There was a shipwreck at sea and Mad Ade, Smelly O'Riley and Elvis impersonator Tavish McPresley were washed ashore on a small island. Reaching the shore, exhausted, they all fell asleep. Mad Ade woke first (Whilst having a glorious dream about living in a land where Kebabs were served every meal, and twice for breakfast), and saw that a box of bananas had been washed ashore. Being greedy as he is, he ate one third of the bananas and went back to sleep to continue his Kebab related dreams. Next, Smelly O'Riley woke up, and seeing the box of bananas, ate one third of what was left and went back to sleep. Tavish McPresley woke up next and assumed that the other two hadn't eaten any bananas, so he ate one third of what remained. When Tavish McPresley had finished, there were eight bananas left over. How many bananas were in the box originally?

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27
Solution: When Tavish finished, the remaining 8 bananas represented 2/3 of the amount that had existed when he started (so each 1/3 = 4). Therefore there were 12 bananas (4 + 4 + 4) when he started, and when Smelly O'Riley finished. Following the same logic, the remaining 12 bananas represented 2/3 of the amount that had existed when Smelly O'Riley started (and each 1/3 = 6). Therefore there were 18 bananas (6 + 6 + 6) when he started, and when Mad Ade finished. Again, following the same logic, the remaining 18 bananas represented 2/3 of the amount that had existed when Mad Ade started (and each 1/3 = 9). So, there must have been 27 (9 + 9 + 9) bananas originally.

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