I Make Memories That Last a Lifetime

I make memories that last a lifetime,
Without me you’ll be miserable,
If you miss me you can gourge and it’s okay.
Some say I am naturally split in two.

What am I?

Sleep. It’s the time your mind organizes memories and knowledge. Sleep deprivation is miserable (as you well know if you’ve experienced it). If you miss a few nights of sleep, you can sleep more to catch up with no problems. And some believe that segmented sleep, where you sleep, wake for an hour, then go back to sleep, was the dominant form of sleep before the Industrial Revolution.

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Balance Twelve Eggs

Suppose you have twelve eggs and a balance scale. All of the eggs are identical except for one whose only difference is its weight. Using the scale only three times, determine which egg is the odd egg out and whether it is heavier or lighter than the other eggs.

Weigh four against four. If they’re equal, weigh three of them against three you haven’t weighed. If they balance too, weigh the last remaining egg against any of the others to see if it is lighter or heavier. If the three suspects are heavier, weigh one of them against another and the one that goes down is it. If they balance the remaining suspect is heavy. Use the same process if they’re lighter. If the initial four vs four don’t balance, weigh two heavy eggs and a light egg against one heavy egg, one light one and a known normal egg. If they balance weigh the remaining two light eggs against each other. If they balance the unweighed heavy egg is the odd one out. If the side with two heavy eggs goes down weigh them against each other. If they balance it is the light egg on the other side. If the other side goes down it is either because of one heavy egg on that side or because the one light egg on the other side is lighter than the rest. Weigh one of them against a known normal egg to determine which is true.

Posted in Brain Teasers

A Square and a Cube

What two-digit number is the square of one number and the cube of another?

64

82 = 64
43 = 64

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A Perfect Counterfeit

A man can make perfect counterfeit bills. They look exactly like real ones, they’re made of exactly the same materials, made the same way, everything. So perfect, one could pretty much call them real bills. One day he successfully makes a perfect copy of another bill. However, he gets caught when he tries to use the copy. How is this possible?

As a counterfeiter, he had lots of counterfeit bills around and he accidentally used one of them as his original. So he made a perfect copy of a counterfeit bill.

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Five Letters Sound Like Six When Pronounced

What five-letter word sounds like six letters when pronounced?

Cello. The pronunciation of c is ‘ch’, making it sound like the word has 6 letters.

Posted in Riddles

Twice As Many Women As Children

At a party of thirty-five people there are twice as many women as children and twice as many children as men. How many of each are there?

20 women, 10 children and 5 men.

To figure it out, let m be the number of men and you get this equation:

4m + 2m + m = 35
7m = 35
m = 35 ÷ 7
m = 5

Posted in Brain Teasers

Loud Linda

Linda is 31 years old, single, outspoken, and very bright. She majored in philosophy. As a student, she was deeply concerned with issues of discrimination and social justice, and also participated in anti-nuclear demonstrations.

Which is more probable?

1) Linda is a bank teller.
2) Linda is a bank teller and is active in the feminist movement.

1) Linda is a bank teller.

Most people guess number two, but the probability of two events occurring together is always less than or equal to the probability of either one occurring alone. This problem is known as the Conjunction Fallacy.

Posted in Riddles

Oct 31 = Dec 25

How can Oct 31 and Dec 25 be the same?

Because Oct 31 represents the octal (base 8) number 31, which, when converted to decimal, is 25. Dec 25 is short for Decimal 25, thus the two are equal.

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Cheese Made Backwards

What cheese is made backwards?

Edam cheese.

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The Old Man’s Book

Milton shuffled slowly along the shelves browsing books. He finally walked up to the counter and handed the girl a book. She looked at the inside cover and told him it would be $3.75. Milton handed her the money and walked away without the book. The girl watched him leave empty-handed but didn’t try to stop him. Why?

Milton was a forgetful and naughty fellow. He was summoning his courage to approach the counter to return his overdue book. The kindly lass at the counter saw the book was 15 days overdue and had accrued the egregious late fee of $3.75 (25 cents a day). Lesson learned, Milton never returned a book late again.

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