Three Five Six To One Hundred

Without changing the order of these numbers, how can they equal 100?

3 5 6 2 54 5

= 3 * (5 – 6) + 2 * 54 – 5
= -3 + 108 – 5
= 105 – 5
= 100

Posted in Brain Teasers

Arms and Legs But No Head

What has arms and legs but no head?

A chair.

Posted in Riddles

777, 888 and 999

You are given the numbers 777, 888 and 999. Using the numbers once and adding, subtracting, multiplying or dividing, how can you make 999?

(7 x 7 x 7) + (9 x 9 x 8) + ((9 – 8) x 8) = 999
(77 + 7) + 888 + (9 + 9 + 9) = 999

If other operators were allowed, another solution would be 999 modulo (888 x 777). I’m sure there are more solutions.

Posted in Brain Teasers

The Truck and the Plane

A delivery truck from the post office is sent to the airport to meet a cargo plane at its planned arrival time. The plane lands ahead of schedule and its contents are brought toward the post office by bicycle. After a half hour, the bicycle meets the truck and the mail is transferred.

The truck returns from the post office 20 minutes early. How early did the plane arrive? (Assume all transactions are instantaneous)

The delivery truck arrived back 20 minutes early, so it would have taken 20 minutes to go from where it met the bicycle to get to the airport and back. Therefore, the bicycle and truck met when the truck was 10 minutes from the airport. Adding those 10 minutes to the 30 minutes the truck had already driven to meet the bicycle means the plane arrived 40 minutes ahead of schedule.

Posted in Brain Teasers

The Japanese IQ Test

Supposedly this is given as a test in Japan. I have no idea if that’s accurate.

There are 8 people who have to cross the river on a raft.

1. Policeman
2. Thief
3. Father
4. Boy 1
5. Boy 2
6. Mother
7. Girl 1
8. Girl 2

The rules are:

Only two people can cross at a time.
Only the adults can operate the raft.
The father can’t be with the girls unless the mother is there.
The mother can’t be with the boys unless the father is there.
The thief can’t remain with anyone unless the policeman is present.

How do you get them all across?

Here’s how I did it in 17 steps. Can you do it faster? Let me know in the comments.

1. Policeman (P)
2. Thief (T)
3. Father (F)
4. Boy 1 (B1)
5. Boy 2 (B2)
6. Mother (M)
7. Girl 1 (G1)
8. Girl 2 (G2)

1. P, T →
2. ← P

3. P, B1 →
4. ← P T

5. F, B2 →
6. ← F

7. F, M →
8. ← M

9. P, T →
10. ← F

11. M, F →
12. ← M

13. M, G1 →
14. ← P T

15. P, G2 →
16. ← P

17. P, T →

Posted in Brain Teasers

Okeechobee Burial

Why can’t a man living in Okeechobee, Florida be buried west of the Mississippi River?

Because the man would surely object to being buried since he’s living in Okeechobee.

Posted in Brain Teasers

Thin Barn Word Ladder

Get from the word THIN to BARN by changing one letter at a time and forming another English word in each step.

1. THIN
2. _ _ _ _
3. _ _ _ _
4. _ _ _ _
5. _ _ _ _
6. BARN

1. THIN
2. CHIN
3. COIN
4. CORN
5. BORN
6. BARN

Posted in Brain Teasers

Mario’s Racing Grandma

Mario is testing out a new car at the racetrack. His grandmother took it for a mile lap and averaged 30mph. How fast does Mario have to drive in the second lap to average 60mph for the two miles?

90mph is an alluring answer, but it’s impossible. At 90mph the second lap would take 40 seconds. If Grannie’s first lap at 30mph took 2 minutes, traveling 2 miles in 2 minutes and 40 seconds is an average speed of 45mph. Traveling an average speed of 60mph for 2 miles would take 2 minutes and since the grandma’s lap took all of those 2 minutes, even if Mario could break the sound barrier he wouldn’t be able to average 60mph.

Posted in Brain Teasers

I Prevent Escape

I prevent escape or intrusion,
Yet I also preserve and protect,

Thieves use me to get money,
From me they can often collect.

I’m the practice of a sport, but not on the lawn,
Your friends may get upset when I’m sat upon.

What am I?

Fence. Fences keep ne’er-do-wells out and protect people inside. A fence is a person who buys stolen goods to later resell them for a profit. Those who fence practice the sport of fencing. En garde! And people don’t like it when you sit on the fence in a heated debate. (Believe me, I speak from experience)

Posted in Riddles
Tagged with

If I Can I Can

If I can, I can,
If I can’t, I freeze.

What am I?

Someone preserving food. The two most common ways of preserving food are canning and freezing. So when you preserve food, if you can can it, you do, otherwise you freeze it.

Posted in Riddles