Brain Twister

BRAIN TWISTER
either black and match the first sock, or

white and match the second sock.
It's fun to solve brain teasers and I've heard
4. What is special about the following

sequence of numbers?
8 5 4 9 1 7 6 10 3 2 0
Show the answer Direct link
The numbers are in alphabetical order.
(eight, five, four, nine, one, seven, six,
ten, three, two, zero)
your brain is like a muscle. If you exercise it (by

teasing it) you'll have a fit brain. Even if that's
not true, I still like to solve them. If you know
some good brain teasers, please send them to
me. It can also be useful to know how to solve
these for job interviews. For some reason
interviewers think if you know how to solve
5. Three travelers register at a hotel and are

told that their rooms will cost $10 each
so they pay $30. Later the clerk realizes
that he made a mistake and should have
only charged them $25. He gives a
bellboy $5 to return to them but the
bellboy is dishonest and gives them each
only $1, keeping $2 for himself. So the
men actually spent $27 and the bellboy
kept $2. What happened to the other
dollar of the original $30?
There is no missing dollar from the
original $30 because after getting $1
back, the three travelers had paid a total
of $27 for their room ($9 each), not $30.
Out of that $27, the hotel has $25 and
the clerk kept the remaining $2. If you
still want to work from the original $30,
the travelers have $3, the hotel has $25
and the bellboy has $2. The misleading
part is adding the bellboy's $2 to the
$27, when in fact it should be
subtracted.
puzzles and can think quickly you'll be an ideal

employee. Have fun :)
1. By moving one of the following digits,
make the equation correct. 62 - 63 = 1
26 - 63 = 1
(26 = 2x2x2x2x2x2 = 64, 64 - 63 = 1)
2. You have a fox, a chicken and a sack of
grain. You must cross a river with only
one of them at a time. If you leave the fox
with the chicken he will eat it; if you
leave the chicken with the grain he will
eat it. How can you get all three across
safely?
Take the chicken over first. Go back and
bring the grain next, but instead of
leaving the chicken with the grain, come
back with the chicken. Leave the chicken
on the first side and take the fox with
you. Leave it on the other side with the
grain. Finally, go back over and get the
chicken and bring it over.
6. You are the bus driver. At your first stop,

you pick up 29 people. On your second
stop, 18 of those 29 people get off, and at
the same time 10 new passengers arrive.
At your next stop, 3 of those 10
passengers get off, and 13 new
passengers come on. On your fourth stop
4 of the remaining 10 passengers get off,
6 of those new 13 passengers get off as
well, then 17 new passengers get on.
3. You have 12 black socks and 12 white

socks mixed up in a drawer. You're up
very early and it's too dark to tell them
apart. What's the smallest number of
socks you need to take out (blindly) to be
sure of having 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
1
What is the color of the bus driver's

eyes?
The eye color of the reader of this
problem. The first sentence is the key:
"You are the bus driver"
a hint: There is a valid answer that

doesn't require tricks like throwing the
flashlight or shining it backwards or
having some other means of moving the
flashlight.
There's an assumption people often
make that keeps you from solving this.
Two members cross the bridge each time,
but neither one of the two the crossed
need to return. Think about how that
would be possible. If you're still stuck,
use objects to simulate their movement.
Use whatever you have laying around pens, paper, erasers - and move them
back and forth. Good luck!
7. A rooster lays an egg at the very top of a

slanted roof. Which side is the egg going
to roll off on?
Neither, roosters don't lay eggs.
8. U2 has a concert that starts in 17
minutes and they must all cross a bridge
to get there. All four men begin on the
same side of the bridge. You must help
them across to the other side. It is night.
There is one flashlight. A maximum of
two people can cross at one time. Any
party who crosses, either 1 or 2 people,
must have the flashlight with them.
9. Why is it very common to have a 9

minute snooze interval on alarm clocks,
why not 10 instead?
By setting the snooze time to 9 minutes,
the alarm clock only needs to watch the
last digit of the time. So, if you hit snooze
at 6.45, the alarm goes off again when
the last digit equals 4. They couldn't
make it 10 minutes, otherwise the alarm
would go off right away, or it would take
more circuitry.
The flashlight must be walked back and

forth. It cannot be thrown and other
tricks like that are not needed to solve
the problem. The solution is simply a
matter of allocating resources in a
certain order. Each band member walks
at a different speed. A pair must walk
together at the rate of the slower man's
pace:
10.A bookworm eats from the first page of

an encyclopedia to the last page in a
straight line. The encyclopedia consists
of ten 1000-page volumes and is sitting
on a bookshelf in the usual order. Not
counting covers, title pages, etc., how
many pages does the bookworm eat
through?
__
__
B| |
| |F
A|1 |...........................|10|R
C| |
| |O
K| |
| |N
|__|
|__|T
----------------------------------
Bono: 1 minute to cross

Edge: 2 minutes to cross
Adam: 5 minutes to cross
Larry: 10 minutes to cross
For example: if Bono and Larry walk
across first, 10 minutes have elapsed
when they get to the other side of the
bridge. If Larry then returns with the
flashlight, a total of 20 minutes have
passed and you have failed the mission.
You get to figure this one out on your
own. If you're having a hard time, here's
2
On a book shelf the first page of the first

volume is on the "inside", so the
bookworm eats only through the cover of
the first volume, then 8 times 1000
pages of Volumes 2 - 9, then through the
cover to the 1st page of Vol 10 for a total
of 8,000 pages.
Note: The question asks how many
pages, not how many sheets of paper.
14.In a small cabin in the woods, two men

lay dead. The cabin itself is not burned,
but the forest all around is burned to
cinders. How did the men die?
It's the cabin of a plane and the plane
crashed.
15.Ida puts her coffee into the microwave,
as she does every morning, for exactly 2
minutes. When the microwave goes off,
she opens the door, but then closes the
door again and sets the microwave for 2
more seconds. What good would 2 more
seconds be?
To rotate the handle on the mug so she
can comfortably remove it.
11.An Arab sheikh tells his two sons to race

their camels to a distant city to see who
will inherit his fortune. The one whose
camel is slower will win. The brothers,
after wandering aimlessly for days, ask a
wise man for advise. After hearing the
advice they jump on the camels and race
as fast as they can to the city. What does
the wise man say?
The wiseman tells them to switch
camels.
16.Beulah died in the Appalachians while

Craig died at sea. Everyone was much
happier with Craig's death. Why?
Beulah and Craig were hurricanes.
12.An 18-wheeler is crossing a 4 kilometer

bridge that can only support 10,000
kilograms and that's exactly how much
the rig weighs. Halfway across the bridge
a 30 gram sparrow lands on the cab, but
the bridge doesn't collapse. Why not?
Since the bridge is 4 kilometers long, the
halfway point would be 2 kilometers. The
18-wheeler would have used much more
than 30g of fuel to drive 2 kilometers.
17.You are a cook in a remote area with no

clocks or other way of keeping time other
than a four-minute and a seven-minute
hourglass. On the stove is a pot of
boiling water. Jill asks you to cook a
nine-minute egg in exactly 9 minutes,
and you know she is a perfectionist and
can tell if you undercook or overcook the
egg by even a few seconds. How can you
cook the egg for exactly 9 minutes?
1. Flip both hourglasses over and drop
the egg into the water.
2. When the 4-minute timer runs out,
flip it over (4 minutes elapsed, 3
remaining on the 7-minute timer).
flip it over. (7 minutes elapsed, 1
remaining in the 4-minute timer)
flip the 7-minute timer over. (8 minutes
13.A completely black dog was strolling

down Main street during a total blackout
affecting the entire town. Not a single
streetlight had been on for hours. As the
dog crosses the center of the road a
Buick Skylark with 2 broken headlights
speeds towards it, but manages to
swerve out of the way just in time. How
could the driver see the dog to swerve in
time?
It was during the day
3
elapsed. 6 minutes remained in the 7minute timer, but flipping it over leaves
one minute's worth of sand on top. When
it runs out exactly nine minutes will
have elapsed.
Four daughters and three sons. Each

daughter has 3 sisters and 3 brothers,
and each brother has 2 brothers and 4
sisters.
To figure it out mathematically, you
could use the following two equations
where G = the number of girls and B =
the number of boys:
G-1=B
2(B - 1) = G
18.I am the owner of a pet store. If I put in

one canary per cage, I have one bird too
many. If I put in two canaries per cage, I
have one cage too many. How many
cages and canaries do I have?
Four canaries and three cages.
Solving for G gives you 4 and plugging

that in to G - 1 = B gives you a B of 3.
If you put one canary in each cage, you

have an extra bird without a cage.
However, if you put two canaries in each
cage then you have two canaries in the
first cage, two canaries in the second
cage and an extra cage.
21.What seven-letter word has hundreds of

letters in it?
Mailbox
22.If you had a ton of feathers and a ton of
stones which would be heavier?
Neither. They both weigh a ton.
19.Here is a series of numbers. What is the

next number in the sequence?
1
11
21
1211
111221
312211
13112221
The next number in the sequence is
1113213211, because the rule for
creating the next number is to simply
describe the previous number. The first
number is 1, or 1 (one) 1, so you get 11.
To describe 11, you have two 1's, or 21.
Now you have one 2 and one 1, so the
next number is 1211. The solution is to
simply continue describing the previous
number using only numbers.
23.Tom's mother has three children. One is

named April, one is named May. What is
the third one named?
Tom
24.Two women apply for a job. They are
identical and have the same mother,
father and birthday. The interviewer
asks, "Are you twins?" to which they
honestly reply, "No".
How is this possible?
They are triplets.
25.You are standing outside a closed door.
On the other side of the door is a room
that has three light bulbs in it. The room
is completely sealed off from the outside.
It has no windows and nothing can get in
or out except through the door. On the
20.My daughter 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?
4
outside of the room there are three light

switches that control each of the
respective light bulbs on the other side of
the door.
28.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.
Your assignment is to determine which

light switch controls which light bulb.
You are allowed to enter the room only
once, and once you come out, you must
be able to state with 100% certainty
which light switch controls which light
bulb.
Turn one light switch on, wait a few
minutes, then turn it off and turn
another light switch on. Go into the room
and feel the light bulbs. The one that's
still warm is connected to the switch that
you first turned on, the one that is on
was the second switch you turned on,
and the last bulb is controlled by the
switch that you didn't touch.
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.
29.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 5gallon bucket leaving you with 4
gallons of water in the 5-gallon
bucket.
26.If a bottle and a cork cost a dollar and a

nickel, and the bottle costs a dollar more
than the cork, how much does the cork
cost?
Most people guess 5, but $1 more than
5 is $1.05, and if the bottle cost $1.05,
the bottle and the cork would be $1.10,
not $1.05. The cork actually costs 2
and the bottle costs a dollar more, or $1
and 2, making the total $1.05.
27.A boat has a ladder that has six rungs.
Each rung is one foot apart. The bottom
rung is one foot from the water. The tide
rises at 12 inches every 15 minutes.
High tide peaks in one hour.
When the tide is at its highest, how
many rungs are under water?
None. The boat is floating on the water,
so as the tide rises, so does the ladder.
Alternate solution:
5
9. Fill up the 5 gallon bucket

10.Pour it into 3 gallon bucket,
leaving 2 gallons
11.Empty out the 3 gallon bucket
12.Pour the 2 gallons in the 5 gallon
bucket into the 3 gallon bucket
13.Fill up the 5 gallon bucket and
pour it into the 3 gallon bucket
until it's full, leaving 4 gallons in
the 5 gallon bucket.
32.A man can make perfect counterfeit bills.

They look exactly like real ones, they're
made of exactly the same materials,
made the same way, everything. So
perfect, one could pretty much call them
real bills. One day he successfully makes
a perfect copy of another bill. However,
he gets caught when he tries to use the
copy. How is this possible?
He made a perfect copy of a counterfeit
bill.
30.A princess is as old as the prince will be

when the princess is twice the age that
the prince was when the princess's age
was half the sum of their present ages.
33.A prisoner is told "If you tell a lie we will

hang you; if you tell the truth we will
shoot you." What can he say to save
himself?
You will hang me. If they hang him, then
the statement was true and they could
only hang him for telling a lie. If they
shoot him, then it makes the statement a
lie and they were only to shoot him for
telling the truth. An alternate solution is
to say, "You will not shoot me," leading to
the same quandary for the killers.
What are their ages?

This one took a while, but I figured it
out. You can find the answer here.
31.During WWII, there was a bridge
connecting Germany and Switzerland,
and on the German side, there was a
sentry tower with a guard in it. He would
come out every three minutes to check
on the bridge, and he had orders to turn
back anyone who tried to get into
Germany, and shoot anyone trying to
escape without a pass. There was a
woman who desperately needed to get
into Switzerland, and she knew she
didn't have time to get a pass. It would
take her at least six minutes to cross the
bridge, but she managed to do it. How?
She walked on the bridge towards
Switzerland for 3 minutes and just as the
guard was about to come out, she turned
around walking back to Germany. The
guard saw her and asked for her pass
but she didn't have one and was sent
back (or what the guard thought was
back) to Switzerland. In her case it was
the very country she wanted to go to.
34.How many people can read hex if only

you and dead people can read hex?
The trick is that the word dead
represents a number in hexadecimal.
That number in base 10, plus one to
include yourself, is: 57005 + 1 = 57006.
35.A man is traveling with a fox and two
chickens, if he leaves the fox alone with
the chickens the fox will eat the
chickens. He comes to a river and needs
to cross it, he finds a small boat that can
carry only him and one animal, how
does he get himself, the fox and two
chickens across the river safely?
Take the fox over, return with nothing.
Go over with one chicken, return with
the fox. Go over with the second chicken,
6
return with nothing. Finally, take the fox

over.
and married the Princess and became

the new King. What did he do?
Asked the princess to touch his hand.
36.A man is looking at a picture of a man

on the wall and states: Brothers and
sisters I have none, but this man's father
is my father's son. Who is the man in the
picture in relation to the man looking at
the picture?
The man in the picture is his son. Since
he doesn't have any brothers or sisters,
the statement my father's son is himself.
A shortened version would be this man's
father is myself, so he is the father of the
man in the picture.
39.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.
37.A man and his son had a terrible car

accident and were rushed to the
hospital. The man died on the way, but
the son was still barely alive. When they
arrived, an old gray surgeon was called
in to operate. Upon seeing the young boy,
the surgeon said, "I can't operate - this is
my son."
The surgeon was his mother.
40.You're riding a horse. To the right of you

is a cliff and in front of you is an
elephant moving at the same pace and
you can't overtake it. To the left of you is
a hippo running at the same speed and a
lion is chasing you. How do you get to
safety?
Get off the merry-go-round.
38.A wise king devised a contest to see who

would receive the Princess' hand in
marriage. The Princess was put in a 50 x
50 foot carpeted room. Each of her four
suitors were put in one corner of the
room with a small box to stand on. The
first one to touch the Princess' hand
would be the winner and become the
new King.
41.You have 50 quarters on the table in

front of you. You are blindfolded and
cannot discern whether a coin is heads
up or tails up by feeling it. You are told
that x coins are heads up, where 0 < x <
50. You are asked to separate the coins
into two piles in such a way that the
number of heads up coins in both piles
is the same at the end. You may flip any
coin over as many times as you want.
How will you do it?
Take x coins, flip all of them and put
them in one pile. The rest of the coins
form the second pile.
The rules were the contestants could not

walk over the carpet, cross the plane of
the carpet, or hang from anything; nor
could they use anything but their body
and wits (i.e. no magic, telepathy, nor
any items such as ladders, block and
tackles etc). One suitor figured out a way
7
42.You have four chains. Each chain has

three links in it. Although it is difficult to
cut the links, you wish to make a single
loop with all 12 links. What is the fewest
number of cuts you must make to
accomplish this task?
3 cuts. Cut each link in one chain.
Separate them, and use the links to join
the ends of the 3 intact chains.
water have increased, decreased or

remain unchanged?
The water level remains unchanged
because the ice cube displaces its own
weight. If you're not convinced, read
Archimedes' Principle, which states that
any floating object displaces its own
weight of fluid. Still not convinced? Here
are a few more sources .
43.Walking down the street one day, I met a

woman strolling with her daughter.
"What a lovely child," I remarked. "In
fact, I have two children," she replied.
What is the probability that both of her
children are girls?
1/2 probability. There was a raging
debate on this brain teaser, which I got
from 3quarksdaily, and after many
comments, the conclusion was that the
problem is stated poorly, but there is a
1/2 probability that both of her children
are girls.
46.You are given eight coins and told that

one of them is counterfeit. The
counterfeit one is slightly heavier than
the other seven. Otherwise, the coins
look identical. Using a simple balance
scale, how can you determine which coin
is counterfeit using the scale only twice?
First weigh three coins against three
others. If the weights are equal, weigh
the remaining two against each other.
The heavier one is the counterfeit. If one
of the groups of three is heavier, weigh
two of those coins against each other. If
one is heavier, it's the counterfeit. If
they're equal weight, the third coin is the
counterfeit.
44.Three closed boxes have either white

marbles, black marbles or both, and they
are labeled white, black and both.
However, you're told that each of the
labels are wrong. You may reach into one
of the boxes and pull out only one
marble. Which box should you remove a
marble from to determine the contents of
all three boxes?
The one labeled both. Since you know it's
labeled incorrectly, it must have all black
marbles or all white marbles. After you
determine what it contains, you can
identify the other two boxes by the
process of elimination.
47.I was visiting a friend one evening and

remembered that he had three
daughters. I asked him how old they
were. "The product of their ages is 72,"
he answered. Quizzically, I asked, "Is
there anything else you can tell me?"
"Yes," he replied, "the sum of their ages
is equal to the number of my house." I
stepped outside to see what the house
number was. Upon returning inside, I
said to my host, "I'm sorry, but I still
can't figure out their ages." He responded
apologetically, "I'm sorry, I forgot to
mention that my oldest daughter likes
strawberry shortcake." With this
information, I was able to determine all
three of their ages. How old is each
daughter?
45.A glass of water with a single ice cube

sits on a table. When the ice has
completely melted, will the level of the
8

3, 3, and 8. The only groups of 3 factors
of 72 to have non-unique sums are 2, 6,
6 and 3, 3, 8 (with a sum of 14). The rest
have unique sums:
2 + 2 + 18 = 22
2 + 3 + 12 = 18
2 + 4 + 9 = 15
3 + 4 + 6 = 13
The house number alone would have
identified any of these groups. Since
more information was required, we know
the sum left the answer unknown. The
presence of a single oldest child
eliminates 2,6,6, leaving 3,3,8.
normally lie and point to the death door,

but you asked him what he would say if
you asked what door was the exit, and in
order to lie to that question, he will point
you to the exit.
49.How far can a dog run into the forest?
Halfway. After that it will be running out
of the forest.
50.What number comes next?
2, 2, 4, 12, 48, ___
240. To get the number, multiply the
previous number in the series by its
position. 48 is in the 5th position, so 48
5 = 240
48.You're in a room with two doors. There's

a guard at each door. One door is the
exit, but behind the other door is
something that will kill you. You're told
that one guard always tells the truth and
the other guard always lies. You don't
know which guard is which. You are
allowed to ask one question to either of
the guards to determine which door is
the exit. What question should you ask?
Ask either guard what door the other
guard would say is the exit, then choose
the opposite door.
51.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 and instructs you to
divide the 100 marbles into the two
bowls. You can divide them however you
want as long as all the marbles are in
the bowls. You will be blindfolded and
the bowls and marbles will be throughly
mixed. You will then choose a single
marble from one of the bowls. If the
marble is white, you live. Black and you
will be put to death.
If you ask the guard who always tells the

truth, he knows the other guard would
lie, so he'll point you to the door leading
to death. If you ask the guard who
always lies, he knows the other guard
would truthfully show you the exit, so
he'll lie and point you to the door leading
to death.
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).
An alternate solution is to ask a guard

what they would answer if you were to
ask them which door was the exit, then
choose that door. The truthful guard will
point to the correct exit, but the lying
guard will too. Here's why. If you asked
him what door was the exit, he would
This way you begin with a 50/50 chance

of choosing the bowl with one white
marble and living. Even if you choose the
other bowl, you still have an almost 50%
chance of picking one of the 49 white
9
marbles. There are no guarantees in life,

but this is your best bet at surviving.
It's the numbers 0 through 10 in

alphabetical order.
52.What is the next number in this series?

1, 2, 6, 42, 1806?
To get the next number, multiply the
previous number in the series by itself
plus one: n * (n+1). For example, to get 6,
multiply 2 * 2+1. To get 42 multiply 6 *
6+1.
Thus, 1806 * 1807 = 3263442
57.Which two numbers are missing and

where do they go in the sequence?
8, 11, 5, 14, 1, 7, 6, 10, 13, 3, 12, 2
The missing numbers are 4 and 9. The
list is sorted alphabetically by the
English spelling of the numbers, so four
belongs after five and nine comes after
fourteen.
53.If:
2 3 = 10
7 2 = 63
6 5 = 66
8 4 = 96
9 7 = ??
f(n,m) = (n + m) * n
e.g. f(2,3) = (2 + 3) * 2 = 10
Hence, f(9,7) = (9 + 7) * 9 = 144
58.What 4-digit number abcd satisfies this

equation?
4 * abcd = dcba
2178
59.Bill buys three items at the store for
exactly $100. The second item costs half
as much as the first item, and the third
item is half as much as the second. How
much did each one cost?
First: $57.14, Second: $28.57, Third:
$14.29
54.What do the following numerals

represent?
11111121113122223222
The syllables in the numbers from 1 to
20
55.You must buy 100 chickens for exactly
$100, and purchase at least one chicken
from each store. The first store charges 5
cents/chicken, the second charges
$1/chicken and the third charges
$5/chicken. How many chickens should
you buy from each store?
80 from store 1 = $4
1 from store 2 = $1
19 from store 3 = $95
60.A man was killed on Sunday morning.

His wife found the body and called the
police. The police arrived and questioned
the chef, maid, butler, and gardener.
Their alibis were:
Chef - making breakfast
Maid - getting mail
Butler - setting table
Gardener - watering plants
The police immediately arrested the
criminal. Who was it and how did they
know?
The maid. Mail isn't delivered on Sunday
56.What is special about the following

number sequence?
8, 5, 4, 9, 1, 7, 6, 10, 3, 2, 0
61.This is an unusual paragraph. I'm

curious as to just how quickly you can
find out what is so unusual about it. It
looks so ordinary and plain that you
10
would think nothing was wrong with it.

In fact, nothing is wrong with it! It is
highly unusual though. Study it and
think about it, but you still may not find
anything odd. But if you work at it a bit,
you might find out. Try to do so without
any coaching.
The letter e is the most common letter in
the English language, yet it never
appears in the entire paragraph
A=1, B=3, C=9 and D=17

1lb = A
2lbs + A = B
3lbs = C
4lbs = A + B
5lbs + A + B = C
6lbs + B = C
et cetera
67.Given these equations, what is the
answer to the last one?
5 3 2 = 151012
9 2 4 = 183662
8 6 3 = 482466
5 4 5 = 202504
725=?
f(x,y,z) = 10000*(x*y) + 100*(x*z) +
transpose_digits(x*y + y*z)
62.A murderer is condemned to death. He

has to choose between three rooms. The
first is full of raging fires, the second is
full of assassins with loaded guns, and
the third is full of lions that haven't
eaten in 3 years. Which room is safest for
him?
The third room, since the lions would be
dead.
transpose_digits() just swaps the digits
63.Name three consecutive days without

using the words Wednesday, Friday, or
Sunday.
Yesterday, today and tomorrow
68.Three numbers, 16, 14 and 38, need to

be assigned to one of the rows of
numbers below. Where do the numbers
belong? (Hint: This is not a mathematical
problem. The numerical values are
irrelevant)
64.A plane crashed on the border or US and

Canada. Where do they bury the
survivors?
You don't bury survivors
65.There are six glasses in a row. The first
three are full of water, and the next three
are empty. By moving only one glass how
can you make them alternate between
full and empty?
Pour the water from the 2nd glass into
the 5th glass.
15
27
21
10
19
47
11
17
69.Show the answer Direct link

70.The rows indicate the shape of the
number. Row A is rounded, B is mixed
and C is linear. Thus, 16 belongs in row
B, 14 in row C and 38 in row A.
71.
72.44 33 555 555 666 9 666 777 555 3
What is the message in this code?
66.What four weights can be used to

balance from 1 to 30 pounds?
11
Pressing these digits in sequence will

produce HELLO WORLD on a cell phone
(for an SMS text message)
tunnel. How long does it take the entire

train to pass through the tunnel?
2 minutes (The back of the train would
be at the beginning of the tunnel after 1
minute, and would leave the end of the
tunnel at the 2 minute mark.
73.Two men are standing on one side of a

bridge and two women are approaching
them. One of the men says, "Here comes
my wife and daughter" to which the
second man replies, "Here comes my wife
and daughter". If they have not married
the same woman and the women aren't
pregnant, how is this true?
The men are widowers and married each
others' daughter.
79.Stands
----------0_2345
What does this represent?
No one understands
74.Rearrange the letters in the words "new

door" to make one word.
"new door" can be rearranged into "one
word"
80.First, think of the color of clouds. Next

think of the color of snow. Last, think of
the color of the moon. Now, what do cows
drink?
Water (if the teaser worked, you guessed
milk)
75.Two fathers and two sons go fishing

together in the same boat. They all catch
a fish but the total catch for the day is 3
fish. How is this possible?
There are three men: A grandfather, a
father (the grandfather's son) and the
father's son.
81.Rhonda will go see ballet but not the

opera. Her favorite number is eight and
she doesn't like nine. She likes salmon
but not trout. She hates Mondays and
likes Wednesdays. Does she use a comb
or a brush?
A comb. Rhonda likes words with silent
letters, like her name.
76.A green glass door admits only certain

objects. Apples and balls are allowed,
but pears and bats aren't. What
determines whether an item can enter?
All words with a repeated letter are
allowed. Green glass door, apple and
ball.
82.On a regular 12-hour digital clock how

many times would the same three digits
in a row be displayed (e.g. 1:11, 11:12,
12:22) in one day?
34 times. These 17 instances will be
visible twice in a 24 hour period.
1:11 2:22 3:33 4:44 5:55 10:00 11:10
11:11 11:12 11:13 11:14 11:15 11:16
11:17 11:18 11:19 12:22
77.B,C,D,E,G,P
What is the next letter in the sequence?
T - they all rhyme.
78.A mile-long train is moving at sixty miles
an hour when it reaches a mile-long
12
One thousand (or one hundred and one,

depending on how you pronounce it)
83.A man says his dog can jump over his

house. No one believes him but he is
right. How is that possible?
The dog can jump over his dog house.
89.A sharpshooter hangs up his hat, turns

around and walks 50 meters, then turns
around and shoots his gun, putting a
hole right through his hat. How did he
do it?
He hung the hat up on his gun.
84.Five pigeons are sitting on a fence. The

farmer comes out and shoots one. How
many are left?
None, the rest flew away at the sound of
the gunshot.
90.5 cats can catch 5 mice in 5 minutes.

How many cats does it take to catch 100
mice in 100 minutes?
5 cats. The same five could keep catching
5 mice every 5 minutes for 100 minutes.
85.A plane with 50 passengers crashes and

everyone is killed, but there were only 49
bodies. How is this possible?
Two of the passengers were siamese
twins
91.You are in a room with no windows,

doors or any exit. The only items are a
mirror and a table. How do you escape?
(Not a typical brain teaser)
Look in the mirror, then at the wall and
back at the mirror to see what you saw.
Use the saw to cut the table in half and
join the two halves to make a whole. Put
the "hole" on the wall and climb out. (I
know, it's lame. I like to have brain
teasers that you can realistically guess,
but this one's so popular, I feel an
obligation to include it.)
86.A man leaves home, turns left, goes

straight, turns left again, goes straight
and turns left once more then returns
home and there's another man with a
mask on. What's going on?
A baseball game
87.A man is leaving on a business trip and
stops by his office on the way to the
airport. The night watchman stops him
and says, "Sir, don't take that flight. I
had a dream last night that your plane
would crash and everyone would die!"
The business man cancels his trip and
sure enough, the plane crashes, killing
all the passengers. The man gives his
watchman a $10,000 reward for saving
his life, then fires him. Why?
Because his night watchman was
sleeping on the job.
92.There's a green ranch house on a green

street with green walls, tables and
chairs. What color is the staircase?
There is no staircase, it's a ranch.
93.A man saw a snake crossing the road
and swerved to crush it with his tires. All
the street lights were off as well as the
car's headlights. There were no other
lights on along the road. How did the
man see the snake?
It was during the daytime
88.If you were to spell out the numbers,

how far would you have to go before
encountering the letter 'A'?
13
a nearby grocery store. One of the five

took an apple.
94.Four cards are placed in front of you on

the table, each with a number on one
side and a color on the other. The visible
cards show 3, 8, red and brown. Which
cards should you turn over in order to
test the truth of the statement that if a
card shows an even number on one face,
then its opposite face is red?
3
8
Red
Brown
Jim said, "It was Hank or Tom".

Hank said, "Neither Eddie nor I did it."
Tom said, "Both of you are lying."
Don said, "No, one of them is lying, the
other is speaking the truth."
Eddie said, "No, Don, that is not true."
When Mr. Bryant was consulted, he said,
"Three of these boys are always truthful
but two will lie every time."
Who took the apple?
Tom took the apple
Jim was telling the truth
Hank was telling the truth
Tom was lying
Don was lying
Eddie was telling the truth
(3 telling the truth and 2 lying)
95.Show the answer Direct link

96.You'd need to turn over only the 8 and
brown card. Only a card with an even
number on one face and which is not red
on the other face can invalidate the
stated rule. If you turn over the 3 card
and it's not red, it doesn't invalidate the
rule, nor does turning over the red card
and finding it has the label 3.
This test was devised by Peter Cathcart
Wason and is known as the Wason
selection task. Less than 10% of test
subjects got it correct in two separate
studies.
101.
A six-digit number represented by
ABCDEF (each letter represents a
different number) can be multiplied by 2,
3, 4, 5, and 6 and yet no new digits
appear in the result. As a matter of fact,
all the digits are rotated. What is the
number?
142857 (The first 6 digits of 1/7)
2 x 142857 = 285714
3 x 142857 = 428571
4 x 142857 = 571428
5 x 142857 = 714285
6 x 142857 = 857142
97.
98.What do the following words have in
common?
current, by, dew, faze, loan, ate
They all have homonyms: currant, buy,
due, phase, lone, eight
99.How can you alter the following equation

by a single stroke to make it correct?
5 + 5 + 5 = 550
5 4 5 + 5 = 550
Add a diagonal line on the top left of the
first plus sign to convert + into a 4. You
could also put a slash through the equal
sign to make (not equal) but that's not
as cool.
102.
What do these represent?
24 = HiaD
26 = LotA
7 = DotW
9 = LoaC
12 = SotZ
88 = PK
100.
During lunch hour a group of
boys from Mr. Bryant's homeroom visited
14
f(27,54) = 272 - 54 = 675

f(54,675) = 542 - 675 = 2241
24 hours in a day
26 letters of the alphabet
7 days of the week
9 lives of a cat
12 signs of the Zodiac
88 piano keys
110.
Two boys weighing 50 pounds
each and their older brother weighing
100 pounds wish to cross a river. Their
boat will only hold 100 pounds. How can
they all cross the river in the boat?
Two 50lb boys cross, one comes back.
100lb boy crosses, other 50lb boy
returns
Both 50lb boys cross.
103.
How do you pronounce Ghoti?
Fish. The gh is pronounced as in tough,
the o as in women and the ti as in
nation. Ghoti is a constructed word to
illustrate irregularities in English
spelling.
111.
A circular island with a diameter
of 30 feet has a 30 foot tree stands at the
center. A man cuts the tree down with
his chainsaw, making the cut a foot up
from the ground. The tree comes
crashing down and hits the water but
doesn't splash. Why not?
It's winter and the water is frozen.
104.
What does this sentence
represent?
105. Stand Take Mine Taking
I
You To
My
I understand you undertake to
undermine my undertaking.
106.
What is the only anagram of
Springiest?
Persisting
112.
What word or expression does this
represent?
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTVWXYZ
Missing you (U).
107.
How do you get from cold to warm
in four steps, changing only one letter at
a time?
cold, cord, word, worm or ward, warm
113.
Jack is looking at Anne, but Anne
is looking at George. Jack is married,
but George is not. Is a married person
looking at an unmarried person?
A) Yes
B) No
C) Cannot be determined
A. If Anne is married, she's looking at
George, who is unmarried. If Anne is
unmarried, Jack is looking at her.
108.
How do you turn 2 into 5?
Turn it upside down and look at it in a
mirror.
109.
What is N?
6, 9, 27, 54, N, 2241
675.
The next number in the sequence is n
squared minus m or f(n,m) = n2 - m
f(6,9) = 62 - 9 = 27
f(9,27) = 92 - 27 = 54
114.
What is the missing number?
2 3 4 15 12
3 4 5 28 20
4 5 6 45 30
15
5 6 7 66 42
6 7 8 ?? 56
91. To get the number in the fourth
column, you add the numbers in column
1 and 2, then multiply by the number in
column 2. f(n,m) = (n + m) * m
For example, f(2,3) = (2 + 3) * 3 = 15.
Thus f(6,7) = (6 + 7) * 7 = 91

Put 7 pigs in the first three pens and
arrange the fourth pen to contain the
other three pens.
119.
A woman gave a man a list of
things she needed to buy at the store.
The man gave the list back to the woman
and she turned red with embarrassment.
Why?
The man was a checkout clerk at the
grocery store. The list was for items to
get at a lingerie store.
115.
Two scruffy dogs were walking
down the street. The first dog turned to
the other and said, "Do you realize that if
one of your fleas jumped onto me we
would have the same number of fleas?"
The second replied, "Yes, but if one of
your fleas jumped onto me I would have
five times as many fleas as you." How
many fleas are on each dog to begin
with?
2 and 4
120.
Mike, Jimmy, Nader, Kevin, and
Larry were the top five finishers in the
regional 500-mile race. They drove
yellow, orange, green, red and blue cars
but not necessarily in that order. Neither
Kevin nor Larry drove the green car.
Kevin finished faster than Mike and
Larry. The blue car finished earlier than
Larry's and Nader's car. The yellow car
finished faster than the green car and
the orange car. Mike's and Larry's car
finished ahead of the orange car.
Jimmy's car finished before the blue and
the yellow car. Who drove what color car
and what place did each driver finish?
1st - Jimmy, red car
2nd - Kevin, blue car
3rd - Larry, yellow car
4th - Mike, green car
5th - Nader, orange car
116.
A snail creeps 10 feet up a wall
during the daytime, then falls asleep. It
wakes up the next morning and
discovers it slipped down 6 feet. If this
happens each day, how many days will it
take to reach the top of a 22 foot wall?
4 days
Day 1: up to 10, down to 4
Day 4: up to 22 (20 really) and done
117.
Two children were playing
checkers and each played five games.
Both children won the same number of
games yet there were no ties. How is this
possible?
They weren't playing each other.
121.
While driving his car a man slams
on the brakes when he sees, in the
middle of the street, a diamond studded
door, a gold door and a silver door.
Which door does he open first?
His car door
118.
How can you put 21 pigs in 4
pigpens and still have an odd number of
pigs in each pen?
122.
Ronald has a rare opportunity to
meet the President of the United States.
16
During his visit the president gives him a

gift but tells Ronald he is never to sell it
unless he sees the president again.
Ronald consents, but the president dies
later that year. Years later a man offers
to buy the President's gift for $1000.
Ronald agrees and exchanges the gift for
20 crisp $50 bills. Did he keep his
promise?
Yes. The president was Ulysses S. Grant,
who died in 1885 and whose face has
been on the $50 bill since 1913. He saw
the president on the bills before he made
the exchange.

When putting gloves on, then removing
them
127.
Eat flush to my nose tree times for
they buy dead by too. What is the
answer?
Eat (8) flush (plus) to (2) my nose (minus)
tree (3) times (times) for (4) they buy
dead by (divided by) too (2).
There are two answers depending on
whether you calculate as you read or
calculate the entire solution at the end.
8 + 2 = 10, - 3 = 7, x 4 = 28, / 2 = 14
or
8 + 2 - 3 x 4 / 2 = 10 - 6 = 4
123.
What 3 digit number has a tens
digit that is 5 more than the ones digit
and a hundreds digit that is 8 less than
the tens digit?
194
128.
A man owed his friend $63 and
repaid him the exact amount in cash
without using coins or $1 bills (no online
transfers, checks, credit cards or any
other tricks) and without requiring
change. How did he do it?
A $50 bill, a $5 bill and 4 $2 bills.
124.
Why are manhole covers round?
It allows them to be rolled around easily
and prevents the cover from falling into
the hole.
129.
Fill in the blanks with the same 4
letters to make 5 different words.
125.
You are in the woods with owls
and wolves. There are 22 eyes and 32
legs. How many owls and wolves are
there?
5 owls and 5 wolves, (not 6 owls because
2 of the eyes and legs are yours).
A ____ old woman on ____ bent, picked

up her ____ and away she went. ____ my
son she was heard to say, what shall
we do to ____ today?
vile, evil, veil, Levi, live
2 * owls + 2 * wolves = 20 eyes

2 * owls + 4 * wolves = 30 legs
owls + wolves = 10 eyes owls = 10 wolves
owls + 2 * wolves = 15 10 - wolves + 2
* wolves = 15 wolves = 5
owls + 5 = 10 owls = 5
A vile old woman on evil bent, picked up

her veil and away she went. Levi my
son she was heard to say, what shall
we do to live today?
130.
Perform this calculation in your
head, mentally adding the numbers as
quickly as you can. Start with 1000 and
add 40. Now add 1000. Add 30 to that,
126.
When can ten plus ten equal ten,
yet ten minus ten equal twenty?
17
then add another 1000. Now add 20 to

that result. Add another 1000 and
finally, add 10 to that. What is the total?
4,100. If you got 5,000 you're not alone.
96% of test subjects get the wrong
answer.
131.

Weigh four against four. If they're equal,
weigh three of them against three you
haven't weighed. If they balance too,
weigh the last remaining egg against any
of the others to see if it is lighter or
heavier. If the three suspects are heavier,
weigh one of them against another and
the one that goes down is it. If they
balance the remaining suspect is heavy.
Use the same process if they're lighter. If
the initial four vs four don't balance,
weigh two heavy eggs and a light egg
against one heavy egg, one light one and
a known normal egg. If they balance
weigh the remaining two light eggs
against each other. If they balance the
unweighed heavy egg is the odd one out.
If the side with two heavy eggs goes down
weigh them against each other. If they
balance it is the light egg on the other
side. If the other side goes down it is
either because of one heavy egg on that
side or because the one light egg on the
other side is lighter than the rest. Weigh
one of them against a known normal egg
to determine which is true.
Read this sentence.

Finished files are the result of years of scientific study combined with
the experience of years.
How many times does the letter F

appear?
There are six. Most people skip the word
'of' and only count three.
132.
Without changing the order of
these numbers, how can they equal 100?
3 5 6 2 54 5
3 * (5 - 6) + 2 * 54 - 5
-3 + 108 - 5
105 - 5 = 100
135.
What number belongs at the
beginning of this sequence?
?, 3, 2, 3, 9, 2, 4, 8, 4, 3, 7, 6
3 .
133.
A taxi driver runs through four
red lights, two stop signs and goes
through a house. A police officer
witnesses this but doesn't do anything.
Why not?
The taxi driver is not in his cab, he's out
for a run. The house he went through
was his own because he was done
running.
If you break up the numbers into groups

of 4, a,b,c,d, then 2 |a - d| = |b - c|.
9 2 4 8 2 |9 - 8| = |2 - 4|, or 2 1
=2
4 3 7 6 2 |4 - 6| = |3 - 7|, or 2 2
= 4, so
n 3 2 3 2 |3 - 3| = |3 - 2|, or 2
= 1;
134.
Suppose you have twelve eggs and
a balance scale. All of the eggs are
identical except for one whose only
difference is its weight. Using the scale
only three times, determine which egg is
the odd egg out and whether it is heavier
or lighter than the other eggs.
I'm not sure this is the correct solution,

but it's the best I've found so far. Email
me if you know of a better one.
18

We'll use A to represent the first cowboy
and B for the second cowboy.
136.
Imagine you're alone in a boat
with a large hole in the bottom. Sharks
are swimming around you on all sides
and the boat is sinking fast. How do you
survive?
Stop imagining ;)
A + 1 = 2A, so A = 1.
A + 1 = B - 1, so B = 3.
140.
On a dark, stormy Halloween
night, four kids named Luke, John,
Sarah and Bob walk into a haunted
house during a blackout. Only one can
escape. They take a staircase to the
second floor, a trapdoor on the left, then
go up the ladder to the right, followed by
a 28-foot slide to the basement through
the mouth of a Giant Panda. In one
corner of the murky cellar is a chainsaw,
a dagger, a rope with a noose and an
electric chair. Written on the wall in
blood are the words, "Only one will
survive - choose your death!" Bob takes
the rope, Sarah picks up the dagger,
John chooses the chainsaw and Luke
uses the chair.
Who survives?
Luke, because there's no power (it's
during a blackout).
137.
A clock loses exactly ten minutes
every hour. If the clock is set correctly at
noon, what is the correct time when the
clock reads 3:00pm?
3:36pm. For every 60 minutes of real
time, the clock moves 50 minutes. Put
another way, 60/50 = 1.2 real minutes
per slow-clock minute. In order for the
clock to show 3:00pm, 180 of its slow
minutes have to pass. 1.2 * 180 clock
minutes = 216 real minutes or 3 hours
and 36 minutes.
138.
A man is running across a field at
night clutching something in his arms as
several other men pursue him. He looks
back and sees they're getting closer. In a
final burst of effort his pursuers catch
up and bring him crashing to the
ground. His pursuers stand over him but
do not touch him or take what he was
carrying. Why not? Who was the running
man?
A football player who was tackled
141.
Pot OOOOOOOO
Potatoes (Pot + 8 Os)
142.
Given the numbers 1, 6, 7 and 9,
find an equation that equals 24. You may
only use each digit once.
91 - 67 = 24 or
(9 - 6) x (7 + 1) = 3 x 8 = 24 or
6 x 9 + 7 - 1 = 18 + 6 = 24
139.
Two cowboys live next door to each
other and both have a corral for their
cows in the back. One day they meet at
the back of their homes, standing next to
a wall dividing their corrals. The first
cowboy gets to thinking and asks his
neighbor for a cow so he can double his
herd. The other cowboys replies, "That's
fine by me partner, cuz then we'll have
the same number of cows?" How many
cows does each cowboy own?
143.
O, S, C, Y, S, B, T, D, ?
What is the next letter in the sequence?
E. Oh say can you see, by the dawn's
early light.
19
South. If you read the letters from back

to front they make 5.ou+4, or south.
144.
A red-house is made of red bricks,
has a red wooden door and a red roof. A
yellow-house is made of yellow bricks,
has a yellow wooden door and a yellow
roof. What is a green-house made of?
Glass.
148.
What 6-letter word has the same
pair of letters in spots 1 and 5, a
different pair in spots 2 and 6 and
contains a 'u' in between?
church, delude, inulin or recure
145.
On a game show there are three
closed doors - one hides a car and the
other two conceal a goat. The contestant
selects a door, which remains closed,
and the host, knowing where the car is
hidden, reveals a goat behind one of the
remaining two doors. The contestant is
then given the option to switch doors or
stay with the one they originally selected.
What should the contestant do to have
the best chance of winning the car?
The contestant should switch doors,
which doubles the chance of winning the
car. Initially there is a 2/3 chance of
picking a goat, but once the other goat is
revealed, switching to remaining door
gives the contestant a better chance of
winning the car. This is known as the
Monty Hall Problem and can be very
unintuitive.
149.
What letter comes next?
OTTFFSS
E (one, two, three, four, five, six, seven
eight)
150.
SO, ND, JF, MA, __, __
What are the next two pairs of letters?
MJ, JA. September, October, November,
December...
151.
Three rooms contain, 1) Gold
coins, 2) Currency notes and 3) Cotton
bags. If all three rooms catch fire, which
room will the ambulance pour water on
first?
An ambulance doesn't pour water.
152.
Alfred and Bill are clerks at the
local grocery store. Alfred can stock a
shelf in 20 minutes, but Bill is new and
takes 30 minutes. How long would it
take for them to stock a shelf together?
Working together they can stock a shelf
at a rate of 1/20 + 1/30 (or 5/60) per
minute. They'll finish in 12 minutes
146.
If a plane sits on a conveyer belt
whose speed matches that of the plane
in the opposite direction, can the plane
take off?
Yes, because a plane's wheels roll freely
and have no affect on the movement of
the plane(unlike a car). The propellor or
jet engine makes the plane move and the
plane will be able to take off normally. If
you don't believe me, here's proof.
153.
Ralph goes to the hardware store
to buy something for his house. He asks
the clerk how much one will cost and the
clerk looks it up and tells him it will be
$3. He asks about buying twelve and is
told it will be $6. Two hundred will cost
$9. What is Ralph buying?
147.
Go back. You must strive to find a
way to stay alive. What is 4+no.5?
20

Door numbers at $3 each.
156.
A boat full of people goes under a
bridge and when it comes out the other
side not a single person is on it. How can
this be?
All the passengers are married.
154.
Your are given the numbers 777,
888 and 999. Using the numbers once
and adding, subtracting, multiplying or
dividing, how can you make 999?
(7 x 7 x 7) + (9 x 9 x 8) + ((9 - 8) x 8) =
999
If other operators were allowed, another
solution would be 999 modulo (888 x
777)
157.
Jim and Wanda both have some
apples. If Jim gives Wanda an apple, they
will both have the same number of
apples. However, if Wanda gives Jim an
apple, Jim will have twice as many as
Wanda. How many apples do Jim and
Wanda each have?
Jim has 7 apples and Wanda has 5
apples.
155.
This problem can be solved by
pre-school children in five to ten
minutes, by programmers in an hour
and by people with higher
education...well, check it yourself.
158.
He was the perfect gentleman even
though his nephew couldn't see it. Who
was he?
A fine chap with a blind nephew (or an
exemplary uncle who died before his
nephew was born).
8809 = 6
7111 = 0
2172 = 0
6666 = 4
1111 = 0
3213 = 0
7662 = 2
9313 = 1
0000 = 4
2222 = 0
3333 = 0
5555 = 0
8193 = 3
8096 = 5
1012 = 1
7777 = 0
9999 = 4
7756 = 1
6855 = 3
9881 = 5
5531 = 0
2581 = ?
2. The number of closed circles in the 4
digits. 0, 6 and 9 each have one, 8 has 2.
159.
From a basket of mangoes when
counted in twos there was one extra,
counted in threes there were two extra,
counted in fours there were three extra,
counted in fives there were four extra,
counted in sixes there were five extra,
but counted in sevens there were no
extras.
At least how many mangoes were there
in the basket?
119. The number has to be evenly
divisible by seven for there to be no
extras when counting in sevens, and it
has to be odd in order for there to be one
extra when counting by twos. It also
can't be evenly divisible by three through
six. 119 is the first odd multiple of 7 that
satisfies the requirements.
21
160.
gges egsg segg esgg
Scrambled eggs
and the women both said, "Hello,

Father". How is this possible?
The man was a priest.
161.
A man without eyes saw plums on
a tree,
He didn't take plums nor plums did he
leave.
How can this be?
The man had only one eye and took one
plum. (note singular versus plural)
167.
When Randolph asked Hilda how
old she was, Hilda replied that in two
years she would be twice as old as she
was five years ago. How old is Hilda?
Aside from the potential response that
it's rude to ask the age of a lady, the
answer can be worked out
mathematically.
162.
What word can be written
forward, backward or upside down while
still remaining the same word?
NOON
x + 2 = 2(x - 5)
x + 2 = 2x - 10
x + 12 = 2x
12 = x
In two years she'll be 14, which is twice
her age 5 years ago (7).
163.
Two days ago Lilly was 7 years old.
Next year she will turn 10. How can this
be?
Her birthday is on December 31st. Today
is January 1st so she was 7 two days
ago, now she's 8. She will turn 9 this
year and next year she'll turn 10.
168.
The 17 items in your shopping
cart weigh 8 pounds. But when your
daughter puts in a ball, poster board and
yo-yo the shopping cart weighs less. How
is that possible?
Your daughter had to get out of the cart
to fit the remaining items.
164.
How can you cross out four letters
from the word LIVING to leave six
remaining?
Cross out LING, leaving you with VI, or 6
in Roman numerals.
169.
A mother of three children had six
apples. She gave two to each and yet 4
remained. How was this possible?
She gave the same 2 apples to each child
in succession.
165.
011 235 813 213 ???
What comes next?
455. The numbers are from the
Fibonacci sequence in groups of 3. The
next numbers in the series are 34 (the 3
was already used in 213) and 55.
170.
A dad offered to pay his son $5 for
every correct answer on his math test.
His son said he would pay his Dad $8 for
every incorrect answer. There were 26
questions on the test and no money was
exchanged. How?
The son got 16 questions correct and
missed 10. This means he owed his Dad
166.
A women and daughter walked
into a restaurant. A man walked past
22
10 * $8 = $80, but his Dad owed him 16

* $5 = $80, so it was a wash.
Two math equations to solve it are x + y =
26 and 5x = 8y.
It's a palindrome (a word or phrase that's

spelled the same backwards and
forwards).
175.
A man gets off the bus looking for
an address and approaches a couple
walking in the same direction for
directions. The woman says they're going
that way and take him. Along the way
the man asks if they're related. The
woman grins and says, "We're not
strangers. This man's mother is my
mother's mother-in-law." The man is
confused but doesn't say anything. When
he gets back home he tells his wife about
the conversation and she can't figure it
out either. They decide to ask their
lawyer and he eventually works it out
with pen and paper. How are the couple
related?
The couple is either a man and his
daughter or an uncle and his niece.
171.
If two hours ago it was as long
after one o'clock in the afternoon as it
was before one o'clock in the morning,
what time is it right now?
9pm (or 21:00). There are 12 hours
between 1pm and 1am, so 6 hours after
1am is halfway. 6 hours + 1pm equals
7pm. In order for 7pm to be 2 hours
behind the current time, it must be 9pm.
172.
A man walks out of a house that
has four walls all facing north. A bird
walks past him. What kind is it?
A penguin. If all four walls face north the
house must be at the southernmost
point of the earth. Really, any native
antarctic bird would work.
176.
A dad told his son he would give
him $5 for every correct answer on his
math test. His son replied that he would
pay $8 for every incorrect answer. There
were 26 questions on the test and no
money was exchanged. Why?
The son answered 16 questions correctly,
missing 10. He owed his Dad 10 * $8 =
$80 but his Dad owed him 16 * $5 =
$80, so they were even.
This brain teaser is quite similar to the

guy whose house walls face south and
sees a bear, then you're asked the color
of the bear. The bear would be white (a
polar bear) as they're the only bears
indigenous to the north pole. A lawyer
would claim it's all circumstantial
evidence and the bear could be an
imported brown bear. The laywer makes
a valid point.
173.
What is the longest word in the
English dictionary?
Smiles because there is a mile between
the two s's. (Groan)
177.
How do you get 24 from 9, 6, 11
and 3 using addition, subtraction,
multiplication or division?
(6 - 3) x 11 - 9
174.
What is special about the phrase,
'Race car'?
178.
Phil asks his friend Stan when his
birthday is. Stan replies that he was 32
the day before yesterday and next year
he'll be 35. When is his birthday and
how is this possible?
23

Today is Jan 1st and his birthday is on
December 31st. He was 32, then turned
33 on Dec 31st, and this year on Dec
31st he'll turn 34, so next year he'll be
35.
two highest digits are 3 and 2, giving you

742 and 653. Finally, you add the 1 to
the lower number. Page 80 has the
details of that solution.
182.
I have nine matchbox sticks and
would like to make ten. How do I do it?
Arrange the nine matchbox sticks like so
to make the shape of the number ten:
_
/| | |
| |_|
179.
A man wants to get into a night
club where the bouncers test each
person before they can enter. The man
waits and watches. A woman walks up to
the bouncers and the bouncers say 6.
The woman replies with 3 and goes in. A
small man walks up and they say 12.
The man replies 6 and is admitted. The
first guy thinks he's figured it out and
walks up. They say 4 and the man
replies with 2, but they don't let him in.
What should he have said?
4. The answer is the number of letters in
the number. Six has 3 letters, twelve has
6 letters and four has 4 letters.
183.
In 2012 a class was divided into 2
groups. Their assignment was to find the
names of at least 3 children who were
born on the same day from 5 different
months of 2011. These were the results:
Group 1
August 20: Oliver, William, and Adam.
January 3: John, Alice, and Ken.
September 7: Bruce, Shane, and Peter.
June 11: April, Patrick, and Bobby.
July 19: Trent, Julie, and Charles.
180.
What is half of 8? (Hint: It's not 4)
3 (if you slice vertically) or o (if you slice
horizontally)
Group 2
March 1: Karl, Willie, and Patty.
February 29: Blake, Kobe, and Wayne.
December 24: Kyle, Chad, and Zoe.
May 12: Matthew, Manny, and Adrian.
November 20: Greg, Fiona, and
Elizabeth.
181.
Using all the digits from 1 to 7,
what two numbers have the largest
product? For example, 1234 x 567 =
699678 but you can do much better than
that.
742 x 6531 = 4,846,002.
The members of group 2 got an F on the

assignment. Why?
Group 2 failed because 2011 wasn't a
leap year, meaning there was no
February 29th.
A similar problem can be found in L.A.

Graham's Ingenious Mathematical
Problems and Methods with a range of 1
to 9, but the principle remains the same
- the numbers with the smallest
difference produce the largest product.
You start out with the highest two digits,
7 and 6, then attach 5 and 4, putting the
smaller of the two digits with the larger
number, giving you 74 and 65. The next
184.
If you and a friend have the same
amount of apples, how many does she
need to give you in order to have 10 more
apples than her?
24

She will always need to give you 5
apples. You both need at least 5 apples
to begin with, but apart from that it
doesn't matter exactly how many you
each have. When she gives you 5 you will
have 10 more than her because she will
lose 5 and you will gain 5, resulting in a
net difference of 10.
188.
How many of each animal did
Moses take on the ark?
None. Moses didn't have an ark, Noah
did (and yes, he took 2 of each animal).
189.
How is 7 different from the rest of
the numbers from 1-10?
7 (seven) is the only one with two
syllables.
For example, if you each have 25 apples

and she gives you 5 of hers, she will be
left with 20 and you will now have 30,
precisely 10 more than she has.
190.
There are six men carrying a box
holding six cats and each cat has 6
kittens. How many legs are there in
total?
1020. There are 6 men with 2 legs each,
for a total of 12 legs.
There are 36 cats with 4 legs each for a
total of 144 legs.
There are 216 kittens with 4 legs each
for a total of 864 legs
12 + 144 + 864 = 1020.
185.
What do the following words have
in common?
far, blow, bacon, lather, fasting,
wariness, pacemaker
Each of these words becomes a new word
when the letter 'e' is placed after the first
letter.
fear, below, beacon, leather, feasting,
weariness, peacemaker.
191.
Three ants are walking in the
same direction. The first ant has two
ants behind him, the second ant has one
in front and one behind, but the third
ant has one in front and one behind too.
The ants are in a circle. Lets say the ants
are A, B and C. A has has B and C
behind him, B has A in front and C
behind, and C has B in front and A
behind.
186.
How can you write a date in 5
letters without using any numbers?
The most popular answer for this teaser
is 'today'. Of course this only works if
you're reading it on that particular date
or if the date is not specified. Another
option is to respond literally with 'a date'.
Lastly, certain dates could be squeezed
into letters using Roman numerals if you
abbreviate the year to 2 numerals. For
example, January 20th, 2011 would be I
XX XI.
192.
What does this represent? BAN
ANA
Banana split. It's the word banana, and
it's split apart.
187.
How can the numbers 6, 1, 7 and
9 be arranged to make 24?
(9 - 6) (1 + 7) = 3 8 = 24
193.
What is this phrase? XQQQME
Excuse me. Literally, x + q's + me.
25
The 22nd and 24th U.S. presidents were

both the same person - Grover
Cleveland.
194.
You are a spy and need to send an
item to a contact in another country
without letting anyone else have access
to it. All unlocked items will be opened in
transit. How can you send this item
securely?
Place a lock on the item and send it to
your contact. They will place their own
lock on the package and return it to you.
You remove your lock and send it back.
When they receive it, they can unlock the
package and retrieve the item.
200.
Dina comes from a large family
and has over 20 cousins. How is it
possible that all of her cousins have an
aunt who is not her aunt?
The aunt of all of her cousins is Dina's
own mother.
201.
A zebra was going to the river. On
the way the zebra encountered five
giraffes. Each giraffe had five monkeys
on their neck. How many animals were
going to the river?
Just one - the zebra. The other 30
animals (5 giraffes and 25 monkeys)
were going the other way.
195.
chimadena
Made in china. The word "made" is
wedged between the word "china" (china)
196.
esroh gnidir
Horse back riding. The words are horse
and riding spelled backwards.
202.
What is the only word in the
English dictionary that has a silent z?
The word rendezvous. Even though it's a
French word, it's in the English
dictionary and is pronouced [rahn-duhvoo].
197.
How much dirt is there in a hole
that measures two feet by three feet by
four feet?
None. A hole doesn't have any dirt.
203.
James makes a bet with Laura
that he can use any name she can think
of in a song she will recognize with the
original lyrics. Laura takes him up on
the bet and loses. What song did James
sing to win?
Happy Birthday. When you sing Happy
Birthday, you say the person's name as
part of the song.
198.
The defendant testified, "The
attorney is my brother," but the attorney
took the stand and denied having a
brother under oath. Who is lying?
Neither one of them lied. The defendant
was the attorney's sister.
204.
What is a six-word sentence that
has the same meaning and spelling in
both English and Afrikaans?
199.
How could the 22nd and the 24th
U.S. Presidents have the same parents,
but not be brothers?
26
My pen is in my hand. It's not all that

meaningful of a sentence, but it's the
same in English and Afrikaans.
next day he discovers he was the cause

of seven deaths. How is this possible?
He lived in a lighthouse as lighthouse
keeper. He turned off all the lights by
accident, so a ship with 7 passengers
couldn't negotate the rocky shores. One
would think the light switches in a
lighthouse would be more clearly
marked.
205.
What do these words have in
common?
1. Banana
2. Dresser
3. Grammar
4. Potato
5. Revive
6. Uneven
7. Assess
If you move the first letter to the end of
the word, it forms the same word
backwards. Banana = ananab, dresser =
resserd, and so on.
209.
An electric train is traveling on a
2000-mile journey from Chicago, IL to
Los Angeles, CA. It has 16 cars with a
total of 320 passengers. The weather is
cloudy and cool, with a warm front
approaching from the south. Which
direction will the steam blow?
There is no steam. It's an electric train.
206.
What phrase do these words
sound like when rearranged?
amid eerie niger won spawn
"Won spawn amid niger eerie" sounds
like, "Once upon a midnight dreary",
from The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe.
210.
Franklin lent Darlene as much
money as she already had, then she
spent $10. The next day, Franklin lent
her as much money as she now had and
again, she spent $10. On the third day
Franklin once again lent her as much
money as she now had and she spent
$10, leaving her broke. How much
money did Darlene start with?
$8.75
You may have been tempted to guess $30
because $10 is spent three times, but
that would mean she would have had
$60 ($30 lent plus the $30 she already
had), and $50 after spending $10. The
rest of the numbers end up at higher
than zero, so we know it has to be less
than $30. Even starting at $10 leaves
Darlene with $10 on the third day.
Starting with $8.75 works out as follows.
207.
At the market you can buy a cow
for $10, a pig for $1 and 8 hens for $1.
How many animals would you need to
buy to get 100 mixed animals for exactly
$100?
7 cows, 21 pigs and 72 hens. The trick to
this is finding the combination of cows
and hens with the same cost and
quantity since pigs are already equal.
The magic combination is 7 cows and 72
hens, giving you 79 animals that cost
$79 ($70 + $9). Then you just add 21
pigs to get to 100 animals.
208.
A man goes to bed at 9:45 pm. He
makes himself a drink, then turns off
the TV and the lights. The night was
windy and there was a major storm. The
Day 1: $8.75 (lent) + $8.75 (already had)

- $10 (spent) = $7.50 (remaining)
Day 2: $7.50 + $7.50 - $10 = $5
Day 3: $5 + $5 - $10 = $0
27
216.
Peppino bought a new hat and
Tito asked what day he bought it.
Peppino replied, "If yesterday was
tomorrow, today would be Tuesday." On
what day did Peppino buy his hat?
Thursday. Yesterday (from Thursday) is
Wednesday, which is tomorrow with
respect to Tuesday.
211.
A farmer had 17 sheep. All but 9
died. How many live sheep does he have
left?
9. If all but 9 died, there are 9 remaining
live sheep.
212.
There was a neighborhood of onestory houses.
One was red and everything in the house
was red.
Another was purple and everything in
the house was purple.
Yet another was yellow and everything in
the house was yellow.
Still another was blue and everything in
the house was blue.
In the green house everything was
greeen,
and in the gray house everthing was
grey.
What color were the stairs in the yellow
house?
There are no stairs in any of the houses
because they only have one story.
217.
COF FEE
Coffee break. The word coffee is broken
into two pieces.
218.
A man hiked through the woods
with his dog and saw three coyotes, six
wolf cubs, seven bunnies, nine squirrels
and thirteen chipmunks. How many total
feet were there?
Two. The man has two feet. The rest of
the animals have paws.
219.
Which word is always spelled
wrong?
The word 'wrong'.
213.
13579U
The odds are against you. All of the odd
single-digit numbers are lined up next to
the letter u, representing the word you.
220.
What keys don't unlock any
doors?
Monkey, donkey, turkey, jockey, hockey,
doohickey, malarkey and passkey. There
may be others, but you get the drift.
214.
What is this? H2O autumn
Waterfall. H2O is a fancy-pants way of
saying water and autumn is a mildly
fancy way to say fall (the season).
221.
Kevin, Charles, Larry and Alex are
in a room that's about 110 feet long. In
front of them are 5 balls which are
exactly 100ft from the exit. The balls are
yellow, purple, green, red and blue,
respectively. Each man must carry a ball
to the exit. After traveling 20ft a ball will
change color twice. The sequence of color
changes is always the same: yellow,
purple, green, red, and blue.
215.
What does this mean? lainws
In-laws. The word in is found inside the
word laws.
28
At 80ft Kevin's ball is red. At 40ft Larry's

ball is purple. At 60ft Charles' ball is
blue and at 100ft Alex's ball is purple.
What color ball was left behind?
The remaining ball was blue. Here's a
table of each ball and the color it
changes to at 20, 40, 60, 80 and 100ft.
Kevin's started out yellow, Larry's was
green, Charles' was red and Alex began
with a purple ball, leaving blue as the
one nobody picked.
20ft
40ft
Yellow Green Blue
60ft
80ft
Purple Red
Purple Red
Yellow Green Blue
Green
Blue
Purple Red
Red
Yellow Green Blue
Blue
Purple Red
100ft
Yellow
Purple
Yellow Green
Purple Red
Yellow Green Blue
222.
Five kinds of flowers grow in
separate gardens on five different streets.
Here is what you know:
1. The Smiths do not grow violets.
2. The Morgans grow peonies and do not
live on 2nd street.
3. The Parks live on 3rd street.
4. Begonias bloom on 4th street.
5. Roses do not grow on 5th street.
6. The Johnsons do not live on 1st street.
7. The Rosens do not grow daffodils
8. The Johnsons grow roses
9. Daffodils grow on 1st street
223.
This is a four-part brain teaser.
1. How do you put a giraffe into a
refrigerator?
2. How do you put an elephant into a
refrigerator?
3. The Lion King is hosting an animal
conference. All the animals attend except
one. Which animal doesn't attend?
4. There is a river you must cross but it
is used by crocodiles and you don't have
a boat. How can you cross safely?
1. Open the refrigerator, put the giraffe
in and close the door. It's not
complicated.
2. Open the refrigerator, take out the
giraffe, then put in the elephant and
close the door.
3. The elephant. He's still in the
refrigerator. After all, you just put him
there.
4. Jump into the river and swim across.
The crocodiles are at the Lion King's
animal meeting.
I admit, this is not a typical brain teaser,
but it amused me.
224.
There are two ducks in front of a
duck, two ducks behind a duck and a
duck in the middle. How many ducks are
there in total?
Three. They're all in a row, so ducks 1
and 2 are in front of duck 3, ducks 2 and
3 are behind duck 1 and duck 2 is in the
middle.
Which flowers grow on in whose gardens

on what streets?
1st street: Smiths, daffodils.
2nd street: Johnsons, roses.
3rd street: Parks, violets
4th street: Rosens, begonias
5th street: Morgans, peonies.
225.
Four words can be made from the
letters below. What are the words?
SENTCA
1. ENACTS
2. ASCENT
3. STANCE
4. SECANT
29
226.
What 12-letter word has each of
the vowels in the correct order without
any repeated vowels?
Abstemiously. It's 12 letters long and the
letter y is considered a vowel in certain
cases, and is included. Facetiously is
another word that has all the vowels in
order, but it's only 11 letters long.
for leap year, then you are a human

calculator.
232.
Two people were in a house. No
one came in or went out, but then there
were three people. What happened?
The two people were a husband and an
expectant wife, who gave birth to her
baby.
227.
Fill in numbers such that the sum
of each 3-character row is 22 while the
sum of all five numbers is 30.
a
b
233.
A couple has two children. At least
one of them is a boy. Assuming the
probability of having a boy or girl is 50%,
what is the probability that both children
are boys?
If you answered 1/2, you're not without
comrades, but the answer is 1/3. This is
because there are only four possible
combinations: Boy-Boy, Boy-Girl, GirlBoy and Girl-Girl. Since we are told one
of the children is a boy (but we don't
know if it's the first or second child), we
can rule out the Girl-Girl combination,
leaving three remaining options. Only
one of those is Boy-Boy, which is a 1/3
chance.
d
e
228.
229.
The problem works out to a set of
three equations:
b + c + d = 22
a + c + e = 22
a + b + c + d + e = 30
Solving for c = 14, leaving d = 8 - b and e
= 8 - a. In other words, c must be 14, but
the other two numbers just have to add
up to 8. The requirement that they be
unique rules out 4 + 4, so you're left to
choose from the following combations for
b + d and a + e:
0+8
1+7
2+6
3+5
230.
231.
How many seconds are there in a
year? (Hint: You don't need a calculator)
24. If you said 12 for January 2nd,
February 2nd, etc that's close, but you
forgot about January 22nd, February
22nd and so on. If you are a math whiz
and didn't need a calculator to perform
60 x 60 x 24 x 365, then 31,536,000
works too. If you used 365.25 to account
This is a well-known problem known as

the Boy or Girl paradox.
234.
What is the smallest number that
is evenly divisible by 1 through 10?
2520.
2520/1 = 2520
2520/2 = 1260
2520/3 = 840
2520/4 = 630
2520/5 = 504
2520/6 = 420
2520/7 = 360
2520/8 = 315
2520/9 = 280
2520/10 = 252
30
Door number one is for words composed

entirely of capital letters written using
only straight lines, such as A, E, F, H,
and I. The entire set of letters allowed
through door number one are
AEFHIKLMNTVWXYZ. Door number two,
as might be expected, is for words with
capital letters that have a curve,
including BCDGJOPQRSU. Any words
composed of both straight and curved
letters (or lowercase letters) are not
allowed in. The word 'THAT' would have
been sent through door number one, if
the letters had been capitalized.
235.
You watch a group of words going
to a party. A word either enters through
one of two doors or is turned away by the
guards. 'HIM' goes through door number
one and 'BUG' goes through door
number two. 'HER' is turned away.
'MINT' and 'WEAVE' go in through door
one, 'DOOR' and 'CORD' take door two
and 'THIS' and 'That' aren't allowed in.
What determines whether a word can
enter and which door they must use?
31

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BRAIN TWISTER

either black and match the first sock, or

It's fun to solve brain teasers and I've heard

4. What is special about the following

your brain is like a muscle. If you exercise it (by

5. Three travelers register at a hotel and are

puzzles and can think quickly you'll be an ideal

6. You are the bus driver. At your first stop,

3. You have 12 black socks and 12 white

What is the color of the bus driver's

a hint: There is a valid answer that

7. A rooster lays an egg at the very top of a

9. Why is it very common to have a 9

The flashlight must be walked back and

10.A bookworm eats from the first page of

Bono: 1 minute to cross

On a book shelf the first page of the first

14.In a small cabin in the woods, two men

11.An Arab sheikh tells his two sons to race

16.Beulah died in the Appalachians while

12.An 18-wheeler is crossing a 4 kilometer

17.You are a cook in a remote area with no

13.A completely black dog was strolling

Four daughters and three sons. Each

18.I am the owner of a pet store. If I put in

Solving for G gives you 4 and plugging

If you put one canary in each cage, you

21.What seven-letter word has hundreds of

19.Here is a series of numbers. What is the

23.Tom's mother has three children. One is

20.My daughter has as many sisters as she

outside of the room there are three light

28.You have a lighter and two fuses that

Your assignment is to determine which

How would you use these two fuses to

26.If a bottle and a cork cost a dollar and a

9. Fill up the 5 gallon bucket

32.A man can make perfect counterfeit bills.

30.A princess is as old as the prince will be

33.A prisoner is told "If you tell a lie we will

What are their ages?

34.How many people can read hex if only

return with nothing. Finally, take the fox

and married the Princess and became

36.A man is looking at a picture of a man

39.Two guards were on duty outside a

37.A man and his son had a terrible car

40.You're riding a horse. To the right of you

38.A wise king devised a contest to see who

41.You have 50 quarters on the table in

The rules were the contestants could not

42.You have four chains. Each chain has

water have increased, decreased or

43.Walking down the street one day, I met a

46.You are given eight coins and told that

44.Three closed boxes have either white

47.I was visiting a friend one evening and

45.A glass of water with a single ice cube

Show the answer Direct link

normally lie and point to the death door,

48.You're in a room with two doors. There's

51.You are a prisoner sentenced to death.

If you ask the guard who always tells the

How do you divide the marbles up so

A old woman on bent, picked