:00
1
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
goodyear2013
Hi Bunuel,

Thank you for the explanation.

Could you explain what "Pugsley would now have four fewer spiders than Wednesday had before they traded" is doing in this question, please.
Show more

After the second trade we have the following scenario (as mentioned in the pic).

now question states Pugsley would now have four fewer spiders than Wednesday had before they traded

see after trade pugsley have p+4 which is 4 fewer than wednesday had before which was w.

so, we can represent the above relationship mathematically as w-(p+4)=4
Attachments

pugsley.PNG
pugsley.PNG [ 2.53 KiB | Viewed 5251 times ]

avatar
cbh
avatar
Joined: 24 Jun 2017
Last visit: 30 Sep 2019
Posts: 87
Own Kudos:
212
Given Kudos: 130
Posts: 87
Kudos: 212
On Sunday morning, Pugsley and Wednesday are trading pet 23 Sep 2017, 16:21
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
let x be pugsley and y be wednesday
5(x-4)=y+4
5x-y=24
y=5x-24
Second exchange
y=5x-24-4=x+4
5x-28=x+4
4x=32
x=8

but honestly I was confused a bit by wording for the second exchange (not a native-speaker)
took me 5 mins to put it down and fix the logic for equations
User avatar
Tridhipal
User avatar
Joined: 01 May 2016
Last visit: 11 Sep 2023
Posts: 63
Own Kudos:
190
Given Kudos: 28
Location: United States
Concentration: Finance, International Business
GPA: 3.8
Posts: 63
Kudos: 190
On Sunday morning, Pugsley and Wednesday are trading pet 24 Feb 2018, 09:40
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
Bunuel
goodyear2013
On Sunday morning, Pugsley and Wednesday are trading pet spiders. If Pugsley were to give Wednesday four of his spiders, Wednesday would then have five times as many spiders as Pugsley does. But, if Wednesday were to give Pugsley four of her spiders, Pugsley would now have four fewer spiders than Wednesday had before they traded. How many pet spiders does Pugsley have before the trading game commences?

(A) 7
(B) 8
(C) 9
(D) 10
(E) 11

Hi, Though it looks easy, it has a trick at last step. Can anyone help me with this question, please.

If Pugsley were to give Wednesday four of his spiders, Wednesday would then have five times as many spiders as Pugsley does:
(w + 4) = 5(p - 4)

If Wednesday were to give Pugsley four of her spiders, Pugsley would now have four fewer spiders than Wednesday had before they traded:
p + 4 = w - 4

Solving gives p = 8 and w = 16.

Answer: B.
Show more

Hi Bunuel,

The equation which you wrote "If Wednesday were to give Pugsley four of her spiders, Pugsley would now have four fewer spiders than Wednesday had before they traded: p + 4 = w - 4".....could you please explain?.....I thought its.. (P+4)=(W-4)-4. Because Wednesday gives away 4 of hers to Pugsley...Please clarify.
User avatar
Ayush1692
User avatar
Joined: 18 Jun 2017
Last visit: 09 Jun 2019
Posts: 18
Own Kudos:
52
Given Kudos: 40
Posts: 18
Kudos: 52
On Sunday morning, Pugsley and Wednesday are trading pet 24 Feb 2018, 10:33
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
The answer to the question is 9.

Solution:

Let Pugsley has 'x' spiders and Wednesday has 'y' spiders.

Let us denote Pugsley as P and Wednesday as W

After P gives W 4 spiders,

Number of spiders with each of them,
P= x-4
W= y+4

According to the question,

W=5P
So, y+4 = 5*(x-4)

5x-y=24 ---- (Equation 1)

Now, W gives 4 spiders to P,

P= x+4
W=y-4

According to the question W has still 4 more spiders than P, So we need to add 4 to P to equalize

P+4=W
(x+4) +4 = y-4
y=x+12 ---------(Equation 2)

Solving (1) and (2)

x= 9 , y=21

Verification
P= 9 ; W = 21

9-4= 5
21+4= 25 and 25 = 5*5.

Also, 9+4= 13
21-4= 17 and 17= 13+4

Thanks :)
User avatar
SPatel1992
User avatar
Joined: 23 Jul 2015
Last visit: 14 Aug 2020
Posts: 63
Own Kudos:
35
Given Kudos: 297
Schools: Marshall '22 (S)
Schools: Marshall '22 (S)
Posts: 63
Kudos: 35
On Sunday morning, Pugsley and Wednesday are trading pet 28 Aug 2019, 09:37
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
Bunuel
goodyear2013
On Sunday morning, Pugsley and Wednesday are trading pet spiders. If Pugsley were to give Wednesday four of his spiders, Wednesday would then have five times as many spiders as Pugsley does. But, if Wednesday were to give Pugsley four of her spiders, Pugsley would now have four fewer spiders than Wednesday had before they traded. How many pet spiders does Pugsley have before the trading game commences?

(A) 7
(B) 8
(C) 9
(D) 10
(E) 11

Hi, Though it looks easy, it has a trick at last step. Can anyone help me with this question, please.

If Pugsley were to give Wednesday four of his spiders, Wednesday would then have five times as many spiders as Pugsley does:
(w + 4) = 5(p - 4)

I don't know what I am doing wrong, but I am getting the answer 9.

Equation 1= 5(P-4)=W+4
Upon solving: 5P-W=24

Equation 2
W-4- (P+4)=4
Upon solving W-P=12

If Wednesday were to give Pugsley four of her spiders, Pugsley would now have four fewer spiders than Wednesday had before they traded:
p + 4 = w - 4

Solving gives p = 8 and w = 16.

Answer: B.
Show more
User avatar
bumpbot
User avatar
Non-Human User
Joined: 09 Sep 2013
Last visit: 04 Jan 2021
Posts: 38,975
Own Kudos:
1,117
Posts: 38,975
Kudos: 1,117
On Sunday morning, Pugsley and Wednesday are trading pet 16 Aug 2024, 22:50
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
Automated notice from GMAT Club BumpBot:

A member just gave Kudos to this thread, showing it’s still useful. I’ve bumped it to the top so more people can benefit. Feel free to add your own questions or solutions.

This post was generated automatically.
Moderators:
Bunuel
Math Expert
109818 posts
Krunaal
Tuck School Moderator
853 posts