The Emperor's Proposition Riddle
You are a prisoner sentenced to death. The Emperor offers you a chance to live by playing a simple game. He gives you 50 black marbles, 50 white marbles and 2 empty bowls. He then says, "Divide these 100 marbles into these 2 bowls. You can divide them any way you like as long as you use all the marbles. Then I will blindfold you and mix the bowls around. You then can choose one bowl and remove ONE marble. If the marble is WHITE you will live, but if the marble is BLACK... you will die."
How do you divide the marbles up so that you have the greatest probability of choosing a WHITE marble?
How do you divide the marbles up so that you have the greatest probability of choosing a WHITE marble?
Hint: The answer does not guarantee 100% you will chose a white marble, but you have a much better chance.
Place 1 white marble in one bowl, and place the rest of the marbles in the other bowl (49 whites, and 50 blacks).
This way you begin with a 50/50 chance of choosing the bowl with just one white marble, therefore life! BUT even if you choose the other bowl, you still have ALMOST a 50/50 chance at picking one of the 49 white marbles. Did you answer this riddle correctly?
YES NO
This way you begin with a 50/50 chance of choosing the bowl with just one white marble, therefore life! BUT even if you choose the other bowl, you still have ALMOST a 50/50 chance at picking one of the 49 white marbles. Did you answer this riddle correctly?
YES NO
The Office Window
Brad stared through the dirty soot-smeared window on the 22nd floor of the office tower. Overcome with depression he slid the window open and jumped through it. It was a sheer drop outside the building to the ground. Miraculously after he landed he was completely unhurt. Since there was nothing to cushion his fall or slow his descent, how could he have survived the fall?
Hint:
Brad was so sick and tired of window washing, he opened the window and jumped inside. Did you answer this riddle correctly?
YES NO
YES NO
Found Dead On A Bed
A man was found dead on his bed with blood on his pillow, a broken stick with a mark on it with parts of it under the bed, and a gun on the bed. (Now pay attention to these series of questions) Was it murder or suicide? If murder, who did it and why? If suicide, who provoked him to do it and why?
Hint:
It was suicide. The man was the smallest midgit in the world and his friend was the second smallest midget in the world and they worked at a circus. His friend was jealous of him so he broke a yardstick (note: that was the broken stick on the bed) and marked it at four feet. When his friend measured his height, it looked like he grew making him very depressed which led to killing himself thus making his friend the smallest midget in the world. (Bet you never saw that one coming). Did you answer this riddle correctly?
YES NO
YES NO
Longing Flames At Home
If you travel overseas
Then you need to buy a case
If you want log flames at home
Then you need a _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Then you need to buy a case
If you want log flames at home
Then you need a _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Hint:
The Cheap Mp3 Player
My MP3 player is cheap 'n' nasty and has now broken: it is stuck on 'Shuffle'. In this mode it starts with whatever track you put it on, but then plays tracks in a random order. The only restriction is it never plays a song that's already been played that day.
I purchased my favourite murder mystery book in audio format, and put the first 6 chapters on my MP3 player. (Each chapter is exactly 1 track.) There's nothing else on my player at the moment. What is the probability that I will hear the 6 chapters in order as I listen today, without having to change tracks at all? (Obviously, I will ensure it plays chapter 1 first.)
The next day I empty the player before putting on the next 6 chapters. This time I also transfer a CD of mine with 11 songs on. I don't mind songs coming in between the chapters of my book, as long as the chapters are in order. What's the probability of that happening now?
I purchased my favourite murder mystery book in audio format, and put the first 6 chapters on my MP3 player. (Each chapter is exactly 1 track.) There's nothing else on my player at the moment. What is the probability that I will hear the 6 chapters in order as I listen today, without having to change tracks at all? (Obviously, I will ensure it plays chapter 1 first.)
The next day I empty the player before putting on the next 6 chapters. This time I also transfer a CD of mine with 11 songs on. I don't mind songs coming in between the chapters of my book, as long as the chapters are in order. What's the probability of that happening now?
Hint:
With only 6 tracks on the player:
The first chapter has been set to play first. The probability of the next 5 chapters playing in order is 1/5! = 1/120.
With the music on the player as well:
Seeing as I don't care about when the music plays, it doesn't change anything. The answer is still 1/120. Did you answer this riddle correctly?
YES NO
The first chapter has been set to play first. The probability of the next 5 chapters playing in order is 1/5! = 1/120.
With the music on the player as well:
Seeing as I don't care about when the music plays, it doesn't change anything. The answer is still 1/120. Did you answer this riddle correctly?
YES NO
Shooting The Shotgun
You are trapped in a hole with three maniacal murderers. You have a shotgun but you only have 2 cartridges. How do you shoot them all?
Hint:
It is a SHOTGUN. It shoots multiple bullets at a time. You should know what to do from there. Did you answer this riddle correctly?
YES NO
YES NO
Volleyball Player Delivery Riddle
Hint:
Three Gods Riddle
Three gods A, B, and C are called, in no particular order, True, False, and Random. True always speaks truly, False always speaks falsely, but whether Random speaks truly or falsely is a completely random matter. Your task is to determine the identities of A, B, and C by asking three yes-no questions; each question must be put to exactly one god. The gods understand English, but will answer all questions in their own language, in which the words for yes and no are da and ja, in some order. You do not know which word means which.
What three questions can you ask?
What three questions can you ask?
Hint:
A possible solution is:
Q1: Ask god B, "If I asked you 'Is A Random?', would you say ja?". If B answers ja, either B is Random (and is answering randomly), or B is not Random and the answer indicates that A is indeed Random. Either way, C is not Random. If B answers da, either B is Random (and is answering randomly), or B is not Random and the answer indicates that A is not Random. Either way, you know the identity of a god who is not Random.
Q2: Go to the god who was identified as not being Random by the previous question (either A or C), and ask him: "If I asked you 'Are you False?', would you say ja?". Since he is not Random, an answer of da indicates that he is True and an answer of ja indicates that he is False.
Q3: Ask the same god the question: "If I asked you 'Is B Random?', would you say ja?". If the answer is ja, B is Random; if the answer is da, the god you have not yet spoken to is Random. The remaining god can be identified by elimination. Did you answer this riddle correctly?
YES NO
Q1: Ask god B, "If I asked you 'Is A Random?', would you say ja?". If B answers ja, either B is Random (and is answering randomly), or B is not Random and the answer indicates that A is indeed Random. Either way, C is not Random. If B answers da, either B is Random (and is answering randomly), or B is not Random and the answer indicates that A is not Random. Either way, you know the identity of a god who is not Random.
Q2: Go to the god who was identified as not being Random by the previous question (either A or C), and ask him: "If I asked you 'Are you False?', would you say ja?". Since he is not Random, an answer of da indicates that he is True and an answer of ja indicates that he is False.
Q3: Ask the same god the question: "If I asked you 'Is B Random?', would you say ja?". If the answer is ja, B is Random; if the answer is da, the god you have not yet spoken to is Random. The remaining god can be identified by elimination. Did you answer this riddle correctly?
YES NO
Today Comes Before Yesterday Riddle
Hint:
A Cottage Is Robbed Riddle
A cottage is robbed.
The neighbors testimony: "I heard a noise from my neighbors' cottage and went to their site. I look into the house, I breathed on a frozen window and saw the mess."
Why did the police arrest him?
The neighbors testimony: "I heard a noise from my neighbors' cottage and went to their site. I look into the house, I breathed on a frozen window and saw the mess."
Why did the police arrest him?
Hint:
Windows freeze and and get covered with ice from the inside and the neighbor was breathing on them from the outside. Did you answer this riddle correctly?
YES NO
YES NO
A Man Comes Home From Work Riddle
A man comes home from work and says "honey I'm home". The microwave is on, defrosting a chicken dinner. From the bedroom his wife shouts "Hi sweetie, could you have a look at the microwave and tell me how much time is left?"
He immediately runs out and calls the police, informing him that his wife is in danger? Why?
He immediately runs out and calls the police, informing him that his wife is in danger? Why?
Hint:
The Man was Blind so he suspects that his wife is in some danger and thus calls the police. Did you answer this riddle correctly?
YES NO
YES NO
Peanut Butter And Cereal Riddle
There is a man who is a conductor on a train. He runs someone over so the conductor gets sentenced to death. He goes to an electric chair, the people that work there say, "it's your last day to live, what would you like to eat?" The man replies peanut butter and cereal, they turn on the electric chair and nothing happens. The next day he gets sent to a 10 times better electric chair there they say what would you like to eat and he says peanut butter and cereal, he eats the peanut butter and cereal, and they turn on the electric chair and nothing happens. The next day he gets sent to Alcatraz, they say what do you want to eat and he says peanut butter and cereal, they turn on the electric chair and nothing happens. The next day they send him to the best electric chair in the world they say what would you like to eat? He replies peanut butter and cereal, he eats a peanut butter and cereal, and they turn on the electric chair and nothing happens, they say why aren't you getting electrocuted? And the conductor says?
Hint:
A Man Had Died In His Apartment Riddle
When called to investigate, the police found that a man had died in his apartment. When they looked up where he worked, they discovered that he earned $30 for every month he worked with 30 or less days, and $35 for every month he worked with 31 days. Assuming today is April 1, how much will he earn by the end of December?
Hint:
8 College Students Riddle
There was a group of 8 college students who all belonged to the mountain climbing club. One day, during the Winter, they decided to climb the tallest mountain in the area. During the ascent, the weather took a turn for the worse. They ran into trouble and were stranded near the top for two weeks.
Eventually, a rescue team managed to reach them. There were only 7 survivors. They were airlifted to a nearby hospital. After a few days, 6 of them made a full recovery, but the seventh survivor was so traumatized by the experience that he lost his mind and was put in a mental hospital.
The police questioned the remaining 6 about what happened during the two weeks they were stranded on the mountain. They asked what happened to the missing climber.
He just wandered off and never came back, they said. The police questioned each of the 6 survivors and they all told the same story.
Then, they went to the mental hospital to question the 7th survivor, but they couldnt get any sense out of him. When they asked him what happened to the missing climber, he just kept banging his head against the padded walls and repeating over and over, 8.. 8 8...
What does this mean?
Eventually, a rescue team managed to reach them. There were only 7 survivors. They were airlifted to a nearby hospital. After a few days, 6 of them made a full recovery, but the seventh survivor was so traumatized by the experience that he lost his mind and was put in a mental hospital.
The police questioned the remaining 6 about what happened during the two weeks they were stranded on the mountain. They asked what happened to the missing climber.
He just wandered off and never came back, they said. The police questioned each of the 6 survivors and they all told the same story.
Then, they went to the mental hospital to question the 7th survivor, but they couldnt get any sense out of him. When they asked him what happened to the missing climber, he just kept banging his head against the padded walls and repeating over and over, 8.. 8 8...
What does this mean?
Hint:
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