Conundrums V

121. One night during the Second World War, an allied bomber was on a mission over Germany. The plane was in perfect condition and everything on it worked properly. When it had reached its target, the pilot ordered the bomb-bay doors opened. They opened. He then ordered the bombs released. They were released. But the bombs did not fall from the plane. Why should this be so?	Answer 19
122. In ancient Egypt, there was a great problem. The top stone of the pyramid had a weight of 11 tons (11,000 kg). There were only two boats; each could carry 5 tons. How can the stone be carried over the Nile with the boats?	Answer 19
123. A school has 1000 doors and 1000 students. Initially all doors are closed. A student goes around the school and opens every door. Another student closes every second door. The next student changes the state of each third door - if it is open he closes it, if it is closed he opens it. And so on. The N-th student changes the state of all N-th doors. How many doors will be open after the last student goes around the school?	Answer 19
124. A man is walking down the road with a basket of apples. He meets a friend and gives him half of his apples plus half an apple. He continues down the road and meets another friend and gives him half of his apples plus half an apple. He continues on and sees another friend. He gives him, once again, half of his apples plus half an apple. He has one whole, uncut apple left over. How many apples did he start with?	Answer 19
125. A butcher received an invoice for a consignment of 72 ducks, but unfortunately it was smudged and a couple of figures were unreadable. All he could read was '-67.9-', with the first and last figures illegible. Nevertheless, being a 'rec.puzzler', he was able to work out the price of a duck immediately. What was the price of a duck?	Answer 19
126. King Henry VIII gave his wife a bottomless container to put flesh and blood in. What did he give her?	Answer 19
127. Yesterday you bought a 100-lb sack of potatoes. You measured the potatoes with a moisture-meter and learned they were 99% water. You measured them again today and they are now 98% water. How much do the potatoes weigh now?	Answer 19
128. Everyone knows that the cold tap flows faster than the hot tap. You put the plug in the bath and turn on the HOT tap and fill to half-way; this takes 4 minutes. Then you take the plug out and the bath takes 2 minutes to empty. Next, you put the plug in the bath and turn on the COLD tap and fill to half-way; this takes only 3 minutes, because of the faster flow. Then you take the plug out and again the bath takes 2 minutes to empty. How long would it take for the bath to fill if you turn on both taps and leave the plug out?	Answer 19
129. Jimmy was learning about fractions in school. He was asked by his teacher to find an object in his home that had a fraction printed on it. When he got home, he searched his house to find fractions. It took a while, but he finally found an object with a fraction printed on it. It was an object that is often purchased by many people, and it comes with the fraction printed on it. The next day he reported to his teacher that the fraction he found was 24/31. What was the object Jimmy found?	Answer 19
130. At a sale in a local furniture shop all articles were discounted 20 per cent. I, as a long-standing customer, was also offered a further 10 percent discount, and as a final bonus, because I was paying in cash, I got the Manager to agree to another 5 percent discount! A nice afternoon's work! In what order should I take these discounts in order to pay the least possible price on my purchase?	Answer 19
131. A special telecommunications cable has been made for the planet Mars, and it is meant to be laid across one of the planet's "great circles" (basically, the equator of Mars). However, the cable is 100 metres too long. They've decided not to waste the cable, and simply make telephone posts to prop it up. How high do the poles have to be to make the cable taut?	Answer 19
132. Assuming you and your opponent don't make any mistakes, what is the minimum number of strokes required to win a set in tennis?	Answer 19
133. A census-taker goes to a house. He asks the owner how many children there are. He answers: 3. He asks the owner their ages. He answers - I won't tell you, but their ages add to the house number; and if you multiply their ages it equals my age. The census-taker does some work and says it is not enough information to know their ages. The owner answers: The oldest one is 3 inches taller than the girl next door. The census-taker says: Thanks, I have enough to know their ages, and leaves. What are the ages of the children?	Answer 19
134. If it take six men six days to dig a hole - how many days does it take 4 men to dig half a hole?	Answer 19
135. At first I have four of them, then I cut one off, therefore three fall down and five remain. What are they?	Answer 19
136. "I am the last great knight templar actively combating hysterical bureaucracy." What is special about the above phrase?	Answer 19
137. I once made a remark about the hidden books of the Bible. It was a lu lu, kept people looking so hard for the facts and for others it was a revelation. Some were in a jam, especially since the names of the books were not capitalized. But the truth finally struck home to numbers of readers. To others, it was a real job. We want it to be a most fascinating few moments for you. yes, there will be some really easy ones to spot. Others may require judges to help them. I will quickly admit it usually takes a minister to find one of them, and there will be loud lamentations when it is found. A little lady says she brews a cup of tea, so she can concentrate better. See how well you can compete. Relax now, for there really are sixteen names of books of the Bible in this story.	Answer 19
138. A jeweller in London was expecting a package with three pearl necklaces from a dealer in Paris. He had paid in advance. When the package arrived he opened it and found a note which said "hereby I send you three pearl necklaces". But there were no necklaces to be found. He did find a dead mouse in the box, nothing else. The box was made from sturdy cardboard and was not damaged in any way, and there was no evidence that somebody tempered with it. What happened to the pearl necklaces? And what does the dead mouse have to do with the case?	Answer 19
139. What is half of twice of a quarter of half of the reciprocal of half the sum of the first two prime numbers?	Answer 19
140. Once I took 2 integers, x and y. I invited 2 persons, A and B, who didn't know the numbers. To A, I gave the product of x and y, to B the sum of x and y. A and B didn't know each other's number, but I told them that both x and y are greater than 6 and smaller than 20. I asked A and B to find x and y. First A said: "I don't know". Then B said: "I don't know". Then A said: "Now, I know!". Finally B said: "Now, I know too!". Now, can you find x and y?	Answer 19
141. I have written 10 letters and addressed the envelopes. I then randomly insert each letter into any old envelope. On average, how many letters would you expect to be in the correct envelopes?	Answer 19
142. A high school has a strange principal. On the first day, he has his students perform an odd opening day ceremony: There are one thousand lockers and one thousand students in the school. The principal asks the first student to go to every locker and open it. Then he has the second student go to every second locker and close it. The third goes to every third locker and, if it is closed, he opens it, and if it is open, he closes it. The fourth student does this to every fourth locker, and so on. After the process is completed with the thousandth student, how many lockers are open?	Answer 19
143. "There's a new man at the store," said Susan. "He's really nice." "He should be with what you spend there," Charlie chuckled. "How come?" "Well, I bought a small basket of apples for 48c, and then he put in two extra. So the apples cost me 4c a dozen less." How many did she get?	Answer 19
144. Assume you flipped a fair coin twelve times and recorded how often it landed heads or tails. Which outcome is more likely to occur: 1. Heads appeared exactly the same number of times as tails. -or- 2. One (heads or tails) appeared exactly twice as often as the other?	Answer 19
145. A man comes into a town where there are only TWO barbershops, and wants to have a haircut. In the first one he sees that the shop is clean and the barber has a nice haircut; but the other shop is messy and the barber has a nasty haircut. But he chooses to go to the messy one. Why?	Answer 19
146. A racing driver drove round a 6-mile track at 140 m.p.h. for 3 miles, at 168 m.p.h for 1.5 miles, and 210 m.p.h. for 1.5 miles. What was his average speed for the entire 6 miles?	Answer 19
147. Baron Izegrim promised his butler £1000 plus his ermine cloak as the butler's wages for a year. However, after 7 months the butler left his lordship's service and received the cloak and £200 as his due. How much is the cloak worth?	Answer 19
148. If a diamond is worth 2/3 of a diamond plus 2/3 of a ruby plus 2/3 of a pearl plus 2/3 of an emerald, and a ruby is worth 2/3 of a ruby plus 2/3 of a pearl plus 2/3 of an emerald, and a pearl is worth 2/3 of a pearl plus 2/3 of an emerald, how many emeralds is a diamond worth?	Answer 19
149. Somebody had taken the last chocolate out of the jar, much to the indignation of the other three. Find out from the following statements, only one of which is true, who did it. Abby - 'Bob took the last chocolate' Bob - 'Dirk took the last chocolate' Celeste - 'Who, me? Can't be!' Dirk - 'Bob is lying when he says I took the chocolate'	Answer 19
150. A man was killed in a car crash on his way to a hospital where his wife was about to give birth. In his recently-made will, he had stipulated that should the baby be a boy, his estate was to be divided two-thirds to his son and one-third to his wife: if a girl, it was to be divided one-quarter to her and the rest to his wife. If his wife gave birth to twins - a boy and a girl - what is the best way to divide the estate so as to carry out his intention?	Answer 19

To Conundrums I|II|III|IV|VI|VII|VIII|IX|X|XI|XII|

To Index