Scott Weinberg
Senior HTF Member
- Joined
- Oct 3, 2000
- Messages
- 7,477
Hi all. I can't sleep. (I have the house all to myself for the weekend - an event that happens about once every two years - and I'm afraid of burglers.) So I thought I'd share these Brain Teasers with you. They come from a book my sister gave me, but I'm not naming it yet. 
1. A married couple goes to a movie. During the film, the husband strangles the wife. No one notices - and he's able to get her body back home without attracting attention. How did he do this?
2. A man goes to a party, drinks some punch, and then leaves early. Everyone else at the party who drinks the punch dies of poison. Why didn't the man die?
3. One day Kerry celebrates her birthday. Two days later, her older twin brother Terry celebrates his birthday. How could this be, when they were born a half-hour apart?
4. How quickly can you find out what is unusual about this paragraph? It looks so ordinary that you would think that nothing is wrong with it at all - and, in fact, nothing is. But it is a bit odd. Why? If you study it and think about it, you may find out, but I am not going to assist you in any way. You must do it without coaching. No doubt, if you work at it for long, it will dawn on you. Who knows?
5. It's the ninth inning. The pitcher delivers; the batter hits a deep fly ball. The outfielder starts to catch it - then deliberately lets it fall from his glove. Why?
6. John's mother has three children. The oldest is a boy named Herbert, who has brown eyes - everyone calls him Herb. Next youngest is a girl named Penelope. Everyone calls her Penny. The youngest child has green eyes and can wiggle his ears. What is his first name?
7. Three men decide to share a hotel room for the night. The desk clerk charges them $30. They each pay $10. After they go to their room, the desk clerk realizes the room is only $25, so he gives a bellhop $5 to take up to the men. On his way up, the bellhop decides to tip himself $2 for his trouble. In the room, he gives each man $1 - which means that each guy actually paid $9 for the room.
So: 3 x $9 = $27; the bellhop kept $2; that adds up to $29. Where did the other dollar go?
8. An hour later, two women check into another room. The room is $30; they each pay $15. Again, the desk clerk realizes the room is only $25, so he gives the bellhop $5 to take up to the women. This time, the bellhop keeps $3 for himself and gives $1 to each of the two women. So each woman actually paid $14 for the room.
So: 2 x $14 = $28; the bellhop kept $3; that adds up to $31. Where did the extra dollar come from?
9. A man lies dead in a room with 53 bicycles in front of him. What happened?
10. Bob and Carol and Ted and Alice all live in the same house. One night, Bob and Carol go to a movie; when they return, Alice is lying dead on the floor in a puddle of water and glass. It's obvious that Ted killed her - but Ted is never arrested or punished. How could this be?
11. A deaf-mute goes into a hardware store. He wants to buy a pencil sharpener, so he walks up to the clerk, sticks a finger in his ear and rotates his other hand around his other ear. The next customer is a blind man. How does he let the clerk know he wants a pair of scissors?
Some easy, some not-so-easy. Hope you like 'em!
1. A married couple goes to a movie. During the film, the husband strangles the wife. No one notices - and he's able to get her body back home without attracting attention. How did he do this?
2. A man goes to a party, drinks some punch, and then leaves early. Everyone else at the party who drinks the punch dies of poison. Why didn't the man die?
3. One day Kerry celebrates her birthday. Two days later, her older twin brother Terry celebrates his birthday. How could this be, when they were born a half-hour apart?
4. How quickly can you find out what is unusual about this paragraph? It looks so ordinary that you would think that nothing is wrong with it at all - and, in fact, nothing is. But it is a bit odd. Why? If you study it and think about it, you may find out, but I am not going to assist you in any way. You must do it without coaching. No doubt, if you work at it for long, it will dawn on you. Who knows?
5. It's the ninth inning. The pitcher delivers; the batter hits a deep fly ball. The outfielder starts to catch it - then deliberately lets it fall from his glove. Why?
6. John's mother has three children. The oldest is a boy named Herbert, who has brown eyes - everyone calls him Herb. Next youngest is a girl named Penelope. Everyone calls her Penny. The youngest child has green eyes and can wiggle his ears. What is his first name?
7. Three men decide to share a hotel room for the night. The desk clerk charges them $30. They each pay $10. After they go to their room, the desk clerk realizes the room is only $25, so he gives a bellhop $5 to take up to the men. On his way up, the bellhop decides to tip himself $2 for his trouble. In the room, he gives each man $1 - which means that each guy actually paid $9 for the room.
So: 3 x $9 = $27; the bellhop kept $2; that adds up to $29. Where did the other dollar go?
8. An hour later, two women check into another room. The room is $30; they each pay $15. Again, the desk clerk realizes the room is only $25, so he gives the bellhop $5 to take up to the women. This time, the bellhop keeps $3 for himself and gives $1 to each of the two women. So each woman actually paid $14 for the room.
So: 2 x $14 = $28; the bellhop kept $3; that adds up to $31. Where did the extra dollar come from?
9. A man lies dead in a room with 53 bicycles in front of him. What happened?
10. Bob and Carol and Ted and Alice all live in the same house. One night, Bob and Carol go to a movie; when they return, Alice is lying dead on the floor in a puddle of water and glass. It's obvious that Ted killed her - but Ted is never arrested or punished. How could this be?
11. A deaf-mute goes into a hardware store. He wants to buy a pencil sharpener, so he walks up to the clerk, sticks a finger in his ear and rotates his other hand around his other ear. The next customer is a blind man. How does he let the clerk know he wants a pair of scissors?
Some easy, some not-so-easy. Hope you like 'em!
Very creative!
