Odd Start, Even Finish

What three letter English word has an odd start, an even finish and an infinitely long middle?

The word vex. “v” is Roman numeral 5, which is odd. “x” is Roman numeral 10, which is even. “e” is the base of the natural logarithm and is irrational (e = 2.718281828…). Its mantissa (the part to the right of the decimal point) is infinitely long.

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O S C Sequence

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.

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Aiden and Sofia Buying Candy

Aiden and Sofia were debating a major purchase of candy. They calculated that they could get three bags of jelly beans and two bags of chocolate for 24 cents, which was just under their limit of 25 cents. They found they could also get four bags of chocolate and two bags of jelly beans for the same 24 cents. How much did each bag of candy cost?

Jelly beans are 6 cents and chocolate is 3 cents.

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The Truck and the Plane

A delivery truck from the post office is sent to the airport to meet a cargo plane at its planned arrival time. The plane lands ahead of schedule and its contents are brought toward the post office by bicycle. After a half hour, the bicycle meets the truck and the mail is transferred.

The truck returns from the post office 20 minutes early. How early did the plane arrive? (Assume all transactions are instantaneous)

The delivery truck arrived back 20 minutes early, so it would have taken 20 minutes to go from where it met the bicycle to get to the airport and back. Therefore, the bicycle and truck met when the truck was 10 minutes from the airport. Adding those 10 minutes to the 30 minutes the truck had already driven to meet the bicycle means the plane arrived 40 minutes ahead of schedule.

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I Hide But My Head Is Outside

I hide but my head is outside. What am I?

A nail.

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If You Break Me, I Don’t Stop Working

If you break me
I do not stop working,
If you touch me
I may be snared,
If you lose me
Nothing will matter.

Your heart.

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Sometimes I Get Stronger From The Sun

I can help you have some fun,
Sometimes I get stronger from the sun,
If you never give me a break,
You will find I never wake,
I am optimistic on one side,
I can be short, fat, tall or wide,
Rectangle and cylinder are two of my shapes,
And I can even help you make video tapes,
Sometimes you must wait for me to get ready,
Just hold on for a few hours and be steady,
I can help you get around the mall,
Or help you make a telephone call.

What am I?

A battery. Games and other entertainment devices run on batteries. Batteries can be charged using solar power, which is from the sun. If you use a battery-powered device long enough, the battery will die. Batteries have a plus side and can be all shapes and sizes. They can power scooters and Segways commonly used in malls and your cell phone requires a battery to function.

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Living to Six

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.

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LEWL GUNEB SI FLAH ENDO

Rearrange the letters of each word in this phrase to form a well-known saying.

LEWL GUNEB SI FLAH ENDO

Well begun is half done.

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Mixed Animals for $100

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.

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