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A famous misquotation |
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Ping-pong pipe puzzle An empty steel pipe 5 centimeter long is embedded in a concrete floor. The pipe has an internal diameter of 40 millimeters. The concrete floor has a tiny drain hole which means the pipe in unable to hold any liquid. A 38 millimeter ping-pong ball has been dropped into the pipe. You have to get the ball out undamaged. All you have is a long length of fine chain eg jewellers chain. How can you get the ball out? |
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Two teasers in one package A man is tossing and turning in bed at night, unable to sleep. Finally he sits up, picks up the telephone by his bed, and dials a number. A voice answers. Without saying a word, he hangs up, but then (TAKES THE PHONE OFF THE HOOK), lies down (ON THE BROAD OF HIS BACK) and goes quickly to sleep. Why? The first teaser is a popular classic. Simply read the above text but ignore everything shown inside the brackets in UPPERCASE. It has a fairly "standard" solution although you will probably find alternative solutions which also fit the facts. The second teaser is my own variant. Read all of the words. Can you explain? |
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series-1 I wrote down 1 and doubled it and continued doubling it to produce the series 1 2 4 8 16 32 64 etc Again I wrote down 1 and by using a simple mathematical method produced the same doubling series BUT with an extra 1 at the start, thus 1 1 2 4 8 16 32 64 etc What did I do? |
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series-2 The Fibonacci series produces the next number in the series by adding together the previous two. I often think it ought, therefore, to start with 0 1 rather than 1 1, Thus: 0 1 1 2 3 5 8 13 21 etc,. What do you think? Anyway, to my puzzle: Here is the normal 'Fib' series: 1 1 2 3 5 8 13 21 etc Here is the series I mentioned above BUT this time I did not create it by the method I described there. 0 1 1 2 3 5 8 13 21 etc What did I do? |
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Two hunters Two hunters share a camp. Hunter A leaves camp and walks due south, then due east and then heads off due north to get back to camp. Hunter B leaves camp and walks due south, then due east and then heads off due south to get back to camp. How come the difference? |
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Napkin-ring puzzle I have this silver napkin-ring (aka serviette-ring). It is a hollow pipe 4 centimeters diameter by 4 centimeters long. The metal is about 1˝ millimeters thick. The ring has a raised ornamental pattern which makes the outside slightly convex. The ring containing a napkin was lying on the dining table. I slipped the napkin from the ring leaving the ring in its original position on the table. Now, here is the puzzle: Suddenly, the ring which had been lying horizontally was standing vertically on the table. It had turned 90 degrees. How come? I had not picked it up and turned it. Nor had I slipped my finger into the pipe and lifted it so as to tip it upright. Nor had I pushed from above to roll it over into an upright position. In fact, at all times my hands (ie fingers) remained in contact with the table. I used nothing to assist me, not even the napkin. What did I do? |
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Hanging by a thread A mountaineer is descending a mountain by abseiling down its vertical cliffs (ie by sliding down a rope). He stands on a ledge where he finds a convenient rock spike over which he places his rope. The rope is 200 feet long and so hangs 100 feet down either side of the rock. He grasps both halves of the rope simultaneously, edges over the ledge, and slides down to the next ledge about 90 feet lower. He then recovers his rope from the rock above by pulling on one end. He attempts to repeat the process to descend the next cliff. Again, he finds a rock spike over which he drapes his rope but the cliff is nearly 190 feet high and there are no holds part way down the cliff, so he cannot use his usual method. If he ties the rope to the rock he could slide down the single rope. This would mean abandoning his rope, but he needs the rope for the cliffs further below. What is he to do? |
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Instant pentagon Because I needed a sheet of paper slightly shorter than A4 I tore a 1" wide rectangular strip from one end. I was absent-mindedly playing with this strip when suddenly I found I had folded it into a regular geometrical figure. After trimming (or folding) away the excess paper there was a perfect pentagon. Amazing! What did I do? |
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whodunit fraction Replace the letters with digits:- EVE ----- = ·ITITITITITITITIT...... DID |
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It goes on and on and up and up Replace the letters with digits:- BUB ----- = ·UPUPUPUPUP...... POP |
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Hamlet haiku I have an addiction to Shakespearean plays and poetry and puzzles and have combined all three to present the result here as a haiku poem puzzle. Will the answer when it is finally discovered (or revealed) prove to be, or not to be, unquestionable?
Does the third line refer to the first question or the second? |
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Have you noticed that when clocks and watches (analog ones) are advertised the hands
are ALWAYS set at 10 past 10? Well, not exactly 10 past 10 but with the hour-hand and
minute-hand set symmetrically either side ot the center. What precisely is the time that must be set to achieve this symmetry? |
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What a strange code! |
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(1) Can you make any sense out of this? L
N N E E E E S S S S S S (2) Try to make more sense out of this. N
L L E E E E S S S S S S |
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The Lockheed 'Super Constellation' passenger plane was introduced in 1951
and became the world's best airliner. 129 passengers - 530 km/hr - 4 propellor engines. A
sleek aircraft easily recognisable because of its distinctive 3-finned tail. |
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A camp cook has a clear-glass cylindrical bottle of more than 5 ounces capacity but which
contains precisely 5 ounces of vinegar. He also has an empty jug of 4-ounce capacity. He needs a measure of one ounce of vinegar BUT in the jug. How? |
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This puzzle is the basis of a Sherlock Holmes mystery – The Rembrandt Trio. |
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On a public library shelf, standing upright, are four books consisting of Volume 1 and Volume 2 of a 1st Edition and Volume 1 and Volume 2 of its 2nd Edition. Each Edition has 1000 pages with each Volume being of 500 pages. A hungry Bookworm, for his lunch, eats a worm-hole from page 1, Volume 1, Edition 1 to page 1000, Volume 2, Edition 2. That night, Bookworm tells his friend Logiworm about his lunch. Logiworm points out that had Bookworm thought logically he could have eaten twice as much by eating his wormhole from page 500, Volume 1, Edition 1 to page 501, Volume 2, Edition 2. Bookworm cannot see the logic of that argument but says he will follow Logiworm's method for tomorrow's lunch. The next night Logiworm asks Bookworm, "Did you enjoy you nice big lunch, today?" Bookworm replies, "No! I did not! I did exactly what you told me to do and I haven't had a bite to eat. I'm hungry! So, please, don't talk to me about logic!" Can you explain what happened? |
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There are two different plastic jugs filled with water. How could you put all of this water into a barrel, without using the jugs or any dividers, and still tell which water came from which jug?Using that puzzle as a starting point, I have created this new one: There are two buckets, one filled with fresh water with a fish in it and one filled with sea water with a fish in it. All of this water was put into a barrel, without using the buckets or any dividers. Each fish remained in its own water. I then went fishing in the barrel and caught both fish.Can you explain? |
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Puzzling ages John said to Mary, "Last year I was 11 and next year I'll be 12." Mary said to John, "Last year I was 10 and next year I'll be 13." Can you explain? |
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Logical? Of course it is! Why? |
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