Riddles

Riddles

  1. You have a lighter and two fuses that take exactly one hour to burn, but they don't burn at a steady rate. For example, one fuse could take 59 minutes to burn the first inch and then burn the rest of the fuse in the last minute. How would you use these two fuses to measure 45 minutes?

    Light the first fuse on both ends and the second fuse at only one end. When the first fuse burns out you know 30 minutes have passed. Light the other end of the second fuse and when it burns out, 45 minutes have passed.


  2. My daughter has many sisters. She has as many sisters as she has brothers. Each of her brothers has twice as many sisters as brothers. How many sons and daughters do I have?

    Four daughters and three sons.


  3. Sherlock Holmes and the Broken Window One snowy night, Sherlock Holmes was in his house sitting by a fire. All of a sudden a snowball came crashing through his window, breaking it. Holmes got up and looked out the window just in time to see three neighborhood kids who were brothers run around a corner. Their names were John Crimson, Mark Crimson and Paul Crimson. The next day Holmes got a note on his door that read "? Crimson. He broke your window." Which of the three Crimson brothers should Sherlock Holmes question about the incident?

    Mark Crimson: "?" = question MARK, so the note on the door reads "Question Mark Crimson. He broke your window."


  4. You are a prisoner sentenced to death. The Emperor offers you a chance to live by playing a simple game. He gives you 50 black marbles, 50 white marbles and 2 empty bowls. He then says, "Divide these 100 marbles into these 2 bowls. You can divide them any way you like as long as you use all the marbles. Then I will blindfold you and mix the bowls around. You can then choose one bowl and remove one marble. If the marble is white, you live, but if the marble is black...you die. How do you divide the marbles up so that you have the greatest probability of choosing a white marble?

    Place 1 white marble in one bowl, and place the rest of the marbles in the other bowl (49 whites, and 50 blacks). This way you begin with a 50/50 chance of choosing the bowl with just one white marble and living. But even if you choose the other bowl, you still have an almost 50% chance of picking one of the 49 white marbles. There are no guarantees in life, but this is your best bet at surviving.


  5. Two guards were on duty outside a barracks. One faced up the road to watch for anyone approaching from the North. The other looked down the road to see if anyone approached from the South. Suddenly one of them said to the other, "Why are you smiling? " How did he know his companion was smiling?

    They were facing each other. As to why his companion was smiling, the world may never know.


  6. You have 12 black socks and 12 white socks mixed up in a drawer. It's early in the morning and you don't have any light to see the colors. How many socks must you pull out (blindly) to be sure of getting a matching pair?

    3 socks. If the first sock is black, the second one could be black, in which case you have a matching pair. If the second sock is white, the third sock will be either black and match the first sock, or white and match the second sock.


  7. A glass of water with a single ice cube sits on a table. When the ice has completely melted, will the level of the water have increased, decreased or remain unchanged?

    Remain unchanged. When frozen, the ice cube displaces its weight.


  8. A cube of side 4cm is painted with 3 colors red, blue and green in such a way that opposite sides are painted in the same color. This cube is now cut into 64 cubes of equal size. How many have at least two sides painted in different colors. How many cubes have only one side painted. How many cubes have no side painted.

    Cubes that have at least two sides painted in different colors are 24 + 8 = 32.
    Cubes that have only one side painted are 24.
    Cubes that have no side painted = 8.
    Cubes that have exactly one side not painted = 0.


  9. You have two buckets - one holds exactly 5 gallons and the other 3 gallons. How can you measure 4 gallons of water into the 5 gallon bucket? (Assume you have an unlimited supply of water and that there are no measurement markings of any kind on the buckets.)

    1. Fill the 3-gallon bucket.
    2. Pour the 3 gallons of water into the 5-gallon bucket.
    3. Fill the 3-gallon bucket again.
    4. Fill up the 5-gallon bucket with the 3-gallon bucket, leaving you with 1 gallon left in the 3-gallon bucket.
    5. Empty out the 5-gallon bucket.
    6. Pour the remaining 1 gallon of water from the 3-gallon bucket into the 5-gallon bucket.
    7. Fill the 3-gallon bucket.
    8. Pour the 3 gallons of water from the 3-gallon bucket into the 5-gallon bucket leaving you with 4 gallons of water in the 5-gallon bucket.


  10. I am the owner of a bird store. If I put in one bird per cage, I have one bird too many. If I put in two birds per cage, I have one cage too many. How many cages and birds do I have?

    Four birds and three cages.If you put one bird in each cage, you have an extra bird without a cage. However, if you put two birds in each cage then you have two birds in the first cage, two birds in the second cage and an extra cage.


 
©2024 Mentors. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy and Terms of Use