How old are the children? A puzzle for the curious mind.

[Dadface]

The postman had an unusually large number of cards to deliver to the house at the end of the street and rather than spend a long time stuffing them through the letter box he knocked on the door.The lady of the house came to the door and explained that her three daughters all had their birthday today.Being nosey he asked how old they were and was told that if you multiply their three ages you get 36.Unable to work it out he asked for another hint and was told that the sum of their ages is the number on the house next door.He checked the house number but still couldn't work it out so he asked for another hint.The lady of the house was getting a bit irritated and told him that she must get ready to take her oldest daughter to her piano lessons,with that she shut the door.The postman continued his rounds and when he went into the next street he worked out the ages.Can you?

 

[BobG]

Spoiler

6 3 2

 

[Dadface]

Wrong answer Bob

 

[turbo]

Could be 1, 6, 6. Even with twins, there is an eldest child.

 

[Borek]

Either 1/6/6 or 2/2/9.

 

[Dadface]

Well done Borek and Turbo.

 

[Proton Soup]

what does the house next door have to do with it?

 

[Borek]

Sum of the ages is not unique.

 

[turbo]

Sum of the ages is not unique.

And still the sum of the ages of the girls are not unique, unless you buy into the concept that neither 6-y-old daughter could have been the eldest. It was a bit of an open-ended puzzle.

Edit: I dare any father of twins to NOT know which twin came out first! You can't afford to blow this test!