After her death, a mother left her sons her entire £5000 fortune.The elder son received £3000.The rest was shared equally between whoever remained.How much did they each get? AnswerThere is just one other son who takes the remaining £2000.The word ‘elder’ means there are two. If there were more than two it would have been […]
Assume that penguins live with a density of 1,000 penguins per square mile and can run at an average speed of 7 miles per hour on land and swim at 20 miles per hour. Also, assume that a polar bear has a territory of 10 square miles, can run at 25 miles per hour and
Emperor Akbar once ruled over India. He was a wise and intelligent ruler, and he had in his court the Nine Gems, his nine advisors, who were each known for a particular skill. One of these Gems was Birbal, known for his wit and wisdom. The story below is one of the examples of his
You are an adventurer and come across two caves: one on the left and one on the right. One of the caves has treasures; the other, most certain doom. You see an imp passing by and ask which cave has the treasure. The imp said, “Two caves you came across. Many have failed to pick
Jimmy Foster, better known as “J.G.” (Jimmy the Gambler), has decided to give up gambling for good. However, Jimmy decides to make one last wager, a huge one. Jimmy wages $147,000 on a race horse named “End of the line”. Unfortunately, Jimmy loses his money on “End of the line”. (It really is looking like
Two people come to a river. There is a boat, however it can carry one person only. How can they each get to the other side of the river using the boat? AnswerThey are on the opposite sides of the river (nowhere does it say that they come to the river together!).One simply uses the
At a train station in Sydney, Australia, an intelligent rich man was awaiting his upper class rail transport. He was sorting through his wallet and pulled out credit cards, receipts, and $200 in cash.An egotistical scam artist (and a talented one at that) approached the man and said to him, “I’ll bet you, on all
Both a doctor and a bus driver are in love with the same woman, an attractive girl with the unusual name of Pibbles. The bus driver had to go on a long bus trip that would last a week. Before he left, he gave Pibbles seven apples. Why? AnswerAn apple a day keeps the doctor
You are a topnotch professor at Harvard University. People all over the world know your name and would be delighted to possess only a fraction of your intelligence. However today, on a casual weekend at your house, you are extremely befuddled.Your dilemma is that you are unable to locate your television remote. After performing a
A heron caught a fish in his bill and was carrying it alive back to his nest. Worried about his own life, the fish was thinking hard to find a way to free himself. Coming up with a bright idea, he then said to the heron,“Birdie, I’ve learnt that you’re a smart bird, and I’m
A witch owns a field containing many gold mines. She hires one man at a time to mine this gold for her. She promises 10% of what a man mines in a day, and he gives her the rest. Because she is blind, she has three magic bags who can talk. They report how much
Listo, the leader of a band of assassins, was taken captive by an opposing kingdom. “Give your daggers,” said one of the generals, “Or you are to be executed. But since you killed so many of our knights, we shall give you a small test. You must say a statement. If the statement is true,
A group of four prisoners were held captive by the enemy and each prisoner was to be shot each day through the week. As natural disasters were common in this specific part of the world, the group of prisoners decided to make up a plan of distracting the guards. Before each prisoner would be shot,
I, Professor Picanumba, will amaze and astound you. Take a piece of paper and write any word on it. Fold the paper in half twice, and put it on the floor. Now stand on it. Believe it or not, I will now tell you what is on the paper. AnswerYour foot is on the paper.(Look
Jake and his friend Paco had very famous challenge sessions at their school. One would suggest something one could do, and the other would prove it wrong somehow.One day, Jake surprised Paco by stating: “I can answer any question in the world.”Sure that he would win the challenge, Paco accepted the task of proving it