Mislabeled Boxes of Marbles

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.

Posted in Brain Teasers

How Much Dirt?

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.

Posted in Brain Teasers

The Websters’ Busy Day

Mr. and Mrs. Webster were on a holiday shopping excursion. On their way to the car after leaving the store, Mr. Webster complained he was tired from carrying so many packages. Mrs. Webster, the kindly thing that she was, replied, “Quit your complaining Walter! If you gave me just one of your packages, I’d have twice as many as you. And if I gave you one of mine, we’d have the same.”

How many packages were Mr. and Mrs. Webster each carrying?

Mrs. Webster was carrying 7 packages and poor old Mr. Webster was laden with 5.

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

Books By Charles Dickens

Pair these words to make nine titles of books by Charles Dickens:

A LITTLE    1 RUDGE
B PICKWICK  2 COPPERFIELD
C EDWIN     3 TIMES
D BARNABY   4 CHUZZLEWIT
E NICHOLAS  5 PAPERS
F HARD      6 HOUSE
G BLEAK     7 DROOD
H DAVID     8 DORRIT
I MARTIN    9 NICKLEBY

A 8 = LITTLE DORRIT
B 5 = PICKWICK PAPERS
C 7 = EDWIN DROOD
D 1 = BARNABY RUDGE
E 9 = NICHOLAS NICKLEBY
F 3 = HARD TIMES
G 6 = BLEAK HOUSE
H 2 = DAVID COPPERFIELD
I 4 = MARTIN CHUZZLEWIT

Posted in Brain Teasers

Fix This Roman Numeral Equation

This Roman numeral equation is wrong, but you can fix it without changing any of the elements of the equation. How is this possible?

I + XI = X

Look at it upside down. Instead of changing the equation, you can change your perspective.

This is from Dan Brown’s novel, Origin.

Posted in Brain Teasers

Take Off My Clothes, Puts Its On

When I take off my clothes, it puts on its clothes.
When I put on my clothes, it takes off its clothes.

A clothes hanger.

Posted in Riddles

Falling Window Cleaner

A window cleaner is cleaning a window on the 25th floor of a skyscraper when he slips and falls. He has no safety equipment and nothing to soften his fall, yet he is not hurt. How can this be?

He was cleaning the inside of the window.

Posted in Brain Teasers

Rarely Touched, Often Held

I’m rarely touched but often held and if you’re wise you’ll use me well. What am I?

Your tongue.

Posted in Riddles
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Same Forward, Backward and Upside Down

What word is the same written forward, backward and upside down?

NOON. The word needs to be a palindrome and made up of only these letters that look the same upside down:

H I N O S X Z

For instance, SOON doesn’t work, because even though each letter looks the same upside down, it reads NOOS.

Posted in Riddles