Frequently Asked

Here is a problem that was first published in 1903 in a British newspaper by Henry Ernest Dudeney.

42 feet is not the answer... Back

There is a spider and a fly in a room. The spider has designs on the fly, and the fly is so frightened it cannot move. The details are: The room is rectangular and measures 30 feet by 12 feet by 12 feet. The spider is at the middle of an end wall, one foot from the ceiling. The fly is at the middle of the opposite end wall, one foot above the floor. What is the shortest possible route along which the spider can crawl (without leaving a surface) to reach his prey ?

There are three boxes: one containing apples, one containing oranges and one containing apples and oranges together. The boxes are labelled "Apples", "Oranges", "Apples and Oranges", but each label is on the wrong box. You can't see into the boxes, but you are allowed to remove items from each box.
Question: What is the minimum number of samples of the contents you must take to ensure you can put the labels on the correct boxes?

Three cannibals and three missionaries want to cross a river in a canoe which holds two people. One person has to bring the boat back (it can't be pushed, etc.). Trouble is, if ever you leave one missionary with more than one cannibal or two missionaries with three cannibals, the cannibals will eat the missionaries. How will you get the six across with no one getting eaten?

You are a participant on "Let's Make a Deal". Monty Hall shows you three closed doors. He tells you that two of the closed doors have a goat behind them and that one of the doors has a new car behind it. You pick one door, but before you open it Monty opens one of the two remaining doors and shows that it hides a goat. He then offers you a chance to switch doors with the remaining closed door. Is it to your advantage to do so?

A woman enters a hardware store, brings an item up to the counter and asks "How much are these?". The man behind the counter replies "25 ct each", so the woman says she will take two hundred and fifty. She then gives the man a dollar and gets 25 ct change. What did she buy?

There are words that end in "gry".

Angry is one and hungry is another.

What is the third word.

Everyone uses it every day and

Everyone knows what it means.

If you have been listening,

I have already told you what the third word is.

Angry and hungry are two words that end in '-gry'.

There are three words in "the English language".

What is the third word?

Everyone knows what it means and everyone uses it every day.

Look closely and I have already given you the third word.

What is it?