Dirty Business Riddle
Hint:
The Tenth Floor Elevator Riddle
A man lives on the tenth floor of a building. Every day he takes the elevator to go down to the ground floor to go to work. When he returns he takes the same elevator to the seventh floor and walks up the stairs to reach his apartment on the tenth floor. He hates walking so why does he do it?
Note that there is nothing wrong with the elevator or the design of the building. It's a perfectly normal elevator in a perfectly normal building.
Note that there is nothing wrong with the elevator or the design of the building. It's a perfectly normal elevator in a perfectly normal building.
Hint: The elevator is perfectly normal and the design of the building is perfectly normal, but there is something different about the man.
The man is very short (i.e. a little person).
Because of his short stature, the man is unable to reach any higher than the button for the 7th floor (elevator floor number buttons are laid out in descending floor order from top to bottom). Did you answer this riddle correctly?
YES NO
Because of his short stature, the man is unable to reach any higher than the button for the 7th floor (elevator floor number buttons are laid out in descending floor order from top to bottom). Did you answer this riddle correctly?
YES NO
Found Beneath A Chimney
I can keep you warm but Im not a scarf
Im often made of brick or stone but Im not a wall
I sometimes have a poker but I dont have a deck of cards
I contain logs but Im not a forest
Im found beneath a chimney but Im not Santa
What could I be?
Im often made of brick or stone but Im not a wall
I sometimes have a poker but I dont have a deck of cards
I contain logs but Im not a forest
Im found beneath a chimney but Im not Santa
What could I be?
Hint:
An Area With Little Rain
This is an area with little rain
So youre unlikely to see many trees
Kalahari, Negev, Atacama
Gobi and Sahara what are all these?
So youre unlikely to see many trees
Kalahari, Negev, Atacama
Gobi and Sahara what are all these?
Hint:
Rhymes With Carriage Riddle
Hint:
Two In A Row Riddle
A certain mathematician, his wife, and their teenage son all play a fair game of chess. One day when the son asked his father for 10 dollars for a Saturday night date, his father puffed his pipe for a moment and replied, "Let's do it this way. Today is Wednesday. You will play a game of chess tonight, tomorrow, and a third on Friday. If you win two games in a row, you get the money."
"Whom do I play first, you or mom?"
"You may have your choice," said the mathematician, his eyes twinkling.
The son knew that his father played a stronger game than his mother. To maximize his chance of winning two games in succession, should he play father-mother-father or mother-father-mother?
"Whom do I play first, you or mom?"
"You may have your choice," said the mathematician, his eyes twinkling.
The son knew that his father played a stronger game than his mother. To maximize his chance of winning two games in succession, should he play father-mother-father or mother-father-mother?
Hint: Who does he need to beat to win?
Father-mother-father
To beat two games in a row, it is necessary to win the second game. This means that it would be to his advantage to play the second game against the weaker player. Though he plays his father twice, he has a higher chance of winning by playing his mother second. Did you answer this riddle correctly?
YES NO
To beat two games in a row, it is necessary to win the second game. This means that it would be to his advantage to play the second game against the weaker player. Though he plays his father twice, he has a higher chance of winning by playing his mother second. Did you answer this riddle correctly?
YES NO
Pearl Problems Riddle
"I'm a very rich man, so I've decided to give you some of my fortune. Do you see this bag? I have 5001 pearls inside it. 2501 of them are white, and 2500 of them are black. No, I am not racist. I'll let you take out any number of pearls from the bag without looking. If you take out the same number of black and white pearls, I will reward you with a number of gold bars equivalent to the number of pearls you took."
How many pearls should you take out to give yourself a good number of gold bars while still retaining a good chance of actually getting them?
How many pearls should you take out to give yourself a good number of gold bars while still retaining a good chance of actually getting them?
Hint: If you took out 2 pearls, you would have about a 50% chance of getting 2 gold bars. However, you can take even more pearls and still retain the 50% chance.
Take out 5000 pearls. If the remaining pearl is white, then you've won 5000 gold bars! Did you answer this riddle correctly?
YES NO
YES NO
The Secret Santa Exchange
A group of ten friends decide to exchange gifts as secret Santas. Each person writes his or her name on a piece of paper and puts it in a hat. Then each person randomly draws a name from the hat to determine who has him as his or her secret Santa. The secret Santa then makes a gift for the person whose name he drew.
When it's time to exchange presents, each person walks over to the person he made the gift for and holds his or her left hand in his right hand.
What is the probability that the 10 friends holding hands form a single continuous circle?
When it's time to exchange presents, each person walks over to the person he made the gift for and holds his or her left hand in his right hand.
What is the probability that the 10 friends holding hands form a single continuous circle?
Hint: It's not as difficult as it seems.
It's the number of ways the friends can form a circle divided by the number of ways the names can be drawn out of the hat.
1/10
For a group of n friends, there are n! (n factorial) ways to draw the names out of the hat. Since a circle does not have a beginning and end, choose one person as the beginning and end of the circle. There are now (n-1)! ways to distribute the remaining people around the circle. Thus the probability of forming a single circle is
(n-1)! / n!
Since n! = (n-1)! * n (for n > 1), this can be rewritten as
(n-1)! / (n*(n-1)!)
Factoring out the (n-1)! from the numerator and denominator leaves
1/n
as the probability. Did you answer this riddle correctly?
YES NO
For a group of n friends, there are n! (n factorial) ways to draw the names out of the hat. Since a circle does not have a beginning and end, choose one person as the beginning and end of the circle. There are now (n-1)! ways to distribute the remaining people around the circle. Thus the probability of forming a single circle is
(n-1)! / n!
Since n! = (n-1)! * n (for n > 1), this can be rewritten as
(n-1)! / (n*(n-1)!)
Factoring out the (n-1)! from the numerator and denominator leaves
1/n
as the probability. Did you answer this riddle correctly?
YES NO
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
Bringing Back The Lost
It brings back the lost as though never gone, shines laughter and tears with light long since shone,
a moment to make, a life time to shed, valued then but lost when your dead. What is it?
a moment to make, a life time to shed, valued then but lost when your dead. What is it?
Hint:
The End Of Your Arm Riddle
This might be made into a fist
If you are not feeling calm
This is a part of your body
Thats at the end of your arm
What is it?
If you are not feeling calm
This is a part of your body
Thats at the end of your arm
What is it?
Hint:
A 10 Foot Rope Ladder
A 10 foot rope ladder hangs over the side of a boat with the bottom rung on the surface of the water. The rungs are one foot apart, and the tide goes up at the rate of 6 inches per hour. How long will it be until three rungs are covered?
Hint:
Building A Wall
Hint:
Peacock Eggs Riddle
Hint:
Say My Name
Hint:
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