Alfred’s Tough Cash Request

Alfred is at the bank to cash his $200 check. He tells the cashier he would like some one dollar bills, ten times as many two dollar bills and the rest in fives.

How many of each denomination does the cashier need to give Alfred?

Five $1 bills, 50 $2 bills and 19 $5 bills.

We know that in order to give the rest of the amount in fives, the sum of the one and two dollar bills needs to be divisible by five (i.e. end in 0 or 5).

If we start with a single one dollar bill, we’d need ten two dollar bills to satisfy the request, making $21. But we need a sum that is divisible by 5. So we keep going up, like so:

$1 + $2 * 10 = $21
$2 + $2 * 20 = $42
$3 + $2 * 30 = $63
$4 + $2 * 40 = $84
$5 + $2 * 50 = $105 (Aha! It’s divisible by 5)
$6 + $2 * 60 = $126
$7 + $2 * 70 = $147
$8 + $2 * 80 = $168
$9 + $2 * 90 = $189

So the only option that works is 5 $1 bills and 50 $2 bills, leaving $95 (95 / 5 = 19) to be paid out in 19 fives.

Alfred is one tough customer.

Posted in Brain Teasers

As I went over London Bridge

As I went over London Bridge
I met my sister Jenny
I broke her neck and drank her blood
And left her standing empty

A bottle of gin.

Posted in Riddles

Five Letters and People Eat Me

I have five letters and people eat me. When you remove my first letter I become a crime. Remove my first two letters and I am an animal. If you remove my first and last letters I’m a form of music.

What am I?

Grape

Grape = a fruit people eat
rape = a crime
ape = an animal
rap = a category of music

Posted in Riddles

Hot My Entire Life

I have been hot my entire life. Put me in water or in a freezer for days and I will still be hot. My red color should tell you but don’t be deceived, even when I’m green, I’m still hot. What am I?

A red or green laser. Red and green pepper also works.

Technically, the laser beam itself isn’t hot, but lasers can heat up what they’re shining on.

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From Scraps to Pants

A tailor can make a pair of pants from the scraps left over from sewing up five pairs of pants. If he has twenty-five scraps, how many pairs of pants can he make?

Six pairs of pants. He can make five initially, but once he’s done making five pairs of pants, he’ll have five remaining sets of scraps, meaning he can make an additional pair of pants, totaling six.

Posted in Brain Teasers

Found On a Hand And Also a Tree

I’m found on a hand and also a tree,
You’ll find me on Sunday, occasionally,
Records, pictures, islands and brew,
From August to Wolfgang and Sago for you.

What am I?

A Palm.

Posted in Riddles

Water Rebus

What does this represent?

 WATER
-------
 SWIM

Swim underwater.

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Seven Letters and Something You Eat

I have seven letters and am something you eat. My only anagram can help your pain. If you remove my first 2 letters I wear things down. Removing my first 3 letters is an adjective and removing my first 4 letters leaves a measure of time.

What am I?

Sausage. You eat sausage, assuage is the only single-word anagram and provides relief from pain. Usage wears things down, sage is an adjective and age is a measure of time.

Posted in Riddles

Odd Start, Even Finish

What three letter English word has an odd start, an even finish and an infinitely long middle?

The word vex. “v” is Roman numeral 5, which is odd. “x” is Roman numeral 10, which is even. “e” is the base of the natural logarithm and is irrational (e = 2.718281828…). Its mantissa (the part to the right of the decimal point) is infinitely long.

Posted in Riddles

Remove My Middle And Still I Remain

Begin with a word, five letters to my name,
Remove the first and last but I am the same
Take out my middle and still I remain.

What word am I?

Empty. (mpt, emty or mt depending on your interpretation)

Posted in Riddles