I went to city OZ on the way I saw four women, with four bags, who had four kittens. Each woman had two children with her. How many people went to the city OZ? (count correctly)
Marge and Terry are both looking intently at a 4-inch X 4-inch musical symbol, but neither of them is thinking about music. Marge initiates their activity by placing a letter of the alphabet into the upper left quadrant of the symbol. Terry counters by putting a different letter of the alphabet into the lower-right section of the figure. Marge retaliates by inscribing the same letter she used the first time, into the lower-left section of the musical emblem. Terry responds by placing the same letter he just used, into the middle-left area of the image. Marge begins to smile brightly and places the same letter she has been using into the upper-right quadrant of the figure. Terry then grimaces and writes the exact same letter he has been using, placing it in the center of the symbol. Marge then gives a gleeful laugh and puts her same letter into the top-middle of the emblem. She then draws a line and shouts out three words to Terry, which make him feel a bit sad and disappointed. What are the three words Marge shouts at Terry, and exactly what has been going on here?
Think about a common game that involves placing letters in a grid, and the three words Marge shouts at Terry might be a familiar phrase often heard at the end of such a game.
Marge and Terry have been playing the game of “Tic-Tac-Toe”, and these are the three words she shouts at him after beating him. The musical symbol called a Sharp, looks just like a Tic-Tac-Toe grid.
A mother has 6 daughters. The 1st one was watching television, The 2nd was sleeping, The 3rd was at school, The 4th was playing chess, and The 5th was playing with her phone, what was the 6th daughter doing?
An elderly, bearded man drives slowly around many different neighborhoods looking for young children. He often plays a little musical tune from his vehicle to draw these children in close to him. When the children approach, he speaks very sweetly to them, and usually will offer them sweet treats in exchange for something they carry with them. These treats are always wrapped, so no one can see what's inside. When he is done talking 1:1 with each child, he tells them he will be back very soon to visit them, and then he drives slowly off, hunting for more children. Has no one noticed this man creeping along in their neighborhood? Have the police not been alerted to check on this man's activities; or is there some less sinister explanation for these happenings? Just what is this man's occupation?
Think about a festive season and a jolly figure associated with it...
He works as an ice cream man, driving his truck to various neighborhoods and selling his cold treats.
A man and a woman are talking to each other. One of them is a brunette, while the other person is blond. The brunette says, "I'm a lady,". And the blond person says, "I'm a gentleman,". Assuming that at least one person is lying, can you guess who's who?
Think about the words "lady" and "gentleman" and how they relate to the hair colors mentioned...
If we suppose that only one person is lying, then the people would either be both ladies or both gentlemen, which contradicts the first statement. Therefore, both people lied; the woman has blond hair, while the man had brunette hair.
Jasmine was the worst student in her class. One day, her instructor, Mr. Collins, gave her a chance to stay in her class and not be expelled. He said, "Give me a statement. If the statement is true, you will not be expelled from the class. And if the statement is false, you will be expelled from the class. So, what do you say?". What should Jasmine say to stay in her class?
Think about a statement that, if true, would allow Jasmine to stay in the class, and if false, would result in her expulsion...
Jasmine should say, "I will be expelled from the class,". If we suppose that the statement is true, then Jasmine would not be expelled from the class. But then, it makes the statement false. And if we suppose that the statement is false, then Jasmine would be expelled from the class. But then, it makes the statement true. This phrase creates a paradox, as it cannot be true AND false at the same time.
One summer evening, as Irene sat on the front porch of her old Kentucky home, she witnessed about a dozen men in two large trucks pull up to an old abandoned farmhouse about a hundred yards from hers. Suspicious, she grabbed her binoculars and observed two of the men approach the old farmhouse --- and set it on fire! After ten minutes had passed, the farmhouse was completely engulfed in flames, but neither Irene nor any of her neighbors in sight of the burning building ever bothered to call 9-1-1 to report any of these events. To make matters even worse, two police cars passed the flaming house but never bothered to stop. What happened to civic duty and responsibility? Has society totally turned its back on the idea of neighbors helping neighbors; or is there an alternate explanation for these events? What exactly was happening here?
Think about the context and the people involved... Are they really "neighbors" in the classical sense?
As Irene and her neighbors looked out of their respective windows, they all saw the two large trucks were actually fire engines carrying about a dozen firemen. They obviously had come with permission from the owner of the abandoned farmhouse, to perform a training exercise on fire fighting techniques (Irene and her neighbors had received notification from the fire company of this planned exercise earlier that same week). After the firemen started the building on fire, they proceeded to practice their skills in putting out the blaze. The police cars who passed the fire saw the firefighters were training, as they also had been notified of this planned fire at the start of their shift. The owner of the building got rid of his old farmhouse, and gave the fire company some needed practice, providing a win-win situation.
A senior citizen, Marge recently made financial arrangements for a young, bald-headed man to come to her house, as she needed some assistance with some of her cleaning chores, including mopping the floors and general surface cleaning. However, despite her best efforts, Marge has been unable to convince the man to do any work for her. He just stands there with a constant smile plastered on his face, with his arms crossed, and his gold earring dangling from his left ear, as he watches Marge do all of her house cleaning -- but he never lifts one finger to help her! How long will Marge put up with this freeloader? After all, Marge has paid good money to get this man to come to her home to help her, but she ends up doing all the work! Where are the senior advocates? Just what exactly is going on here, and why is Marge allowing this situation to continue?
Think about the type of "assistant" Marge hired, and what their typical behavior might be...
Marge’s helper, which she purchased at a local grocery store, is a bottle of Mr. Clean, floor and surface cleaner.
A son went to his father's house and knocked on the door. When his father answered the door, the son said, "O.K., today is the day I promised to burn your house to the ground." "But I built the house in 1941 with my own two hands. It has a lot of sentimental value, and is still very useful to me," replied the father. "Too bad," said the son, "but I have always loathed it, especially in the wintertime, and I grew to especially hate it since you added that second hole to it when you built the addition to the house when I was a teenager." "But if you burn the house down, where will I go?" asked the father. "You will just have to go where most people go in these modern times," answered the son. "Well, I guess you're right," said his father. The son then promptly escorted his father outside, where the son proceeded to burn the house down to the ground in front of his father's tear-filled eyes. Had this father raised a deranged, sociopathic pyromaniac for a son, or is there another explanation for these bizarre events?
Think about the son's words, especially "especially in the wintertime" and "since you added that second hole to it"... What kind of "house" might have holes and be particularly bothersome in the winter?
The father, although he owned a fully functioning home, had never been able to break himself from the habit of going to the bathroom in the Outhouse he had built for his family back in 1941. The son, along with the neighbors, considered the Outhouse to be a public eyesore, and the son had been trying for some time to get his father to agree to let him burn it down.
There were five men going to church and it started to rain. The four that ran got wet and the one that stood still stayed dry. How did the one stay dry?
Think about the situation where someone is more likely to be already "prepared" for the rain...
Two fathers and two sons went fishing one day. They were there the whole day and only caught 3 fish. One father said, that is enough for all of us, we will have one each. How can this be possible?
Think about family relationships and generations...
There was the father, his son, and his son's son. This equals 2 fathers and 2 sons for a total of 3!
Walker has to unlock his locker to get his uniform and get dressed for his basketball game. However, his lock requires a three-digit code to be unlocked. Walker doesn't know the exact code, but here are some clues. A) 8-6-5 One number is correct and in the right position. B) 8-4-0 One number is correct but in the wrong position. C) 3-5-0 Two numbers are correct but in the wrong positions. D) 3-6-9 Nothing is correct. E) 7-6-9 One number is correct but in the wrong position. What is the code?
Pay close attention to the correct digits and their positions in clues A, B, and E, and think about how they can be rearranged to fit the descriptions in clues C and D.
The code is 0-7-5. Starting with Clue D, we can eliminate 3, 6, and 9, and all instances of those numbers, because none of them are in the final code. 8 cannot be in the final code because Clues A and B would contradict each other if it was in the code. This means that 5 is in the code, and it takes the third position; we can therefore eliminate 4, too. From Clue C, we can conclude that 5 and 0 are part of the code, because 3 is not (we already eliminated it based on Clue D). And based on Clue E, the last digit we need is 7, because we already eliminated 6 and 9 based on Clue D. We do not know the positions of 0 and 7, however, but we know that 5 takes the third position, which leaves us with just two options for the code: either 7-0-5 or 0-7-5. 7-0-5 cannot be the code because it would contradict Clue E since 7 cannot go in the first position; it can only go in the second position, while 0 goes in the first position. This means that the correct code is 0-7-5.
Claudia invented a game for her friends to play at her birthday party. Here is how it goes: she will place two marbles into a box– one yellow marble, and one purple marble. The player will have to pull out one of the marbles from the box. If the marble is yellow, the player will win $100.00, but if the marble is purple, the player will have to pay $10.00. Claudia decided to trick the players by putting two purple marbles into the box, rather than one yellow and one purple. Brian watched the other players lose the game one by one. But when it was his turn, he won $100.00! How did he do it?
"Think about what Brian saw before it was his turn, and how that information might have helped him..."
Brian pulled out one of the marbles, and, without showing it to anyone, quickly put it in his mouth, being careful not to swallow it. Then, he pulled out the remaining marble, which was purple, and showed it to everybody. According to the rules, it meant that the marble Brian had chosen was yellow. Claudia had to admit it, otherwise, everyone at the party would know that she was a liar.
While playing with a metal washer shaped like a ring, Dave accidentally pushed it on his finger too far and couldn't get it off. Trying to remove it using soap and water didn't work. The hospital sent him to a service station thinking they could cut the metal. Since the ring was made with specially hardened steel, it couldn't be cut. Just then Bob arrived on the scene and suggested an easy way to remove the washer in just a few minutes. What was his solution?
"Think about a common service station tool that can help 'inflate' the situation..."
Bob suggested that Dave hold his finger in the air while someone wound a piece of string tightly around his finger just above the metal ring. The string forced the swelling down. As they unwounded the string from the end nearest the ring, someone else slid the ring up. They continued winding and unwinding the string until the ring could be easily removed.
A professional fisherman caught 30 fish during a 5-day tournament. Each day, he caught three more fish than the day before. How many fish did the fisherman catch on the first day?
Think about a pattern of increasing numbers, where each number is 3 more than the previous one. Can you find the first number in that pattern that adds up to 30 when summed over 5 days?
He didn't catch any fish the first day, but he caught 3 on the second day, 6 on the third day, 9 on the fourth day and 12 on the fifth day.
King Tut died 120 years after King Eros was born. Their combined age when they died was 100 years. King Eros died in the year 40 B.C. In what year was King Tut born?
Think about working backwards in time...
King Tut was born in 20 B.C. There were 120 years between the birth of King Eros and the death of King Tut, but since their ages amounted to only 100 years, there must have been 20 years when neither existed. This would be a period between the death of King Eros, 40 B.C., and the birth of King Tut, 20 B.C.
Jack had only $2, but he needed $3 for his cab fare home. He went to a pawn shop and pawned his $2 for $1.50. Jack then bumped into Don and told him that he would sell him his $2 pawn ticket for $1.50. Don agreed. Jack started out with $2 and he ended up with $3. Who is out the extra dollar and why?
Think about the pawn ticket's value and who ultimately loses out in this clever transaction.
Don is out the extra dollar. Before the pawn broker will return the $2 to the ticket holder, he will want the $1.50 which he advanced returned to him. Don will give the pawn broker the ticket and the $1.50, and the pawn broker will then return the $2.
A boy presses a side of a blue pencil to a side of a yellow pencil, holding both pencils vertically. One inch of the pressed side of the blue pencil, measuring from its lower end, is smeared with paint. The yellow pencil is held steady while the boy slides the blue pencil down 1 inch, continueing to press it against the yellow one. He returns the blue pencil to its former position, then again it slides down 1 inch. He continues until he has lowered the blue pencil 5 times and raised it 5 times- 10 moves in all.
Supposed that during this time the paint neither dries nor diminishes in quantity. How many inches of each pencil will be sneared with paint after the tenth move?
Think about the pattern of paint transfer between the two pencils with each move...
At the start, 1inch of the yellow pencil gets smeared with wet paint. As the blue pencil is moved downward, a second inch of the blue pencils smears a second inch of the yellow pencil.
Each pair of down and up movesof the blue pencil smears 1 more inch of each pencil. 5 pairs of moves will smear 5 inches. This together with the initial inch, makes 6 inches for each pencil.
There is a clothing store in Bartlesville. The owner has devised his own method of pricing items. A vest costs $20, socks cost $25, a tie costs $15 and a blouse costs $30. Using the method, how much would a pair of underwear cost?
Think about the words, not the clothes themselves...
$45. The pricing method consists of charging $5 for each letter required to spell the item.
My little circle of friends here, getting bumped off one-by-one, reminds me of Agatha Christie's famous murder mystery "Ten Little Indians", where a small group of people are knocked off, one at a time, until only the killer and one person is left. The main difference is that in Christie's novel, the last survivor was to die by hanging, but in my situation, the sole survivor will be given "The Chair"! Should this person call the police? Is there a life-and-death scenario going on here, or is everyone's safety assured? What exactly is happening?
Think about a common, everyday situation where a group of things are gradually eliminated, one by one, until only one remains... and that last one gets "The Chair".
The person, along with a small group of their friends, is engaged in a game of Musical Chairs. "The Chair" is always reserved for the last person left.
A famous chemist was murdered in his own lab. There was no evidence except for a piece of paper with the names of chemical substances on it. On the day he was murdered, the chemist had only 3 visitors: his wife, Mary, his nephew Nicolas, and his friend Johnathan. The police arrested the murderer right away. How did they know who it was?
Think about the names on the piece of paper... are they just random chemical substances, or could they be something more?
The piece of paper had a clue on it. If you combine the short names of the chemical substances on the paper, you’ll get a name: Ni-C-O-La-S.
A man called 911 and said he saw a masked man, the police said where are you? They said 3325 Quader Street, when the police went there, they never came back. Why?
When in hot water I get harder. I am only useful once broken. Some people eat only the white part for its low fat, high protein nutritional content. What am I?
Think about something you might find in a kitchen, but isn't always edible in its original form...
The fuel for life, Important parts of the day, Even if it is a long time away. Long lasting use, Long lasting fuse, Until my explosive death day. What am I?
Think about something that provides energy, is often associated with daily routines, and has a "shelf life" before it eventually "burns out" in a dramatic way...
My tail is long, my coat is brown, I like the country, I like the town. I can live in a house or live in a shed, And I come out to play when you are in bed.
What am I?
Think about an animal that is commonly found in both rural and urban areas, and is known to be active at night...
Known by all without exception, Forever here, for your protection, Sometimes strong, sometimes weak, Right after the night I come - hot and chic. And while millions of miles away, I always get to you, I find my way. No life around could do without me, Can you guess what I might be?
Think about something that is always present, yet its presence can vary in intensity, and is often associated with the morning hours...
If you look you cannot see me. If you see me you cannot see anything else. I can make anything you want happen, but later everything goes back to normal. What am I?
Think about something that is present in your daily life, but you often overlook it...
I purge all that is evil and keep all that is true. Unless you speak, I can delete what you said. My usefulness has faded with the use of a pen. I am usually made of rubber, yet I am not a toy. I am both pink, and white, but also blue, or green. Do not forget me, as I can be your best friend. What am I?
Think about something you often find on a desk, used to correct mistakes, but has become less necessary with the advent of digital writing tools...
I make what science believes to be fantasy become reality in the blink of an eye. Doctors consider me a cause of insanity if to much of me in your life is applied. When most age I began to disappear for as most age they apply more logic and reason to their thoughts. My biggest fear is to not get used and to be forgot. What am I?
Think about something that can make the impossible possible, but can also drive people crazy if they have too much of it. It's something that people often lose as they get older and become more rational...
People who want to get rid of me forever, there are dreamers, there are ignorant people; people who are happy to greet me, there are indifferent people, there are crazy people; most people fear me, but I will come eventually. What am I?
"Think about something that is inevitable, yet people have different attitudes towards it..."
Something that requires our mental skill to decode it, our imagination to understand it, and our knowledge to be tested to its max, it confuses us at every stage, it seems easy yet difficult, and only those who are used to, will get through. What is it?
Think about something that you might find in a book, on a website, or in a conversation with a friend...
What is the longest and yet the shortest thing in the world; the swiftest and yet the slowest; the most divisible and the most extended; the least valued and the most regretted; without which nothing can be done; which devours every thing, however small, and yet gives life and spirits to every object, however great?
Think about something that is both fleeting and eternal, something that can be both abundant and scarce, and something that can both consume and nourish.
The songs she sings beneath bright moons Disturb my night's repose, But, oh, those whispery, rumbly tunes! She charms us all with those. You must come near and listen well To hear her rumble song. I've told enough so you should tell To whom these songs belong.What is it?
"Think about a natural phenomenon that occurs at night, often accompanied by a soothing sound, and is closely related to the moon..."
Half-way up the hill, I see thee at last. Lying beneath me with thy sounds and sights - A city in the twilight, dim and vast, With smoking roofs, soft bells, and gleaming lights. What is it?
On a fine sunny day, a ship was in the harbor. All of a sudden the ship began to sink. There was no storm and nothing wrong with the ship yet it sank right in front of the spectators' eyes. What caused the ship to sink?