Bill and Phil are firehouse Dalmatians. Bill has one less than twice as many spots as Phil. If they have 59 spots combined, how many spots does Bill have?
If b is the number of spots Bill has and p is the number of spots Phil has, we know that b + p = 59. We also know that b = 2p - 1.
We can substitute the second equation into the first equation to get: 2p - 1 + p = 59
Combining like terms, we get 3p - 1= 59
Adding 1 to both sides, we get 3p = 60
Dividing both sides by 3, we get p = 20
Substituting this back into the equation b = 2p - 1, we get b = 2*20 - 1 = 40 - 1 = <<2*20-1=39>>39
#### 39