What must be in the oven yet can not be baked? Grows in the heat yet shuns the light of day? What sinks in water but rises with air? Looks like skin but is fine as hair?
A dear old relative passed away recently and her family gathered for the reading of the will. The final item was the Chalk Emerald, a priceless gem. The will bequeathed it to whoever determined where it was hidden. The only clue was it was in a cylinder surrounded by a thousand squares. A young lass of barely six immediately piped up saying she knew where it was hidden and she was correct. Where was the hiding place?
Mark suggested two alternative solutions: A cylindrical chimney or a well, the squares being the bricks. Although most bricks aren’t square, it’s conceivable I guess.
A woman shoots her husband, then holds him under water for five minutes. Finally, she hangs him. Five minutes later they enjoy a wonderful dinner together. How can this be?
You are a cook in a remote area with no clocks or other way of keeping time other than a four-minute and a seven-minute hourglass. On the stove is a pot of boiling water. Jill asks you to cook a nine-minute egg in exactly 9 minutes, and you know she is a perfectionist and can tell if you under cook or overcook the egg by even a few seconds. How can you cook the egg for exactly 9 minutes?
1. Flip both hourglasses over and drop the egg into the water. 2. When the 4-minute timer runs out, flip it over (4 minutes elapsed, 3 remaining on the 7-minute timer). 3. When the 7-minute timer runs out, flip it over. (7 minutes elapsed, 1 remaining in the 4-minute timer) 4. When the 4-minute timer runs out, flip the 7-minute timer over. (8 minutes elapsed. 6 minutes remained in the 7-minute timer, but flipping it over leaves one minute’s worth of sand on top. When it runs out exactly nine minutes will have elapsed.)