This motherfucking piece of shit review book (btw, here’s the ISBN: 9780375428180, don’t fucking buy it) asked:

An office supply store charged $13.10 for the purchase of 85 paper clips. If some of the clips were 16 cents each and the remainder were 14 cents each, how many of the paper clips were 14-cent clips?

which I proceeded to solve like so:

1310 = 14x + 16y

85 = x + y

14(85) = 14 (x + y)

1190 = 14x + 14y

2y = 120

y = 60

85 - 60 = x

25 = x

only to fucking find out, THIS FUCKING RIDICULOUS ASSBACKWARDS RETARD FUCKING BOOK, wants me to solve it like this:

Step 1: Recognize the Opportunity. The question asks :how many of the paper clips…” That’s your first sign. Additionally, you have specific numbers in the answer choices in ascending order.

Step 2: Engage the Hand. The minute you recognize this as a PITA (Plugging In The Answers) question, list your answer choices in a column on your scratch paper.

Step 3: Label the First Column: What do these answer choices represent? They are the number of 14-cent clips, so label this column 14-cent.

Step 4: Assume (C) to be Correct. Start with choice (C) and assume that 30 of the clips were 14-cents each.

Step 5: Create Your Spreadsheet: If 30 of the clips were 14 cents each, then the purchaser would have spent $4.20 on 14-cent clips. Label this column “amount spent.” Now you know that there were 85 clips total, so if 30 of the clips were 14 cents each, there must have been 55 clips that were 16 cents each. Write down a 55 and label this column 16 cents. The purchase then spent $8.80 on 16-cent clips. Write this down and label this column “amount spent.” You can now calculate the total spent. 4.20 + 8.80 = 13.00. Writ this down and label this column total.

Step 6: Rinse and Repeat. You know that the purchaser spent $13.10 on paper clips. If answer choice (C) were correct, then the purchaser would have spent only $13.00 on paper clips. Since you know this is wrong, choice (C) cannot be correct. Cross it off. You also know that your total is too small, you need a greater portion of your clips to be the more expensive ones to get a higher total, so cross off choices (D) and (E). Now try choice (B). If 25 of the clips cost 14 cents each, the purchaser would have spent $3.50. There must have been 60 clips that cost 16 cents each (85-25=60). Then, the purchaser would have spent $9.60 on them. The total spent on clips, therefore, comes to $13.10, and you’re done.

and viola? just like that? I’M DONE?!??! MOTHERFUCKING I SPENT FUCKING 20 MINUTES READING YOU JUST TO FIND OUT NOTHING! My fucking Lord, I am so livid right now. UGH I WANT TO TEAR THIS BOOK UP AND MIX IT WITH DOG POOP AND BURN IT ON MY BIGGEST ENEMY’S HEAD WHICH AT THIS MOMENT WOULD BE THE HEAD OF WHATEVER UTTERLY INEPT FUCKING PERSON WHO EDITED THIS FUCKING REVIEW BOOK!!!! and in general, this fucking book needs to stop touting the praises of ‘plugging in’; ‘plugging in’ isn’t fucking logical, it’s just brute fucking work. what’s the point of getting coached in quantitative REASONING when they’re just like “instead of thinking about it, just try every fucking manipulation of every number you see on the page until you get something that looks like it might be reasonable”!