Messy Basketball
Hint:
Favorite Drink Riddle
A man goes out drinking every night, returning to his home in the wee hours of every morning. No matter how much he drinks, he never gets a hangover. This drink is very well known, but is rarely consumed, served warm and taken straight from its source. The man is a sucker for a free drink, especially since he can't live without it. What is his favorite drink?
Hint:
Hearing Santas Sleigh
If you hear these jingling around
The night just before Christmas Day
You had better try to get to sleep
As you are hearing Santas sleigh
Whats jingling?
The night just before Christmas Day
You had better try to get to sleep
As you are hearing Santas sleigh
Whats jingling?
Hint:
A Big Fright
If you get lost in the middle of nowhere
And come across this place in the night
Then think twice about knocking on their front door
Unless you want to get a big fright
What place is this?
And come across this place in the night
Then think twice about knocking on their front door
Unless you want to get a big fright
What place is this?
Hint:
Dying Of Thirst
You are dying of thirst walking through me. You starve to death over night. You find nothing in my path. Ambiguous and furious in my sight. Kill and threatened by my people. I am?
Hint:
Sand
Desert is the answer to this riddle. Kill and threatened by my people are talking about animals that live in the desert. Did you answer this riddle correctly?
YES NO
Desert is the answer to this riddle. Kill and threatened by my people are talking about animals that live in the desert. Did you answer this riddle correctly?
YES NO
People Cry At My Sight
I have a name that's not mine,
and no one cares about me in their prime.
People cry at my sight,
and lie by me all day and night.
What am I?
and no one cares about me in their prime.
People cry at my sight,
and lie by me all day and night.
What am I?
Hint:
Circus Performers Riddle
Hint:
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
The Blue And Red Dice Riddle
Timothy and Urban play a game with two dice. But they do not use the numbers. Some of the faces are painted red and the others blue. Each player throws the dice in turn. Timothy wins when the two top faces are the same color. Urban wins when the colors are different. Their chances are even.
The first die has 5 red faces and 1 blue face. How many red and how many blue are there on the second die?
The first die has 5 red faces and 1 blue face. How many red and how many blue are there on the second die?
Hint:
Each die has 6 faces. When two dice are thrown, there are 36 equally possible results. For chances to be even, there must be 18 ways of getting the same color on top. Let X be the number of red faces on the second die. We have: 18 = 5X + 1(6 - X)
X = 3
The second die must have 3 red faces and 3 blue faces. Did you answer this riddle correctly?
YES NO
X = 3
The second die must have 3 red faces and 3 blue faces. Did you answer this riddle correctly?
YES NO
100 Blank Cards Riddle
Someone offers you the following deal:
There is a deck of 100 initially blank cards. The dealer is allowed to write ANY positive integer, one per card, leaving none blank. You are then asked to turn over as many cards as you wish. If the last card you turn over is the highest in the deck, you win; otherwise, you lose.
Winning grants you $50, and losing costs you only the $10 you paid to play.
Would you accept this challenge?
There is a deck of 100 initially blank cards. The dealer is allowed to write ANY positive integer, one per card, leaving none blank. You are then asked to turn over as many cards as you wish. If the last card you turn over is the highest in the deck, you win; otherwise, you lose.
Winning grants you $50, and losing costs you only the $10 you paid to play.
Would you accept this challenge?
Hint: Perhaps thinking in terms of one deck is the wrong approach.
Yes!
A sample strategy:
Divide the deck in half and turn over all lower 50 cards, setting aside the highest number you find. Then turn over the other 50 cards, one by one, until you reach a number that is higher than the card you set aside: this is your chosen "high card."
Now, there is a 50% chance that the highest card is contained in the top 50 cards (it is or it isn't), and a 50% chance that the second-highest card is contained in the lower 50. Combining the probabilities, you have a 25% chance of constructing the above situation (in which you win every time).
This means that you'll lose three out of four games, but for every four games played, you pay $40 while you win one game and $50. Your net profit every four games is $10.
Obviously, you have to have at least $40 to start in order to apply this strategy effectively. Did you answer this riddle correctly?
YES NO
A sample strategy:
Divide the deck in half and turn over all lower 50 cards, setting aside the highest number you find. Then turn over the other 50 cards, one by one, until you reach a number that is higher than the card you set aside: this is your chosen "high card."
Now, there is a 50% chance that the highest card is contained in the top 50 cards (it is or it isn't), and a 50% chance that the second-highest card is contained in the lower 50. Combining the probabilities, you have a 25% chance of constructing the above situation (in which you win every time).
This means that you'll lose three out of four games, but for every four games played, you pay $40 while you win one game and $50. Your net profit every four games is $10.
Obviously, you have to have at least $40 to start in order to apply this strategy effectively. Did you answer this riddle correctly?
YES NO
Yahtzee Riddle
The game of Yahtzee is played with five dice. On the first turn, a player rolls all five dice, and then may decide to keep any, all, or none of the dice aside before rolling again. Each player has a maximum of three rolls to try to get a favorable combination of dice "kept" on the side.
If a player rolls two 2s and two 4s on his/her first roll, and keeps all four of these dice aside, what is the probability of getting a full house (three of one value and two of another) in one of his/her next two rolls? (ie what is the probability of getting either a 2 or a 4 in one of the next two rolls?)
If a player rolls two 2s and two 4s on his/her first roll, and keeps all four of these dice aside, what is the probability of getting a full house (three of one value and two of another) in one of his/her next two rolls? (ie what is the probability of getting either a 2 or a 4 in one of the next two rolls?)
Hint: Think of the probability of NOT getting a full house.
5/9
The answer is NOT 2/3 because you cannot add probabilities. On each roll, the probability of getting a 2 or a 4 is 1/3, so therefore, the probability of not getting a 2 or a 4 is 2/3. Since the die is being rolled twice, square 2/3 to get a 4/9 probability of NOT getting a full house in two rolls. The probability of getting a full house is therefore 1 - 4/9, or 5/9. Did you answer this riddle correctly?
YES NO
The answer is NOT 2/3 because you cannot add probabilities. On each roll, the probability of getting a 2 or a 4 is 1/3, so therefore, the probability of not getting a 2 or a 4 is 2/3. Since the die is being rolled twice, square 2/3 to get a 4/9 probability of NOT getting a full house in two rolls. The probability of getting a full house is therefore 1 - 4/9, or 5/9. Did you answer this riddle correctly?
YES NO
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?
YES NO
YES NO
Russian Roulette Riddle
You are in a game of Russian Roulette with a revolver that has 3 bullets placed in three consecutive chambers. The cylinder of the gun will be spun once at the beginning of the game. Then, the gun will be passed between two players until it fires. Would you prefer to go first or second?
Hint:
Russian Roulette
Probability puzzles require you to weigh all the possibilities and pick the most likely outcome.
Puzzle ID: #17681
Fun: *** (2.59)
Difficulty: ** (2.07)
Category: Probability
Submitted By: JMCLEOD****
Corrected By: cnmne
You are in a game of Russian Roulette with a revolver that has 3 bullets placed in three consecutive chambers. The cylinder of the gun will be spun once at the beginning of the game. Then, the gun will be passed between two players until it fires. Would you prefer to go first or second?
Answer
Label the chambers 1 through 6. Chambers 1 through 3 have bullets and chambers 4 through 6 are empty. After you spin the cylinder there are six possible outcomes:
1. Chamber 1 is fired first: Player 1 loses
2. Chamber 2 is fired first: Player 1 loses
3. Chamber 3 is fired first: Player 1 loses
4. Chamber 4 is fired first: Player 2 loses (First shot, player 1, chamber 4 empty. Second shot player 2, chamber 5, empty. Third shot player 1, chamber 6 empty. Fourth shot player 2, chamber 1 not empty.)
5. Chamber 5 is fired first: Player 1 loses (First shot, player 1, chamber 5 empty. Second shot player 2, chamber 6, empty. Third shot player 1, chamber 1 not empty.)
6. Chamber 6 is fired first: Player 2 loses (First shot, player 1, chamber 6 empty. Second shot, player 2, chamber 1, not empty)
Therefore player 2 has an 4/6 or 2/3 chance of winning. Did you answer this riddle correctly?
YES NO
Probability puzzles require you to weigh all the possibilities and pick the most likely outcome.
Puzzle ID: #17681
Fun: *** (2.59)
Difficulty: ** (2.07)
Category: Probability
Submitted By: JMCLEOD****
Corrected By: cnmne
You are in a game of Russian Roulette with a revolver that has 3 bullets placed in three consecutive chambers. The cylinder of the gun will be spun once at the beginning of the game. Then, the gun will be passed between two players until it fires. Would you prefer to go first or second?
Answer
Label the chambers 1 through 6. Chambers 1 through 3 have bullets and chambers 4 through 6 are empty. After you spin the cylinder there are six possible outcomes:
1. Chamber 1 is fired first: Player 1 loses
2. Chamber 2 is fired first: Player 1 loses
3. Chamber 3 is fired first: Player 1 loses
4. Chamber 4 is fired first: Player 2 loses (First shot, player 1, chamber 4 empty. Second shot player 2, chamber 5, empty. Third shot player 1, chamber 6 empty. Fourth shot player 2, chamber 1 not empty.)
5. Chamber 5 is fired first: Player 1 loses (First shot, player 1, chamber 5 empty. Second shot player 2, chamber 6, empty. Third shot player 1, chamber 1 not empty.)
6. Chamber 6 is fired first: Player 2 loses (First shot, player 1, chamber 6 empty. Second shot, player 2, chamber 1, not empty)
Therefore player 2 has an 4/6 or 2/3 chance of winning. Did you answer this riddle correctly?
YES NO
Giving You Your Sight
Although its not a curtain
This gets closed every night
So that you can go to sleep
Its what gives you your sight
It is...
This gets closed every night
So that you can go to sleep
Its what gives you your sight
It is...
Hint:
An Absentminded Philosopher Riddle
An absentminded philosopher forgot to wind up the only clock in his house. He had no radio, television, telephone, internet, or any other means of ascertaining the time. He therefore decided to travel by foot to his friend's house, a few miles down a straight desert road. He stayed there for the night and when he came back home the following morning, he was able to set his clock to the correct time. Assuming the philosopher always walks at the same speed, how did he know the exact time upon his return? Note: this is not a trick question. The Philosopher did not bring anything to his friend's house, nor did he bring anything back with him on his trip home.
Hint: We can assume that the journey to his friend's and back took exactly the same amount of time.
He Philosopher winds the grandfather clock to a random time right before leaving, 9:00 for example. Although this is not the right time, the clock can now be used to measure elapsed time. As soon as he arrives at his friend's house, the Philosopher looks at the time on his friend's clock. Let's say the time is 7:15. He stays overnight and then, before leaving in the morning, he looks at the clock one more time. Let's say the time is now 10:15 (15 hours later). When the Philosopher arrives home, he looks at his grandfather clock. Let's say his clock reads 12:40. By subtracting the time he set it to when he left (9:00) from the current time (12:40) he knows that he has been gone for 15 hours and 40 minutes. He knows that he spent 15 hours at his friends house, so that means he spent 40 minutes walking. Since he walked at the same speed both ways, it took him 20 minutes to walk from his friend's home back to his place. So the correct time to set the clock to in this example would therefore be 10:15 (the time he left his friend's house) + 20 minutes (the time it took him to walk home) = 10:35. Did you answer this riddle correctly?
YES NO
YES NO
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