Solve
this and be among 2%
Below is a
quiz written by Einstein last century. He said that 98% of the people in the
world cannot solve the quiz. Are you among the other 2%?
Here you go...
Facts:
1: There are 5 houses in 5 different colors
2: In each house lives a person with a different nationality.
3: These 5 owners drink a certain beverage, smoke a certain brand of cigar and
keep a certain pet.
4: No owner has the same pet, smoke the same brand of cigar or drink the same
drink.
HINTS:
1: The British lives in a red house.
2: The Swede keeps dogs as pets
3: The Dane drinks tea
4: The green house is on the left of the white house (it also means they are
next door to each other)
5: The green house owner drinks coffee
6: The person who smokes Pall Mall rears birds
7: The owner of the yellow house smokes Dunhill
8: The man living in the house right in the center drinks milk
9: The Norwegian lives in the first house
10: The man who smokes Blend lives next to the one who keeps cats
11: The man who keeps horses lives next to the man who smokes Dunhill
12: The owner who smokes Blue Master drinks beer
13: The German smokes Prince
14: The Norwegian lives next to the blue house
15: The man who smokes Blend has a neighbor who drinks water.
The question is: WHO KEEPS FISH?
Please
try this puzzle and be among the 2%
Mind Puzzle# 1
There are no
tricks, this is a straight forward problem.
Allegedly, this is one of the questions for potential Microsoft employees.
I must warn you, you can really get caught up trying to solve this
problem. Reportedly, one guy solved it by writing a C program, although
that took him 37 minutes to develop (compiled and ran on the 1st try though).
Another guy solved it in three minutes. A group of 50, at Motorola,
couldn't figure it out at all. See how long it takes you.
Here we go...
"U2" has a concert that starts in 17 minutes and they must
all cross a bridge to get there. All four men begin on the same side
of the bridge. You must help them across to the other side. It is
night. There is one flashlight. A maximum of two people
can cross at one time. Any party who crosses, either 1 or 2 people,
must have the flashlight with them.
The flashlight must be walked back and forth, it cannot be thrown, etc.
Each band member walks at a different speed. A pair must walk together at
the rate of the slower man's pace:
* Bono: - 1 minute to cross
* Edge: - 2 minutes to cross
* Adam: - 5 minutes to cross
* Larry: - 10 minutes to cross
For example: if Bono and Larry walk across first, 10 minutes have elapsed
when they get to the other side of the bridge. If Larry then returns with
the flashlight, a total of 20 minutes have passed and you have
failed the mission.
Notes: There is no trick behind this. It is the simple
movement of resources in the appropriate order. There are two known
answers to this problem. This is based on a question that
Microsoft gives to all prospective employees.
Note: Microsoft expects you to answer this question in under 5 minutes!
Mind Puzzle# 2:
A problem
which crops up quite often in puzzles is that of inserting mathematical signs
wherever one cares to between the digits 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8, and 9 to make the
resulting expression equal in value to 100. The digits must remain in the same
sequence. One of the numerous solutions to this problem is:
1+2+3+4+5+6+7+(8x9)=100
The problem becomes slightly more difficult if only plus and minus signs are
allowed. A typical solution to the problem now is this:
12+3-4+5+67+8+9=100
In this solution, six plus and minus signs were used.
Can you find a solution to this plus-and-minus-only problem using as few signs
as possible?
Solutions
for the above puzzles....
Solution:
Mind Puzzle# 1
Bono and
Edge go over, Bono comes back = 3 minutes
Larry and Adam go over, Edge comes back = 12 minutes
Bono and Edge come back = 2 minutes
Solution:
Mind Puzzle# 2
The fewest
plus and minus signs is 3. This is the solution:
123-45-67+89=100
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The Will! Age
difference! Black and
White Hats The
Addition Puzzle! Solutions
for the above puzzles....
Solution:
The Will! Solution:
Age difference! Solution:
Black and White Hats! Solution:
The Addition Puzzle! |
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Nine Gram
Marble Bag?
There are ten
bags containing marbles. Each bag has at least 10 marbles in it.
Nine of the bags contains only marbles weighting 10 grams each. One
of the bags contains only marbles weighing nine grams each. Each bag
has a different number of marbles in it. All of the marbles look
exactly the same. The riddle is how can you know which bag has the
nine gram marbles if the only device allowed to be used is a weighing
scales which you can use only once? Happening
in 1961?
What happened
in 1961 that will not happen again for over 4000 years? The club
password!
A man wanted
to enter an exclusive club but did not know the password that was
required. He waited by the door and listened. A club member
knocked on the door and the doorman said, "twelve." The
member replied, "six " and was let in. A second member came to
the door and the doorman said, "six." The member replied,
"three" and was let in. The man thought he had heard
enough and walked up to the door. The doorman said ,"ten"
and the man replied, "five." But he was not let in. What do you
light first?
You are in a
cold house in the winter. It is dark. You have one match.
There is a candle and there is a wood burning stove. Which do you
light first? Number of
Handshakes
Four people
meet in a room. Each person shakes hands once with each other
person. How many hand shakes are there in all? Guess the
level of water
A man and a
cannon ball are in a boat that is floating in a lake. The person throws
the cannon ball into the water. How does the level of the water in the
lake change or does it change at all? Guess what
IT is?
"IT"
is more good than god, Solutions
for the above puzzles....
Solution:
Nine Gram Marble Bag?
Place the bags
in a row. Take one marble from the first bag, two from the second bag and
so on. Use the scales to weigh all the marbles you have taken from the
bags. If the number of grams ends in 9, it is the first bag with 9 gram
marbles. The total for the other bags will end in 0 since 10s are being
added. The single 9 shows up as the rightmost digit in the sum of all the
weights. If the number of grams ends in 8, it is the second bag with the 9
gram marbles because 2 times 9 equals 18 and that will be added to the
total producing a number ending in 8. A rightmost 7 means it is the third
bag with the 9 gram marbles. In each case the rightmost digit reveals
which bag contains the 9 gram marbles. Or:
Put all 55
marbles that you selected from the bags together on the balance. The
number of grams that the total weight of these 55 marbles differs from 550
grams, is equal to the number of marbles of 9 grams that are among those
55 marbles, and that is equal to the number of the bag which contains only
marbles of 9 grams. Solution:
Happening in 1961?
The year's
date reads the same when turned upside down. That will not happen again
until 6009. Solution:
The club password!
Three.
The doorman lets in those who answer with the number of letters in the word
the doorman says. Solution:
What do you light first?
The match. Solution:
Number of handshakes
Six. One way
to solve this puzzle is to draw 4 dots to represent the 4 people. Draw
lines to connect each dot to each of the other dots. Each line represents
a handshake. Then just count the lines. Solution:
Guess the level of water The water
level lowers. It will be a tiny amount especially if the lake is
large. When the cannon ball is in the boat the weight of the ball
pushes the boat into the water which raises the water level. The
boat with the man in it will take up a certain amount of space that would
otherwise be occupied by water. It is a well known principle of
science that the cannon ball will cause the boat to take up additional
space equal to a volume of water that weighs the same as the cannon ball.
Since the cannon ball is much denser than water, that volume of water will
be much greater than the volume of the cannon ball. But when the
ball is put into the water it takes up a volume of water equal to its own
volume. Less space is taken up by the lake, so the water level goes
down. Solution:
Guess what IT is?
Nothing |
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The Man in the
Bar
A man walks
into a bar and asks the barman for a glass of water. The barman pulls out
a gun and points it at the man. The man says 'Thank you' and walks out. This
puzzle has claims to be the best of the genre. It is simple in its statement,
absolutely baffling and yet with a completely satisfying solution. Most people
struggle very hard to solve this one yet they like the answer when they
hear it or have the satisfaction of figuring it out.
The Funny Man
There is a
man that lives on the top floor of a very tall building.
Everyday he gets the elevator down to the ground floor to leave the building to
go to work. Upon returning from work though, he can only travel half way
up in the lift and has to walk the rest of the way unless it's raining! WHY?
This is probably the best known and most celebrated of all lateral thinking
puzzles. It is a true classic. Although there are many possible solutions which
fit the initial conditions, only the canonical answer is truly satisfying.
The Fox, Chicken
and Corn case!
A man has to
get a fox, a chicken, and a sack of corn across a river. He has a rowboat,
and it can only carry him and one other thing. If the fox and the chicken
are left together, the fox will eat the chicken. If the chicken and the
corn is left together, the chicken will eat the corn. How does the man do
it?
Determining the
bulb switch!
In your
cellar there are three light switches in the OFF position. Each switch
controls 1 of 3 light bulbs on floor above. You may move any of the switches but
you may only go upstairs to inspect the bulbs
one time. How can you determine the switch for each bulb with one inspection??
The boxing
puzzle!
Two boxers
are in a boxing match (regular boxing, not kick boxing). The fight is scheduled
for 12 rounds but ends after 6 rounds, after one boxer knocks out the other
boxer. Yet no man throws a punch. How is this possible?
Solutions
for the above puzzles....
Solution:
The Man in the Bar
The man had
hiccups. The barman recognized this from his speech and drew the gun in order
to give him a shock. It worked and cured the hiccups-so the man no longer needed
the water. The is a simple puzzle to state but a difficult one to solve. It is a
perfect example of a seemingly irrational and incongruous situation having a
simple and complete explanation. Amazingly this classic puzzle seems to work in
different cultures and languages
Solution:
The Funny Man
The man is
very very short and so can only reach half way up the lift buttons! However, if
it is raining then he will have his umbrella with him and so can press the
higher buttons with it.
Solution:
The Fox, Chicken and Corn Case!
The man
carries chicken, man leaves chicken and comes back,
man gets fox, man leaves fox and gets chicken,
man leaves chicken and gets corn,
man leaves fox and corn to get chicken,
man gets chicken.
Solution:
Determining the bulb switch!
turn switch
1 on for a while .. about 5 mins or more .. then turn it off.
turn switch 2 on and go inspect
the hot bulb is controlled by switch 1
the lit bulb is controlled by switch 2
the unlit and cold bulb is controlled by switch 3
Solution: The
boxing puzzle!
They are
female boxers.
The
Car Accident
A man and
his son are in a car accident. The father dies on the scene, but the child is
rushed to the hospital. When he arrives the surgeon says "I can't
operate on this boy, he is my son!" How can this be?
Black!
A man is
wearing black. Black shoes, socks, trousers, jumper, gloves and balaclava. He is
walking down a black street with all the street lamps off. A black car is
coming towards him with its light off too but somehow manages to stop in time.
How did the driver see the man?
The Elder Twin
One day
Kerry celebrated her birthday. Two days later her older twin brother, Terry,
celebrated his birthday. Why?
Manhole Covers
Why is it
better to have round manhole covers than square ones? This is logical rather
than lateral, but it is a good puzzle, which can be solved by lateral thinking
techniques. A very well known software company as an interview question
supposedly uses it for prospective employees.
The Deadly Party
A man went
to a party and drank some of the punch. He then left early. Everyone else at the
party who drank the punch subsequently died of poisoning. The man did not poison
the punch. Why did the man not die?
Heaven
A man died
and went to Heaven. There were thousands of other people there. They were all
naked and all looked as they did at the age of 21. He looked around to see if
there was anyone that he recognized. He saw a couple and he knew
immediately that they were Adam and Eve. How did he know?
Trouble with Sons
A woman had
two sons who were born on the same hour of the same day of the same year. But
they were not twins. How could this be so?
Solutions
for the above puzzles....
Solution:
The Car Accident
The surgeon
is the boy's mother.
Solution:
Black!
It was day
time.
Solution:
The Elder Twin
At the time
she went into labor, the mother of the twins was travelling by boat. The older
twin, Terry, was born first early on March 1st. The boat then crossed a time
zone and Kerry, the younger twin, was born on February the 28th. Therefore, the
younger twin celebrates her birthday two days before her older brother.
Solution:
Manhole Covers
A square
manhole cover can be turned and dropped down the diagonal of the manhole.
A round manhole cannot be dropped down the manhole. So for safety
and practicality, all manhole covers should be round.
Solution:
The Deadly Party
The poison
in the punch came from the ice cubes. When the man drank the punch, the ice was
fully frozen. Gradually it melted, poisoning the punch.
Solution:
Heaven
He
recognized Adam and Eve as the only people without navels. Because they
were not born of women, they had never had umbilical cords and therefore they
never had navels. This one seems perfectly logical but it can sometimes spark
fierce theological arguments.
Solution:
Trouble with Sons
They were
two of a set of triplets (or quadruplets etc.) This puzzle stumps many
people. They try outlandish solutions involving test-tube babies or surrogate
mothers. Why does the brain search for complex solutions when there is a
much simpler one available?
