the book of mind-bending lateral thinking PUZZLES

[- English -]

Ok, Smart arses, geniuses, geeks, nerds, intelligence freaks, IQ humpers etc I have some questions from this book which my sister has (dont ask why )

Good luck in answering as many as you can, Ill reveal the answers soon (just a variety out of the book)

nice and easy to start with

1) A woman was born in the Summer of 40BC and died two months after her 60th Birthday, What year did she die in?

2) What game begins with a T, has four letters in its name, and is played all over the world?

3) If one man has three sacks of corn on his back, and another has four sacks on his back, which of them has the heavier load?

4) I have trouble telling my left hand from my right, so i bought a pair of reversible gloves, red on one side, and blue on the other. I put a red glove on my right hand, and turned the other one inside out so my left hand would be blue - but it didnt work. What went wrong?

5) What would happen if you struck a match in a room filled with hydrogen gas?

6) A boy was asked to multiply five numbers together. He was shown each number in turn, but before even seeing the last two numbers, he gave the correct answer. How did he do it?

 

[DocWolfe]

Spoiler

1) 20 Ad

3) Depends if the guy with 4 sacks has corn in those sacks... or anything at all.

6) one of those numbers was 0

 

[DocWolfe]

Spoiler

4) If you turn the glove inside out, to change the colour, it becomes the opposite. so R->L
5) you wouldn't be able to because theirs no oxygen to ignite it in the first place?

 

[swords]

1) Depends if the person you ask is an astronomer or not...

 

[- English -]

could give you the benefit of the doubt on them except you are struggling with number 2 it seems

 

[swords]

I was gonna guess Tits as number 2, i'm pretty sure they're played with around the world

 

[Cozak]

Spoiler

2 = Golf

all pretty simple, was harder getting spoiler tags to work

 

[DocWolfe]

Spoiler

2 = Golf

all pretty simple, was harder getting spoiler tags to work

Hum golf begins with a Tee though... not a T

 

[Cozak]

would be too easy if you wrote that though

 

[- English -]

well the first wave complete, and i can probably tell some of u cheated

but anway a few more to keep it going

1)There are four pairs of blue socks, and three pairs of red socks in a drawer. In the darkm how many socks must you take out to be sure of getting a matching pair

2)The number of bacteria in a large sealed jar doubles every minute. An hour after the first bacterium was put into the jar and sealed in, the jar is full. When was it half full?

3)A triangle has three sides, a rectangle has four, a hexagon has six, and so on. How many sides has a circle?

 

[Thorwyn]

Spoiler

1. 3
2. t minus 1 minute
3. 1

 

[Gamah]

Tune

 

[Thorwyn]

a Hunter walks to his hut somewhere deep in the woods.
The hut is 23 kilometers away (sorry you UK system guys ). He´s walking at a pace of 5 kilometers/hour. His dog is twice as fast as him, so runs to the hut, then turns, then runs back to the hunter, then turns etc.etc.
At the time when the hunter arrives at the hut, how many kilometers did the dog run?

 

[- English -]

the book says the circle has 2 sides btw the outer, and inner... but tbh its arguable

 

[noblok]

At the time when the hunter arrives at the hut, how many kilometers did the dog run?

Spoiler

Impossible to solve, due to the Zeno's 'Achilles and the tortoise' mechanism? (You have to keep dividing the distance between the man and the end goal in order to know when the man will meet the dog, ad infinitum. Don't shoot me if it isn't the same mechanism, but it made me think of it )

 

[Neffneff]

a Hunter walks to his hut somewhere deep in the woods.
The hut is 23 kilometers away (sorry you UK system guys ). He´s walking at a pace of 5 kilometers/hour. His dog is twice as fast as him, so runs to the hut, then turns, then runs back to the hunter, then turns etc.etc.
At the time when the hunter arrives at the hut, how many kilometers did the dog run?

well if the dog is continuously moving between man and hut (ireelevant really, just need to know he is moving) at twice the speed of the man, then the dog should cover twice the distance in the same time as the man, so the man travveled 23 kilometers, there fore the dog travels 46km?

 

[Thorwyn]

Neffneff is right, it´s actually just a logical thing and all the extra informations are redundant. The dog IS twics as fast as the Hunter, so he ran twice the way at any given point.

The interesting thing about this riddle is, that there are two ways to solve it.. one is the "mathematical" way (/me looks at noblok) and one is the semantical way (/me looks at NeffNeff). It´s a good demonstration of how people are approaching riddles.

 

[Ingafgrinn Macabre]

Neffneff is right, it´s actually just a logical thing and all the extra informations are redundant. The dog IS twics as fast as the Hunter, so he ran twice the way at any given point.

The interesting thing about this riddle is, that there are two ways to solve it.. one is the "mathematical" way (/me looks at noblok) and one is the semantical way (/me looks at NeffNeff). It´s a good demonstration of how people are approaching riddles.

My hunter's avatar always lags behind my hunter though.... :/

 

[Bahumat]

Question 2) Time?

 

[DocWolfe]

well the first wave complete, and i can probably tell some of u cheated

How dare you! I did not cheat at all!

 

[Pirkel]

Question 2 is Tic Tac To ... T = letter 1. i = letter 2, a = letter 3 and o is letter 4?

 

[old.Tohtori]

Well, calling people cheaters, when i can solve these in a killer hangover, is stupid.

For the lack of a better word.

 

[- English -]

didnt mean to offend you by calling you cheating with a (means a joke btw)

some more questions:

1) how many peas are there in a pod

2) after passing her driving test, sally was on her way home, feeling very pleased with herself and not concentrating on where she was going. She went straight over a zebra crossing and the wrong way up a one-way street. Her driving instructor and a passing policeman saw her, but didnt bat an eye lid. Why?

3) in general, the older a coin is , the greater its value. Which would be worth more, a British silver penny with th e date 1453, or a Greek silver obol with the date 453 BC?

4)What is twice two thirds of three quaters of ten

5) in what sport do all players except one move backwards

 

[Potato Junkie]

1. one
2. she was walking

 

[Howley]

4) 10

 

[Neffneff]

2/3 of 3/4 is 2/4, so twice 2/4 is 4/4...or 1X...which means the answer is ten.

 

[Miril]

5) rowing

 

[georgie]

3). The Greek one would be a fake if it had 453 BC on it.

 

[- English -]

clever gits

 

[- English -]

1) Even if every one of these animals were to be destroyed, theywould be extinct, but would reappear within a few months. What are they?

2)which of the states in the USA is round at both ends and high in the middle?