Power Outage Riddle
Julie is going on an extended trip for three weeks. She lives in a remote area where there are frequent electrical power outages which can last up to three or four days. Julie has quite a bit of food in her freezer which would go bad if it thawed and then re-froze. She does have digital clock and a VCR which would flash 12:00 if the power went out. Unfortunately the clock and VCR flash even if the power only goes out for a few seconds. What can Julie do so that when she returns home she will be able to determine whether the power was out long enough to thaw her food? Asking a neighbor whether the power was out, isn't a reliable option because the nearest house is half a mile away, and one house may have power, while another house may have no power. She won't be able to have a neighbor check on her house every day, and has no one to house sit.
Hint:
One thing Julie could do is freeze a tray of ice-cubes, and turn the tray of ice upside down in her freezer. When she comes home, she should check the tray. If the ice cubes are still in the tray, the food is safe to eat. If the trays are empty, it's time to clean out the freezer. She will have to make a judgment call if the ice-cubes are only slightly thawed. Did you answer this riddle correctly?
YES NO
YES NO
Lemons Cross The Road Riddle
Hint:
Joe's 10 Coins Riddle
Joe has ten coins totaling $1.19. From these coins, he cannot make exact change for a dollar, half-dollar, quarter, dime, or nickel.
What are the coins?
What are the coins?
Hint:
Don't Be Tardy Riddle
My dewy voice and sappy smile
Will lure you to my tower,
But do not tardy, for you can't be late,
And the walk is half an hour.
Who am I?
Will lure you to my tower,
But do not tardy, for you can't be late,
And the walk is half an hour.
Who am I?
Hint:
Which Did They See Riddle
There were 2 children, the son and the daughter. The daughter was born on January 20th and the son was born on March 12th. Both of them were born in the morning. Which one did their parents see first?
Hint:
Spin Me Like A Top
I am a toy that Jewish children play with. You spin me like a top. I have Hebrew letters on each side. What am I?
Hint:
Given Each Night Riddle
Hint:
Drowning Fish Riddle
Hint:
Rope Burn Riddle
You have two ropes. Each rope takes one hour to burn. These ropes are not identical, nor are they uniform; i.e. it does not necessarily take half an hour for half the rope to burn (if you have trouble visualizing this, imagine a rope of varying thickness across its length). With only these two ropes and a way to light them, how do you measure out 45 minutes?
Hint: You can light multiple ends and/or multiple ropes at the exact same time.
Light both ends of one rope, and only one end of the other rope. This will cause the first rope to burn out in 30 minutes. When the first rope burns out, there will be 30 minutes left on the second rope. So then, light the other end of the second rope, and the rest of it will burn out in 15 minutes. 30 + 15 = 45 minutes. Did you answer this riddle correctly?
YES NO
YES NO
Prince Age Riddle
A princess is as old as the prince will be when the princess is twice the age that the prince was when the princess's age was half the sum of their present ages.
What are their ages?
What are their ages?
Hint:
Current Future Past
Princess x 2z (x+y)/2
Prince y x z
I then created three equations, since the difference in their age will always be the same.
d = the difference in ages
x y = d
2z x = d
x/2 + y/2 z = d
I then created a matrix and solved it using row reduction.
x y z
1 -1 0 d
-1 0 2 d
.5 .5 -1 d
It reduced to:
x y z
1 0 0 4d
0 1 0 3d
0 0 1 5d/2
This means that you can pick any difference you want (an even one presumably because you want integer ages).
Princess age: 4d
Prince age: 3d
Ages that work
Princess:
4
8
16
24
32
40
48
56
64
72
80
Prince:
3
6
12
18
24
30
36
42
48
54
60 Did you answer this riddle correctly?
YES NO
Princess x 2z (x+y)/2
Prince y x z
I then created three equations, since the difference in their age will always be the same.
d = the difference in ages
x y = d
2z x = d
x/2 + y/2 z = d
I then created a matrix and solved it using row reduction.
x y z
1 -1 0 d
-1 0 2 d
.5 .5 -1 d
It reduced to:
x y z
1 0 0 4d
0 1 0 3d
0 0 1 5d/2
This means that you can pick any difference you want (an even one presumably because you want integer ages).
Princess age: 4d
Prince age: 3d
Ages that work
Princess:
4
8
16
24
32
40
48
56
64
72
80
Prince:
3
6
12
18
24
30
36
42
48
54
60 Did you answer this riddle correctly?
YES NO
10 Cookies Riddle
A babysitter came over one day to babysit 10 children. She decided to give them a snack. In a jar there were 10 cookies. She wants to give each one a cookie, but still keep one in the jar. How will she do it?
Hint:
She hands the 10th child the jar with one cookie left in it. Did you answer this riddle correctly?
YES NO
YES NO
A Watermelon Quarrel
Hint:
Strawberry Resemblance
Hint:
The Murder Of Ray Whitcombe
Ray Whitcombe is found dead in his office at his desk. The police have narrowed the suspects down to three people: Mrs. Barbara Whitcombe, Ray's wife; Mr. Jason McCubbins, Ray's business partner; and Mr. Harold Nichols, Ray's best friend. All three visited Mr. Whitcombe the day of his murder, but all three provide the police with stories of explanation as to the reason for their visit. Police found Mr. Whitcombe with his wrist watch still on his right arm, a torn up picture of his wife laying on the floor beside the trash can, and an ink pen in his right hand. On the desk, the police found a name plate, a telephone that was off the hook, and a personal calendar turned to the July 5th page with 7B91011 written on it. After examining this evidence, the police knew their suspect. Who was it?
Hint:
Jason McCubbins, Ray's business partner. The calendar is the clue to solving this murder. The police realized that since Mr. Whitcombe was wearing his watch on his right arm, he must be left handed. But the pen was found in his right hand. Realizing that the number on the calendar was written in a hurry and with his opposite hand, police matched the written number with the months of the year. So the B was an 8, thereby giving us 7-8-9-10-11: July, August, September, October, November. Use the first letter of each month and it spells J-A-S-O-N. Did you answer this riddle correctly?
YES NO
YES NO
Going To The Picnic
Mr and Mrs Smith went for a picnic. Mrs. Smith has 5 sons and each son has a sister who has 5 daughters each of whom have 1 brother each. How many of them went for the picnic?
Hint:
2 people.
It is stated clearly that Mr. and Mrs. Smith went for a picnic. It does not say that the others accompanied them. Did you answer this riddle correctly?
YES NO
It is stated clearly that Mr. and Mrs. Smith went for a picnic. It does not say that the others accompanied them. Did you answer this riddle correctly?
YES NO
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