Riddles and Brainteasers

Captain

Captain

Final Approach
Joined
Mar 12, 2012
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First Officer
Heres a nice little thread to post your riddles. When one gets answered toss up another.

I'll start:

Kids get this quicker than adults. Programmers take the longest. Pilots take...well, see for yourself.

8809 = 6
7111 = 0
2172 = 0
6666 = 4
1111 = 0
3213 = 0
7662 = 2
9313 = 1
0000 = 4
2222 = 0
3333 = 0
5555 = 0
8193 = 3
8096 = 5
1021 = 1
7777 = 0
9999 = 4
7756 = 1
6855 = 3
9881 = 5
5531 = 0
2581 = ????
 
Captain said:
Heres a nice little thread to post your riddles. When one gets answered toss up another.

I'll start:

Kids get this quicker than adults. Programmers take the longest. Pilots take...well, see for yourself.

8809 = 6
7111 = 0
2172 = 0
6666 = 4
1111 = 0
3213 = 0
7662 = 2
9313 = 1
0000 = 4
2222 = 0
3333 = 0
5555 = 0
8193 = 3
8096 = 5
1021 = 1
7777 = 0
9999 = 4
7756 = 1
6855 = 3
9881 = 5
5531 = 0
2581 = ????
Click to expand...

2581 = 2
 
Three books are arranged in order (Vol. 1, 2, 3) on a shelf. The thickness of the pages of each book is 2 inches. The thickness of each cover is 1/4 inch. What is the distance from the first page of the first book to the last page of the last book?
 
Cap'n Jack said:
The number of closed loops in the symbols on the left side of the equals sign.
Click to expand...

Ah - so an "8" has 2, a "6" has 1, and so on. That would explain why programmer's like myself have problems. Seeing all numbers sets our mental state to find patterns in the numbers, not in the font set itself.

 
upstateny said:
Three books are arranged in order (Vol. 1, 2, 3) on a shelf. The thickness of the pages of each book is 2 inches. The thickness of each cover is 1/4 inch. What is the distance from the first page of the first book to the last page of the last book?
Click to expand...

3 inches. The pages and outer cover of vol 1 and 3 don't count.




If you take 2 apples from 3 apples how many apples do you have?
 
Correct - 3 inches

2 apples
 
A frog falls into a well 30 feet deep. Every day he climbs up 3 feet, but every night he slips back 2 feet. How many days will it take for him to climb out of the well?
 
upstateny said:
A frog falls into a well 30 feet deep. Every day he climbs up 3 feet, but every night he slips back 2 feet. How many days will it take for him to climb out of the well?
Click to expand...

27 days?
 
upstateny said:
Three books are arranged in order (Vol. 1, 2, 3) on a shelf. The thickness of the pages of each book is 2 inches. The thickness of each cover is 1/4 inch. What is the distance from the first page of the first book to the last page of the last book?
Click to expand...

I see 7 inches, not 3. What am I missing?
 
A US state is bordered by 6 adjacent US states. It is possible to fly due South out of this state into every adjoining state. What state is it?
 
Graueradler said:
I see 7 inches, not 3. What am I missing?
Click to expand...

Grab three books and look at where the first page of the first book and the last page of the last book are. (Looking at the bound side of the books.)
 
DavidWhite said:
I wasnt sure whether you meant he needed to reach the top or go over it. Apparently he would need to go over it.
Click to expand...


No...

After the first day, he's gone up 3 and down 2, so he's at 1 foot.
After the second day, he's gone up 3 and down 2, so he's at 2 feet.
After the third day, he's gone up 3 and down 2, so he's at 3 feet.
.....
After the 26th day, he's gone up 3 and down 2, so he's at 26 feet.
After the 27th day, he's gone up 3 and down 2, so he's at 27 feet.
On the 28th day, he goes up 3 feet and he's out.
 
upstateny said:
No...

After the first day, he's gone up 3 and down 2, so he's at 1 foot.
After the second day, he's gone up 3 and down 2, so he's at 2 feet.
After the third day, he's gone up 3 and down 2, so he's at 3 feet.
.....
After the 26th day, he's gone up 3 and down 2, so he's at 26 feet.
After the 27th day, he's gone up 3 and down 2, so he's at 27 feet.
On the 28th day, he goes up 3 feet and he's out.
Click to expand...

Ok, I had a brainfart for whatever reason
 
A traveller comes to a fork in the road which leads to two villages. In one village the people always tell lies, and in the other village the people always tell the truth. The traveller needs to conduct business in the village where everyone tells the truth. A man from one of the villages is standing in the middle of the fork, but there is no indication of which village he is from. The traveller approaches the man and asks him one question. From the villager's answer, he knows which road to follow. What did the traveller ask?
 
DavidWhite said:
A traveller comes to a fork in the road which leads to two villages. In one village the people always tell lies, and in the other village the people always tell the truth. The traveller needs to conduct business in the village where everyone tells the truth. A man from one of the villages is standing in the middle of the fork, but there is no indication of which village he is from. The traveller approaches the man and asks him one question. From the villager's answer, he knows which road to follow. What did the traveller ask?
Click to expand...

How do I get to your village? That way, you will always get to the truth village.
 
Nsconductor said:
How do I get to your village? That way, you will always get to the truth village.
Click to expand...

Yes. Because the liar will lie and the man who tells the truth will point you to his village.
 
Captain said:
Heres a nice little thread to post your riddles. When one gets answered toss up another.

I'll start:

Kids get this quicker than adults. Programmers take the longest. Pilots take...well, see for yourself.

8809 = 6
7111 = 0
2172 = 0
6666 = 4
1111 = 0
3213 = 0
7662 = 2
9313 = 1
0000 = 4
2222 = 0
3333 = 0
5555 = 0
8193 = 3
8096 = 5
1021 = 1
7777 = 0
9999 = 4
7756 = 1
6855 = 3
9881 = 5
5531 = 0
2581 = ????
Click to expand...
I didn't read beyond this post so I'll take a stab at it.

2581 = 2

It's the total number of "loops", "circles" or whatever you want to call them in the digits. A 0 has 1, an 8 has 2, etc.

Took me about 2.5 minutes. Probably would have taken longer except for your hint about kids getting it quicker.
 
You have a square or rectangular table, with a simple top; no moulding or anything around the edges. Cut through the tabletop, at a right angle to the upper surface, along a line that goes at a 45-degree angle from one side to another adjacent (not parallel) side. Discard the cutoff piece.
How many corners does the tabletop now have?
 
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rottydaddy said:
You have a square or rectangular table, with a simple top; no moulding or anything around the edges. Cut through the tabletop, at a right angle to the upper surface, along a line that goes at a 45-degree angle from one side to another adjacent (not parallel) side. Discard the cutoff piece.
How many corners does the tabletop now have?
Click to expand...

You either replaced one 90 with 2 45 so 5 corners. Or, you threw away the 5 cornered part and saved the triangular part and called the larger part the cutoff.
 
Capt. Geoffrey Thorpe said:
You either replaced one 90 with 2 45 so 5 corners. Or, you threw away the 5 cornered part and saved the triangular part and called the larger part the cutoff.
Click to expand...
It's the former, sort of... the "little piece" is discarded. But so far, nobody's guessed the number of remaining corners right. :D
Let's just say that when you "cut one corner off a table" you're not just cutting one corner off. :wink2:
 
Last edited:
rottydaddy said:
You have a square or rectangular table, with a simple top; no moulding or anything around the edges. Cut through the tabletop, at a right angle to the upper surface, along a line that goes at a 45-degree angle from one side to another adjacent (not parallel) side. Discard the cutoff piece.
How many corners does the tabletop now have?
Click to expand...
Depends on what you're calling a corner and how the top transitions to the edges among other things. For instance if the edges are round and the radius of the edges equals half the top's thickness the only corners before cutting are the four viewed from above and the cut adds 1. But if the edges are flat you start out with 12 "corners" and the cut adds 3.
 
Hint: when a book is upright on a shelf, the front cover faces right. (at least, the way European language books are printed)
 
upstateny said:
Three books are arranged in order (Vol. 1, 2, 3) on a shelf. The thickness of the pages of each book is 2 inches. The thickness of each cover is 1/4 inch. What is the distance from the first page of the first book to the last page of the last book?
Click to expand...
7 inches
 
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