The Family Murder Riddle
One evening there was a murder in the home of married couple, their son and daughter. One of these four people murdered one of the others. One of the members of the family witnessed the crime.
The other one helped the murderer.
These are the things we know for sure:
1. The witness and the one who helped the murderer were not of the same sex.
2. The oldest person and the witness were not of the same sex.
3. The youngest person and the victim were not of the same sex.
4. The one who helped the murderer was older than the victim.
5. The father was the oldest member of the family.
6. The murderer was not the youngest member of the family.
Who was the murderer?
The other one helped the murderer.
These are the things we know for sure:
1. The witness and the one who helped the murderer were not of the same sex.
2. The oldest person and the witness were not of the same sex.
3. The youngest person and the victim were not of the same sex.
4. The one who helped the murderer was older than the victim.
5. The father was the oldest member of the family.
6. The murderer was not the youngest member of the family.
Who was the murderer?
Hint:
We know from (3) that the youngest person was not the victim, from (4) that the youngest person was not the helper and from (6) that the youngest person was not the killer. The youngest person can only have been the witness therefore. If we make up a chart there are now three possible combinations:
Oldest person (father) H H M
Next to oldest (mother) V M H
Next to youngest (son) M V V
Youngest (daughter) W W W
(H = Helper ; V = Victim ; M = Murderer ; W = Witness)
We can work out from (5) that the father was the oldest, from (2) that the youngest person must have been the daughter. Therefore the next to the youngest must have been the son and the next to the oldest, the mother.
Of three possibilities: the first is impossible (from (3) the youngest person and the victim were of different sexes); the third is also impossible (from (1) the witness and the helper were of different sexes). Therefore only the second possibility holds and the mother was the murderess Did you answer this riddle correctly?
YES NO
Oldest person (father) H H M
Next to oldest (mother) V M H
Next to youngest (son) M V V
Youngest (daughter) W W W
(H = Helper ; V = Victim ; M = Murderer ; W = Witness)
We can work out from (5) that the father was the oldest, from (2) that the youngest person must have been the daughter. Therefore the next to the youngest must have been the son and the next to the oldest, the mother.
Of three possibilities: the first is impossible (from (3) the youngest person and the victim were of different sexes); the third is also impossible (from (1) the witness and the helper were of different sexes). Therefore only the second possibility holds and the mother was the murderess Did you answer this riddle correctly?
YES NO
Under The Cup Riddle
You decide to play a game with your friend where your friend places a coin under one of three cups. Your friend would then switch the positions of two of the cups several times so that the coin under one of the cups moves with the cup it is under. You would then select the cup that you think the coin is under. If you won, you would receive the coin, but if you lost, you would have to pay.
As the game starts, you realise that you are really tired, and you don't focus very well on the moving of the cups. When your friend stops moving the cups and asks you where the coin is, you only remember a few things:
He put the coin in the rightmost cup at the start.
He switched two of the cups 3 times.
The first time he switched two of the cups, the rightmost one was switched with another.
The second time he switched two of the cups, the rightmost one was not touched.
The third and last time he switched two of the cups, the rightmost one was switched with another.
You don't want to end up paying your friend, so, using your head, you try to work out which cup is most likely to hold the coin, using the information you remember.
Which cup is most likely to hold the coin?
As the game starts, you realise that you are really tired, and you don't focus very well on the moving of the cups. When your friend stops moving the cups and asks you where the coin is, you only remember a few things:
He put the coin in the rightmost cup at the start.
He switched two of the cups 3 times.
The first time he switched two of the cups, the rightmost one was switched with another.
The second time he switched two of the cups, the rightmost one was not touched.
The third and last time he switched two of the cups, the rightmost one was switched with another.
You don't want to end up paying your friend, so, using your head, you try to work out which cup is most likely to hold the coin, using the information you remember.
Which cup is most likely to hold the coin?
Hint: Write down the possibilities. Remember that there are only three cups, so if the rightmost cup wasn't touched...
The rightmost cup.
The rightmost cup has a half chance of holding the coin, and the other cups have a quarter chance.
Pretend that Os represent cups, and Q represents the cup with the coin.
The game starts like this:
OOQ
Then your friend switches the rightmost cup with another, giving two possibilities, with equal chance:
OQO
QOO
Your friend then moves the cups again, but doesn't touch the rightmost cup. The only switch possible is with the leftmost cup and the middle cup. This gives two possibilities with equal chance:
QOO
OQO
Lastly, your friend switches the rightmost cup with another cup. If the first possibility shown above was true, there would be two possibilities, with equal chance:
OOQ
QOO
If the second possibility shown above (In the second switch) was true, there would be two possibilities with equal chance:
OOQ
OQO
This means there are four possibilities altogether, with equal chance:
OOQ
QOO
OOQ
OQO
This means each possibility equals to a quarter chance, and because there are two possibilities with the rightmost cup having the coin, there is a half chance that the coin is there. Did you answer this riddle correctly?
YES NO
The rightmost cup has a half chance of holding the coin, and the other cups have a quarter chance.
Pretend that Os represent cups, and Q represents the cup with the coin.
The game starts like this:
OOQ
Then your friend switches the rightmost cup with another, giving two possibilities, with equal chance:
OQO
QOO
Your friend then moves the cups again, but doesn't touch the rightmost cup. The only switch possible is with the leftmost cup and the middle cup. This gives two possibilities with equal chance:
QOO
OQO
Lastly, your friend switches the rightmost cup with another cup. If the first possibility shown above was true, there would be two possibilities, with equal chance:
OOQ
QOO
If the second possibility shown above (In the second switch) was true, there would be two possibilities with equal chance:
OOQ
OQO
This means there are four possibilities altogether, with equal chance:
OOQ
QOO
OOQ
OQO
This means each possibility equals to a quarter chance, and because there are two possibilities with the rightmost cup having the coin, there is a half chance that the coin is there. Did you answer this riddle correctly?
YES NO
Hard Metal Tongue
Hint:
Flowers In Bloom
Hint:
Long And Hard Riddle
Hint:
What Flowers Do Riddle
Hint:
Birds Lay These Riddle
Hint:
What Is It Flowers Do Riddle
Hint:
Birds In Portugal Riddle
Hint:
Hard To Catch Riddle
Hint:
From The Tops Of Trees Riddle
I like to use my long tongue
To eat leaves from tops of trees
I dont have to climb up though
With my long neck its a breeze
What am I?
To eat leaves from tops of trees
I dont have to climb up though
With my long neck its a breeze
What am I?
Hint:
Hard To Trick A Snake
Hint:
Ironing A Clover Riddle
Hint:
Hard To Beat Riddle
Hint:
Farmer Stones Riddle
A farmer had a stone that he used to measure grain on his scale. One day his neighbor borrowed the stone, and when he returned, it was broken into four pieces. The neighbor was very apologetic, but the farmer thanked the neighbor for doing him a big favor. The farmer said that now he can measure his grain in one pound increments starting at one pound all the way to forty pounds (1, 2, 3, 17, 29, 37, etc.) using these four stones.
How much do the four stones weight?
How much do the four stones weight?
Hint:
The stones weight 1 pound, 3 pounds, 9 pounds and 27 pounds. These can be used in combination with each other on both sides of the scale to come up with any counterweight from 1 to 40 pounds. Did you answer this riddle correctly?
YES NO
YES NO
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