T3B69

This is like one of those classic murder mysteries, but it's really interesting. It kind of gave me a different way to think about the clues:

In a horrible castle (not too far away from your home) there lived a horrible Duke with his horrible wife and their horrible servants. One morning the Duke was dead–murdered by one of the other horrible people living in the castle.
When the residents of the castle were interviewed by the police, every person gave two correct answers and told one lie. This is what they said:

The Duchess///
I didn’t kill the Duke.
The gardener killed my husband.
I’m not guilty.
The Cook///
It wasn’t me.
I have been working here for 27 years.
The butler knows who’s done it.
The Butler///
I am not the murderer.
The chambermaid is my witness; we were playing cards in the kitchen last night.
The Duke was killed by the cook.
The Chambermaid///
I didn’t do it.
I wasn’t even here last night.
The gardener did it.
The Gardener///
The Duchess is lying when she says that I did it.
I am innocent.
The butler is the murderer

Who is the murderer?

T3B68

Oh, this one's hard:

Normally you unwrap me, throw out the wrapper, and enjoy the inside of me... But in Hollywood they unwrap me, throw out my insides, and use my wrapper to make people around the world laugh. What am I?

*Hint, hint: It's a food.

T3B67

The answer to this (not) sinister lateral thinking brain teaser is...

The parcel contained her husband's sandwiches, which he had forgotten to take to work. He worked in the lost property office of the bus company.

T3B66

Some cool lateral thinking:

Why did the lady deliberately tell the bus driver she found a lost lunch box which she had actually brought on the bus herself?

T3B65

So cool. Just amazing mathematics.

43.

After 6 all numbers divisible by 3 can be ordered (because they can all be expressed as a sum of 6's and 9's). After 26, all numbers divisible by three when subtracted by 20 can be obtained. After 46, all numbers divisible by three when subtracted by 40 can be obtained. After 46, all numbers fit into one of these 3 categories, so all numbers can be obtained. 43 is the last number that doesn't fall into one of these categories (44 = 20 + 6 * 4, 45 = 6 * 6 + 9).

T3B64

This is some seriously cool math:

A fast food restaurant sells chicken in orders of 6, 9, and 20.

What is the largest number of pieces of chicken you cannot order from this restaurant?

T3B63

I've heard of a different version of this riddle before, but same idea:

A highly timid little man, ventured into a biker bar in the Bronx and clearing his throat asked, "Um, err, which of you gentlemen owns the Doberman tied outside to the parking meter?" A giant of a man, wearing biker leathers, his body hair growing out through the seams, turned slowly on his stool, looked down at the quivering little man and said, "It's my dog. Why?"
"Well," squeaked the little man, obviously very nervous, "I believe my dog just killed it, sir."
"What?" roared the big man in disbelief. "What kind of dog do you have?"
"Sir," answered the little man, "It's a four week old puppy."
How did the puppy kill the Doberman?

T3B62

Jenny bought herself a few precious seconds by standing up, thanking the Deputy for his question, and repeating the question. Then she extemporized:

"This is a challenging enterprise; I received an email about it just a short while ago and have only had time to form a general concept. I will ask my group to form three teams. One will brainstorm slogans for the campaign. The second will draft text for sample ads. And the third will develop graphics to go with the text. That's what the planning looks like so far. We will know more tomorrow after the teams have had a chance to get together. We will want to coordinate with other groups working on similar issues. And we will be very interested in feedback and coaching from Ms. Hawkins." She nodded to her supervisor, who grinned and gave her a thumbs up.

My teacher used to always say that to buy time, you ask for definitions, etc. from the spelling bee people/judges while you review the spelling in your head.

T3B61

Not quite enough info, but it reminds me of something we used to do at spelling bees:

Jenny took a seat at her meeting. She used to hate meetings, because she always worried somebody might ask her a question, and she didn't want to look foolish in front of the Boss. Since she started going to Toastmasters, though, she was starting to enjoy meetings and even spoke up once in a while.

The Boss began talking about the new marketing project. She had seen an email about this less than an hour ago and hadn't really had time to get any good ideas about it. Suddenly the Deputy Boss asked, "Jenny, what sort of contribution can your group make to this new initiative?"

Jenny had a moment of panic. Then she remembered what she had seen at Toastmasters meetings and responded.

What did Jenny say? How did she handle this unanticipated question?

T3B60

Yeah.... I don't really understand this, but it's quite interesting:

The best fuel economy (aerodynamic) solution is to use a tonneau cover. The next choice would be to drive with your tailgate up, and the least desirable choice would be to drop, or remove your tailgate. Read on below for the explanation.

Logic would leave you to believe that by lowering or removing the tailgate, you would improve the air flow over your pickup truck. But with aerodynamics, logic is not always correct.

Removing or lowering of a tailgate actually increases its aerodynamic drag, and increases its lift. Both of which will decrease its fuel economy. What happens is, air in the bed of the truck will slowly swirl around in the bed of the truck, creating a pillow or bubble of air. The approaching air over the top of the cab will then flow easier over this swirling bubble of air. Thus you would have a more aerodynamic flow over the vehicle.

According to an SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers) paper, the average impact on a truck, based on a vehicle lifetime of 100,000 miles will be (as compared to a truck with its tailgate up):
> Decrease of 122 gallons of gas with the tailgate off
> Increase of 243 gallons of gas with a tonneau cover.

At today's gas prices ($2.00), that is a difference of $730, comparing a covered bed versus removing the tailgate.

So, keep your tailgates up, or better yet, buy a tonneau cover. Those cargo nets don't work either.

Safe driving.

T3B59

This seems so complicated, but I think aerodynamics are cool:

While buying his new pickup truck, Homer the penny pincher was asked if he wanted to purchase a tonneau cover for the bed of his truck. The salesman told him it would improve his gas mileage with better aerodynamics. While Homer was interested in saving gas, he couldn't see paying all that money for the cover, so he declined.

When Homer got home, he considered the flat vertical tailgate at the back of the bed. By removing this tailgate from his pickup, he surmised, he would reduce the air resistance of the truck, thus giving him better gas mileage without having to buy one of those expensive covers.

Did he make the right choice?

(Note: A tonneau cover is a soft or hard cover that is secured down over the open bed of a pickup truck.)

T3B58

Start both egg timers. When the 4 minute timer runs out, turn it over. When the 7 minute timer runs out turn it over. When the 4 minute timer runs out again the 7 minute timer has been running for 1 minute. Turn it over once again. When it stops the egg is done. 

Agh, I'd forgotten about the flipping after so and so minutes thing.

So smart!

T3B57

These are quite classic, but I'm not very good at the egg timer ones:

For his breakfast, Mr Stone likes an egg that has been boiled for exactly 9 minutes. He has two egg timers (those with sand in them), one that runs for 4 minutes and one that runs for 7 minutes. How can he use these timers to boil his egg?

*I also don't think they can stop in the middle or know the time.

T3B56

In the first month, Hare took 10 chapter tests; Tortoise took only 2. In the second month, Hare took his remaining 2 exams and Tortoise took the 10 he needed to finish.

Hare's average = (10*60 + 2*90) / 12 = 780/12 = 65

Tortoise's average = (2*50 + 10*80)/12 = 900/12 = 75

Mathematicians know this as Simpson's paradox.

I have absolutely no idea what Simpson's paradox is.

But it's okay, because I'll research it soon. :D

T3B55

I'm the worst at these kinds of riddles:

Hare and Tortoise had to take a make-up class in math over the summer, a two-month, self-paced course with a test at the end of each of 12 chapters. The course requires a 70% grade to pass.

In the first month, they both had difficulties with the concepts. Hare averaged 60% on his exams; Tortoise averaged 50%. Owl, the supervisor, spent three days of the next week helping them with their difficulties.

It worked. In the second month, Hare averaged 90% on his exams; Tortoise averaged 80%.

However, Tortoise got a passing grade of 75% in the class; Hare failed with 65%. When Hare protested to Owl that he'd outscored Tortoise in both months, Owl made Hare do the math on the board -- and sign up for another make-up class, after school in the fall.

How did Tortoise pass while Hare flunked?

T3B54

This makes for some cool lateral thinking:

A clothes shop was running a promotion giving away free jeans. In order to get the free jeans you had to try a pair on, then, while still wearing the jeans you had to put your right hand in the left pocket and your left hand in the right pocket and reach right to the bottom of the pockets at the same time. Many people tried but were unable to achieve the feat until one chap walked in and walked out a few minutes later with his free jeans. How did he do it?

T3B53

My swimming teacher told me this once (the science, not the riddle :P):

A young man wanting to tease his sister while they were swimming called out "Look! You're so fat you can't even float like me. You just sink to the bottom!" 
To which she replied, "The fact that I sink just proves how stupid you are." 

She was right. Why?

T3B52

They are both correct. The three primaries for color are red, blue and yellow. The three primaries for light are red, blue and green. When mixing colors, red + blue = purple, but when mixing light, red + blue = magenta.

T3B51

This is a cool one:

Ben, a physics teacher and Lucy, an art teacher were arguing about what color red mixed with blue makes. Ben said it made magenta but Lucy said it made purple. Who is correct?

T3B50

I really like this song. :)

T3B49

You would be traveling North, because you are standing on the South Pole--whichever way you move you are moving north.

This was a pretty classic one. :)

T3B48

Pretty easy, but also interesting: 

If you were standing directly on Antarcticas South Pole facing north, which direction would you travel if you took one step backward?

T3B47

Forget the rodent and cards. Break the sphere and crawl to the hatch. Contrary to popular opinion, your body will not explode in the vacuum of outer space. Your tissues will greatly swell, but if you are recompressed within a short time, they will return to normal. You should have fifteen seconds of useful consciousness before you pass out, and several minutes would be required before you died.

1. I didn't know or think that your body would explode in the vacuum of outer space.
2. Nice to know that I won't.
3. Why would your tissues greatly swell? The pull on the outside of your body?
4. How can you swim to the spaceship within 15 seconds?
5. If you pass out, you can't make it to the spaceship and you'd die, anyway. :(

Oh, and finally:
How do you break the sphere?

T3B46

This riddle is kind of weird, but I've never heard of the scientific content behind it before, so here goes:

Aliens place you in a glass sphere in outer space. The sphere is held fifteen feet away from a spaceship by a rigid steel rod. Your captors will bring you back to Earth and set you free if you can manage to get inside an open hatch in the ship's side. In the sphere, you have a deck of playing cards and a small rodent. You have no spacesuit. What is your best strategy for freedom?

T3B45

This is one of my favourite riddles (like legit, rhyming, riddles)

What always runs but never walks;
often murmurs, never talks;
has a bed but never sleeps;
has a mouth but never eats?

T3B44

Birbal told the scholar, "We had agreed you would ask only one question and you have already asked it," and he and the emperor walked away leaving the scholar gaping!

....OOOOOOHHHH..... took me a bit of time to get it. :P

T3B43

I love these Birbal the Wise questions!

Emperor Akbar once ruled over India. He was a wise and intelligent ruler, and he had in his court the Nine Gems, his nine advisors, who were each known for a particular skill. One of these Gems was Birbal, known for his wit and wisdom. The story below is one of the examples of his wit. Do you have it in you to find out the answer?

One day a scholar came to the court of Emperor Akbar and challenged Birbal to answer his questions and thus prove that he was as clever as people said he was.

He asked Birbal: "Would you prefer to answer a hundred easy questions or just a single difficult one?"

Both the emperor and Birbal had had a difficult day and were impatient to leave.

"Ask me one difficult question," said Birbal.

"Well, then tell me," said the man, "which came first into the world, the chicken or the egg?"

"The chicken," replied Birbal, very confidently.

"How do you know?" asked the scholar, a note of triumph in his voice.

What did Birbal answer to this?

T3B42

A tightrope walker remains standing by keeping his center of mass directly above the rope. If his center of mass moves off center, he must correct this or he will rotate off the rope and fall down. By carrying a long pole, the performer is increasing his rotational inertia. This means that he will rotate slower and therefore have more time to make a correction to his center of mass. The balancing poles are frequently droopy and weighted at the tips. This lowers the center of mass of the performer, which also makes it easier to balance.

That's what my mom thought but I didn't really get how it worked. In fact, I still don't know how the whole "rotational inertia" thing works but I just get that it helps give you more time to shift your center of mass if you get off balance. :D

T3B41

I've been wondering about this since forever! My mother, too!

Tightrope walkers frequently carry a long pole to help them balance. Why does this help?

T3B40

The man was lying.

"Diamond may be the hardest mineral," I said, "but that doesn't mean that it will withstand that blow you gave."

Diamond is actually a brittle substance and will crack under a sudden, sharp blow.


I thought only diamonds could cut diamonds, and now I'm confused :S