Logic Questions
1. Two babies are born to the same mother within 3 minutes of each other. They are born in the same bed, same hospital and are identical. YET, they are not twins. Why not? Note: Do not look for some sort of catch in the wording of the question. The answer is extremely simple.
2. What are the next two letters in this never finishing sequence of letters,
O,T,T,F,F,?,?………………..
3. A train in America is two kilometres long and is travelling at exactly 120 kph towards a level crossing. The front of the train is 100m from the crossing. 150m from the crossing is a car, which is also travelling at exactly 120 kph. There are no bridges or tunnels. Both reach the level crossing without changing speed and both cross it without incident. There are people watching and they see nothing remarkable. How do you explain that?
4. What is the next number in this sequence:
1,2,5,10,20,?
5. Wayne has an accident on his motorcycle. He wakes up in hospital in lots of plaster and bandages. He looks to his left and is horrified at the look of the chap next to him. I will not describe the view, it is too awful. The man seems to be unconcious. Just then a doctor arrives and says to Wayne, “You are lucky. For somebody who has a crash like you, there are a lot of broken bones but nothing that won’t heal.” Wayne says, “Oh great! Thank you doctor, what a relief. By the way, can I ask, what’s wrong with the chap in the next bed? I’ve never seen anyone look so ill.” The doctor replies, “Oh we’ve just got his diagnosis. He has a rare case of BETS.” Wayne is curious and asks, “What on earth is BETS?” The doctor replies, “It’s a mix of Bubonic Plague, Emphysema, Typhoid and Smallpox. He’s very infectious.” Wayne is suddenly very scared. He says, “I’m sorry doctor but I don’t think I want to be next to somebody with BETS.” The doctor replies, “Oh don’t worry that’s quite understandable. Those nurses with masks on are coming now to take him to a private room.” Wayne is relieved and says, “Thank goodness. Oh and If I may, can I ask what you give to somebody with BETS?” The doctor replies, “Oh! That’s easy. We provide pancakes and pizza.” Wayne has to ask, “Why pancakes and pizza?” The doctor says….. WELL, WHAT DOES HE SAY?
6. Jeremy, sitting at the back of the class falling asleep, has fallen in love with Julie, who is asleep at the front of the class. One evening Julie is upstairs at home when the doorbell rings. She looks out of a bedroom window and sees Jeremy standing there. There is nobody else in so she sets off to answer the door. Just then she realises she has bare feet. Julie immediately turns and runs into her bedroom and puts on the light. The bulb goes “ping” and she is in pitch black. She makes her way to the sock draw where she knows she has 20 black socks that all match each other and twenty white socks that match each other. The trouble is they are all mixed up. Here is the question. In order to save time, what is the smallest number of socks that Julie must take out of the draw so that, when she goes out into the light on the landing, she can guarantee she will at least have a pair?
7. The next afternoon after school, Jeremy goes home and sneaks one of his Mum’s best steak knives out of the house. He goes to the biggest, old oak tree on the park and carves a big heart on it. He cuts an arrow through the heart and carves Julie at one end and Jeremy at the other. He knows exactly how tall Julie is, so he makes sure it is at precisely 1m from the ground. Sadly folks, things don’t always go well. Three years later Julie is very angry with Jeremy and she goes to that tree to change the carving. The tree has grown exactly ½m a year during that time. How far off the ground will that carving now be?
8. An easy one: What are the next two numbers in the sequence:
1,2,4,7,11,16,……..?
9. This question is about “The Fibonacci Sequence”. He was an Italian mathematician, born in 1170, who discovered this sequence. Note: “cc” in Italian is pronounced “ch”. It is believed that he discovered it by studying nature, particularly the number of petals in each layer of a flower, but nobody is sure. The important thing is that it is very popular with the people who set exams in maths. Here is the question:
What are the next two numbers is the never ending sequence:
0,1,1,2,3,5,8,13,21,?,?………………………
10. Michael and Peter decide to run a race along their street. There are 10 lampposts in a row with a gap of 10m between each pair. They start at the first lamppost and run to the tenth. How far did they run?
11. Julie and Jeremy settle down and then suddenly win £16,000,000 on the lottery. 6 weeks later Julie is sunning herself on a yacht just off a beach in Tenerife in The Atlantic Ocean. If you look at the picture you can see Julie. Doesn’t she look lovely, relaxing with her hands behind her head? However, never one to get bored, Julie has been reading about the tides in that part of the world. She looks at her watch and realises that the tide has just started to come in. She knows it rises at ½m an hour and then she realises that the gaps in the rungs of the rope ladder are exactly half a metre apart with the sea just touching the bottom rung. If you look, you can see the gaps, there are three of them. How long is it before Julie will have to move or get wet?
12. It is 400 miles from London to Edinburgh on the train. An express leaves London at 10.00 a.m. and travels at an average speed of 90 mph non-stop. At 10.00 a slow train leaves Edinburgh for London and travels at an average speed of 60 mph. Which train will be furthest from London when they meet?
13. If the day before yesterday was Thursday what will be the day after tomorrow?
14. How many months have 28 days?
15. If a choir of 20 people sings a song in 20 minutes, how long will a choir of 50 people take to sing it?
16. Caroline has 50 cats. If I take away all but five, how many will she have left?
17. An anagram of a massively best-selling selling book: LIBBE. What is it?
18. What is 4+6×2=?
19. This question is orally delivered only and you can only say it once, so everybody listen. Here we go:
“You are the pilot of a new jet fighter. This is no ordinary plane. It was so expensive to make that Russia, America, China, UK and a whole bunch of other countries contributed to the cost. There is only one because it is designed to stop all wars and there must only be one plane like that in the world. It is armed with nuclear missiles as well as all sorts of other weapons. It can fly along at 10m above the ground so it cannot be picked up by RADAR or it can go into outer space. From anywhere in the world it could fire a missile and send it through somebody’s front door 10,000 miles away. Perhaps most importantly, it is so fast that no bullets or missiles could ever catch it, so it cannot be shot down. It is run by a non-toxic form of nuclear power called “cold fusion” that means it can stay in flight for years and as it can recycle and materialise food (like on Star Trek) the person flying the plane can be extremely comfortable. Any country who decides to start a war will be punished by the pilot. So now countries can stop spending so much money on weapons and more on things like hospitals. The only problem was that each country only trusted a pilot from their own country to fly the plane, so it took three years of arguing about who it would be. After all, this person is going to be the policeman for the whole world. Eventually the number of candidates is narrowed down to ten, then five, then three and finally, one is selected. That person takes off and is watching over us all now, making sure we are good.”
Here is the question: “What is the name of the pilot?”
20. A cowboy has a problem and needs to ride to another town. He knows it will take all day riding to get there. He sets out on a Monday, eventually arrives and stays on for two days to sort out his problem. Then he rides back on Tuesday. How can you explain that?
21. To be spoken once, orally (only) and quickly:
“A big eskimo and a little eskimo are walking along holding hands in the snow. The little Eskimo is the big Eskimo’s daughter. The big Eskimo is not the little Eskimo’s Mother. Who is the big Eskimo?”
Note: It amazes me how many people get this wrong.
22. A doctor is walking through town with his toddler son who will be three years old next week. Quite naturally he is holding the little boy’s hand. Just then they pass an antique shop and in the window is the exact, historically important microscope the doctor has been looking for during the last four years. In his surprise and delight he let’s go of his son’s hand and says, “Oh wow. I’ve got to have that. At last!” Unfortunately the toddler walks straight out into the road and is knocked down by a car. AAWWWWwwwwww!! (Sigh of sorrow). The doctor runs to his son, takes one look, realises the injuries and calls an ambulance. Within 40 seconds an ambulance draws up. “How did you get here so fast?” asks the relieved doctor. “We are on our way from a motorway accident to hospital and just happened to be passing”, replied the ambulance staff. “Look, we can just fit in your son, but not you.” The doctor says, “That’s fine I will run. It’s about 3 miles. I should be there in just over half an hour.” The boy is put into the only space left and the ambulance speeds off. Nee, nah, nee, nah. The Dad starts running as fast as he can. The ambulance arrives 5 minutes later. The little boy is taken out first and put on a trolley, which is wheeled into A&E where a doctor is waiting. The trolley is pushed over and the doctor takes one look and says, “That’s my son!” How can you explain that?
23. To be orally delivered only once. Julie and Jeremy have been married for 10 years now. It was great fun for a while but then very sadly their bank failed and they lost everything. This is very unfortunate because they now have an 8 year old son Timothy. They live in a block of flats with a lift. One day Timothy walks into the lift on the ground floor. He notices that 2 other people get in with him. The lift goes up a floor and two more people get in. At the next floor another person gets in but 2 people get out. At the next floor three people get in. At the next floor one person gets out and one person gets in. At the next floor two people get out. At the next floor 2 people get out. At the next floor one person gets out and one person gets in. At the next floor it is the top floor so everybody gets out. Question: Including the ground floor, at how many floors did the lift stop?
24. A farmer has a big field. Towards the end of the summer he cuts the grass and forms haystacks. He puts one big haystack in each corner. Then he puts another big haystack half way down one side and another halfway down the opposite side. Finally, with what’s left he puts one small haystack in the middle of the top of the field. Just then he realises that he hasn’t cut round the outside of the field because all the haystacks are in the way. So he moves them all to the exact centre of the field. Question: How many haystacks are there in the middle of the field?
25. A man goes into a fish and chip shop. He looks at a piece of paper and says, “Could I please have, let me see, 4CC? That must be 4 cod and chips. Next could I have, let me see, 4PC? That must be 4 pie and chips. Next, two H-BC? Mmm! That must me 2 hamburgers and chips. Finally, could I have 1 PPC? Ah! That must be pie, peas and chips”. The shopkeeper looks at him and says, “You’re in the army aren’t you?” How did he know?
26. Can you spot what is strange about this sentence:
“A man a plan a canal Panama”?
27. Three countries, let’s call them A, B, and C, have a patch of land right in the middle of where all three borders meet. They have fought over this bit of land for centuries. Finally they have declared it neutral. A sort of “No Man’s Land” where everybody must keep out. A plane from England crashes right in the middle of this area. In which country would they bury the survivors?
28. John and Fred Smith are twins who are born into a very poor home. However, they are much loved, which makes up for everything. Later, due to a great sense of business, they each independently become millionaires and each buys a huge house. They are of course very busy running their own corporations but once a month they meet for an evening together at a club where they talk about everything and nothing, just like twins would do. During these meetings John always brings up his theories of life after death because he knows that his brother is not a believer. They will often discuss this subject for hours. One night John makes a promise. He says he will prove it to Fred if he happens to die first. He will find a way of coming back and letting Fred know that he is OK in another life. Fred, as usual, laughs at this, which makes John even more determined. They then both make their separate ways home. In the morning Fred is awoken by the police who tell him they have very sad news. The night before his brother John was in a car crash on the way home and was killed. Fred is heartbroken. A few days later at the reading of John’s will it says, “To Fred, I know you do not need any money. I also know you have never visited my house or my private library. I now ask you to go and pick any five books from my wonderful collection. Take care as some are extremely valuable“. Two days later Fred is in his brother’s house and is very impressed by the library, which is a huge room with a high ceiling. Everywhere is covered with full bookshelves. Around the walls there is a sliding ladder attached to a rail that allows you to view any book at any height. As Fred starts to look at the books he notices that each volume has the letters “JS” inside the front cover in immaculate gold lettering that is in John’s handwriting. Fred is overwhelmed and, as he has never been much interested in books, he is unsure of what to take. Value is not important but he would like something that reminds him of his brother. After about an hour he goes up the ladder and starts looking at books on the top shelf. Always, just inside the front cover, are the golden letters “JS”. Some of the books are a little dusty and, as he pulls out one particularly old looking book, a huge spider drops onto his shoulder from the ceiling and takes him completely by surprise. In shock, whilst trying to brush the spider away with his hand, he slides in a stuttering way down the ladder and lands on the floor with a bump. He looks down and there is the spider on the floor just standing there. He jumps up and shouts, “You could have killed me!” and stamps on it. Then he asks himself, “Where did you come from?” and he looks up. There in the nook of the top of the wall and ceiling is a hug web. To his utter shock, Fred notices that woven into the spider’s web, in large gold letters and in exactly the same handwriting, are the letters “JS”. He is stunned and then appalled at what he might just have done. He looks down and there on the floor the spider is badly injured but still wriggling. He kneels down and puts his ear to the floor. What does the spider say?
29. Alan is flying a light aircraft across the Sahara Desert when the engine falters and he just manages to land safely. Survival is an issue and within a few hours he has been taken prisoner by a tribe that live out there and belongs to no country. He is put in a big wooden cage, which is lifted up on a rope. It just so happens that the leader of the tribe is very ill and so there is nobody to decide his fate. Sadly the next morning the old leader dies before he can name a successor. His twin sons are left wondering who it should be. As Alan watches and listens from his cage, the elders of the tribe meet and agree that the question will be solved in the age-honoured way of a camel race. Each twin must pick his fastest camel and then take part. The golden rule is that the owner of the fastest camel will be the leader. Just as they are all agreeing, one of the elders stands up and says that it would be good just for once to try something a little different. When he is asked what he means he suggest that maybe they could try a new rule, “The owner of the slowest camel will become the leader”. He says that in this way one of the brothers can be very polite and let the other win. Then, in a very good way, the most polite brother will be the leader and it will still be a race. Without thinking it through they all agree and it seems, once agreed, these decisions cannot be changed. Each twin chooses a camel. They line up and the race starts with a gun being fired into the air. Unfortunately the elders had not considered that both the brothers want to be leader so both are desperate for the other to win. Each of them wants to have the slowest camel and become leader. In fact neither of them is moving. Three hours later in the midday sun and heat of the Sahara Desert neither brother has taken a step. With both brothers still not moving the elders hold another meeting but they don’t know what to do. At that point Alan speaks up and says that, if he is allowed to whisper something to both riders, he can solve the problem in a matter of seconds. It is agreed that the cage will be lowered and both brothers are allowed to dismount and approach the cage. They walk across looking puzzled. Alan whispers to them both together. They turn round, sprint over, jump on the camels and the matter is decided in 30 seconds. What did Alan say?
30. Julie and Jeremy are very hard up. They have had to move to a very small flat on the top floor of a 50 story tower block. Very sadly, Timothy is now 9 years old and doesn’t eat very well, so he is the smallest child in his year group at school. Poor Timothy. However, he is a brave boy and one day after school he goes home and brings tears of happiness to his mother’s eyes by suggesting that he takes on a paper round early each morning and that he will give every penny he earns to his Mum to buy food. They all agree. Each morning at 06.00 Timothy gets into the lift on the 50th floor, presses the button for the ground floor and goes off to do his paper round. At about 07.40 he returns feeling very tired. He gets in the lift on the ground floor and presses the button for the 40th floor. He then gets out and walks the last ten floors up to his home on the 50th floor. He doesn’t want to do it this way, as he is so tired, but has no choice. The only difference is when it is raining. On those days, when he comes home, he gets in on the ground floor and goes straight up to the 50th floor without walking. How can you explain his behaviour?
31. Why were manhole covers originally designed to be round?
32. Look at the picture below. There is a room with no windows in a photographic laboratory. In one corridor there are three switches on the wall for the three light bulbs inside the room. Unfortunately the designer put the switches on the wrong wall, so it’s very difficult to know which is which standing there as you can’t see inside the room. Here is the problem and remember, when you are looking at the switches, there is no way you can see in the room.
It is your first visit to this room. You can stand at the switches (no damage or screwdrivers) for as long as you want. After that, when you walk round the two corners and enter the room you will be able to immediately tell which bulb is which switch. How can you do this? Logic only, no catches.
33. What does BOGOF stand for?
34. Oral question only, no writing except for the answer. You have to picture the solution in your head. What is the only four letter word in the English language that ends in: _ E N Y? After reading, close your eyes to answer.
35. How many letters in the alphabet?
36. I think this is very difficult. Question: Alan, Bob, Colin and David are flying a plane across The Sahara Desert. It is a huge place. You could drop England in the middle and nobody would notice. Suddenly they lose control and the plane crash lands. All four are left unconscious but alive. Whilst they are knocked out one of the many tribes who manage to live out there takes them prisoner. When they wake up they have been buried in the sand up to their necks. You can see them in the picture below. The leader of the tribe is on the right pointing a gun at them. I have drawn him so he looks mean and tough. He says, “Whilst you were unconscious you were buried up to your necks in sand. I then put a hat on each of your heads. Two of those hats are red on top and two are white on top. They are all just plain on the underneath. You cannot talk and, of course, you can only look forward. If one of you can explain to me what colour hat you have on and (most importantly) why, I will let you go. Otherwise you will be left and eaten alive during the night by insects. If any of you speaks, other than to tell me the answer I will shoot that person and leave the other three. If one of you guesses but cannot say how you know, then you will all be left to be eaten alive, even if the guess was right. Intelligent people deserve to live.” Just to make it clear I will state the following. Alan can see a wall and nothing else. Bob can see a wall and nothing else. Colin can see Bob with a white hat on. David can (just) see Bob with a white hat on and Colin with a red hat on. None of them can see the colour of his own hat, which is just plain on the underside. Which of them can work it out and how? There are no tricks like mirages, just logic. Who can work it out and how?
37. You have 9 gold coins but you know one of them is a forgery and is very slightly heavier than the other 8. You have a pair of weighing scales. How can you tell which coin it is in just two weighings? Surprisingly simple.
38. England won the Football World Cup in 1966. In the final, who played for both teams?
39. A man went fishing and was using liquorice as bait. What was he trying to catch?
40. A man runs out of petrol in his car. He walks to the nearest garage with two containers. One is 13 litres and the other is 6 litres. He has the exact amount to pay for 5 litres. How does he do it?
41. What is 3/7 chicken, 2/3 cat and ½ goat?
42. Why can’t Kevin Jones, who is currently living in Canada, be buried in the USA?
43. A Fairy Tale. A very beautiful princess is the only child of the king and lives in a far off land. One day she meets and falls in love with a very poor farm boy. The boy loves her back but knows her Dad, the king, will be against any marriage. He is very worried. Every time they meet it must be in secret. One day the princess tells him that she is going to reveal all to her Father and persuade him to let them marry. The young lad is terrified that he will lose his head but because he loves her so much he agrees. The next day she tells her young boyfriend that she had a big argument with her Dad and if there is to be any hope of marriage he must go with her to the palace. Once again he is terrified but (of course) he agrees to go. On arrival they walk straight into a big hall and up to the King who is sitting on a throne and surrounded by all his advisers and servants. There then follows a long period of him being questioned. At the end the king says he will cut off the boy’s head but the pleading of his only daughter makes him reconsider. The young lad is shaking with nerves. The king thinks and then says, “If you love my daughter so much, you will agree this. In the morning come back here at 10.00. I will have two bits of folded paper in a hat. One will say ‘Marry’ one will say, ‘Execute’. You will have a 50:50 chance of marrying my wonderful girl”. The boy is overwhelmed and has no choice. He agrees. To be honest, he is so nervous he is not really thinking straight. He is then sent from the big hall and as he makes his way down the corridor he realises he has already forgotten what time he has to be there in the morning. I think the threat of having your head cut off will do that sort of thing to you. He turns around and creeps back to the hall, where he very gently opens the door, not wanting to interrupt any important business. He sees the princess has gone and the king is shouting to his adviser, “Does he really think I will let him marry my only daughter? I can tell you now, when he gets here at 10.00 in the morning I will indeed have two bits of paper but both will have the word ‘Execute’ written on them. That’ll be the end of him”. Well, of course, this is a fairy tale and so must have a happy ending. I can tell you that the young farmhand turns up at 10.00 in the morning and that he marries the princess. The question is, how did he manage it? What did he do?
44. A person goes into a police station at night and destroys 512 sets of finger prints. The police do nothing. Why?
45. David’s Father has three sons, Snap, Crackle and who?
46. The maker does not need it, the buyer does not use it and the user does not know they are using it. What is it?
47. In school a lesson on Roman Numerals. The teacher introduces I=1, V=5, X=10, L=50, C=100 and so on. He then explains that IV=4 whilst V1+6 and so on. Eventually the teacher gives them a test of VI questions. Things like: XI + IX = XX The last question he says, “If you have really understood me then you will get this one right”. He then puts a big IX on the board and says, “Add one line to make this equal six”. Answer?
48. In South America there is a bridge that is three miles long. The designers impress on the country that it will only take a maximum of exactly 44 tonnes. After that it will collapse even with ½ gram more. A huge weigh bridge is installed at each end and every lorry is to be checked before being allowed to proceed. One day a lorry pulls up onto the weigh bridge and the driver waits to be given permission to proceed. The man at the bridge says, “Wow! I’ve never seen anything like this. You weigh exactly 40 tonnes. That is amazing. The rules say I can’t stop you BUT I will sweep the roadway onto the bridge first because the slightest extra tiny pebble getting stuck in the wheel will destroy the bridge and you! Half an hour later the man says, “OK. The road is completely clean. On you go and count yourself lucky. I’ve never seen this before.” The driver goes onto the bridge and the first mile is absolutely fine. Halfway through the second mile however he sees a large colourful bird circling his truck. He puts his arm out of his window and tries to shoo it away. He is waving like mad but the bird obviously needs a rest and it keeps circling. Then it happens. The bird lands right in front of him on the bonnet but out of reach. What happens next and why?
49. What was the biggest island in the world before Australia was discovered?
50. A horse is tied to an 8m length of rope. How can it eat a bale of hay that is 10m away?
51. How far can a dog run into the woods? This is pure logic.
52. An amoeba is put in a bucket of warm water at exactly 10.00. It doubles every 30 seconds. At 12.00 (two hours later) there are 2 billion of them in that bucket. At what time were there 1 billion in the bucket?
53. Divide 30 by a ½ and add 10. What is the answer?
54. How many of each animal did Moses take on The Ark?
55. USTOODWERNJ. Rearrange these letters into just one word.
56. Can you spot what is special about the order of these numbers from 1-10?
8,5,4,9,1,7,6,10,3,2,0.
57. If you were to spell out numbers, “One, two, three, four, five……… and so on“ how far would you have to go before you came cross the first letter “a”?
58. Guess who I bumped into in Specsavers?
59. Why do scuba divers fall backwards to get into the water from a boat?
60. What do Superman, Cabbage Patch Dolls and Adam and Eve all have in common?
61. What is orange and sounds like a parrot?
62. What have Adam and Eve not got that every other human being has?
63. Their are four mistaikes in this sentance. What are they?
64. This is for all of you who know or remember a computer/arcade game called “Donkey Kong”. How many donkeys are there in the game?
65. Look at the picture below for 5 seconds. Look away and write down what it says. Move on to the next question.
66. Mike and Jim are out in the middle of the wilds in Canada. Suddenly they see a bear on top of the hill opposite. It is obviously upset with them and starts charging towards them. Mike immediately starts running away but Jim stops and takes out a pair of running shoes with spikes. He is changing into them when Mike stops, turns around and says, “What are you doing? No man, with or without running shoes can outrun a bear”. What does Mike reply?
67. A workman builds a house all on his own. Every aspect faces south. One day a bear breaks in by smashing down the front door. The workman has to wait upstairs until it has finished wrecking the kitchen where it can smell food. What colour was the bear?
68. The equation below does not work. However, it can be made to work by adding one straight line. What would you do?
69. A very famous interview question for a male wishing to enter management: You are driving along through pouring rain in your Porsche. It is extremely heavy and there is only room for one other person in the car. You are, very sensibly, driving slowly when you pass a bus stop. You notice three people in the queue and they are all obviously soaked through. The first is an elderly lady who looks extremely ill. You know the bus goes to the hospital but you cannot help but wonder why she has not called an ambulance. You are tempted to stop and give her a lift. The second person in the queue is your best friend in the whole world who saved your life last month. He sees you and waves. The third person in the queue is the girl of your dreams. You have always loved her and just hoped one day for an opportunity to meet and talk to her. What do you do?
The next 3 questions are from more than 2,000 years ago (hint) in the days of Greek Philosophy where the ability to solve each others’ riddles was a huge status symbol. The most important question is the last of the three (72), which is reputed to have led to Homer (not Simpson!) in about 850 BC leaving his home town and dying of shame as a recluse, simply because he could not solve it.
70. Feed me and I grow. Water me and I die. What am I?
71. What walks on 4 legs, then on two legs and then on three legs?
72. Three fishermen were in a boat. What they caught they threw away, what they couldn’t catch they kept. What are we talking about?
73. Five men are sitting in a room together and waiting. They each have just one leg. After a while a big parcel arrives and when it is opened they can see a human leg. They all smile at each other. Can you work out a scenario whereby this is perfectly logical? Thanks to Alison for this one.
74. A man is flying solo across the Sahara Desert when he suddenly develops engine trouble and is forced to land. He cannot repair the plane and so has no option but to choose a direction and start walking. After two days he has run out of water and is feeling decidedly weak. He is starting to panic when he staggers to the top of a sand dune and sees a smartly dressed man standing at a market stall all on its own a few yards ahead of him. Hoping it isn’t a mirage and with new energy, he slowly plods up to the stall and gasps, “Water, water can you give me some water?”
“I’m terribly sorry,” says the smart young man, “I don’t have any water. However, perhaps sir would like to buy a tie?”
“A tie? I don’t need a tie,” croaks the poor man, “I need water”.
“I’ve got some exceptionally fine silk ties at very reasonable prices,” says the salesman.
The man shakes his head in disbelief and staggers on with the salesman shouting after him, “I also do an economy line of cheaper ties sir.”
By the end of the following day the man is both walking and crawling when he comes across another salesman at a market stall in the middle of nowhere. He finds it hard to speak and is greeted with, “Good afternoon sir, I see you are not wearing a tie. I’m so glad you weren’t fooled by my competitor; he really does sell second rate merchandise. Now if I may, can I suggest that a certain shade of pink is your colour sir?”
“Water, water,” croaks the man.
“Oh I’m sorry about that sir,” is the reply, “I don’t have any water but you’ll find my bargain line of cotton ties very interesting.”
“Ohhhhhhhh!” groans the man as he staggers on with the salesman shouting, “Sir really should consider a certain shade of pink for his neck wear”.
By lunchtime the next day the man has decide to crawl up one more sand dune and then give up. When he reaches the top he is shocked to see a building in the distance. He gathers his last ounce of strength and lurches forward on all fours.
As he gets closer he sees it is a very modern, glass fronted hotel called, “The Oasis” which seems to be totally on its own in the middle of the desert. Inside the main foyer he can see a fountain of water that cascades into a big pool. He can’t believe his eyes. He crawls inch by inch up to the entrance and stops at the feet of a very stylishly dressed doorman, grabbing the bottom of one leg. He looks up pleadingly at the doorman who says, “……………………….”
75. 09:15 is a time.
Add one line to the following to make 09.50:
I O I O I O
76. Place 4 toothpicks (A, B, C, and D) in the shape of a glass as shown below. Put a small scrap of paper in the glass to represent a cube of ice. Now move two (only) of the toothpicks to leave the ice cube outside the glass, whilst leaving it intact. You cannot touch the ice cube.
77. If you are in a race and you overtake the person in 2nd place, what position will you be in?
78. A number of years ago a roller-coaster ride was built at a fairground in the north of England. It was considered very exciting at the time because it was one of the first to have a “loop the loop” which was built over the top of a lake. Five years later the lake became blocked and need to be cleaned out. It was drained and, as you can imagine, in the mud there were lots personal of items found, from people who had been turned upside down. The most common item was one hundred and twenty three………….what? Think about it!
79. Years ago in Russia it was very difficult to get hold of plumbers, craftsmen, electricians and so on. One 17th April 1989 a lady phoned an electrician and asked if he could come as soon as possible because a lot of wires were overheating and sparking. He replied that he could come 19 months later on the morning of 17th November 1990.
“Oh” said the lady, “Is there any chance you could make it in the afternoon instead?”
“Why?” asked the electrician.
“Because,” came the reply………..?????
80. If you are running in a race and you overtake the person who is last, what position are you in?
81. A mother has three potatoes and five children. How can she give each child an equal portion without using fractions?
82. In a hotel lobby I came across the following sign – TORA LEVE – What did it mean?
For the mathematically minded:
a.) If your body doubled in size, how much heavier would you be?
b.) What is the largest number of trees that can be planted in a field so they are all equidistant from each other?
c.) Tricky I think. Solve the algebraic equation below. Hint: The solution is a numeric value.
(x-a) (x-b) (x-c) (x-d) (x-e) (x-f)…………………………………..(x-y) (x-z) =?