Conundrums I

1. Those that can't use it can never part with it. Those that can use it, part with it. What is it?	Answer 1
2. Even if you take away the whole, you still have some left. What is it?	Answer 2
3. You purchase a simple balance scale, one with a pan on each end of a beam with the pivot point in the middle, so that when you place objects of equal weight on each pan it balances. The salesman only has four weights to go with it, but says that with these four weights you can measure any weight between 1 and 31 lb. in 1-lb. increments. The four weights together weigh 31 lb. What are the minimal weights?	Answer 19
4. A man is found in the water, drowned, a short straw in his hand. Assuming this was not suicide, what happened?	Answer 3
5. Fred was often inquisitive about the world outside. Each day he gazed wistfully through the glass at a world he could never know. Then one day, the unthinkable happened! Some boys playing outside accidentally broke the glass. Instantly, Fred regretted his curiosity. Why?	Answer 4
6. It is said that Lucretia Borgia could split an apple in such a way that, when she shared it with someone else, the subject of her generosity would be dead within hours. How did she do it?	Answer 4
7. A French couple who had been surfing all over the Wtrois were planning to visit the puzzling nature of the alt.brain.teasers planes. As they check in at the airport the clerk overhears them talking about catching and slamming some traditional Haddocks. Days later the clerk reads in Alt.newspaper that the wife was killed when she tried to haul in the biggest haddock at atb. According to her husband, Grand Old Gry pulled her into the deep blue water and she drowned. The clerk immediately phoned the Netpolice and the husband was arrested for murder. Why did the clerk suspect murder?	Answer 19
8. Bill and his brother Tom were at the airport seeing their elderly mother off on holiday. Suddenly Bill saw a man in the crowd. "Here, Tom, do you see who that is?" "I don't believe it," gasped Tom. "It's Phil!" He was quite right but how did they both recognize Phil? Neither brother had ever seen him before.	Answer 4
9. A man working the night shift received a telephone call and rushed home instantly. His informant was right - his wife was in bed with a stranger! However, he seemed more surprised than angry, and even went so far as to bring them both breakfast in bed. What had happened?	Answer 5
10. Joshua Shrimp had been at sea for forty years and in that time he had been around the globe many times. However, he had always spent his nights in bed and on dry land. How?	Answer 6
11. Nauseating little Johnny Toosmart was having a biology lesson. Feeling bored, he put up his hand and told the teacher "I know a creature that has legs, a chest and a back, but no head. What is it?" As usual, the teacher was furious at being stuck for an answer. What was Johnny thinking of?	Answer 7
12. A man's grandfather died and left him, among other things, a vase. As soon as he took charge of his inheritance the man smashed the vase. Paradoxically, he was then much better off than he had been before. How?	Answer 8
13. There may be no 3 in three, but there is a 4 in five, and 9 in six, and 1 in eight, and in twelve, there's 55! Explain...	Answer 9
14. A man survived for several months in an enclosed room with only a calendar. What did he eat and drink?	Answer 10
15. "Yes, I've been away," Mike said. "Company convention." "But your wife too?" Steve seemed surprised. "Sure. It was a small affair, mainly two dinners so all our managers and wives could get acquainted." Steve chuckled. "Not my idea of a convention, all grim and strictly dry." "Far from it," Mike told him. "And it was odd about drinks. The first dinner we all sat at three tables, same number at each. The second dinner we had the men all at one table, with the women at another table. Both dinners everyone bought a full round of drinks for his or her table, and 38 more altogether were bought that way the second dinner than the first." Not so dry! But how many were at those dinners?	Answer 19
16. At first contact X wishes you to state your intention. If X does not need you, X will terminate the interaction. If you are wounded X thinks you're damaged. When dancing, X does not understand the function of this activity. When X comes home X has arrived at designated location. X is a fictional character. You have sufficient information! Who is X, and what does X do to relax?	Answer 19
17. A young girl decides to check out her mothers shopping list. She bought three items, all costing more than $0.99 and less than $9.99. However as the girl makes the calculation her mother observes that she is multiplying instead of adding, but to her surprise she sees that the answer the girl gets is correct. Given that the total number of cents she spent ended in 7, find the prices of the three items.	Answer 19
18. Mrs. Ross sweeps her kitchen, bathroom and closet every morning. On alternate days she sweeps first the kitchen, last the closet and then first the closet, last the kitchen. Why?	Answer 13
19. There is a dead man in a perfectly square steel room hanging from a noose attached to the ceiling and there is a large puddle of water beneath him. How did he kill himself?	Answer 14
20. I am silver and exact. I have no preconceptions. Whatever I see I swallow immediately Just as it is, unmisted by love or dislike. I am not cruel, only truthful.	Answer 14
21. Before they had motor cars, a man rode into town on his horse. He arrived on Friday and spent three days in town. Then he left on Friday. How can this be possible?	Answer 15
22. There is a clerk at the butcher's shop, he is five feet ten inches tall, and he wears size 13 sneakers. He has a wife and 2 kids. What does he weigh?	Answer 16
23. How come mirrors reverse right and left but not top and bottom?	Answer 17
24. We both have some sheep. If you give me one sheep, I will have twice as many as you. If I give you one sheep, we will both have the same amount. How many sheep do we each have?	Answer 19
25. 1. Pretend that you have 1000 sheets of paper in a stack on your desk. Each sheet has a numeral on it that indicates its position from the top of the stack (1 to 1000). Starting with the top sheet, remove every other sheet until you reach the bottom of the stack. Then throw away the sheets you removed and repeat the process with the remaining sheets. Eventually, the stack is reduced to just one sheet. What is the numeral on the last remaining sheet? 2. Now start with a new stack of 1000 sheets of paper (numbered as before). Starting with the top sheet (1), remove every other sheet until you reach the bottom. Now repeat the process, only this time remove third sheet (starting with the sheet on top). Repeat the process again removing every fourth sheet. Keep repeating the process, incrementing the number of sheets skipped after each cycle (i.e., every fifth sheet, every sixth sheet, etc.). Towards the end you will be only removing the top sheet, because the number of sheets will be less than the "skip count". What is the numeral on the last remaining sheet?	Answer 19
26. A pilot, who is about to take off for a certain destination, offers a lift to a stranded traveller, and assures her that wherever she wanted to go, it would not take him more than a few miles off his route. They took off from Buenos Aires. What is the pilot's destination?	Answer 19
27. As a whole, I am both safe and secure. Behead me, and I become a place of meeting. Behead me again, and I am the partner of ready. Restore me, and I am the domain of beasts.	Answer 19
28. A man lives in his house. He also works out of his house and his job is very important. Everyday the man must sleep with the lights on to avert tragedy. One night the man gets so sick of the light he turns it out for the night. The next morning he reads the newspaper, takes out a gun, and shoots himself. Why?	Answer 19
29. Tony likes indigo but not blue. He likes onions but not turnips; he likes forms but not shapes. According to the same rule does he like tomatoes or avocados???	Answer 19
30. A man with no eyes saw two pears on a tree. He took no pears and he left no pears, how can that be?	Answer 19

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