A Hidden Message

44 33 555 555 666 9 666 777 555 3

What is the message in this code?

Pressing these digits in sequence will produce HELLO WORLD on a cell phone (for an SMS text message).

Posted in Brain Teasers

Where do the Numbers Belong?

Three numbers, 16, 14 and 38, need to be assigned to one of the rows of numbers below. Where do the numbers belong?

A 0 6 8 9 3
B 15 27 21 10 19
C 7 1 47 11 17

Hint: This is not a mathematical problem. The numerical values are irrelevant.

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.

Posted in Brain Teasers

Five Three Two

What is the answer to the last equation?

5 3 2 = 151012
9 2 4 = 183662
8 6 3 = 482466
5 4 5 = 202504
7 2 5 = ?

10000 × (x × y) + 100 × (x × z) + transpose_digits(x × y + y × z)

transpose_digits() just swaps the digits

Posted in Brain Teasers

Four Weights To Thirty

What four weights can be used to balance from one to thirty pounds?

A = 1
B = 3
C = 9
D = 17

1 lb = A
2 lbs + A = B
3 lbs = B
4 lbs = A + B
5 lbs + A + B = C
6 lbs + B = C
7 lbs + B = A + C
8 lbs + A = C
9 lbs = C
10 lbs = A + C
11 lbs + A = B + C
12 lbs = B + C
13 lbs = A + B + C
14 lbs + B = D
15 lbs + B = A + D
16 lbs + A = D
17 lbs = D
18 lbs = A + D
19 lbs + A = B + D
20 lbs = B + D
21 lbs = A + B + D
22 lbs + A + B = C + D
23 lbs + B = C + D
24 lbs + B = A + C + D
25 lbs + A = C + D
26 lbs = C + D
27 lbs = A + C + D
28 lbs + A = B + C + D
29 lbs = B + C + D
30 lbs = A + B + C + D

Posted in Brain Teasers

Six Glasses In a Row

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.

Posted in Brain Teasers

Border Plane Crash

A plane crashed on the border or US and Canada. Where do they bury the survivors?

Nowhere, you don’t bury survivors.

Posted in Brain Teasers

Three Consecutive Days

Name three consecutive days without using the words Wednesday, Friday, or Sunday.

Yesterday, today and tomorrow.

Posted in Brain Teasers

The Best of Three Evils

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 months.

Which room should he choose to have the best chance of staying alive?

The third room, since the lions would have died from starvation.

Posted in Brain Teasers

A Most Unusual Paragraph

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 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. 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.

Posted in Brain Teasers

A Sunday Morning Murder

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.

Posted in Brain Teasers