Puzzles

1. Candle mystery

Once an old man and his 3 daughters lived in a village. One day the old man got very sick so Death came to take his spirit. The oldest daughter asked Death to let her father live for 2 years and Death agreed. 2 years later Death returned, the second daughter appealed and Death agreed to grant the old man one more year.

A year later Death returned and now the youngest daughter came with a candle and asked Death to allow her father to live until the candle in her hand burned out. Death agreed. As the youngest daughter planned, Death never returned.

Question. How did she plan it?

Answer:

The youngest daughter blew out the candle after Death left and the candle never burned out.

2. A ladder mystery

Paul was standing on a 25m ladder. He slipped from the ladder and fell on the ground. But he didn’t die or get badly injured.

Question. How is this possible?

Answer:

Paul was standing on the bottom rung of the ladder.

3. Coins mystery

You have 2 buckets of water, inside the 1^st bucket the temperature of the water is 25ºC, inside the 2^nd bucket the water is 25ºF. You drop a coin into each bucket from the same height and they hit water at exactly the same time.

Question. Which coin touches the bottom first?

Answer:

The coin in the 1^st bucket. At 25ºC water is liquid, while at 25ºF it turns into ice.

4. Grass mystery

In a field, there is a patch of magic grass, which doubles in quantity every day. If on day one it’s one patch of grass, on day 2 there will be 2 patches and so on. It takes 10 days for the grass to cover the entire field.

Question. How long will it take for it to cover half of the field?

Answer:

The grass doubles in quantity every day, so on the 9^th day it will be half the quantity it is on the 10^th day. Hence the half of the patch will be covered on the 9^th day.

5. An apple mystery

There are 10 people in a room and each person can see the entire room and everyone else. You want to place an apple so all but one person can see it.

Question. Where would you place the apple in the room?

Answer:

Place the apple on anyone’s head.

6. Car vs car

There are 2 cars, the blue car is going 60mph and the red car is going 40mph. They both started at the same time however they still cross each other at some point.

Question. How is that possible?

Answer:

They are travelling in opposite directions.

7. Apple tree mystery

2 friends Ann and Mary went for a bush walk. Suddenly heavy rain started, the girls saw an abandoned house and decided to get shelter in the house. When the rain stopped, the friends were dry but very hungry. So, they went different ways to find fruit.

Ann found an apple tree but when she ate an apple she turned into the tree. Half an hour later Mary got there and she heard someone say: “Your friend turned into a tree, you must find her to bring her back. You only have one chance. If you get it wrong, your friend will remain a tree forever.”

Question. How can Mary find out which tree is her friend?

Answer:

Since it rained half an hour back, all the trees in the forest must be wet. The only tree that is not wet is Mary’s friend Ann.

8. Which man is carrying the most weight?

Answer:

The man in the middle has to carry 25% more weight.