Yardstick: A Triad of Puzzles

"It was all to be done in thirds." So begins Richard Brautigan's story "1/3, 1/3, 1/3."

A company that manufactures yardsticks has announced that it will not make them any longer. If you have a yardstick, you might want to use it to help you solve the triad of brainteasers below. Triad, by the way, a word meaning "a union or group of three usually closely related persons or things," can be formed from the letters of the word yardstick.

1. The sum of the digits of the number of inches in one third of a yard is 3. What three consecutive numbers add up to the number of inches in one third of a yard?
2. What three consecutive numbers add up to the number of inches in two thirds of a yard?
3. What three consecutive numbers add up to the number of inches in one yard?

The answers to these three brainteasers are below the following photo of a quotation from Joseph Brodsky:

Answers

1. The three consecutive numbers that add up to 12, the number of inches in one third of a yard, are 3, 4 and 5. Divide 12 by 3 and you get 4, the average between the three consecutive numbers. Subtract 1 from 4 for the number preceding it and add 1 to 4 for the number following it, and you have your three consecutive numbers.
2. The three consecutive numbers that add up to 24, the number of inches in two thirds of a yard, are 7, 8 and 9.
3. The three consecutive numbers that add up to 36, the number of inches in one yard (three feet), are 11, 12 and 13.