T3B99

The story's kind of lame, but the problem's interesting:

You are currently being held prisoner by King Fischer, the tyrannical king of the faraway land of Fakefictio, for crimes involving a banana peel, a mechanical pencil, and the king's favorite Dragonforce album. Of course, as you know, you were not responsible for said crimes; these crimes never even took place. As a matter of fact, the king doesn't even like Dragonforce and is more of a fan of Journey and Kansas, but he is so tyrannical that he's arrested you anyway. The punishment for the crimes is a very graphic death that will probably involve much bleeding, and the date of your execution is today. The king could just kill you, but that wouldn't make for a very interesting puzzle at all, and he is allergic to much bleeding, so he decides to offer you a game to give you a chance to escape with your life. Win, and you will go free. Lose, and you will not only not go free, but you'll probably die, too.

The king presents to you four urns and a bowl filled with red and blue marbles. As two guards pin you to the dungeon wall by the arms, a third guard will place 5 marbles in each urn. You get to choose the distribution of red and blue marbles in each urn. For example, you could have the guard place 3 red and 2 blue marbles in one urn, and 1 red and 4 blue in another urn. You can also place 5 red or 5 blue in a single urn. King Fischer's watchful eye will observe the process, so he will know your distribution.

After all of the urns have 5 marbles each, the guard will shake the urns, and the king will predict whether you will draw all red marbles or at least one blue marble. The guards will then cover your eyes with a blindfold and place your hand in each urn; you will be required to draw exactly one marble from each urn. If the king's prediction proves correct, you will be executed. However, if the prediction is incorrect (that is, you draw a blue marble when the king predicts you'll draw all red marbles, or vice versa), then you will go free.

Note that if you put 5 red marbles in every urn, then the king will know for certain that you'll draw all red marbles, and use this knowledge to your disadvantage to get you killed. Contrariwise, if you put 5 blue marbles in one urn, then you'll be forced to draw at least one blue marble, and the king will predict this, too. In order to have hope of survival, you'll need to distribute the marbles in a fashion that makes the outcome less certain.

How should you distribute the marbles to maximize your chances of survival, and what are your chances of survival under this strategy?

T3B98

The rightmost cup. 

The rightmost cup has a half chance of holding the coin, and the other cups have a quarter chance.

Pretend that Os represent cups, and Q represents the cup with the coin.

The game starts like this:

OOQ

Then your friend switches the rightmost cup with another, giving two possibilities, with equal chance:

OQO
QOO

Your friend then moves the cups again, but doesn't touch the rightmost cup. The only switch possible is with the leftmost cup and the middle cup. This gives two possibilities with equal chance:

QOO
OQO

Lastly, your friend switches the rightmost cup with another cup. If the first possibility shown above was true, there would be two possibilities, with equal chance:

OOQ
QOO

If the second possibility shown above (In the second switch) was true, there would be two possibilities with equal chance:

OOQ
OQO

^ I kinda got lost around here. (the purple text)
This means there are four possibilities altogether, with equal chance:

OOQ
QOO
OOQ
OQO

This means each possibility equals to a quarter chance, and because there are two possibilities with the rightmost cup having the coin, there is a half chance that the coin is there.

T3B97

I don't really get this.

You decide to play a game with your friend where your friend places a coin under one of three cups. Your friend would then switch the positions of two of the cups several times so that the coin under one of the cups moves with the cup it is under. You would then select the cup that you think the coin is under. If you won, you would receive the coin, but if you lost, you would have to pay.

As the game starts, you realise that you are really tired, and you don't focus very well on the moving of the cups. When your friend stops moving the cups and asks you where the coin is, you only remember a few things:

He put the coin in the rightmost cup at the start.

He switched two of the cups 3 times.

The first time he switched two of the cups, the rightmost one was switched with another.

The second time he switched two of the cups, the rightmost one was not touched.

The third and last time he switched two of the cups, the rightmost one was switched with another.

You don't want to end up paying your friend, so, using your head, you try to work out which cup is most likely to hold the coin, using the information you remember.

Which cup is most likely to hold the coin?

T3B96

I've heard this before, and the answer STILL blows my mind:

You are a prisoner sentenced to death. The Emperor offers you a chance to live by playing a simple game. He gives you 50 black marbles, 50 white marbles and 2 empty bowls. He then says, "Divide these 100 marbles into these 2 bowls. You can divide them any way you like as long as you use all the marbles. Then I will blindfold you and mix the bowls around. You then can choose one bowl and remove ONE marble. If the marble is WHITE you will live, but if the marble is BLACK... you will die."

How do you divide the marbles up so that you have the greatest probability of choosing a WHITE marble?

T3B95

More Sharing Services

The answer is... A word to the wise. - A word "to" the "y`s"

I can't really take out the answer in this image, so I've blocked it up as best as I can. Highlight the centre to find the answer!

I really like this one, it's pretty creative. :)

T3B94

Bananas. The letters you needed to cross out were: (S-I-X-L-E-T-T-E-R-S)

Classic. 

T3B93

Oh. Ha ha. I've kind of seen these before, but it never really registered in my brain until I looked at the answer.

Cross out six letters and you'll find a word that we should know. The word must be spelled out in order.

SBAIXNLETATNERSAS

T3B92

This is a really interesting read: http://www.riddlenut.com/gryriddle.php

It basically talks about the -gry riddle. It's a fairly long page, but I've actually come across this riddle before so I thought it was interesting.

I'm not going to go on too long here, so go read the article for yourself! :D

T3B91

There were more than 5 men like Pete on the ship.

OHHHHH... that "ohhhh" moment...

T3B90

Awesome.

Pete is a worker on a large ship with hundreds of other men. He is constantly making mistakes, tying ropes the wrong way, steering the ship the wrong way, and making other blunders. One time he accidentally caused the ship to get stuck in a shallow shore, causing thousands of dollars in damage.

However, when Steve, the captain of the ship, is asked about Pete, Steve says "I wish we had five men like Pete on this ship."

Why would he say this?

T3B89

DAVID.

D = 500 in Roman numerals
V = 5 in Roman numerals
A = first letter in alphabet
I = 1 (first number) in Roman numerals




... OOOHH..... YEAH.... that's exactly what I said :P

T3B88

Five hundred begins it, five hundred ends it,
Five in the middle is seen;
First of all figures, the first of all letters,
Take up their stations between.
Join all together, and then you will bring
Before you the name of an eminent king.

This is really cool.

T3B87

The stars.

T3B86

At night they come without being fetched. By day they are lost without being stolen. What are they?

This is a super classic riddle.

T3B85

The 9th statement is true, "At least 9 of these statements are false." The only true statement is that one, and the rest are false.

Although I realized just now, that the first statement could have been true too, leading up to the 9th statement--it was at least x amount of statements, so that the first statement ("At least one of these statements is false") is true also. Because that is the only true one and all the other ones are false, the "all the other ones" is 9 statements which is at least one.

I'm aware that that last paragraph didn't really make sense.

What I meant was that because all of the statements say "at least", then all the statements with the exception of the 10th one could be true. For example, the first statement was "At least one of these statements is false". Say if that was the true statement, then the 9 others are false, which is more than one ("at least one", not "exactly one"). So statements 1-9 could all be true.

There, see? That made sense. :P

T3B84

The first time I saw this brain teaser (like, ever) it took me ages to get it.

Which of the following statements are true? 

1. At least one of these ten statements is false. 2. At least two of these ten statements are false. 3. At least three of these ten statements are false. 4. At least four of these ten statements are false. 5. At least five of these ten statements are false. 6. At least six of these ten statements are false. 7. At least seven of these ten statements are false. 8. At least eight of these ten statements are false. 9. At least nine of these ten statements are false. 10. At least ten of these ten statements are false. 

T3B83

Kind of a bad riddle :P, but:

No matter how much rain comes down on it it won't get any wetter.

What is it?

T3B82

AW MAH GOODNEES, this guy is so good.

I'm just so obsessed with messing with the brain right now.

A lot of those really long brain teasers play with your memory, making you forget something that you'd heard before, and diverting your attention from that little fact in the beginning when it comes to using it.  I know I've already posted the bus one but that one's awesome:

You are a bus driver. The bus starts out empty. At the first stop 4 people get on. At the second stop, 8 people get on and 3 get off. At the third stop, 2 people get off and 4 get on. The question is, what color are the bus driver's eyes?

In this case, the more numbers you add, the more you forget. You assume that the reason the numbers are being presented to you is that you will need it as the answer. They throw a curveball later when they say, "what colour are the bus driver's eyes", because you have not recalled that YOU are the bus drive.

So cool. So cool. So cool. OMG I STILL DON'T KNOW *spoiler alert, do not highlight until after watching video* HOW HE CHANGED SHIRTS I WAS WATCHING THE WHOLE TIME AND HE DID IT IN LESS THAN LIKE 30 SECONDS OMG OMG OMG!!!

T3B81

I'm going to temporarily switch from riddles to illusions.

THIS IS SERIOUSLY MINDBLOWING. I HONESTLY HAD LIKE NO IDEA HOW THEY DID THIS. UNTIL *spoiler alert* THEY TURNED IT.  *muffled excitement*

Anyway. Just watch it, it is the COOLEST thing ever. There are some more origami type illusions like these too, but this is seriously totally unique, I've never seen this before.

OMG OMG OMG

Okay, I'm done.

T3B80

The answer is here (but I'll block it out, so just highlight to see the answer):

Mandy killed her uncle. It was afternoon when Carrie looked out the bay window and saw the sunset, so the window must have been facing the west. However, Mandy claimed to have seen the sunrise through that same window, but the sun rises in the east. Carrie learned from a distraught Mandy that they had argued recently, and she had come to settle their dispute, although Steven had already disowned her and refused to re-include her in his will, so, in a fit of anger, Mandy shot him with a revolver hidden in a kitchen cabinet for safety precautions. Her uncle had also fancied a drink and was on his way down to the kitchen when she was taking her glass of water back upstairs.

I did warn you about really close attention to detail.

T3B79

This is such a long riddle, but it involves really minute attention to detail:

Carrie Marshall had recently joined the Riverside police force, and on the first day of her job, she was sent out to investigate a new homicide case. The murder involved a wealthy bachelor, Steven Andrews, who lived in an expensive, grand oceanside mansion. At the time of the murder, there had been five other people in the house: the cook, the maid, two friends, and his niece. Both the cook and maid had rooms in the mansion, and the three guests had all stayed overnight.

When Carrie got to the mansion, the five suspects had all been lined up in front of a large bay window. It was mid-afternoon, and through the window, Carrie could see the beautiful sunset.

Her partner, Lieutenant Linda Newton, who had arrived an hour earlier, sketched out the details for Carrie. All the suspects had agreed that Steven Andrews had been found murdered in the morning, shortly before six-thirty A.M, but he had been alive a few minutes past midnight, when they all headed to bed. Nobody had heard anything during the night. Mandy Andrews, the niece, had come down to the kitchen to get a glass of water, and on her way back upstairs, had passed the bay window, where she saw her uncle's dead body.

Carrie decides to begin interrogating the suspects as the lieutenant and two other officers go off to look for more evidence and clues. The suspects give the following testimonies:

Maid: "I retired to my room shortly past eleven last night, after cleaning the dining room where Mr. Andrews dined with his guests, and helped the cook put away the leftover food. I was reading a novel until about twelve-twenty, and heard occasional laughter and talk, although I couldn't make out the words. This morning, I heard a scream, which was from Miss Mandy, so I rushed down with the cook and his two friends. Mr. Andrews was laying dead in front of that window. The lieutenant moved his body about fifteen minutes before you arrived, but there was blood on the side of the head, from a gunshot, maybe. I didn't hear anything, but whoever did it could have used a muffler. I'm innocent, though."

Cook: "It's like the maid says. She was cleaning the dining room while I tidied up the kitchen, and we both stored the leftovers in the refrigerator and talked for a few minutes about his guests. I went upstairs and to my room about the same time she did, but fell asleep after I took a shower and brushed my teeth. That was about eleven-thirty maybe, and I slept soundly until this morning, when a scream woke me. I rushed downstairs with the others, and there was the body. I tell you, I didn't do it. I've been with Mr. Andrews for eight years, and he knows he can trust me."

Mandy: "I was up until midnight with my uncle and his friends, talking and joking around. I fell asleep at about one-fifteen, but woke at six-twenty-four, and was thirsty, so I went down to the kitchen to get a glass of water. On the way back, I passed by the bay window, the one behind us, and I could see the beautiful sunrise outside, but, sadly, my uncle was sprawled on the ground, with a huge bloody wound on the side of his head. I screamed and the others were here in just one or two minutes."

"That's enough," Carrie said abruptly, before the two friends of Mr. Andrews can say anything. "I know who did it. Lieutenant! We have our murderer!"

All five suspects, and the lieutenant and her two men, who came into the room at her call, look at Carrie.

Who murdered Steven Andrews, and how did Carrie know?

T3B78

Mr. Sale showed us the "Google Is Your Friend" The Musical the other day and this one, and I LOVE this one. As Michelle said, it's so relatable!

T3B77

This is a riddle I found on several websites. I'm kind of into the whole "Sherlock Holmes" thing again because we need to present our science unit project in the form of a mystery, so I'm all hyped up about detectives. Again. For like the 4th time in my life.

Old Mr. Tidy was found dead in his study by Mr. Fiend. Mr. Fiend recounted his dismal discovery to the police. "I was walking by Mr. Tidy's house when I thought I would just pop in for a visit. I noticed his study light was on and I decided to peek in from the outside to see if he was in there. There was frost on the window, so I had to wipe it away to see inside. That is when I saw his body. So I kicked in the front door to confirm my suspicions of foul play. I called the police immediately afterward." The officer immediately arrested Mr. Fiend for the murder of Mr. Tidy. How did he know Mr. Fiend was lying?

T3B76

Okay, for the answer to the "Incredible Shot" riddle:

This clever little boy tells the king that he shot the arrows and painted the targets around them.

I wouldn't have thought of that because they tell you that he didn't shoot them up close and for me that kind of automatically eliminated all thought of him doing any tricks... So then I thought it might just be pure practice... And then when I found out he painted around the arrows, I was like WHOAAAAAA.

T3B75

One more day to think about that riddle while I post another...

The wording kind of confuses me here but I guess that's the point.

If you toss a coin ten times and it lands heads up every time, what are the chances it will land heads up if you toss it again?

T3B74

So, apparently, the campfire circle includes a woman and her brother. The woman's daughter and the man's son are also present. 

Daaaaannnngggg.....

Okay well anyway, I really like this riddle so I'll post it today :) :

A duke was hunting in the forest with his men-at-arms and servants when he came across a tree. Upon it, archery targets were painted and smack in the middle of each was an arrow. "Who is this incredibly fine archer?" cried the duke. "I must find him!" 

After continuing through the forest for a few miles he came across a small boy carrying a bow and arrow. Eventually the boy admitted that it was he who shot the arrows plumb in the center of all the targets. "You didn't just walk up to the targets and hammer the arrows into the middle, did you?" asked the duke worriedly. "No my lord. I shot them from a hundred paces. I swear it by all that I hold
holy." "That is truly astonishing," said the duke. "I hereby admit you into my service."

The boy thanked him profusely. "But I must ask one favor in return," the duke continued. "You must tell me how you came to be such an outstanding shot."

How'd he get to be such a good shot?

And no, it's not practice. :P This is a riddle I took from the "Trick" riddle section of braingle.com.

T3B73

Super hard riddle:

Four people are sitting around a campfire after a long day of recreation, when one man comments: "Do you realize that around this campfire, the four of us include a mother, father, brother, sister, son, daughter, niece, nephew, aunt, uncle and a couple cousins"?. If everyone is related by blood (with no unusual marriages) how is this possible?

T3B72

The answer was, "Don't look a gift horse in the mouth."

T3B71

I like these because they make a simple thing sound so complicated:

Translate the following into a meaningful phrase: If a large solid-hoofed mammal becomes available to you without compensation, refrain from casting your faculty for seeing into the oral cavity of such a creature.

T3B70

The cook did it.

See, here was my reasoning:

Each person had 2 truths and a lie (I <3 that game, by the way, it's usually super obvious which statements are people's lies)

*My thinking in blue.

Examined first: The Duchess/// 
TRUE I didn’t kill the Duke. 
FALSE The gardener killed my husband. 
TRUE I’m not guilty. 
IF the first statement is TRUE, then the third statement must also be true or else the statements would be conflicting. Therefore the second statement is false. The gardener could not have killed the Duke. We go to examine his testimony.

Examined last: The Cook/// 
FALSE It wasn’t me. 
TRUE I have been working here for 27 years. 
TRUE The butler knows who’s done it. 
If we straight up assume that the cook has done it, as we already know, the first statement is FALSE, leaving the other two to be TRUE. We don't care (no offence to the cook) that he has been working here for 27 years, other than the fact that it must be true. The third statement must therefore be true, the butler does know who did it--the cook! We go to CONCLUSION...

Examined third: The Butler/// 
TRUE I am not the murderer. 
FALSE The chambermaid is my witness; we were playing cards in the kitchen last night. 
TRUE The Duke was killed by the cook.
The first statement must be true, because of the gardener's testimony (His/her false statement was that the butler was the murderer). We cannot yet determine which of the other statements are true, YET, so we go to see the chambermaid's testimony.

** After examining chambermaid's testimony:
One of the chambermaid's true statements was that she was not here last night. Thus, this makes the second statement of the butler's false--the chambermaid cannot be his alibi. However, this also renders the third statement true which means the Duke was murdered by the cook. To check his facts, we go to the cook's testimony.

Examined fourth: The Chambermaid/// 
TRUE I didn’t do it. 
TRUE I wasn’t even here last night. 
FALSE The gardener did it. 
We know from the Duchess's and gardener's testimonies that the third statement CANNOT be true. The gardener cannot be the murderer. Therefore, we know that the other two statements are true. The chambermaid was not the committer of the crime (now leaving the butler and cook as the only possible suspects) and she was not here last night. IF she was not here last night... we go back to the butler's testimony.

Examined second: The Gardener/// 
TRUE The Duchess is lying when she says that I did it. 
TRUE I am innocent. 
FALSE The butler is the murderer 
The first statement must be true because of the Duchess's testimony (her false statement was that the gardener did it, so therefore the gardener is not lying when he/she said that the Duchess was lying when she said the gardener did it). IF the first statement is true, then the second statement must also be true. Therefore, only the third statement can be false, or else we get a contradicting testimony. The butler cannot be the murderer. We go to examine his testimony.

Who is the murderer?

CONCLUSION:
The cook is the murderer. Bad cook.

Phew, that took me a long time to jump around and type up. :P

*Post-script: Is it phew or whew? I never really figured out the difference in pronunciation? Unless it's F-EW vs. H-EW? I don't know... I guess either is okay?