My daughter had this riddle as a question on a job application and getting it right got her the job. Her boss said that 90% of people get it wrong. It’s the match. It’s so obvious that it isn’t obvious, but duh. You can’t light anything until you light the match.
It’s obvious and silly that this is the answer, since it requires assumptions that some people may make and others will not. Many will likely take the ‘having a match’ as it being lit and solve from there. The sentence makes no indication to whether it is unlit or lit even. So it’s easy to draw assumptions, and yours are no more correct than mine.
18 Comments on "Which Do You Light First?"
mike says
December 7, 2014 @ 16:54
u will light the match first
Hermione says
March 2, 2015 @ 02:34
LIGHT THE MATCH FIRST DUH!!! You cant even see the stove or the oil lamp
Katie says
October 18, 2015 @ 08:30
That’s too easy you light the match first!
saba says
May 12, 2016 @ 11:27
very nice
celestine says
May 14, 2016 @ 14:09
None of them will be lit. This is because, there is no matchbox provided for litting d match stick.
MelloJello says
November 20, 2016 @ 18:07
@mike : Did you cheat?
@Hermione : OR the candle…
@Katie : Same as mike
@saba : What about?
@celestine : Nice logic!
Hmmm says
December 16, 2016 @ 10:18
You don’t need a matchbox to light a match. You can use a wall, the ground, your tooth…
jeff says
May 5, 2017 @ 16:15
the mach
Medha says
August 20, 2017 @ 03:30
Oil lamp
Wendy Anne says
November 16, 2017 @ 20:57
My daughter had this riddle as a question on a job application and getting it right got her the job. Her boss said that 90% of people get it wrong. It’s the match. It’s so obvious that it isn’t obvious, but duh. You can’t light anything until you light the match.
Shanika says
July 5, 2018 @ 10:40
It’s pitch black. How do you see anything including the match to even light it?
Vinod says
July 5, 2018 @ 12:56
Obviously match as oil lamp and stove will not be visible
Mike says
October 4, 2018 @ 15:55
It’s obvious and silly that this is the answer, since it requires assumptions that some people may make and others will not. Many will likely take the ‘having a match’ as it being lit and solve from there. The sentence makes no indication to whether it is unlit or lit even. So it’s easy to draw assumptions, and yours are no more correct than mine.
Susan D says
December 11, 2018 @ 19:59
Hit the light switch.
Alex says
November 22, 2019 @ 14:34
celestine, not only a matchbox can light a match, anything with a rigid surface could work, Bricks work great, Sandpaper could work.
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