This
month the FolkArt Puzzle Team is on vacation. BUT not to worry. Are you ready
for a real challenge? Garry Kasparov, #1 in the chess world has challenged the
world to a very unique chess match. It's one game of chess, winner take all. The
players: Garry Kasparov versus YOU. This is the opportunity of a lifetime. Play
chess with the dominant chess player of our time. (source:
Microsoft Corporation)
Here is the link to the Microsoft web site where this game is being played. Go for it: Check & Mate
You buy 10 trees at a local nursery. How do you plant your 10
trees in 5 rows with 4 in each row? (source: Mark Ashworth, Clearlake City,
Texas)
Answer: Draw a 5 pointed STAR. Plant one tree at each point and one tree where the sides intersect.
Twelve pears hanging high.
Twelve men riding by.
Each took one and left,
Eleven hanging. How? (source: Jennifer Williams, Madison, Tennessee)
Answer: The name of the person who took one of the pears was called "Each". [Whoever hear of calling their kid "Each". Pretty stupid joke but still cute...Puzzle Team comment]
Answer:
"NOTHING" is more powerful than God.
"NOTHING" is more evil than the Devil.
The rich want for "NOTHING". (They have it all.)
The poor have "NOTHING".
If you eat "NOTHING" you will die.
Answer: The 22nd and the 24th President of the United States of America were the same person, Grover Clevland, separated by one term.
Answer: 29 days. If the lake is completely covered in 30 days, the day before the lake was 1/2 covered.
Find the 4 things wrong with the following sentence.
[ Their are fouur things wrong with thiis sentence. ] (source: Mike Adams, USA)
Answer
- The word "there" is mispelled as "their".
- The word "four is mispelled as "fouur".
- The word "this" is mispelled as "thiis".
- Finally, the sentence states that it has four things wrong with it; it only has three things wrong, thus making the sentence false.
Add one line to the equation [ 1 + 3 + 5 = 148 ] to make it true. (source: Christine Viera, a 5-7 grade teacher at Williston-Elko Middle School in Williston, South Carolina)
Answer: Add a line to the PLUS SIGN between the "1" and "3" changing the "+" into the number "4". Now the equation would read 143 + 5 = 148. Another solution suggested by several hundred viewers was to change the equal sign to a not-equal sign.
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You buy 10 trees at a local nursery. How do you
plant your 10 trees in 5 rows with 4 in each row? (submitted by Mark Ashworth,
Clearlake City, Texas) Answer: Draw a 5 pointed STAR. Plant one tree at each point and one tree where the sides intersect. |
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Divide the "L" shaped figure on the right into 4 identical parts. (The "L" shaped figure is made by taking off one square from a set of 4 identical squares that make up the larger square.) (source: Santindra Chakrabarti,Toronto, Canada) |
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Question #2:
A donkey is tied to a rope 10 ft long. 20 feet away is a field of carrots. How does the
donkey get to the carrots? (source: Karyn Worthington, Gloucestershire,
England)
Answer: The donkey simply walks to the field of carrots because the other
end of the rope is NOT tied to anything. (Lesson...take care when making assumptions...)
It's all in the balance...
Which weighs more: a pound of feathers or a pound of gold? (source:
ananomous from AOL.com)
Answer: A pound of feathers weighs the same as a pound of gold. A pound is a pound, is a pound, is a pound regardless if it is a pound of feathers or a pound of gold. [Note: some people got a bit technical on us. They pointed out that gold, silver, and precious stones are measured in Troy Weight. Troy Weight is a system of weights based on a pound containing 5,760 grains, in which 24 grains = 1 pennyweight, 20 pennyweights = 1 ounce, and 12 ounces = 1 pound. Well, how about that...go figure that!]
Rope ladder on a cruise ship...
If you are standing on a cruise ship, and you throw a rope ladder over the side,
the end of the ladder lands 3 feet off of the surface of the water, the water rises at 1
foot per hour. How long does it take the water to reach the ladder? (source:
Micheal Joseph Gibson)
Answer: The water will never reach the end of the ladder because the ship, and the ladder, will rise together with the water level.
It takes a grandfather clock 30 seconds to bong 6 times. How many
seconds does it take the same grandfather clock to bong 12 times? [The answer is obtained
thru simple mathmatics. But don't be deceived. It's not as easy as you think.]
(source: Tumper Adams, Rockford, Illinois)
Answer: 66 SECONDS. The first bong takes place at 0 (zero) seconds. Therefore the interval between each bong is 6 seconds.
1st bong at 0 seconds, 2nd bong at 6 seconds, 3rd bong at 12 seconds, 4th bong at 18 seconds, 5th bong at 24 seconds, 6 bong at 30 seconds...12th bong at 66 seconds.
What goes around the world, and stays in a corner?
(source: Sarah Kieffer (6th Grader), Medford, Oregon)
Answer: A STAMP (...this riddle "stumped" most people. Thank you Sarah for submitting this great stumper. It made many people think and think and think.)
If a duck weights 10 lbs on one foot, how much does the
duck weight on two feet? [This is a classic puzzle: simple yet cute]
(source: Monica Louise Stevenson (age 4 and a half), St Paul, Minnesota)
Answer: Ten (10 lbs). If the duck weighs 10 lbs, then its weighs 10 lbs; it doesn't matter is the duck is standing on one foot, two feet, or even standing on its head, it's still weights 10 lbs. Ha, ha, ha...
Before the days of motor cars, a man rode into town on his horse. He
arrived on Friday, spent three days there and left on Friday. How did he do it?
(source: Rick Jordan, Durban, South Africa)
Answer: His horse was called Friday! [Pretty cute, Huh?]
The man who sold it did not want it.
The man who bought it did not need it.
The man who used it did not know it.
What is it?
(source: Gary Chambers, Missoula, Montana)
Answer: A coffin.
The man who sold it did not want it.
The man who bought it did not need it.
The man who used it did not know it.
What is it?
(source: Gary Chambers, Missoula, Montana)
Answer: A coffin.
There is a crime that if attempted is punishable, but if committed is unpunishable. What is this crime? (source: Brad Gilbow, USA)
Answer: Suicide, but not Attempted Suicide.
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man |
stand |
r/e/a/d/i/n/g |
wear |
r |
cycle |
t |
le/ |
0 |
knee |
dice |
t |
ground |
mind |
he's / himself |
ecnalg |
death
/ life |
ii
ii |
| Puzzle One:
If there are fifteen crows on a fence and the farmer
shoots a third of them, how many are left? (source: Carmen Green, 9th grader living in Arizona) Answer: Zero crows are left. The crows all flew away when they heard the farmer shooting his gun. |
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Puzzle Two:
In a hardware store, you ask the price of an item on
display. Practically every hardware store carries this
item, for no home should be without it. The following
conversation takes place.
The conversation makes perfect sense. What is the
item? Answer: They are discussing the price of "house numbers". |
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Puzzle: Position 8 Queens on the Chess Board
so they are not attacking each other. It can be done!
(source: Paul Barendregt, Holland) Answer: The chess board to the left shows one possible answer. However, a Canadian visitor to the FolkArt & Craft Exchange, Latchesar Stoyanov (Latch to his friends) found 92 possible answers to the 8 Queen puzzle. We asked Latch how he found the 92 anwers. See below |
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A Canadian visitor to the FolkArt & Craft Exchange, Latchesar Stoyanov (Latch to his friends) found 92 possible answers to the 8 Queen puzzle. We asked Latch how he found the 92 anwers:
How I found 92 answers. Yesterday I saw your new riddle and I liked it so much that I could not do anything else.
First I develop an algorithm and try by hand, but this took to long, because of that I wrote a small program which stops after finding one answer. When I analyzed the first answer I was able to find another 3 symmetrical.
Now I was curious to know how many answers exist. So I modify the program not to stop. I was surprised to find 92 answers! They are NOT all symmetrical!
The source-code is in C and was compiled with Borland C++.
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| Puzzle: Part 1 Correct this equation by moving one part. 62 - 63 = 1 |
Puzzle: Part 2 Correct this equation by repositioning one number. 62 - 63 = 1 |
| Answer: MOVE one of the lines that makes up the equal sign to the minus sign creating the equation 62 = 63 - 1 |
Answer: REPOSITION the "6" of "62" to a superscript position after the "2" making the equation 2 raised to the 6th power minus 63 equals 1. Equation would be 26 -63 = 1 |
| (source: Professor James Remenicky of Rochester Institute of Technology) | |
What can go up a chimney down and can't go down a chimney up?
(source: Ryan Fuller, Lansing, Michigan)
Answer: An Umbrella
A gentleman leaves home, proceeds a short distance and turns left. He goes another short distance and turns left again. He goes another short distance, then goes home. As he nears home he sees two masked men. Who are the two masked men? (source: Two anonymous sixth grade girls, Internet)
Answer: The gentleman is a baseball player. The baseball playing turns left to run from 1st base to 2nd base to 3rd base then on to "home" plate. He is confronted by a "masked" catcher and the "masked" umpire when going to home plate.
There are 4 men who wish to cross a river using a bridge. The bridge supports only two people at a time. You need a torch to cross the bridge. The torch has to be carried by the people crossing the bridge. It cannot be thrown or rolled over from one side to the other. The 4 men must cross over the bridge in a total of 17 minutes. The time each man takes to cross the bridge is given below:
Man 1: 1 minute
Man 2: 2 minutes
Man 3: 5 minutes
Man 4: 10 minutes
The time taken by two people to cross depends on the time
taken by the slowest person. For example: if Man 1 and Man 4
cross the bridge, they take 10 minutes to cross. How do the 4 men
cross the river in 17 minutes?
(source: R. Shankar, Hong Kong)
Answer:
| Travelers w/Torch | Time to cross | Total elapsed time | Who is on 'starting' side of river? | Who is on 'other' side of river? |
| Begin | 0 minutes | 1, 2, 3 & 4 | none | |
| Man 1 & 2 | 2 minutes | 2 minutes | 3 & 4 | 1 & 2 |
| Man 1 returns | 1 minute | 3 minutes | 1, 3 & 4 | 2 |
| Man 3 & 4 | 10 minutes | 13 minutes | 1 | 2, 3 & 4 |
| Man 2 returns | 2 minutes | 15 minutes | 1 & 2 | 3 & 4 |
| Man 1 & 2 | 2 minutes | 17 minutes | none | 1, 2, 3 & 4 |
This all men want, (Peace)
And are willing to fight for. (Peace)
But in fighting for it, (Peace)
Lose it. (Peace)
(source: Robert Miles, New Jersey)
Answer: The answer submitted by Robert Miles was "Peace". Here are some of the other answers submitted: Dignity, Freedom, Hair, Life, Love, Money, Pride, Respect, Virginity, Women, and Youth.
Answer: Four (4) Tuesday, Thursday, Today, Tomorrow
Answer: Zero (0). Reasoning: any number or series of
numbers multiplied by zero will equal zero.
The factor (x - x) = 0 See we told you it was really nothing.
How many 3-cent stamps in a dozen? (This is one of the oldest and cutest word puzzles) (source: Devin Wicker, Palmyra, New Jersey)
Answer: The definition of a "dozen" is a set of twelve. Therefore, there are twelve 3-cents stamps in a dozen. In fact, a dozen of anything is twelve. Pretty cute, huh?
| Here are Answers to December's 27 Brain Teasers. Each question below contains the initials of words that will make it correct. For example: 16 = O. in a P. Answer: 16 Ounces in a Pound. | |||
| 1) 26 = L. of the A. 26 Letters of the Alphabet |
2) 7 = W. of the A. W. 7 Wonders of the Ancient World |
3) 1000 = W. that is a P. is W. 1000 Words that a Picture is Worth |
4) 12 = S. of the Z. 12 Signs of the Zodiac |
| 5) 54 = C. in a D. (with the J.) 54 Cards in a Deck. (with the Jokers) |
6) 9 = P. in the S. S. 9 Planets in the Solar System |
7) 88 = P. K. 88 Piano Keys |
8) 13 = S. of the A. F. 13 Stripes of the American Flag |
| 9) 32 = D. F. at which W. F. 32 Degrees Fahrenheit at which Water Freezes |
10) 18 = H. on a G. C. 18 Holes on a Golf Course |
11) 90 D. in a R. A. 90 Degrees in a Right Angle |
12) 200 = D. for P. G. in M. 200 Dollars for Passing GO in Monopoly |
| 13) 8 = S. on a S. S. 8 Sides on a Stop Sign |
14) 3 B. M. (S. H. T. R.) 3 Blind Mice (See How They Run) |
15) 4 Q. in a G. 4 Quarts in a Gallon |
16) 24 = H. in a D. 24 Hours in a Day |
| 17) 1 = W. on a U. 1 Wheel on a Unicycle |
18) 5 = D. in a Z. C. 5 Digits in a Zip Code |
19) 57 = H. V. 57 Heinz Varieties |
20) 11 = P. on a F. T. 11 Players on a Football Team |
| 21) 1001 = A. N. 1001 Arabian Nights |
22) 29 = D. in F. in a L. Y. 29 Days in February in a Leap Year |
23) 64 = S. on a C. B. 64 Squares on a Checker Board |
24) 40 = D. and N. of the G. F. 40 Days and Nights of the Great Flood |
| 25) 15 = M. on a D. M. C. 15 Men on a Dead Man's Chest |
26) 7 = D. S. 7 Deadly Sins |
27) 76 T. in the B. P. 76 Trombones in the Big Parade |
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(source: Linda Spencer, Liverpool, England)
Make four (4) equal equilateral triangles out of six (6) sticks? (source: Hanna Bailouni, Cairo, Egypt)
Answer: Think in 3 dimensions to get this puzzle. Use 3 sticks to form an equilateral triangle on the ground. Then using this triangle as a base, make a pyramid with the remaining 3 sticks. You have a 3 sided pyramid. Each of the 3 sides and the base are equal equilateral triangles.
No. 1: How about a word with all five vowels in it? (source: Betty Oryall, San Francisco, CA)
Answer: "Sequoia" is the answer provided by Betty. However, Krystal Loh of Mississauga, Ontario provided us with still another answer: "Facetious" with the vowels in order. "Facetiously", a variation, has all vowels including 'y', in order.
No. 2: A word with 5 letters pronounced like only one letter? (source: Betty Oryall, San Francisco, CA)
Answer: "Queue", pronounced as the letter 'Q'.
No 1: Which came first the chicken or the egg? (source: unknown)
Answer: Obviously there is no answer to this puzzle. The Chicken vs. the Egg provokes thought!! Some people find the answer in the Bible Book of Genesis 1:20.
No 2: What is it that walks on 4 legs in the morning, 2 legs in the afternoon, and 3 legs in the evening? (source: Riddle of the Sphinx)
Answer: Man. When we are born we crawl (4 legs), when we are grown we walk (2 legs); when we are old we use a cane (3 legs).
No 3: Food came out of the eater, and sweetness from the strong. (source: Samson's riddle found in the Old Testament, Book of Judges)
Answer: Lion and Honey from the bees. Bible Book of Judges 14:18.
No 1:
There is a clerk at the butcher shop, he is Five Feet ten inches, and he wears size 13
sneakers. He has a wife and 2 kids. What does he weigh? (Submitted by: Kosal Sen,
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
Answer: A butcher weighs meat.
No 2:
You have 8 marbles. Out of the 8 marbles there is one marble that weighs slightly heavier
than the rest. The rest of the marbles all weigh the same. How would you find the heaviest
marble when you can only weigh them two times using a liberty scale? (submitted by
Chay Day Kao, Bothell, Washington)
Answer:
Step 1: Select any 6 marbles. Place 3 marbles on each side of the scale. If one side goes
down, go to Step 3. If they balance go to Step 2.
Step 2: Place the two remaining marbles on the scale. The marble that goes down is the
heavy marble.
Step 3: Using the 3 marbles that went down in Step 1, select any 2 marbles. Place one
marble on each side. If one side goes down, that is the heavy marble. If they balance the
other marble is the heavy marble.
No 3:
You need to time nine minutes. All you have is a 4 minutes hourglass and a 7 minute hour
glass. How do you do it? (submitted by Andrew O'Brien, Beaverton, Oregon)
Answer: This puzzle may be solved in several ways. But they are all variations of
this solution.
Step 1: Start the 4 minute and the 7 minute hour glass.
Step 2: When the 4 minute runs out, Start them both again. At this point the 7 minute will
have 3 minutes to go.
Step 3: When the 7 minute runs out, start them both again. At this point the 4 minute will
have 1 minute to go. Now we will begin timing for the nine minutes.
Step 4: When the 4 minute runs out, one minute has expired. Turn the 4 minute over twice
for the remaining 8 minutes for a total of 9 minutes.
You have 2 American coins that total 30¢. One of the coins is not a quarter. What are the 2 coins? (Submitted by Frances Anne Sutherland, Atlanta, Georgia)
| Answer: A nickel and a quarter. The 'nickel' is the coin that is not the quarter. The puzzle said, "One of the coins is not a quarter." The other coin is a quarter. |
This coin is NOT a quarter. |
This is the other coin and it is a quarter. |
There are three words in the English language that end with "gry." One is "angry" and one of them is "hungry." What is the third word?
Answer: Frankly we do not know the answer to this Brain Teaser. Many people submitted solutions or guesses. Here is a summary of the responses submitted by various readers.
Solution #1 We looked up the word "gry" in the Webster's New Universal Unabridged Dictionary, Deluxe Second Edition, page 807. Here is the definition in that dictionary:
gry, n. [L. gry, a trifle; Gr. gry, a grunt] 1. a measure equal to one-tenth of a line. [Obs.] 2. anything very small. [Rare]
Frankly I am disappointed in the answer and I feel the riddle is misleading in the way it is worded. The riddle stated: "Everyone uses it every day, and everyone knows what it stands for. If you have been listening, I have already told you what the word is."
How often have you used 'gry'? I never have used it and did not know what it stood for. Furthermore, the reference to 'If you have been listening, I have already told you what the word is' is too vague and how I've been 'told' eludes me.
Lori, this was your riddle. Do you think there may be another word ending in 'gry' that complies more fully with the spirit of the riddle? Gry, gry, gry (grunt, grunt, grunt...).
Solution #2 It has been suggested the answer to this puzzle is "energy." The rationale is that the riddle doesn't specify that the letters g-r-y need to appear in that order. If this is the case, then obviously, there are more than three words in the English language which satisfy this rule. However, the restriction that everyone uses 'it' everyday, leaves much to interpretation.
Consider the word 'clergy.' While some may not consult their clergy everyday, it does satisfy the order independent rule. Likewise, some may engage in a daily 'orgy', but this is a matter of definition. (I would hate to think that members of the clergy participate in this.) Some other words which appear with the letters g-r-y in no particular order are: allergy, lethargy, liturgy, metallurgy, and synergy.
I would have to conclude that this riddle remains unsolved, since there are more than three words which qualify under this interpretation.
Solution #3 Some said the answer was "it". Part of the riddle states: "Everyone uses it every day, and everyone knows what it stands for."
The problem with "it" as the answer is that it completely ignores the g-r-y criteria. Again if "it" is the answer we're very disappointed.
Solution #4 "What do you mean there's no answer to the June Brainteaser???? I can't believe you would publish a brainteaser without knowing the answer. I won't waste my time reading your brainteasers in the future."
Solution #5 I read somewhere that the third word was 'antidisestablishmentarianismgry.' This was posted to a Usenet group somewhere, and I don't really trust it because I looked it up in Webster's Third New International Dictionary (yes, the big one) and it wasn't there. However, the people at Webster are notorious for screwing us out of every prefix and suffix. [Jeff]
Solution #6 This riddle, brain teaser went around here for about three weeks - we had it on the radio stations, and were asking friends and relatives all across Canada! The answer is agree or agry. Agry is a bead, agree is it's homonym, which is part of the puzzle. One of the clues is that the word or it's HOMONYM is used daily! I hope that the powers that be agree on this answer, or a whole lot of us will be in turmoil again, wouldn't you agree :) [Reba] The wording of the riddle made no mention of "homonyms". Our belief is that we need to continue the search.
In the basement there are 3 light switches in the "off position". Each switch controls 1 of 3 light bulbs on the floor above. You may move any of the switches but you may only go up stairs one time. How can you determine which switch controls each light bulb? (submitted by Gloria MacCormick, Cleveland, Ohio)
Answer: Turn any one switch to the "on" position for 5 minutes, then turn that switch "off". Quickly turn any other switch to the "on" position and run up stairs. Feel the two lights that are "off". One of them will be "hot" because is was "on" for 5 minutes. Obviously the "hot" bulb is controlled by the first switch you turned "on". The light that is currently "on" is controlled by the switch you last turn "on". The "cold" bulb that is "off" is controlled by the only switch left. When solving problems we often need to use all our senses.
Use 16 sticks, tooth picks work great. MOVE two (2) sticks and end up with four (4) boxes of equal size? The size of the boxes will not change. (submitted by Sarah Theresa Gonzales, Chicago, Illinois)
Answer: You will use all 16 sticks. Destroy two boxes and create a new one.
What comes next? What is the next in the following sequence? (submitted by Alice Clarke, London, England)
O T T F F S S E N T
Answer: Simple count from ONE to TEN. The sequence is the 1st letter of each number. One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven, Eight, Nine, Ten. Pretty cute, huh!?
You buy 10 trees at a local nursery. How do you plant your 10 trees in 5 rows with 4
in each row? (submitted by Mark Ashworth, Clearlake City, Texas)
Answer: Draw a 5 pointed STAR. Plant one tree at each point and one tree where the sides intersect.
There was no brain teaser in January 1996...sorry...
