Question

Jane had two wind up clocks that had not been used for years. She decided to try them out, so she wound both, set the time, and started them at the same time. An hour later, clock A had gained one minute while clock B had lost two. The next morning clock A said 7 A.M. while clock B was at 6 A.M. What time was it when she started the clocks?

Answer 1

Let's denote the time when Jane started the clocks as x.

After an hour, clock A gained 1 minute, so it would show x+1 minutes after x hours.
After an hour, clock B lost 2 minutes, so it would show x-2 minutes after x hours.

Given that clock A said 7 A.M. the next morning:
7 A.M. = x hours + 1 minute
7 A.M. = x hours + 60 minutes

Therefore:
x hours + 1 minute = x hours + 60 minutes
1 = 60

This is not possible, so there seems to be an error in the information provided.