Riddles?

kryan1

JoeBallantine wrote:

Riddle.
There are twelve identical balls... well almost twelve as one of the balls is heavier or lighter than the other eleven identical balls.

You also have a balance and are allowed to make three comparisons in order to find out which ball is the dodgy one AND whether it is heavier or lighter than the others

has anyone the solution to the riddle above pls....

JoeB-

yes, I have....

first step hidden below.

balancing 6 against 6 does you no good. First step and the hardest step is to realise that you balance 4 against 4 for the first comparision. Still hard enough even knowing that.

Good luck.
Joe

humanji

Soby wrote:

Brittany, Anthony, Savannah, James, and Jordan each have one brother (Nicholas, Michael, Matthew, Andrew, and Joshua) and one sister (Alexandra, Brianna, Ashley, Sarah, and Sydney).

Who is each person's brother and sister?

Is this one just BS, since:

2. Michael went to the movies with his sister Alexandra.

and

22. Andrew went to the movies with his sister Alexandra.

(just to name 1 of the crossovers)

How can they both have the same sister if they all only have one (and Schizophrenia is a bad answer!) Or am I missing the point?

Kwekubo

tSubh Dearg wrote:

Here's a famous one to get you all started:

Why is a raven like a writing desk?

Poe wrote on both.

I am teh witteh

hybal

From this weeks sunday times brain teaser:
which 4 digit number when written backwards as another 4 digit number is a multiple of the orginal number?

JoeB-

hybal wrote:

From this weeks sunday times brain teaser:
which 4 digit number when written backwards as another 4 digit number is a multiple of the orginal number?

1089 . . . ... 9801 / 1089 = 9
2178 . . . ... 8712 / 2178 = 4

kryan1

JoeBallantine wrote:

yes, I have....

first step hidden below.

balancing 6 against 6 does you no good. First step and the hardest step is to realise that you balance 4 against 4 for the first comparision. Still hard enough even knowing that.

Good luck.
Joe

still can't figure it out mate....

JoeB-

kryan1 wrote:

still can't figure it out mate....

ok, first balance LLLL vs RRRR... XXXX not used.

if this balances then dodgy ball is in XXXX.
second balance XXX vs RRR. (RRR are known good balls)

if this balances then the fourth X is the dodgy ball, balance this against a known good ball to find out if heavy or light.

if this doesn't balance then we know the dodgy ball is in XXX AND we know whether it is heavy or light (from second balance). So third balance is X vs X, and we know if the ball is heavy or light so we can find the dodgy ball, if X vs X balances the fourth X is the dodgy ball and we know from the second balance whether it is heavy or light.



Now the first balance was LLLL vs RRRR... XXXX not used. and there is still the situation where this might not balance, if so then we know either...

The dodgy ball is in LLLL and light OR
the dodgy ball is in RRRR and heavy. XXXX are known good balls.

So second balance is LLRR vs LRXX.
if left is heavy then dodgy ball is in RRL, 3rd balance is RL vs XX, if this doesn't balance we have dodgy ball, if it does balance we know the other R is dodgy and heavy.

if right is heavy then we know the dodgy ball is in LLR, same as above to find the dodgy ball. (i.e LR vs XX)


if second balance LLRR vs LRXX balances then dodgy ball is in either L or R that hasn't been used (in second balance) and we know if heavy or light so 3rd balance is LR vs XX to find dodgy ball.

ok, so maybe it was more difficult than I let on...
Cheers
Joe

Feral Mutant

hybal wrote:

From this weeks sunday times brain teaser:
which 4 digit number when written backwards as another 4 digit number is a multiple of the orginal number?

0001

Yes it's cheating but I'm tired.

RiderOnTheStorm

what can you plough, but not sow?

JoeB-

RiderOnTheStorm wrote:

what can you plough, but not sow?

The sea?

RiderOnTheStorm

thats what I thought too Joe! But there is a better answer (and like all 'true' answers, it sticks out a mile when you hear it..... thats not a clue by the way!)

RiderOnTheStorm

thats what I thought too Joe! But there is a better answer (and like all 'true' answers, it sticks out a mile when you hear it..... thats not a clue by the way!)

bluto63

rideronthestorm wrote:

what can you plough, but not sow?

Snow?

RiderOnTheStorm

Bluto63 is correct!

The Bollox

here's one for ye:

you are walking down a road when you come to a fork in the road. One way leads to where you want to go and the other leads to cetrain death. standing at the fork are two men, one of them is a compulsive liar and the other cannot tell a lie. you don't know which way to go, or which man is the liar, and you can only ask ONE question to either of them, you can't ask one question each. How do you find which is the right road to follow?

The Bollox

here's another:



right, your job is to get the 6 lads across the river in the boat. Now the green lads can all use the boat, as can the pinky fella, but the two brown lads cannot. you can carry as many as 2 lads at once in the boat. If the brown lads (that includes the pinky fella) outnumber the green lads at any point you lose, as they will kill the green lads. this riddle is very hard to do in your head, so I would suggest using 6 coins

Dubh Geannain

Marts wrote:

here's one for ye:

you are walking down a road when you come to a fork in the road. One way leads to where you want to go and the other leads to cetrain death. standing at the fork are two men, one of them is a compulsive liar and the other cannot tell a lie. you don't know which way to go, or which man is the liar, and you can only ask ONE question to either of them, you can't ask one question each. How do you find which is the right road to follow?

Spoiler: Ask one man. "Would the other man say this is the right road?", while pointing at one of the paths. If the answer is no. Then it's the right road.

Feral Mutant

Marts wrote:

here's one for ye:

you are walking down a road when you come to a fork in the road. One way leads to where you want to go and the other leads to cetrain death. standing at the fork are two men, one of them is a compulsive liar and the other cannot tell a lie. you don't know which way to go, or which man is the liar, and you can only ask ONE question to either of them, you can't ask one question each. How do you find which is the right road to follow?

Ask one of them "What would that guy say if you asked him which road led to certain death?". The answer you get is the right road.

If you're asking the liar, the other guy would tell you the death road, so the liar would say the safe road.
If you're asking the guy who doesn't lie, the other guy would tell you the safe road.
Either way, the road they say is the safe one.

Edit: Damn you Dubh Geannain

The Bollox

yeah, that's basically it.

ask one of them which road you should take, and whichever one they point to / name, take the other

Dubh Geannain

Took me a while. Was thinkin about it for about 10 minutes. Good one.

Dubh Geannain

Marts wrote:

yeah, that's basically it.

ask one of them which road you should take, and whichever one they point to / name, take the other

I don't think that's right. Think about it.

The Bollox

okay, if you asked the liar which way to go, he's gonna point you the wrong way, if you ask the thruth teller which way the liar will tell you to go, the truth teller will tell the truth: he will point you to death. if you asked the truth teller which way to go, he'll point you the right way, if you ask the liar which way the truth teller will send you, the liar will lie about the truth tellers answer and say the wrong way

bluto63

Marts wrote:

here's another:
right, your job is to get the 6 lads across the river in the boat. Now the green lads can all use the boat, as can the pinky fella, but the two brown lads cannot. you can carry as many as 2 lads at once in the boat. If the brown lads (that includes the pinky fella) outnumber the green lads at any point you lose, as they will kill the green lads. this riddle is very hard to do in your head, so I would suggest using 6 coins

I don't get it...How can you move all of them if you can't move the brown lads? Is that the answer?

hybal

Marts wrote:

right, your job is to get the 6 lads across the river in the boat. Now the green lads can all use the boat, as can the pinky fella, but the two brown lads cannot. you can carry as many as 2 lads at once in the boat. If the brown lads (that includes the pinky fella) outnumber the green lads at any point you lose, as they will kill the green lads. this riddle is very hard to do in your head, so I would suggest using 6 coins

I think this is right:1: brown, pink 2: pink 3: pink brown 4: pink 5: green green 6: green brown 7: pink green 8: green brown 9: green green 10: pink 11: pink brown 12: pink 13: pink brown

The Bollox

bluto63 wrote:

I don't get it...How can you move all of them if you can't move the brown lads? Is that the answer?

because it only takes one rower in a boat to move the boat, so you could have one person who can row and another person who can't and the boat will still be able to go

komodosp

Here's one:

Approximately, what is the probability that the next person you'll meet has more than the average number of hands? Assuming it's a random person.

Here's another:
There are three men, Mr. Black, Mr. Gray and Mr. White, in a three way duel with pistols. The rules are as follows: Each man takes one shot in turn, and this continues until there is one man man left alive whereupon he's declared the winner.

Mr. White is a poor shot, he usually only hits 1/3rd of the time.
Mr. Gray is an OK shot, he hits about 2/3rds of the time
Mr. Black is an excellent shot, he never misses.
To make it fair, they agree that Mr. White can go first, then Mr. Gray, then Mr. Black

Where should Mr. White shoot first? (assuming that a hit = a kill)

komodosp

right, your job is to get the 6 lads across the river in the boat. Now the green lads can all use the boat, as can the pinky fella, but the two brown lads cannot. you can carry as many as 2 lads at once in the boat. If the brown lads (that includes the pinky fella) outnumber the green lads you lose, as they will kill the green lads. this riddle is very hard to do in your head, so I would suggest using 6 coins

This might be wrong because it seems a bit simple but...

The pink fella brings them all over in the following order:
First a brown fella, leaving 3 green 1 brown on near side, 1 brown on far side
Then a green fella, leaving 2 green 1 brown on near side, 1 brown 1 green on far side
Then another green, leaving 1 green 1 brown on near side, 1 brown 2 green on far side
Then it doesn't matter whether he brings green or brown next, either way browns won't outnumber greens...
Unless... Do you count the pink while the fellas are getting on/off the boat (i.e. if a green is getting off with a brown
on the shore + pink on the boat, does it count as brown + pink vs green?)

Thomas_S_Hunterson

komodosp wrote:

Here's one:

Approximately, what is the probability that the next person you'll meet has more than the average number of hands? Assuming it's a random person.

Zero I would think, unless it's a trick question:p

Total number of people with >2 hands / Population

=~0/~6,000,000,000 (approx) which is zero whatever way you look at it, or am I missing somthing?

bluto63

komodosp wrote:

Here's one:

Approximately, what is the probability that the next person you'll meet has more than the average number of hands? Assuming it's a random person.

Here's another:
There are three men, Mr. Black, Mr. Gray and Mr. White, in a three way duel with pistols. The rules are as follows: Each man takes one shot in turn, and this continues until there is one man man left alive whereupon he's declared the winner.

Mr. White is a poor shot, he usually only hits 1/3rd of the time.
Mr. Gray is an OK shot, he hits about 2/3rds of the time
Mr. Black is an excellent shot, he never misses.
To make it fair, they agree that Mr. White can go first, then Mr. Gray, then Mr. Black

Where should Mr. White shoot first? (assuming that a hit = a kill)

In between Mr Gray and Mr Black?