A Sinking Ship

Imagine you’re alone in a boat with a large hole in the bottom. Sharks are swimming around you on all sides and the boat is sinking fast. How do you survive?

Stop imagining ;)

Posted in Brain Teasers

You Read Me Daily

I am a seven letter word, you read me daily. Letters 567 increase every year. The third and fourth letters are the same and my 325 letters cover about 70% of the world. What am I?

message. Letters 567 are your age, which goes up every year. Letters 3 and 4 (both s) are in fact the same, and letters 325 spell sea, and estimates say that the earth is covered by about 70% water.

Posted in Riddles

Julian and Penelope’s Marriage Ages

When Julian and Penelope met, one was half the others age plus seven years. Ten years later when they married, Penelope was thirty, but this time one was nine tenths the age of the other. How old was Julian? (No fractions or partial years, whole numbers only).

Julian was 27 when Penelope was 30.

Posted in Brain Teasers

A C F H K ?

What is the next letter in this sequence and why? A C F H K _

M. Skip 1 letter then 2 letters, alternating.

Posted in Brain Teasers

The Best of Three Evils

A murderer is condemned to death. He has to choose between three rooms. The first is full of raging fires, the second is full of assassins with loaded guns, and the third is full of lions that haven’t eaten in 3 months.

Which room should he choose to have the best chance of staying alive?

The third room, since the lions would have died from starvation.

Posted in Brain Teasers

Silver Tears Falling Down

Silver tears falling down,
Nature’s clear imposter,
Sparkling, shining like a gown,
Adorn an elephant or horse,
Silver, PVC or even lead,
Bringing cheer to all around,
For such a simple thread.

Tinsel.

Tinsel emulates icicles, which are like tears and are clear in nature. Tinsel sparkles and shines, and is used to adorn elephants and horses in India. Tinsel is made from silver, PVC and was once made from lead. Tinsel brings back fond memories to many (including myself) and represents far more than a simple metallic thread would normally warrant.

Happy Holidays!

Posted in Riddles

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

NOAS Rebus

What does this represent?

  P
NOASE
  Y

Pay through the nose.

Posted in Riddles
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Kings And Lords And Christians Raised Them

Kings and lords and christians raised them
Since they stand for higher powers
Yet few of them would stand, I’m certain,
If women ruled this world of ours.

A tower.

Posted in Riddles

B C D E I K O X Series

What other letter fits in the following series

B C D E I K O X ?

The letter H. It completes the list of letters that are vertically symmetrical. In other words, you can fold the top half of the letter over the bottom half and everything lines up.

Posted in Riddles