Gota Riddle?

As a lover of riddles Im always looking for new innovative word puzzles. So I put it to the teaming million's gota new riddle? Ill start you off with the first one try to think outside the box.

Why are 1988 penny's more valuable than 1983 penny's?

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It's easer to get forgiveness than to get permission.

Simple

Because 1988 pennies are worth $19.88 and 1983 pennies are only worth $19.83

I wonder if anyone has the balls to put the "-gry" riddle on here.

Not angry and hungry,
Louie

What goes up the chimney down, but not down the chimney up?

HOW TALL IS AN INDIAN.

Dawnbird--an umbrella.

Why are 1988 penny's more valuable than 1983 penny's?

Sorry to be a dick about this but it'll really bother me If I don't say anything. The joke says 1988 penny's and 1983 penny's not 1988 PENNIES and 1983 PENNIES

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Formerly known as Nec3f on the AOL SDMB

Bill, Yes.

This should probably go to the MPSIMS board.

Joey your wrong, the queston is

" why are 1,988 penny's worth more then 1,983 penny's? when you look at it that way it makes a lot of... cents :)

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no matter where you go...there you are

A guy leaves his cabin to go hunting. He walks 10 miles south. He turns and walks 5 miles east. He shoots a bear. He then walks 10 miles north back to his cabin. What is the color of the bear?

The bear is white. He's at the north pole

this dude is driving a truck with the words BLIND MAN all over the truck. how is this possible?

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Life is like a box of chocolate, melts in your mouth not in your hands

Where do you eat toaster waffles at the beach?
Peace,
mangeorge

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Work like you don't need the money.....
Love like you've never been hurt.....
Dance like nobody's watching! ....Unknown

this dude is driving a truck with the words BLIND MAN all over the truck. how is this possible?

Because he sells window blinds.

He sells window blinds.


Mac posted

As a lover of riddles Im always looking for new innovative word puzzles.

Glossing over the redundancy (as if there were old innovations :) ), Mac asked for new puzzles. The ones posted so far are older than I am. Listen, people, if you've heard these before, they ain't new, and we already know the answer.

But don't move this thread yet. Hey, just bear with me and quizical Mac. Here is a new one I made up. I have posted it on rec.puzzles about three years ago, so, it's possible someone here may have seen it already:

Come up with an eight word sentence that uses each part of speech once. It has to be a valid, grammatically correct sentence.

Some of the rought spots to look out for:

1. Be careful not to take a word usually associated with one part of speech and use it for another part but then count it for its usual part. For example, words usually used as prepositions can become adverbs when used by themselves without an object of a preposition. In the sentence, The shooting was a drive by, 'by' is an adverb. In the sentence, Take a drive by the park, 'by' is a preposition.

2. Conjunctions should join two like elements ("but if you can't repeat a part of speech" -- that's the trick to figuring this out). Starting a sentence with 'and' or 'but' works in poetry or in the midst a prosaic paragraph, but does not make a valid stand-alone sentence. And that's the truth.

3. Hints: If you command your mind properly, you may have already seen an answer.

Peace.

Run around me and the very hairy dog.

Verb, prep, pron, conj, art, adv, adj, noun.

8 words, 8 parts of speech, complete sentence.


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Jason R Remy

"And it could be safely said that at that moment, in the whole of India, no one, absolutely no one, was f^(king a goat."
-- John Irving A Son of the Circus (1994)

What's the longest word in the English language that doesn't contain any vowels?

(best I can come up with is seven letters: rhythms

Run around me and the very hairy dog.
Verb, prep, pron, conj, art, adv, adj, noun.

8 words, 8 parts of speech, complete sentence.

If you add "Darnit!" to the end, is that an interjection, which would make it 9 words, 9 different parts of speech?

Here's a word puzzle, which I saw in Games magazine but had to look at the answer. What a common English word that, if you split it in half, the first half is the opposite of the whole word, and the second half is a synonym for the whole word?

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Chaim Mattis Keller
ckeller@schicktech.com

"Sherlock Holmes once said that once you have eliminated the
impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be
the answer. I, however, do not like to eliminate the impossible.
The impossible often has a kind of integrity to it that the merely improbable lacks."
-- Douglas Adams's Dirk Gently, Holistic Detective

I've always enjoyed this one. My students usually fight over the correct answer.

Three men go to rent a room. The room is $30. Each man pays with a ten dollar bill.
An hour later, the inn-keeper realizes he has over charged by $5. He gives the bell hop five one dollar bills and sends him up to give back the money.

The bell hop figures a tip is in order so he puts two of the dollars in his shirt pocket and gives each of the men a dollar each.

So...each man paid nine dollars (they each got one back). Three times nine is 27. The bell hop has two bills in his shirt. That's 29. Where's the 30th dollar?

(The answer is rather easy, but rough to explain)

Trick question, Joe Burns.

Answer: you're counting the bellhop's money twice, and the money in the men's pockets not at all. The bellhop's $2 is part of the $27 that the three men paid. So there's not one dollar missing, there's 3. And where are those $3? In the men's pockets.

Chaim Mattis Keller

Riddle 1
Be you ever so quick with your vision keen.
By your eyes we are never seen.
Unless perchance it should come to pass.
You see our reflection in a looking glass.

Riddle me this Wonderboy!


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moriah, "Hey, just bear with me and quizical Mac." I think your hint was too obvious.

What hass it gots in itss pocketss?

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Tom~

So what's the answer to "How tall is an Indian?"

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I don't know who first said "everyone's a critic," but I think it's a really stupid saying.

Hoe-- your eyes.


Here's one:

Motherless and fatherless
Born without a skin,
Spoke when it came into the world
And was never heard again.



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I don't know who first said "everyone's a critic," but I think it's a really stupid saying.

Come to think of it, Hoe, it could be your teeth, your ears, or warts/pimples on your back, or some people's feet.

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I don't know who first said "everyone's a critic," but I think it's a really stupid saying.

Not bad at all MROIAH. I saw this last night and thought OUCH! this one makes me feel like a real "loverock" (new adj. for moron?). I thought I was going to have to call in the big guns on this one (my daughter the English major). Thanks JAIRON32.

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It's easer to get forgiveness than to get permission.

jayron 32 posted:

Run around me and the very hairy dog.

Verb, prep, pron, conj, art, adv, adj, noun.

8 words, 8 parts of speech, complete sentence.

The article is technically an adjective.


Pete posted

Motherless and fatherless
Born without a skin,
Spoke when it came into the world
And was never heard again.

A burp. {Hey, I'm not going for the other end -- too crude.)

Peace.

pete, you can pull your teeth out, cut off your ear and wart and see them. But not your eyes.

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Well, you can cut one eye out and look at it with your good eye. But you did say "them" not it.

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I don't know who first said "everyone's a critic," but I think it's a really stupid saying.

jayron 32 posted:

quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Run around me and the very hairy dog.
Verb, prep, pron, conj, art, adv, adj, noun.

8 words, 8 parts of speech, complete sentence.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The article is technically an adjective.

Huh? I've never heard anyone describe proper use of an article as being "technically an adjective."

"Where do you eat toaster waffles at the beach?"

San Diego.

Pretty bad, huh? :)
Peace,
mangeorge

Oldie but a goodie. Given 12 identical looking coins. One coin is counterfeit. The eleven authentic coins weigh exactly the same. The counterfeit coin weighs either more or less than than the other eleven coins. With only three weighings, can you determine which coin is counterfeit, and if it weighs more or less than the authentic coins?

Clue: Here's a little help... I was in a bar working on this puzzle with a friend one night, when the waitress wanted to help solve the puzzle, so she asked: "What denomination are the coins?". Your clue for the day is - IT DOESN'T MATTER WHAT DENOMINATION THE COINS ARE! I was so disappointed to find that the rumors about girls from the Jersey Shore were true. Nice looking, but oh so dumb.

Enright3

How Tall is an Indian is missing a comma.
There is no question.

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What's the ugliest part of your body?
Some say your nose, some say your toes,
But I think it's your Mind - Frank Zappa

I don’t see how Pete’s answer satisfies the coin riddle. The only thing that weighing three groups of four would do is tell you in which quartet the counterfeit coin is to be found. It doesn’t, however, identify which of the four is the fake.

Enright3: I need a little clarification on your riddle: are we to weigh the coins using a scale, or with an old-fashioned balance? If it is a balance, I can find the culprit coin in three weighings – but only if I know from the start whether the bogus coin I’m looking for is heavier or lighter than the rest! Damn!

Let me know by which method the coins are supposed to be weighed, and I’ll keep working on it.




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~ Complacency is far more dangerous than outrage ~

Tis a chest
Without key or lid
Yet golden treasure
Inside is hid

What do I have in my pocket?

How do you cut a pizza into 8 slices with 3 straight cuts?

Hows this:

Quarter it (two perpendicular cuts intersecting the center)

stack the four slice on top of each other and
cut them all at once.

Alternatively, line up the four slices and cut all of them with a single cut.

You can also play folding games.

Pete Said:
How do you cut a pizza into 8 slices with 3 straight cuts?

Cut the pizza in half. Lay one half on top of the other and cut that in half. Lay the three pizza quarters on top of the fourth pizza quarter and cut the stack in half.

You can also lay the pizza slices out in a row instead of stacking them if you don't want to lose melted cheese + toppings on the bottom of the slice above.

JMSaSU:

An egg. (You have one in your pocket? Be careful!)

Chaim Mattis Keller

JMSaSU said:
Tis a chest
Without key or lid
Yet golden treasure
Inside is hid

Its an egg. Or your nose.
I'm hoping its #1.

And please DON'T provide the answer for the second riddle to us.

Beaten twice for the answer. I really need to learn how to touch-type.

Hmmmm, been reading some Tolkien recently, JMSaSU? I'll take a pass on giving the answer since I already know it -- it's much more fun to leave it to someone to figure out.

(Although the first time I stumbled across the chest riddle, I'm happy to say that I got the answer without reading ahead. Yeah for me!)


It thrives in the winter, dies in the summer, and grows with its roots pointing up.

And, a word puzzle, as requested in the OP, though I don't know if it's fairly new, or older than dirt:
Name an English word with two vowels, followed by two consonents, followed by two vowels.

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~ Complacency is far more dangerous than outrage ~

STARK: outsee

Outsee, Sweet? Hmmm ... my dictionary certianly doesn't list that as a word, although I salute your effort.

BTW, I feel I should point out that the vowel-consonant-vowel combo I'm thinking of isn't a word in itself, but rather part of a larger word.

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~ Complacency is far more dangerous than outrage ~

Bookkeeper

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"Owls will deafen us with their incessant hooting!" W. Smithers

STARK: my dictionary lists it.

How about "earliest"?

Outhouse?

JMSaSU said:
Tis a chest
Without key or lid
Yet golden treasure
Inside is hid
Its an egg. Or your nose.
I'm hoping its #1.

And please DON'T provide the answer for the second riddle to us.
It is an egg and it is from "The Hobbit"
So was the second one. I just threw that in for a hint to the first.
Other than that I hate riddles.

Reply to Enright3 Riddle:
Oldie but a goodie. Given 12 identical looking coins. One coin is counterfeit. The eleven authentic coins weigh exactly the same. The counterfeit coin weighs either more or less than than the other eleven coins. With only three weighings, can you determine which coin is counterfeit, and if it weighs more or less than the authentic coins?
Reply:One clarification must be made. The scale must be a balance, and not the type that gives you a number for what is set in it.

1. Divide coins into three piles of four. Put one pile on each side of the balance.
Result: a. One side is lighter and has the counterfeit coin.
b. Each weighs the same and pile on table has the counterfeit coin.
2. Clear the balance. Put two coins from the conterfeiet pile on each side of the balance.
Result: One pile is lighter and has the counterfeit coin.
3. Clear the balance. Put one coin from the counterfeit pile on each side.
Result: The light side is the counterfeit coin.

The puzzle can be done differently, but requires the coins being divided into three piles at one time. The rest of the times are dividing in half.

Reply to STARK riddle:
It thrives in the winter, dies in the summer, and grows with its roots pointing up.

Would you be thinking of an icesickle?
Hore frost if not above answer?

Sorry folks. Yes I was talking about a balance scale.

Phobia, your method won't work. The counterfeit coin can be either heavier OR lighter than the rest. Therefore if you weighed 4 coins against 4 coins, and they were NOT equal, then you've only determined that ONE of those eight coins is the counterfeit one.

enright3

Let me rephrase. Phobia, your way is not necessarily wrong, but you cannot assume that the lighter weighing on a balance scale narrows your search down to four coins, either.

Enright3

Mangeorge - groan!

This is another oldie - oh well.

What goes in hard and dry and comes out soft and sticky?

(Get your mind out of the gutter!)

Well folks, I hope I re-figured the coins puzzle correctly.

I have flashbacks of taking Finite Math @ University of Tulsa, where the professor didn't believe in working his examples out ahead of time. He would fill four chalkboards up with one problem, only to realize he'd made a mistake on back on chalkboard one! You could hear the groans clear across campus (and notes being ripped to pieces) as he erased with the heel of his hand and rewrote pieces of the math problem like nothing was wrong. Anyway here's my solution. I'm sure you guys won't hesitate to correct me if I've made a mistake.

First weighing:
coins 1,2,3,4 ~ 5,6,7,8
Scenerio One
1,2,3,4 = 5,6,7,8 means counterfeit coin is in group 9,10,11,12
You also know that coins 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8 are good coins, and can be used as a control for further testing. (for reference, "good" coins will be denoted as "$")
Weigh 9,$ ~ 11,12
Scenerio One.One
9,$ = 10,11 means counterfeit coin is 12.
weigh 12 against a good coin to determine if it's heavy or light.

Scenerio One.Two
9,$ < 10,11 means either 9 is light OR 10 or 11 is heavy
weigh 10 ~ 11, if equal then 9 is light, otherwise heavy side is the fake coin.

Scenerio One.Three
9,$ > 10,11 means either 9 is heavy OR 10 or 11 is light.
weigh 10 ~ 11, if equal, then 9 is heavy, otherwise light side is the fake coin

Scenerio Two (Here's where it gets good!)
1,2,3,4 < 5,6,7,8 means 1,2,3,4 has a light coin, or 5,6,7,8 has a heavy coin.
You also know that 9,10,11,12 are good coins.
weigh 1,2,5 ~ 3,4,$
Scenerio Two.One
1,2,5 = 3,4,$ means 6,7, or 8 is heavy
weigh 6 ~ 7

Scenerio Two.Two
1,2,5 < 3,4,$ means 1 or 2 is light
weigh 1 ~ 2

Scenerio Two.Three
1,2,5 > 3,4,$ means 5 heavy OR 3 or 4 is light
weigh 3 ~ 4

Scenerio Three
1,2,3,4 > 5,6,7,8 means 1,2,3,4 has a heavy coin or 5,6,7,8 has a light coin
you also know that 9,10,11,12 are good coins
weigh 1,2,5 ~ 3,4,$
Scenerio Three.One
1,2,5 = 3,4,$ means 6,7or 8 is heavy
weigh 6 ~ 7

Scenerio Three.Two
1,2,5 < 3,4,$ means 3 or 4 heavy
weigh 3 ~ 4

Scenerio Three.Three
1,2,5 > 3,4,$ means 1 or 2 is heavy, OR 5 is light
weigh 1 ~ 2
******************************************

Enright3

Weigh 3 groups of 4 coins.

Here's one:

How do you cut a pizza into 8 slices with 3 straight cuts?

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I don't know who first said "everyone's a critic," but I think it's a really stupid saying.

zyada how about Bubble gum, a lollipop,or any other type of candy

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It's easer to get forgiveness than to get permission.

Enright3: That's a helluva riddle ya got there! I'm still trying to go through all the possibilities to make sure I understand it.

Sweet: Well, if your wordbook lists "outsee", who am I to argue? No quibble with earliest, though I never had thought of it.

Mojo: Looks like you got me with outhouse, as well.

Frankd6: You got the word I was looking for. I heard this one a while ago and never gave much consideration to words other than bookkeeper that would satisfy it.

Perhaps to make it a little harder, I should ask for a series of two duplicate vowels, two duplicate consonants, and two duplicate vowels. Given these constraints, are there any other words that would satisfy the question? (Other than derivations such as bookkeeping.)


Here's one of my own (as far as I know). I hope I haven't made it too easy:

Great kings and beggars, and those in between
claim me as their own, yet I'm made of nothing.
I thrive in the day, and lurk in the night;
the meek and the timid may start at my sight.

What am I?

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~ Complacency is far more dangerous than outrage ~

Oh, yeah, and Phobia: You’re right about an icicle.

I once made the mistake of telling this riddle to a visiting Aussie. It really bombed. Not only are their seasons bass-ackwards from ours, but even in their cold months, it never got chilly enough to form icicles. I eventually had to tell him the answer and then explain what the heck the answer was!


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~ Complacency is far more dangerous than outrage ~

STARK:

To quibble a bit, my "word book" is _Webster's New Universal Unabridged Dictionary_. You may find the word by looking up "out-" (prefixal use of out), go to the bottom of the page, and scan for this word (outspend is down there as well) I went to www.onelook.com (http://www.onelook.com) and found it there as well.

Reply Zyada riddle:
What goes in hard and dry and comes out soft and sticky?

Boxed pasta is hard and dry, and then you cook it. It comes out soft and sticky.

Reply to STARK riddle:
Great kings and beggars, and those in between
claim me as their own, yet I'm made of nothing.
I thrive in the day, and lurk in the night;
the meek and the timid may start at my sight

Sun light.

Enright3 coins riddle:
Well that's what happens when your eyes skip over "more or". Oops! Good riddle. How about putting all the coins onto one side of the balance and swinging the balance for some centrifical force. Release balance and watch were each coin hits the ground. The one coin that lands in a different area is the conterfiet. Well it could work in theory, if not in practice.

Bubble gum is correct

Note: pasta shouldn't come out sticky!

Stark-
The shadow knows.

Maybe that's why I don't like pasta? Mine comes out sticky enough to cling to the ceiling.

There is a word in the English language in the first two letters signify a male, the first three signify a female, the first four signify a great man and the whole word, a great woman. What is the word?

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"Quoth the Raven, 'Nevermore.'"
E A Poe

I'll have to give the blue ribbon to Mojo for his shadow answer.

Phobia: I'm always willing to accept an answer, as long as it fulfils all the criteria. I suppose everyone does pretty much claim sunlight as their own, so that works.

But I question whether the "meek and the timid" would be scared of the sun, although they may well be scared of their own shadow.

So, Phobia, a runner-up ribbon for you. :)


Twenty white horses upon a red hill,
first they chomp,
then they stomp,
and then they stand still.


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~ Complacency is far more dangerous than outrage ~

Credit to my wife for getting this one: Heroine

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~ Complacency is far more dangerous than outrage ~

Stark - Teeth

I read that in a riddle book when I was in elementary school!

How about "aortae"? Does that count? ;)

Name three words that end in GRY

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It's easer to get forgiveness than to get permission.

Mac: I believe we've seen that question before... This is trivia rather than riddle, what's that longest single syllable word in English?

strengths?

Way to go, Mrs. STARK!

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"Quoth the Raven, 'Nevermore.'"
E A Poe

Somebody said:A guy leaves his cabin to go hunting. He walks 10 miles south. He turns and walks 5 miles east. He shoots a bear. He then walks 10 miles north back to his cabin. What is the color of the bear?

The riddle was already answered: (but here's how I'd rephrase it) the bear is white because there are only two places on earth where you can walk south ten miles, east ten miles, and north ten miles and be back at the starting point. The first of these places is the north pole and there are no bears near the other place.

So here's my riddle: Where is the other place on earth you can do this? (minus killing the bear -- I'm not in favor of shooting animals wantonly.)

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Live a Lush Life
Da Chef

Isn't it ten miles (in which direction?) from the south pole?

You are trying to get to a job interview but when you get to the company's building there are two doors to choose from with a perpetual liar who dosn't want you to get to the interview and a person who tells the truth and does want you to get to the interview standing by each door. By asking one question to only one of the people standing next to the doors, how do you get to the interview?

Ask one person what the other would tell you. for clarity: Ask person A which door person B would tell you to use. A is either lying or telling the truth. If A is telling the truth, then B is the liar. Use the other door. If A is the liar, then he will say the opposite of what B the truthteller would actually say. So you should still use the other door.

My take on the coin puzzle.
In U.S. currency, max value is $12
Minimum value is 12c
Why do you suspect fraud?
If you are certain there is a counterfiet, why complete the transaction?
In my entire life I have never met a merchant who weighed coinage.
Average markup is 15% of wholesale.Training employees in counterfiet detection, substancially more.
Given the education of the average cashier, why not just let them dump all the coins on a computerized scale and remove them one at atime?
since maximim loss in this sitiuation is $1.00 U.S. who cares?

This has been floating around the internet lately but none of the other riddles are too original (and most aren't even riddles) so here goes:

It's greater than God
More evil than the Devil
Rich men need it
Poor man have it
If you eat it, you would die

Where is the other place on earth you can do this?
It is a point close to the south pole, 10 miles north of the point where the east to west circumference of the Earth is 10 miles.

Walk 10 miles south to this point. Then walk east 10 miles, taking you all the way around the globe (sort of) and back to the exact spot where you started walking east.

Phill, there is nothing that can answer your riddle.

HA.

Phil,

Didn't Bj0rn have a whole thread devoted to this?

<<Didn't Bj0rn have a whole thread devoted to this?>>

I dunno. I haven't been around long enough to tell. I used to hang out at the AOL site but I lost interest when the site became invaded with folks who didn't know anything but insisted on answering every question anyway. They didn't pay attention and made stupid, irrelevant posts. Alas, now I'm one of them.

Here's two. #1 I read in a book no one has ever heard of but is rather simple and #2 No one I have ever told it to can answer.

1) A wee, wee man in a red, red coat
A staff in his hand and a stone in his throat
If you answer this riddle, I'll give you a groat.

2) A man arrived home from work, noticed the lights were out and knew his mother was dead. How did he know?

2) A man arrived home from work, noticed the lights were out and knew his mother was dead. How did he know?
This is one of a series of puzzles where a situation is given and you are supposed to solve the puzzle by only asking yes or now questions.

In this case the man knew his mother dead because she was on an iron lung. When the electricity went out, the iron lung stopped working and his mother died.

Here are a couple more in the same vein...
Everyday a man rides the elevator to the first floor, goes to work. On his way home from work he only rides the elevator part way, and walks the rest of the way. When it's raining, he rides the elevator all the way up to his floor. Why is this?

A man is hiking in the mountains and sees a cabin. Without even opening the cabin door, he knows everybody inside is dead. How does he know?

Enright3

ooops, I mean yes or NO questions.

Enright3

Stark that's a good one. Took me a while to get it ,now my brain hurts.I disagree with your reasoning for giving Phobia a runner up, but agree with the award. You said 'start at the sight' which doesn't have to mean 'scared' walk out of a dark room, or a darkroom,into a Texas noonday sun and you'll 'start'. I disagree because its a bit of a stretch for any one to claim sunlight as their own. Just being obnoxious and pedantic ,don't mind me folks.
Here's one of those logic word puzzles, it's old so if you already know it don't reply. let the others have some fun.
The man was afraid to go home because of the man in the mask.

Enright3
The man was a midget and he couldn't reach the button for his floor unless he had his umbrella with him.

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The american people are very generous people and will forgive almost any weakness, with the possible exception of stupidity.---Will Rogers

Dear Straight Dopefiends,

First, a dumb answer!
How tall is an Indian? TALL ENOUGH TO REACH THE GROUND!
(Audience groans in disgust.)
The others unanswered, I don't even know.
But here's a riddle I made up, so I can vouch for its freshness:

A thief in the night
Steals on the sly
Tries to avoid
A jaded eye
Through town and country
He will roam
Through house and church
To a hard-bitten home
Starving the children
Spreading disease
WHAT DOES HE WANT?

I hope this isn't too easy. Or too hard.
don Jaime
Free the Water Tower 3!

Reply to donJaime :
A thief in the night
Steals on the sly
Tries to avoid
A jaded eye
Through town and country
He will roam
Through house and church
To a hard-bitten home
Starving the children
Spreading disease
WHAT DOES HE WANT?
Answer: a bit of cheese. It's a mouse or rat.

Phil,

The answer is "nothing." My remark about Bj0rn was a weak joke. He started a thread about whether or not nothing is a element of something. It a long thread about nothing!

I guess I answered that way since cmetzb answered in a cryptic fashion. I was following suit.

Regarding those "yes or no" question puzzles, does anyone remember the "Albatross Soup" one?

A man walks into a restaurant and orders Albatross soup. The waiter brings it out to him, the man takes one bite, then pulls out a gun and kills himself. Why?

I heard this a long time ago and have never met anyone else who knows it.

Dirty Devil, I know that one. The answer (which I had to look up) is so esoteric it makes me wonder what the originator of that riddle was drinking/smoking/shooting up when he came up with it.

The Albatross Soup one I've heard, took a lot of yes/no questions to figure out. (Think "famous" albatrosses for the answer). I also heard the one that goes:
Entering a room you see the bodies of Romeo and Juliet lying on the floor with broken glass around them. There are no wounds on their body and they were not poisoned. Who killed them and how?"

You have a three-gallon drum and a five-gallon drum. Problem is, you need four gallons. You have an endless supply of water. How do you get four gallons?

A man walks into a restaurant and orders Albatross soup. The waiter brings it out to him, the man takes one bite, then pulls out a gun and kills himself. Why?
I know the answer to this one, but only because someone told me. I've always been curious to watch someone actually work it out.
So, to everyone that doesn't know the answer, here's a hint:
Why would the taste of albatross soup make the guy want to die?

sly:

Fill the 3 gallon barrel. Pour into the five gallon barrel. Fill the 3 gallon barrel again and pour into the 5 gallon barrel until it's full. Empty the 5 gallon barrel and pour in the 1 gallon remaining in the 3 gallon barrel. Fill the 3 gallon barrel one last time and pour into the 5 gallon barrel. Tada!

And I remember the albatross one too... I'm getting flashbacks to my logic classes in high school & college.

Reply to Kat:
1) A wee, wee man in a red, red coat
A staff in his hand and a stone in his throat
If you answer this riddle, I'll give you a groat.

Answer: A match? Wooden stick, red head, and an abrasive tip. Best fit I could think of today.

Mojo said - "Think "famous" albatrosses for the answer"

Hey Mojo, what answer have you heard to this riddle? Mine doesn't have anything to do with a famous albatross. Just curious.

And I guess the answer isn't really the important part, either. It's the story that goes behind it. The person that told it to us was very good at storytelling and we dragged it out for four hours (we were on a long roadtrip)!

The answer I heard was that this was the very end to The Rime of the Ancient Mariner.

A man is hiking in the mountains and sees a cabin. Without even opening the cabin door, he knows everybody inside is dead. How does he know?

That's the easiest one. We actually managed to come up with the answer without hints (in addition to the questions).

Here's another one: A man was driving down the street. He pulled the car to the side of the road and killed himself. Why?


Phobia: nope.

Okay, Falcon, that was easy. Try this:

Write down eleven thousand, eleven hundred, and eleven. This number is not divisible by 7, agreed?

cabin puzzle...
The cabin was an airline cabin from a crashed plane.

albatross puzzle
The guy had been on a deserted island with a group of people. The 'cook' of the group had always fed them albatross soup. When he tasted it in the restaurant, he realized that he hadn't been eating albatross soup, hed been eating the other people on the island.

I don't know the driving one.

It seems the answer I heard to the Albatross one was made up. The way I heard it was "a man walks into the restaurant and orders the soup of the day. He takes one bite and kills himself. Why?" You had find out that it was Albatross through Q&A and also find out that he was the guy from R.o.t.A.M.

Not that anyone seemed to care but the answer to the Romeo and Juliet one was "the cat". R & J were goldfish.

Another yes/no question puzzle. A rich and famous man's wife dies in a skiing accident. The police get a call from a women saying that it was murder. How did she know?

A rich and famous man's wife dies in a skiing accident. The police get a call from a women saying that it was murder. How did she know?
I don't think you have this right.

If it was a skiing accident, then by definition it wasn't murder. Murder is intentional, and accidents aren't! Either the woman on the phone was mistaken, or you stated the riddle incorrectly.

Perhaps you mean that it was an apparent accident. If that's the case, here are a few solutions off the top of my head:
1) "Phone woman" was the murderer.
2) "Phone woman" was a witness to the victim's death.
3) Someone tampered with the victim's skis, and "phone woman" saw this happening.
4) After the murder occurred, "phone woman" looked at the ski tracks in the snow, which didn't match the story told by the only witness, so she assumed that murder was committed.

If none of these are right, please explain why. (The yes/no bit is far too cumbersome on a board like this, especially with the thread so long already.)

Write down eleven thousand, eleven hundred, and eleven.
11,000 + 1,100 + 11 = 12,111

The "trick" wrong answers are 11,111 or sometimes 111,111.

1) The suicidal driver riddle: The man was a radio DJ who had put on a long-playing record and left work to kill his wife and her lover. On his way back, he heard the record skipping.

2) The ski murder riddle: The man had bought a round-trip ticket for himself and a one-way ticket for his wife to the ski resort.

3) The man in the red coat: It's a cherry. His staff is the stem, the stone is the pit.

What did Geronimo say when he jumped out of an airplane?

"Meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!"

Tom is asleep in the bedroom. Cleo is lying dead on the living room floor, surrounded by water and broken glass. What's the whole story?

Tom's a cat. Cleo is a fish.

In the 12 coins problem, the following three weighings always provide enough information to determine the counterfeit. (That is if I've worked it out right.)

1,2,3,4 vs. 9,10,11,12
1,9,10,11 vs. 5,6,7,12
2,6,9,12 vs. 4,5,8,11

I found that solution on a puzzle site once, but you have to work through a mathematical equation to get the specific solution.

Sly said:
You have a three-gallon drum and a five-gallon drum. Problem is, you need four gallons. You have an endless supply of water. How do you get four gallons?

My answer: turn each drum diagonal, on the pivot. So long as each drum is a true cylinder, you can fill each exactly half way by filling to where the water level just touches both point A and point B below.
<pre>
__Point A
| |
| |
|__|
Point B Pivot
</pre>

It's hard to draw with ASCII art. Anyway, half of 5 + half of 3 = 4.

Your Quadell

The "brain puzzler" thread reminded me of one...

Given 31 dominos that exactly cover two squares of a checker board. (Checker board is 8 X 8 squares.) If you cut two opposite (diagonal) corners off the board, could you place the 31 dominos on the board so that all squares are covered?

_ _ _ _ _ _ _
_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|
|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|
|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|
|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|
|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|
|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|
|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|
|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|

Awww, crap,
my formatting didn't work out. It looks as though the spaces were removed from the begining of the first two lines of my checkerboard.

Sorry.

That albatross riddle makes a hell of a lot more sense now that I know what kind of puzzle it is. The way it was presented before was through an email message. Basically, you were just supposed to figure out the answer right then and there.

Didn't any one see Die Hard II.

Q. that may work but,

1. Fill the 5 G. drum.
2. Pour out 3 G. into the 3 G. drum.
3. This leaves 2 G. in the 5 G. drum. Empty the 3 G. drum, and pour the 2 G. from the 5 G. into the 3 G. drum.
4. Fill the 5 G. drum.
5. Pour 1 G. out into the 3 G. drum leaving you with 4 Gallons!!!

You just deactivated the bomb.
Now run.

A man kisses his wife at the door as he leaves for work. About 15 minutes later he turns around, comes back to the house and shoots his wife dead! What's the whole story?

Auraseer you're right I stated the puzzle incorrectly, sorry. Anyway Kat had the answer the women was a travel agent.

Enright3 posted:

This is one of a series of puzzles where a situation is given and you are supposed to solve the puzzle by only asking yes or now questions.

These puzzles are better known as 'lateral thinking puzzles.' (And 'lateral thinking' that isn't puzzling seems to be a method of creative thinking and problem solving that can be used in business or other applications.)

Here's a search result on Amazon.com for lateral thinking puzzles. I have a few of the ones by Sloane and they're quite good. He gives hints if you're stuck, but I like it when I get to ask yes or no questions to figure them out. Just about all the ones posted here I've seen in print.

www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/generic-quicksearch-query/002-2964699-2307060 (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/generic-quicksearch-query/002-2964699-2307060)

Peace.

Restating Enright3's puzzle:

You have a chessboard with 2 opposite corners removed. It consists of 62 smaller squares, like so.
<pre>
_ _ _ _ _ _ _
_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|
|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|
|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|
|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|
|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|
|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|
|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|
|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|

</pre>

You also have 31 rectangular dominos, each of which covers 2 squares. Can you fill the modified chessboard with them?

The answer, I think, is no, although I haven't been able to prove it yet.

Your Quadell

I've seen the chessboard problem. You get a hint to an easy solution by staring at an actual chessboard.

The cherry riddle is from 'The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin' by Beatrix Potter.

Here's another math one: A proof that every positive integer can be named in 12 English words or less.

Take the set of positive integers that can't be named in 12 English words or less; then take the least element of that set. We can call it 'the least positive integer not nameable in twelve or fewer English words.'
Whoa, we just named it in 12 words; a contradiction.

Therefore, every positive integer can be named in 12 English words or less. Or is there a flaw in this logic?

<g>
That's fantastic, Daniel.
No flaw at all.

Your Quadell

Boy, this just reminds me how much of my math I've forgotten. What you're doing Daniel is a proof by induction. The general idea, is to prove the premise for a set case, then show that if it is true for a random case n then it is also true for case n+1. The flaw is that when you go from case n to n+1 in this problem, your name "the least integer ..." is no longer valid for n, because it now applies to n+1. The premise ceases to hold for case n.

I'm sure I could have explained this much more convincingly back when I was a math major, but then it's natural to embellish one's prowess when thinking back to one's college days.

This is really bugging me. I can't figure out a simple, geometric proof for Enright3's chessboard. I'm sure the answer is no. And I'm sure there's a neat little easily-demonstable proof of it that I just can't see. Anyone?

Your Quadell

Greg, actually this is a proof by contradiction. You start by assuming that the set of all positive integers that can't be named in 12 English words of fewer is non-empty. Then, it leads to a contradiction.

Quadell, a suggestion. Draw a black & white chessboard on a piece of paper, and cut out 2 opposite corners. If you look at what you've got, I guarantee you'll figure it out.

Oh yeah... That's he one. thanks, Daniel.

Your Quadell

The puzzle regarding naming positive integers is from:

http://www.math.toronto.edu/mathnet/falseProofs/fallacies.html

Here's one suitable for all ages:

Name 10 parts of your body that are 3-letter words.

I'm assuming you can't use a body part name more than once (i.e. list "toe" ten times)?

Name 10 parts of your body that are 3-letter words.

Eye, ear, leg, hip, toe, arm, lip, gum, gut, rib.

I posted this earlier, but no one responded, so I'll try it again. It comes from Games magazine. Name a common English word that the first half is the opposite of the whole word, and the last half is a synonym for the whole word.

Chaim Mattis Keller

I posted this earlier, but no one responded, so I'll try it again. It comes from Games
magazine. Name a common English word that the first half is the opposite of the whole
word, and the last half is a synonym for the whole word.

Is the word "Heroine"?

Back to the chessboard, any domino placed must cover one white square and one black square. But you have eliminated either two black or two white squares from an otherwise balanced board. You must cut at least one domino in half to make it work.

[cmkeller]

golgo13:

Is the word "Heroine"?

No, but I'm curious as to how that word fits the criteria.

Chaim Mattis Keller

[golgo13]

You're saying that hero <male good-deed doer> is not the opposite of heroine <female good-deed doer>? I thought by definition male and female are opposites.

[Olentzero]

Wow, a lot of these puzzles I've run across in GAMES magazine long long ago! It's great to see so many fellow readers here. Perhaps some of you remember this one?

You're given a three- or four-letter sequence that occurs in a commonly-used English word and you have to guess what word that is. There are no letters in between the letters given. My fave examples:

ewr

wsp

And for a nifty little riddle, a tip o' th' pen to Richard Powers:

There is a room with ten doors.
When one is open, nine are closed.
When nine are open, one is closed.
Name me.

------------------
Cave Diem! Carpe Canem!

[Harmonious Discord]

Reply to Olentzero:
ewr Typewriter

[Mojo]

..and typewriter.

[Mojo]

oops- newspaper.

[cmkeller]

golgo13:

You're saying that hero is not the opposite of heroine ? I thought by definition male and female are opposites.

Yes, but the last half of the word must also be a synonym for the entire word...what's a "rine"?

However, you're right that male/female plays into this. The correct answer to the riddle is bridegroom.

Chaim Mattis Keller

[B. G. Kimball]

What word starts with C, ends with a T and means the same thing as "pussy"?

[Lumpy]

What word starts with C, ends with a T and means the same thing as "pussy"?

I can think of two...

Anyway, here's my puzzle. The letters of the alphabet are divided into five groups as shown below. What determines which group each letter goes in?

AMTUVWY
BCDEK
HIOX
NSZ
FGJLPQR

[Surgoshan]

I'm now trying to recall the letters.

AUVWYM Group is symetric on a vertical axis.
BCE Group is symetric on a horizontal axis.
NSZ Group is symetric about the center.
QPR Group is not symetric at all.

------------------
I'd have more respect for you if only you were more like me.

[Kat]

You forgot to do "HIOX" which are symmetrical on both the horizontal and the vertical axes.

[glee]

Greg Charles' answer to the counterfeit coin problem got me thinking.
First the weighings he gives (1,2,3,4 v 9,10,11,12 etc.) lead to 24 different ways the balance ends up. It can drop left (L), balance ('B') or drop right ('R'). So e.g. if the counterfeit coin is no. 1 and light, then the balance would go LLB on the 3 weighings. If no. 1 was heavy it would be RRB.
So far so good. But there are 12 coins and each can be light or heavy = 2x12 = 24 possibilities. There are 3 balance results on each of 3 weigh-ins = 3x3x3 = 27 possibilities.
OK, the unused 3 results are LLL, BBB and RRR. Can we make use of them? How about the problem states that you just suspect one coin may be counterfeit - and if all 3 weigh-ins balance then there is no fake.
That leaves two possible results. So I add one genuine coin and another suspect (the 13th!). The suspect stays on the same side of each weighing, and the genuine on the other.
Have I successfully extended the problem? Was it worth it?

cmkeller, you are correct. I have also seen 'jaw' included.