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Friday 19 October 2012
BRAIN TEASERS I
Brain teasers 1
THE PHOTOGRAPH
A man is looking at a photograph when someone asks him
"Whose picture is that?"
The man replies "I have no brothers or sisters, but this
man's father is my father's son"
Whose photo is the man looking at?
THE ACCIDENT
Mr. Jones and his son Alfred are travelling together when
therir aeroplane crashes. The father is killed, and Alfred is seriously
injured. Arriving at the hospital emergency room, the head surgeon cries
"I cannot operate on this patient, he's my son Alfred!"
How can you explain this?
ENGLISH YOLK OR EGG YOLK?
Which of these two phrases is correct?
"The egg's yolk is white" or "the egg yolk is white"
THE ROBBERY
Following a robbery, three suspects, Richard, David and
Tommy are taken to the Police station for questioning. Here are the facts
that emerged from the investigation.
No one other than these three was implicated in the
crime.
Richard never works alone, he always employs at least one
accomplice.
Tonny is innocent.
Is David guilty or innocent?
A PROBLEM OF TIME
A train leaves London for Edinburgh. an hour later another
train leaves Edinburgh for London. The two trains travel at exactly the
same speed. Which of the two will be closest to London when they meet?
HANGED OR DROWNED?
A man has committed a crime punishable by death. The man
must make a statement. If the statement is true he will be drowned; if the
statement is false he will he hanged. What statement should he issue
in order to confuse his executioners?.
BRAIN TEASERS II
Brain Teasers 2
A HAIR-RAISING TALE
Given that in the city of London the number of inhabitants is greater than the number of hairs on the head of any one of them, and that none of them is bald, can we suppose that there must be at least two inhabitants with the exact same number of hairs on their head?
DOUBLE JEOPARDY
A trial is being held for two men accuses of murder. The jury finds one of them guilty and the other not guilty. The judge turns to the guilty one and says "this is the strangest case I've ever seen. Although there's absolutely no doubt of your guilt, the law obliges me to release you with no charges.
How can you explain this?
THE SMITH ROBBERY
A robbery has taken place at the Smiths house. There are three suspects: William Roberts, Thomas Jones and Peter Cullpepper. The detective in charge of the case knows that Thomas never lies, that William always lies and that Peter sometimes lies and sometimes says the truth. Under questioning, the three declared as follows:
William: "I confess, I did it!"
Thomas: "Peter isn't guilty!"
Peter: "William's the culprit!"
Who is the guilty party?
JOHN'S FOUR SONS
John is the proud father of four handsome boys. The eldest is four years older than the second, who is in turn four years older than the third, who is four years older than the youngest. The youngest is half as old as the eldest.
What are the ages of each of John's sons?
ANOTHER HAIR-RAISING TALE
A variation on the same problem: In York these three things are true:
A. None of the residents have exactly the same number of hairs.
B. None of them has exactly 518 hairs.
C. There are more residents than hairs on the head of any one resident.
TWO BUCKETS
You've got two buckets of water. The water in the first bucket is 15º Celsius, and in the second 15º Fahrenheit. If you drop a stone into both buckets, in which of the two will the stone fall to the bottom of the bucket?
SOLUCIONES
Given that in the city of London the number of inhabitants is greater than the number of hairs on the head of any one of them, and that none of them is bald, can we suppose that there must be at least two inhabitants with the exact same number of hairs on their head?
DOUBLE JEOPARDY
A trial is being held for two men accuses of murder. The jury finds one of them guilty and the other not guilty. The judge turns to the guilty one and says "this is the strangest case I've ever seen. Although there's absolutely no doubt of your guilt, the law obliges me to release you with no charges.
How can you explain this?
THE SMITH ROBBERY
A robbery has taken place at the Smiths house. There are three suspects: William Roberts, Thomas Jones and Peter Cullpepper. The detective in charge of the case knows that Thomas never lies, that William always lies and that Peter sometimes lies and sometimes says the truth. Under questioning, the three declared as follows:
William: "I confess, I did it!"
Thomas: "Peter isn't guilty!"
Peter: "William's the culprit!"
Who is the guilty party?
JOHN'S FOUR SONS
John is the proud father of four handsome boys. The eldest is four years older than the second, who is in turn four years older than the third, who is four years older than the youngest. The youngest is half as old as the eldest.
What are the ages of each of John's sons?
ANOTHER HAIR-RAISING TALE
A variation on the same problem: In York these three things are true:
A. None of the residents have exactly the same number of hairs.
B. None of them has exactly 518 hairs.
C. There are more residents than hairs on the head of any one resident.
TWO BUCKETS
You've got two buckets of water. The water in the first bucket is 15º Celsius, and in the second 15º Fahrenheit. If you drop a stone into both buckets, in which of the two will the stone fall to the bottom of the bucket?
SOLUCIONES
BRAIN TEASERS III
Brain teasers III
1 A man is writing a letter. The power goes out and he dies. Why?
2 A man lives on the 24th floor. He goes to the lobby on the bottom floor every morning to get the newspaper. He rides the elevator up to the 19th floor, then walks up the stairs the rest of the way. Why?
3 A man is in the middle of a room hanging from the ceiling. There is a puddle of water under his feet. There is nothing else in the room. How did he hang himself?
4 A man walks into a bar and asks the bartender for a glass of water. The bartender looks at him for a minute, then pulls out a gun and points it at the man. The man says "Thank You!" and leaves. Why?
5 A man is lying dead in the middle of a desert. He is wearing a back pack and has a full canteen of water. How did he die?
6 A man lives in a big tower with no windows. The bathroom is at the very top, and his bedroom is at the very bottom. One day he goes up to take a bath. While he was filling the tub, his cat chases a mouse by the door and accidently slams it shut. The guy tries to open the door, but it is stuck. He then tries to shut off the water, but the knob breaks off, and the water won't shut off. The tub begins to overflow and slowly fill the room. How does he survive?
7 A man is riding the elevator down. The lights go out and the elevator stops. He realizes his wife is dead. How does he know this?
8 Two explorers are traveling in the arctic. They come across two bodies frozen solid in the ice, and they immediately know that it is Adam and Eve. How?
9 There is a man lying face down in a cabin, which is in the middle of the forest. The cabin has windows that do not open. He is dead. What happened?
10 Gertrude and Zelda are lying on the floor, dead. There is glass and water all around them. What happened?
11 Two identical twins walk into a bar and have the exact same drink. One drinks it fast, and survives. The other drinks it slow, and dies. How?
12 A girl doesn't want to go home because there is a guy who is wearing a mask waiting for her there. What's happening?
1 A man is writing a letter. The power goes out and he dies. Why?
2 A man lives on the 24th floor. He goes to the lobby on the bottom floor every morning to get the newspaper. He rides the elevator up to the 19th floor, then walks up the stairs the rest of the way. Why?
3 A man is in the middle of a room hanging from the ceiling. There is a puddle of water under his feet. There is nothing else in the room. How did he hang himself?
4 A man walks into a bar and asks the bartender for a glass of water. The bartender looks at him for a minute, then pulls out a gun and points it at the man. The man says "Thank You!" and leaves. Why?
5 A man is lying dead in the middle of a desert. He is wearing a back pack and has a full canteen of water. How did he die?
6 A man lives in a big tower with no windows. The bathroom is at the very top, and his bedroom is at the very bottom. One day he goes up to take a bath. While he was filling the tub, his cat chases a mouse by the door and accidently slams it shut. The guy tries to open the door, but it is stuck. He then tries to shut off the water, but the knob breaks off, and the water won't shut off. The tub begins to overflow and slowly fill the room. How does he survive?
7 A man is riding the elevator down. The lights go out and the elevator stops. He realizes his wife is dead. How does he know this?
8 Two explorers are traveling in the arctic. They come across two bodies frozen solid in the ice, and they immediately know that it is Adam and Eve. How?
9 There is a man lying face down in a cabin, which is in the middle of the forest. The cabin has windows that do not open. He is dead. What happened?
10 Gertrude and Zelda are lying on the floor, dead. There is glass and water all around them. What happened?
11 Two identical twins walk into a bar and have the exact same drink. One drinks it fast, and survives. The other drinks it slow, and dies. How?
12 A girl doesn't want to go home because there is a guy who is wearing a mask waiting for her there. What's happening?
BRAIN TEASRES IV
Brain teasers IV
1. At A&R Auto Repair Shop, 2 mechanics can repair 6 cars in 3 hours. By this same reasoning, how many mechanics will it take to repair 22 cars in 5 hours?
2. During his travels in Egypt, the famous explorer and adventurer Alabama Smith stumbles upon the tomb of a not so famous Pharaoh. Having heard tales of a priceless idol rumored to lie within, Smith enters the tomb. He eventually finds the idol, lying on top of the sarcophagus of King Puzzlekhamen! Letting his excitement get the better of him, Smith grabs the idol, with the terrifying result of a stone slab sliding across the only entrance (and exit, for that matter), and a heavy grating sound as the ceiling slowly descends to crush him to powder. Luckily, Smith notices 5 stone levers on a wall, each colored blue, orange, red, white, and black. Also, he sees something inscribed on the top of the sarcophagus (in English, strangely enough). It reads: "Bore were robe orb." Thinking quickly, Smith pulls each of the levers at least once in a certain sequence. The ceiling stops its descent, the slab blocking the exit retracts, and Smith hurries out with the idol to enjoy fortune and fame. What order did Smith pull the levers in to save his life?
3. A worker for the CIA (Cybernetic Information Association, of course) is translating information into a code, so that competitors who might steal the information will not be able to make use of it. The worker is currently translating a word that you can find somewhere in this problem into this code. What number completes this word: 8 22 10 6 22 13 24 ?
4. I really need to get a new watch. It correctly reads the time as 4:12PM, but 3 hours later it reads 8:00PM. Two hours after that it reads 10:32PM. What time will it read when it is actually 3:42AM?
5. In a certain baseball game, Whose on first, Mark is on second, Amy is on third, and Bill is the pitcher. Of the following, who might be the catcher?
ISTUMPUMOSTOFALL'S CHALLENGE
6. After climbing a treacherous mountain over a period of several days, the exhausted explorer, adventurer, and escape artist Alabama Smith (remember him?) enters the cave of the great mystic Istumpumostofall. "Ah, Mr. Smith, I have been waiting for you," says the mystic. "I will give you some very vital information if you can tell me what the last number should be." Following the oracle's finger, Smith sees these eight words carved into the stone floor in front of him, with a number following each word except for the last one: grain 3 sorrow 4 preach 4 needle 3 cover 3 cusp 3 lobule 3 voodoo. After rubbing his head for a few minutes, he gives an answer, and the mystic tells him something that at first angers, but later relieves him. Can you solve Istumpumostofall's puzzle?
WORD DOWN
7. One of these seventy-two words is the answer to the puzzle. It has an even number of letters, and only one vowel. This is hard! But once you see what I am up to, you will be elated. One letter in the word could be used to identify the person working on this puzzle, but from the author's perspective. Another letter could also be two other letters, if it were oriented a certain way. Good luck!
SEARCHING HIGH & LOW
8. Linda, an investigator who became famous after solving the murder of Maximillion Warbucks, has started her own private practice. She is searching the mansion of the multibillionaire Bigmoney Richman in hopes of finding some of Bigmoney's priceless diamonds that were hidden there by his disgruntled former butler. All that the butler left was a note that read "Can't help a novice detective every lighted inch! Elevation required!" It does not take Linda long at all to locate the diamonds, much to Bigmoney's pleasure. Where were they?
For these last two problems, the words on either side of the brackets each have some connection to the word that should be in the middle. The number of dashes indicates the number of letters in the word. Example: planet (-----) ground. The answer is EARTH.
9. color (------) fruit
10. exclude (---) stripe
QUICK FIX
1. At A&R Auto Repair Shop, 2 mechanics can repair 6 cars in 3 hours. By this same reasoning, how many mechanics will it take to repair 22 cars in 5 hours?
EBON RIDDLE OF KING PUZZLEKHAMEN
2. During his travels in Egypt, the famous explorer and adventurer Alabama Smith stumbles upon the tomb of a not so famous Pharaoh. Having heard tales of a priceless idol rumored to lie within, Smith enters the tomb. He eventually finds the idol, lying on top of the sarcophagus of King Puzzlekhamen! Letting his excitement get the better of him, Smith grabs the idol, with the terrifying result of a stone slab sliding across the only entrance (and exit, for that matter), and a heavy grating sound as the ceiling slowly descends to crush him to powder. Luckily, Smith notices 5 stone levers on a wall, each colored blue, orange, red, white, and black. Also, he sees something inscribed on the top of the sarcophagus (in English, strangely enough). It reads: "Bore were robe orb." Thinking quickly, Smith pulls each of the levers at least once in a certain sequence. The ceiling stops its descent, the slab blocking the exit retracts, and Smith hurries out with the idol to enjoy fortune and fame. What order did Smith pull the levers in to save his life?
SEQUENCE
3. A worker for the CIA (Cybernetic Information Association, of course) is translating information into a code, so that competitors who might steal the information will not be able to make use of it. The worker is currently translating a word that you can find somewhere in this problem into this code. What number completes this word: 8 22 10 6 22 13 24 ?
WARPED TIME
4. I really need to get a new watch. It correctly reads the time as 4:12PM, but 3 hours later it reads 8:00PM. Two hours after that it reads 10:32PM. What time will it read when it is actually 3:42AM?
WHOSE ON FIRST?
5. In a certain baseball game, Whose on first, Mark is on second, Amy is on third, and Bill is the pitcher. Of the following, who might be the catcher?
ISTUMPUMOSTOFALL'S CHALLENGE
6. After climbing a treacherous mountain over a period of several days, the exhausted explorer, adventurer, and escape artist Alabama Smith (remember him?) enters the cave of the great mystic Istumpumostofall. "Ah, Mr. Smith, I have been waiting for you," says the mystic. "I will give you some very vital information if you can tell me what the last number should be." Following the oracle's finger, Smith sees these eight words carved into the stone floor in front of him, with a number following each word except for the last one: grain 3 sorrow 4 preach 4 needle 3 cover 3 cusp 3 lobule 3 voodoo. After rubbing his head for a few minutes, he gives an answer, and the mystic tells him something that at first angers, but later relieves him. Can you solve Istumpumostofall's puzzle?
WORD DOWN
7. One of these seventy-two words is the answer to the puzzle. It has an even number of letters, and only one vowel. This is hard! But once you see what I am up to, you will be elated. One letter in the word could be used to identify the person working on this puzzle, but from the author's perspective. Another letter could also be two other letters, if it were oriented a certain way. Good luck!
SEARCHING HIGH & LOW
8. Linda, an investigator who became famous after solving the murder of Maximillion Warbucks, has started her own private practice. She is searching the mansion of the multibillionaire Bigmoney Richman in hopes of finding some of Bigmoney's priceless diamonds that were hidden there by his disgruntled former butler. All that the butler left was a note that read "Can't help a novice detective every lighted inch! Elevation required!" It does not take Linda long at all to locate the diamonds, much to Bigmoney's pleasure. Where were they?
THE CONNECTION
For these last two problems, the words on either side of the brackets each have some connection to the word that should be in the middle. The number of dashes indicates the number of letters in the word. Example: planet (-----) ground. The answer is EARTH.
9. color (------) fruit
10. exclude (---) stripe
Thursday 18 October 2012
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