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.
There is an abandoned aquarium in an empty house. The aquarium has three large fish and three small fish. But after a week, one large fish and two small fish die.
Light. Without light you wouldn’t be able to see anything. And light is made up of all the colors of the rainbow. Adding light to a word can mean it weighs less and light has no mass.
Last winter I found myself locked out of my house because I couldn’t remember the 5-digit code to open the garage door. I used the following facts to get inside.
1. The second and third digits add up to 9. 2. The first digit is equal to the second digit cubed. 3. The sum of the third and fifth digits is the smallest number with exactly five divisors. 4. The fourth digit is equal to 6 times the second-to-last digit. 5. None of the digits repeat.
If we label each digit a, b, c, d and e, we get the following equations. 1. b + c = 9 2. a = b3 3. c + e = 16 (since 16 is the smallest number with five divisors – 1, 2, 4, 8 and 16). 4. d = 6 * d (The fourth and second-to-last digits are the same number, meaning d must be zero to satisfy the equation) 5. b must be zero, one or two (b can’t be three because that makes a=27, which isn’t a single digit). Zero and one result in duplicate digits (00907 and 11808 respectively) so the only remaining value for b is 2, giving us 82709 and warmth.
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.
I am two-faced, but bear one head. Men spill their blood for me. I have no legs but travel widely. I make kings immortal. I am potent when shared, Yet lust for my power keeps me locked away.
Money (coins specifically). Coins have two faces, heads and tails. People fight for money, and money travels far and wide. Kings live on when they’re depticted on a coin. Sharing money with others is a meaningful experience yet many people keep their money locked up.