The Coin Toss Riddle
You are in a bar having a drink with an old friend when he proposes a wager.
"Want to play a game?" he asks.
"Sure, why not?" you reply.
"Ok, here's how it works. You choose three possible outcomes of a coin toss, either HHH, TTT, HHT or whatever. I will do likewise. I will then start flipping the coin continuously until either one of our combinations comes up. The person whose combination comes up first is the winner. And to prove I'm not the cheating little weasel you're always making me out to be, I'll even let you go first so you have more combinations to choose from. So how about it? Is $10.00 a fair bet?"
You know that your friend is a skilled trickster and usually has a trick or two up his sleeve but maybe he's being honest this time. Maybe this is a fair bet. While you try and think of which combination is most likely to come up first, you suddenly hit upon a strategy which will be immensely beneficial to you. What is it?
"Want to play a game?" he asks.
"Sure, why not?" you reply.
"Ok, here's how it works. You choose three possible outcomes of a coin toss, either HHH, TTT, HHT or whatever. I will do likewise. I will then start flipping the coin continuously until either one of our combinations comes up. The person whose combination comes up first is the winner. And to prove I'm not the cheating little weasel you're always making me out to be, I'll even let you go first so you have more combinations to choose from. So how about it? Is $10.00 a fair bet?"
You know that your friend is a skilled trickster and usually has a trick or two up his sleeve but maybe he's being honest this time. Maybe this is a fair bet. While you try and think of which combination is most likely to come up first, you suddenly hit upon a strategy which will be immensely beneficial to you. What is it?
Hint: Think what would be most likely to happen if you chose HHH, would this be a good decision?
The answer is to let your friend go first. This puzzle is based on an old game/scam called Penny Ante. No matter what you picked, your friend would be able to come up with a combination which would be more likely to beat yours. For example, if you were to choose HHH, then unless HHH was the first combination to come up you would eventually lose since as soon as a Tails came up, the combination THH would inevitably come up before HHH. The basic formula you can use for working out which combination you should choose is as follows. Simply take his combination (eg. HHT) take the last term in his combination, put it at the front (in this case making THH) and your combination will be more likely to come up first. Try it on your friends! Did you answer this riddle correctly?
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YES NO
Age Of Three Daughters Riddles
I was visiting a friend one evening and remembered that he had three daughters. I asked him how old they were. The product of their ages is 72, he answered. Quizzically, I asked, Is there anything else you can tell me? Yes, he replied, the sum of their ages is equal to the number of my house. I stepped outside to see what the house number was. Upon returning inside, I said to my host, Im sorry, but I still cant figure out their ages. He responded apologetically, Im sorry, I forgot to mention that my oldest daughter likes strawberry shortcake. With this information, I was able to determine all three of their ages. How old is each daughter?
Hint:
3, 3, and 8. The only groups of 3 factors of 72 to have non-unique sums are 2 6 6 and 3 3 8 (with a sum of 14). The rest have unique sums:
2 + 2 + 18 = 22
2 + 3 + 12 = 18
2 + 4 + 9 = 15
3 + 4 + 6 = 13
The house number alone would have identified any of these groups. Since more information was required, we know the sum left the answer unknown. The presence of a single oldest child eliminates 2 6 6, leaving 3 3 8 as the only possible answer. Did you answer this riddle correctly?
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2 + 2 + 18 = 22
2 + 3 + 12 = 18
2 + 4 + 9 = 15
3 + 4 + 6 = 13
The house number alone would have identified any of these groups. Since more information was required, we know the sum left the answer unknown. The presence of a single oldest child eliminates 2 6 6, leaving 3 3 8 as the only possible answer. Did you answer this riddle correctly?
YES NO
Five Rows Of Four Christmas Trees Riddle
"I planted five rows of four Christmas trees each." The man boasted to his boss. The boss looked at him and said, are you saying you planted 20 Christmas trees in one day? No, the man said, I only planted 10 trees. How did he do it?
Hint:
Just imagine a 5 pointed star, and then plant one tree at each point, and one tree where the sides intersect.
There are actually several distinct solutions. All of them can be constructed as follows:
Draw a nice long straight line.
Draw a second straight line that intersects the first.
Draw three more straight lines making sure each line intersects all the lines youve already drawn and avoiding any of the previous points of intersection. That is, no three lines should intersect at the same point.
With the first four lines, theres only one topologically distinct configuration, but by varying the position of the fifth line, several different distinct configurations can be created. Did you answer this riddle correctly?
YES NO
There are actually several distinct solutions. All of them can be constructed as follows:
Draw a nice long straight line.
Draw a second straight line that intersects the first.
Draw three more straight lines making sure each line intersects all the lines youve already drawn and avoiding any of the previous points of intersection. That is, no three lines should intersect at the same point.
With the first four lines, theres only one topologically distinct configuration, but by varying the position of the fifth line, several different distinct configurations can be created. Did you answer this riddle correctly?
YES NO
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:
Magic Door Riddle
There is a magical door, that has only one rule. A witch can't go in but her broom can. She sometimes stick her teeth in but never her mouth. She likes to brush her teeth with toothpaste but never with her hands. Her friend Moloia can't go in but Reene can. So, what is the rule?
Hint:
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