puzzles final book (1)

7/27/2019 Puzzles Final Book (1)

1/90

Titles:

250

Brain teasing puzzles to improve lateralthinking, intelligence, reasoning and

emotional balance

FOR STUDENTS AND ASPIRANTS

ATTENDING INTERVIEWS

Yandamoori Veerendranath


2/90

250


emotional balance

FOR STUDENT AND ASPIRANTS




3/90

250


emotional balance

FOR STUDENTS AND ASPIRANTS




4/90

250


emotional balance

FOR STUDENTS AND CANDIDATES ATTENDING INTERVIEWS



5/90

Back page matter

Brain is the only human organ that does not wear out. It works more vigilantly the more you

put it into action. -Albert Einstein

These teasing, mystifying and funny puzzles are designed to sharpenyour intelligence, imagination, spontaneity and emotional balance.Your assumptions, deductions and lateral thinking skills get better,making a sense of bizarre.

For a question, If one hen lays one egg per day, how many eggstwo hens lay in two days, the student replied, It is not in oursyllabus. In interviews, many candidates are not able to answersimple questions due to tension and lack of spontaneity.

This book creates immense interest to those, who are averse tomaths and reasoning. It is a big fun-game when family members sittogether, solve puzzles, and tease each other; parents awardingchildren for correct answers.

The author is a Chartered Accountant, top ranker in academics,novelist, Sahitya Academy award winner and motivated thousands ofstudents with his speeches and books. He is a columnist in TheHindu. His personality development book Success in Five Steps isan all time recorder in Telugu, with a turnover crossing RupeesTwenty five million.


6/90

3

RD

PAGE

YANDAMOORI VEERENDRANATH

Mr. Veerendranath is a playwright, novelist, movie director,Sahitya Academy award winner and a top ranker in academics.He wrote about 50 novels including 'Thulasidalam', 'VennelloAadapilla' that are translated into Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam,English, Hindi, and Marathi.His first film won best regional awardfrom President-of-India. His films include Abhilasha, 'MaranaMridangam', 'Challenge', 'Jagadeka Veerudu Athiloka Sundari'.

His TV Serials won two Golden Nandi awards. He also directed afilm with Mega-Star Chiranjeevi. His personality developmentbook Vijayaniki 5 metlu (Success in Five Steps) is an all timerecorder in Telugu, with a turnover crossing Rupees Twenty Fivemillion.

Mr. Yandamoori is a practicing Chartered Accountant, and workedearlier with Andhra bank in a senior executive position.

He has constructed a Saraswathi vidya peetam at Kakinada, a

one-crore project, and educating Tribal and Poor studentspersonality development free of cost.

4TH PAGE


7/90

INDEX:

TESTING YOUR FAST REFLEX ACTIONS

DEVELOPING MATHEMATICAL SKILLS

ENHANCING LANGUAGE AND OTHER EXPERTISE

LATERAL THINKING AND LOGICAL INFERENCE

MORE COMPLICATED PUZZLES

FUNNY BRAIN TEASERS

PrefaceA girl asked her mother what is wisdom? The mother showed a jar and enquiredwhether she would eat a cup of sugar. The girl surprised No.

How about eating eggs or maida?

The girl was more confused. Then the mother explained, But you would love to eat themixture of all these ingredients called cake. Isnt it? Same way, wisdom is the final


8/90

product. The ingredients are intelligence, knowledge, skill, logic and experience.Individually all are essential but insignificant if not combined in correct proportions.

Tips to master maths:

Mathematics is a peculiar subject. In the initial stages, it depends on your industry andlater on your intelligence. It is one of the subjects, wherein you can score hundredpercent to enhance your total percentage.

Many students are afraid of maths. It is such an easy and interesting subject, once youstart understanding the basics. Be thorough with them. Without comprehensiveknowledge about fundamental formulas, techniques, multiplication tables, laws andtheorems you cannot expect to be good at maths.

Unlike other subjects, each lesson in maths is built on the previous ones. Falling a day

behind puts you at a confused position. Never hesitate to ask questions. A little doubtnow, leads to a huge roadblock in future.

Maths is learned by doing various types of problems. While solving a problem, know thenearest and correct route to reach the answer. Understand the problem first. Then devisea plan. Apply your skills and techniques. If you fail to reach the target, use othervariables. This applies to management accounts, statistics, and costing.

Life vs. maths:

If some people believe that mathematics is tough, it is only because they do not realisehow complicated life is said Ramanujam, the maths pundit. Reasoning is the back-bonefor maths. Failure in not getting the correct solution teaches you how to look back tolocate your mistake, amend your equations and arrive at correct solution. This applies to

real life also.

Convert your life problem into simple mathematics. Draw a formula. Locate the nucleus of the crisis. Once you

are clear about the cause of your problem, automatically you would know the method of approach to sort it out.

INTELLIGENCE, FUN AND AMUSEMENT:

A cat breaks two legs if it jumps from two feet. How many does it break by jumpingfrom two-and-half feet? I asked a boy, who replied, Two-and-half legs. He is from aninstitution that taught him rapid mathematics five hours a day. He is really good inmultiplications and is able to multiply a four digit number with another three digit onewithin a minute. The proud parents claim that he is brilliant in maths withoutunderstanding what the boy is lacking.

The concept of education with entertainment includes identifying the limitations of achild through fun, hilarity and amusement. Instead of blaming the child for securing lowranks, parents should try to trace out phobias and fields of deficiency.


9/90

Many parents complain about their children. My child is intelligent and used to get goodmarks earlier. But we dont know whats happening now they say. A child cannot be saidintelligent, just because he scores good ranks. Up to school level, students get goodranks, if they are industrious. But as they go to a higher plane, a student requireswisdom.

Wisdom includes both memory and intelligence. When a student solves a mathematicalequation faster than others, it is his intelligence. When a student is good in history he isindustrious.

Mathematics is the poetry of logical ideas said Newton. Developing interest inmathematics is one of the best virtues for a student in the elementary stage ofeducation. Studying math is different from studying other subjects, as studying is of twotypes,Active and Passive. Mathematics requires active study. Whenever you are bored or

feel sleepy, engage in mathematics.

PARADIGM SHIFT DEFICIENCY:

Many students and their parents complain about lack of concentration. LOC is the finaleffect. The basic defects initiate from Sluggish Reflex Actions (SRA), lack of ProblemAnalyzing Capacity (PAC) and Paradigm Shift Deficiency (PSD).

Suppose a teacher is explaining: Compare benzene ring structure with cyclohexen, andC6H10 is a ring of six carbon atoms the child may not understand anything, if hisreflexes are not quick as his foundation is weak. To a question, If yesterday istomorrow, today is Monday. What is today? if the student is reluctant even to try, hisreflex actions are supposed to be sluggish. Children with SRA live in their caves. They arenot curious to answer. By encouraging them with rewards, parents can develop interest

in logical thinking, enthusiasm, correct approach to the problem and above all,willingness to accept a challenge. This books helps in this contest.

If 2a + 2b= 4, what is b + a? If the child cannot answer this simple question, it iscalled lack of PAC. Some children cannot hit upon a divergent approach to solve adifferent problem based on same identical principle. They are normally poor inmathematics and at a later stage in subjects such as statistics, Engineering, Accounts,Costing and Decision-making Management.

A beggars elder brother died. The person, who died, has no younger brother, how? Achild must be able to answer this question. Dont worry even if he cannot. Give him asmall tip. All beggars need not be male. If the child cannot answer even then, hisparadigm shifting capacity (PSD) is at a lower plane.

Optimism knows what the tips are, but success knows where thepits are. Know the pitsfirst. This book shows your deficiencies, encourages locating your sphere of weaknessand enlightens various ways to get the correct answer.


10/90

Hyperactivity is contrary to the three above mentioned defects. Children withhyperactivity are very much eager to answer every question. Even difficult problemsappear to be silly to them. Finally they fail to answer correctly due to their overenthusiasm. For example, the child who cannot correctly count how many Fs are in thefollowing sentence is supposed to be hyperactive. Finished files are fine fruits of years ofdeep scientific study, combined with the experience of years.

Ask your child to write from 100 to 0 downwards with a gap of 7 i.e. 100-93-86 and soon. It should not take more than two minutes depending on age. But anyway time is notthe criteria. If there are more than two mistakes and more particularly if the childcompletes it fast and throws the paper on you and goes away, that is the symptom ofAttention deficiency and Hyper activeness.

Using Your Unconscious Mind

Let your unconscious mind do your problem-solving, using one of several techniques.First, try outlining a problem in your mind before going to sleep, and telling your brain togo to work. Einstein had good luck with this technique, sometimes getting the "ah-ha"insight while shaving the next morning. Next, instruct your mind to keep working on theproblem while you are doing other things. There is more than we know going on insideour heads. Finally, work on problems when you are in a drowsy state. This can result inmore creative solutions.

FOR WHOM THIS BOOK IS?

Solving puzzles in this book reduces over-confidence of hyper active children on one side, develops interest in

children with PSD on the other. It enriches fast reflex actions and eases tension. If you are ateacher, give one puzzle a day and ask your students to work on it. Here are 250 puzzles suffice for250 working days. Thus you are indirectly training them to tackle more complicated future.

An intelligent and conversant candidate may also not be able to withstand tension in interviews.Some of the questions test the capacity to hold your nerve under pressure. Solving these puzzles,finding out the mistakes normally people do teaches you how to approach a question, how not tobe in a hurry to quickly respond to it. We always suggest candidates to take a deep breath, smileand answer in interviews.

May be you are in 5th class or a Post graduate in Mathematics, this book suits you. Questions andanswers are framed in such a way that elaborated explanations are given for the sake of thosestudents who are of less standard.

Many of these questions are asked at interviews for high positions and big salaries. Dont feel

dismayed even if you are not able answer some of them. A mathematical genius or a logical thinkermay also find it difficult to answer certain questions. Tease your friends with these questions andwin a bet. Sit with parents, ask them to ask you and win a chocolate or an ice cream for yourcorrect answer. Best of luck.


11/90

TESTING YOUR REFLEX

ACTIONS


12/90

These questions are to be answered quickly, say within 5 seconds. Dont use paperand pen. Better option is to request somebody to ask you, and you reply as quicklyas possible.

ALL ABOUT ORANGES, APPLES AND CATS:

1. There are 6 oranges in a basket and you have taken two from it. How manywill remain with you?

2. There are 6 oranges in a basket. If I take 3 and give one to my friend from it,how many will be there in the basket?

3. There are 6 oranges in a basket. If I take 3 and give one to my friend fromthem, how many will be there in the basket.

4. If one orange and two apples cost 5 rupees, and one apple and two oranges

cost 4 rupees, then how much does two oranges and one apple cost.5. Can you solve the question? If one orange and one apple costs one rupee,

how much two apples and two oranges do cost?

6. Answer these questions purely in arithmetic sense. If two cats can kill two ratsin two minutes, then how much time will it take for one cat to kill one rat?

7. If two cats can kill two rats in two minutes, then how much time will it takefor one thousand cats to kill one thousand rats?

8. If two cats can kill two rats in two minutes, then how much time will it takefor one cat to kill two rats?

SIMPLE ARTIMATIC:


13/90

9. If 8 people eat 8 kilos of rice in 8 days, how many kilos 2 people eat in 2days?

10. If 4 people eat 4 kilos of rice in 4 days, how many kilos does a person eat in 1day?

11. Add 40 to 1000. Then add another 1000. Now add 30, and another 1000. Nowadd 20 to it. And add another 1000. Now add 10. What is the total?

12. The total cost of a sari and a blouse for 11/-. The cost of the sari is 10/- morethan the blouse. What is the cost of the blouse?

13. Divide 20 by half and add 10. What is the total?

CONFUSING BIRTHDAYS:

14. How many birthdays have you celebrated so far?

15. Lava celebrated his birthday, but his twin brother Kusa who was born few hourlater, has not. Why?

16. Lava and Kusa are twins, born with six hours difference. One day Kusacelebrated his birthday; his twin brother Lav celebrated his birthday two dayslater. How?

17. Go through the two previous questions. It may be easy to answer them. Buthere is a more complicated question. 6 hours after Lavs birth, his mothergave birth to Kus. Kus has celebrated his birthday; after one day his elderbrother Lav celebrated it. How? How can an older brother celebrate hisbirthday one day afterhis younger one? Dont go to logical medical argumentthat the boy who comes first out of the womb is the junior, as the child in thewomb is conceived first and hence the senior. We expect more logical answerthan that. The concept of leap year does not arise here.

18. Ram is twice as old as Krishna will be, when Kamala is as old as Ram is now.Who is the oldest and youngest among the three?

19. Two days ago I was 8 and next year, I will be 11. How is it possible?

20. There are some chickens and rabbits in a cage. The count is: 72 headsand 200 feet. How many are the chickens and rabbits?

SIMPLE REFLEXES:


14/90

21. In 2006 group selections, the following question was asked. If you were thereas a candidate, what answer would you have given to this question: What isthe name of our Prime Minister in 1984? Manmohan singh/ Indira Gandhi/Mahatma Gandhi.

22. Name the daughter of the mother in law of the father of the nation?

23. What is the last thing you lift up before going to Bed?

24. A beggars elder brother died. The person, who died has no beggar as hisyounger brother. How?

25. How many Fs are there in the following sentence: Finished files are finefruits of years of scientific deep study combined with the experience of years.

26. If somebody offers, what currency do you prefer to have between these two,

old ten rupee note, or new one?27. You are given a match-box and two candles of equal size, which

can burn 1 hour each. You have to measure 90 minutes withthese candles. (There is no scale or clock). How do you do?

The geographical intelligence:

28. If you are facing east, which side is Australia? Back / Front / Left / Right?Between back and left? Between back and right? Between right and front? /Between left and front?

29. If you are facing east, which side are Himalayas?

30. If you are facing west, which side is Arabian Sea?

31. If you are facing north, which side is Sri Lanka?

32. If you are facing south, which side is Africa?

33. This is a highly intelligent question, testing your thinking beyond barriers. Thisquestion was asked in a MNC interview for a top executive post. There are 10crows picking up grain on a floor. One is killed with a pistol. How many willremain? Choose the answer from the following four: A. None. B. One. C. Nine.D. One or more than one.

34. A woman working in a circus company buys a new pair of high-healshoes, goes to work, and dies. Give two alternative reasons.

35. Through a window, a group of persons watch a bird coming towardsthem and they all die. Why?


15/90

36. A farmer is taking a fox, a chicken, and a bag of grain home. He mustcross a river, but he's only allowed to take one item across the bridgewith them at a time. If the fox is left alone with the chicken, the foxwill eat the chicken. If the chicken is left alone with the grain, thechicken will eat the grain. How can the farmer cross the river withoutany of his possessions being eaten? Hint: you can have as many tripsas you can, but make them minimum.

37. This question tests your coherent conjecture and deductions. Closeyour eyes, imagine the situation, enter into the shoes of each of thethree persons, draw conclusions and then the answer surfaces: Threemen are captured by cannibals in a jungle. The men are given onechance to escape with their lives. The men are buried one after other

in such a way that the last man can see the backs of the front two, themiddle man can see the back of the front man, and the front mancan't see anybody. (


16/90


17/90

DEVELOPING MATHEMATICAL

SKILLS

All about simple maths and interesting cricket:

40. I wanted to gamble in a match between India and England. The odds were 2:1i.e., if I bet 100 on India, I get 200 more. If I bet 100 on England I get 100more. If I invest RS. 50 each on both the countries and if India wins I gain

100 rupees on India and loose 50 on England. Hence my total profit would beRS. 50/- (+100-50). But if England wins, there would be neither profit nor loss(-50+50). What would be the safest bet for me to get the maximum profit?How much I should bet on India and England so that I get maximum amount,irrespective of which country wins.

41. At a cricket betting, a fortune- teller said, For ten rupees I will tell you thescores. You can bet. If my prediction goes wrong, I would give you 1000/- ascompensation. Shall I have to take the offer?

42. Think before arriving at the final answer. It is not as simple as it appears tobe. Dont rush to find out from the answer sheet: in a fifty over one-dayinternational, 49.4 balls are over. Last two balls are remaining. Seven runs towin, two batsmen are at 94 runs each. The team won and both batsmen madecenturies. How could it be possible? Dont think of a no-ball, because, on no-

ball, if the batsman hits it adds 7 (seven) runs to the team score and it wins.Then how the runner also gets 100 runs? This puzzle is more complicated thanwhat you think.


18/90

43. In an annual state tournament 5 cricket teams participate. Thechampion team is chosen for this tournament by the usual eliminationscheme. That is, the 5 teams are divided into pairs, and the two teamsof each pair play against each other. The loser of each pair iseliminated, and the remaining teams are paired up again, etc. Howmany games must be played to determine a champion?

44. In the above competition, if the participating teams are 50, then howmany games are to be played?

45. Three men go to a Lodge. The receptionist said the rent is 30. So they paid 10each. The receptionist realised that the rent is 25 only. He sent back throughthe boy RS. 5. They paid RS. 2/- as tip and kept one rupee each withthemselves. That means... each has paid RS. 9/- to the hotelier, amounting to

27. The boy kept 2 with him. Total: 29. Where the remaining one rupee hasgone?

46. A 16 meters cable is attached to two 15 meters high pillars. Atits lowest point, the cable hangs 7 meters above the ground.

How far are the two pillars apart?

47. Which of these numbers 2 can evenly divide? 5., 6., 7., 8.

48. This is an interesting question believed to be prepared by Mathematic wizardSakuntala Devi. If a clock takes two seconds to strike two bells, how muchtime will it take to strike three bells?

49. If a clock takes 5 seconds to strike 5 O clock, how long will it take to strike 10Oclock?

50. At 6'o a clock ticks 6 times. The time between first and last ticks is 30 seconds.How long does it tick at 12'o.

WAIT AND WEIGHT

51. This is a simple question. Never undermine your capacity. You can do it. Staycalm and composed. Try to work out. You have 12 gold coins of same weight,except one, which is of less weight. How can you find it? You can use the

balance machine three times only. You have a perfectly balanced scale.The scale only tells you which side weighs more compared to the otherside. Use only the twelve coins and no other weights.

52. Go through the previous question about gold coins. Because one of it is of lessweight, you may have solved it easily. But if one of it is of different weight(you dont know whether the culprit coin is of more weight or less weight)


19/90

then the question becomes more complicated. Think whether you can solve it.If not, see the answer. If you are confused with the answer also, then go tothe next question and try to understand and answer it. Revert back to thisquestion again, to understand the technique. Dont leave it frustrated.

53. A king employed 100 artisans to make gold toys of 10 grams each, to bepresented to all the children in his kingdom. Per day each artisan producedaround ten toys and after a month, the king new that one of the artisans ischeating by using only 9 grams and swindling 1 gram per toy. The king has aweighing machine. But weighing only once, can he find the culprit?

54. This question is one of the best to test your reasoning skill. This can be donewith a computer or without it. A computer may take some time to derive atthe answer. They say Ramanujam, the mathematic wizard could calculate theanswer in 10 minutes in computer-way. He could also do it in few seconds in a

more sensible way. Dont rush for the answer. Think. Use your commonsense.A young girl was walking towards a shakti temple at 3 km per hour. Ramcrossed her on a motorcycle, at a speed that is 20 times more than her. Hewanted to give lift to her, but could not dare. He travelled for 3 minutes. Onreaching the temple and seeing Goddess Shakti, he got courage and returned.By this time the girl walked further towards the temple. He saw her but againhe was not courageous. He went back to the temple, got inspired and againreturned. The process continued. In the final trip, he went inside the templeand prayed Goddess Shakti Please give me courage. The girl, havingreached the temple, said from behind, Shakthi is not there in that stone. It isin you. Discover it. Now the question is, how much distance did Ram travel intotal?

55. A had 5 chapattis, B 3 and C nil. They all ate equallyand C paid RS. 8/- as

his share to them. How much A and B should get for their share of sacrifice?Choose from the 4 answers: A5, B3 / A7, B1 / A4, B4 / not these three.

56. Suppose a=b. Find out where (in which step) the mistake has taken place?Step one: if a=b, then a=ab. Step two: Deduct b from both: (a - b) =(ab - b). Step three: (a + b) (a - b) = b (a - b). Step four: Deduct (a-b) fromboth: a + b= b. How is this possible? In which step lies the mistake?

57. Here is an excellent puzzle to test your creative and reasoning skills. The fivepandavas: Dharma Raja, Bheema, Arjuna, Nakula and Sahadeva weresleeping in the Red-wax house and their enemies burnt it. The pandavas wantto escape through a tunnel. Only two people can go through the tunnel at onetime. Moreover, it is totally dark and without a torch they cannot proceed. Itmeans, two people should go out, and then one has to take the lamp insideand bring another one out. Total 4 trips. It would take for Nakula andSahadeva 5 minutes and Arjuna 10 minutes to come out. Bheema would take20 and Dharma 25 minutes respectively to come through the tunnel as one ishefty and another is old. This is an arithmetical problem and has no twists.


20/90

Just calculate who should accompany whom first and go back to bring thesecond one, so that all the five can come back as early as possible. How muchtime it would take?

58. In the above question, suppose they came to know that the cave is going tocollapse exactly after 60 minutes. They have to return back within the saidtime. If Nakula takes the entire responsibility of bringing all the other four, itwould take 80 minutes in total (if this is what you worked out in previousquestion). But there is a way to make it in 60 minutes. How?

59. If you are asked to find out the value of A, when A+A= A x A, you wouldanswer that A = 2, as 2 + 2=2 x 2. Taking this as an example, find out thedifferent values of a, b, c, if a + b + c = a x b x c.

60. Intellectual endurance is the staying power, the capacity to persist, without

getting distracted. At one point your brain ceases to cooperate, but dont stop.Take a few minutes rest and start again. This is one way of developingintellectual endurance. Take a single digit number and a three digit numberof your choice... For example, suppose the numbers are: 8 and 156, writedown on a paper 8-156. Go on adding 13 to the first number (8) and deduct 7from the later (156). Do it simultaneously (Here is the example. your firstnumber is 8 - 156. Hence your second number would be 21-149, third 34-142etc). At the end... what are your final figures when you reach the single digitanswer on the right hand side? Dont jump to calculate end figures, do it stepby step to test your patience.

61. A fish weighs 2 kilos plus half of its weight. What is the weight of the fish?

62. A milkmaid adds 4 litres of water to 2 litres of milk, before distribution. Bymistake she added 2 litres water to 4 litres of milk. How much more water has

she to add to rectify her mistake?63. A painter should have a total 6 litres of paint and is supposed to mix 4 litres of

white paint and 2 litres of black. But by mistake he mixed 2 litres of white and4 litres of black. How much minimum has he to pour outto correct his mistakebefore adding the extra white paint?

64. What is Two plus two by two?

65. What is a plus b minus a plus b?

All about eggs and trains:

66. These questions test your tolerance and increase your mental stamina.Answer fast. If 1 hen lays 1 egg in 1 day, how many eggs 2 hens lay in 2days?


21/90

67. The question is an arithmetical question, not based on logic. If 4 hens lay 4eggs in 4 days, how many eggs 2 hens lay in 2 days?

68. This is a logical question. How many eggs can a boy eat with empty stomach?

69. There are six eggs in the basket. Six people each take one of theeggs. How can it be that one egg is left in the basket?

70. If two hens lay 2 eggs in 2 days, how many eggs does one hen lay in 1 day?Arithmetically the answer would be half-egg which is not logical. Give atleast three logical probabilities to have one egg. This question is based onyour capacity to think of alternatives.

71. A cook in a restaurant has a four minute hourglass, and a sevenminute hourglass, made of sand that shows the exact time. A

customer orders a nine-minute egg. How to cook exactly in the timegiven, not to a difference of even few seconds?

Complicated mathematical equations:

72. I take a private car for Hyderabad (my house) to Hi-tech (my office)and back Hyderabad in the evening. It costs me 300 everyday. One

day the taxi driver informed me that there are two students from S.R.Nagar, who wish to go Hi-tech, every day in the morning along withme! S.R. Nagar is exactly halfway between my house and office. Onthe first day I told them, "If you tell me the mathematically correctprice that you should pay individually for your portion of the trip, I willlet you travel for free." How much should the individual student payfor his journey?

73. A passenger starts at 5 p.m. from Agra and reaches Delhi in five hoursi.e. at 10 p.m. From opposite side i.e. Delhi a train starts for every onehour thought the day, at 5.30, 6.30 7.30 etc. How many such trains wouldcross the passenger before it reaches Delhi?

74. From Station to Bus-stand, Via Tank Bund is 8 miles. From Tank Bund to Bus-

stand via Station is 7 miles. From Station to Tank Bund via Bus-stand is 11miles. Calculate the distances between: 1. Station and Bus-stand, 2. Stationand Tank Bund and 3. Bus-stand and Tank Bund.


22/90

75. If A = 5; B+A =6; E+B =C; E+C+B = 8, choose the values of A, B, C,D, E from 1, 2,3,4,5.

76. As in the same question above, find out the values of A, B, C, E, D, Efrom 1, 2,3,4,5 if D+B = A+C; 2E =C+5; D+C = E. This is a morecomplicated question.

77. Three friends divided bullets from a bag equally. After each of themshot 4 bullets, the total number of bullets remaining with them, isequal to 1/3 of total bullets. Find the original number of total bullets.

78. You have two cups, one containing orange juice and one containingequal amount of lemonade. One teaspoon of the orange juice is takenand mixed with the lemonade. Then a teaspoon of this mixture is

mixed back into the orange juice. Is there more lemonade in theorange juice or more orange juice in the lemonade?

79. A student was studying for his examinations and the lights went off. Itwas around 1:00 AM. He lighted two uniform candles of equal lengthbut one thicker than the other. The thick candle is supposed to last sixhours and the thin one illuminates for 4 hours. When he finally went tosleep, the thick candle was twice as long as the thin one. For how longdid the student study in candle light?

80. There are 3 switches, 1, 2 and 3 in a hall in the ground floor. One ofthem is connected to a dining room bulb situated in the second floor.You cant see from the hall, whether the dining room light is on or off.How can you determine the correct switch? You can on and off the

switches as many times as you want. But you are supposed to go tothe upstairs dining room only once and announce the switch numberfrom there.

81. A man decides to buy a horse for 600. After a year, he sells it for700. He buys it again for 800. And finally sells the horse for

900. What is the overall profit the man makes?

82. A swimmer jumps from a bridge over a canal and swims 1 kilometeragainst the stream. After that first kilometer, he passes afloating cork coming opposite to him, going towards the

bridge. He continues swimming forward for half an hour andthen turns around and swims back to the bridge. The swimmer

and the cork arrive at the bridge at the same time. Theswimmer has been swimming with constant speed. How fast

does the water in the canal flow?


23/90

83. Two cars (A and B) were travelling in opposite direction with 60and 40 miles per hour. The distance between them is 100

miles. A bird starts along with car A, and flies at a speed of 80miles per hour. When it reaches car B, it turns back and when

it reaches the car A, again it turns to the opposite direction.What is the total distance that the bird has travelled when the

two cars met?

84. You drive at 20 mph and return at 30 mph. what is the average speed?

85. If you drive at 20 mph, how fast must you drive back, to attain an averagespeed of 40 mph?


24/90

ENHANCING LANGUAGE AND

OTHER SKILLS

86. Here is a Red Indian. Can you see anything else?


25/90

87. Are you a decoding specialist? Try this: You find a note written in code on yourclassmates desk. It reads: Abcd ebbf ghi ibajckgldmkf. And later, there wasa signature. dbemji. You could decode the first part. It reads: Lets keep ourrelationship. The curiosity is getting to you. Can you figure out the signaturein just one minute?

88. How many different words can you create from the word STRANGER? Forexample: A ... An ... Star etc. Dont repeat same letter in the same word. Ifyou can create about ten words, its good. If you can make out 25, itsexcellent. Try.

89. Write a sentence as lengthy as possible, without using alphabets A and E,

such as Sky is only limit to try your spirit to work on job.

90. Prepare thirteen words using the letters from the word THIRTEEN?

91. Here are some one word palindromes, which spell the same from bothsides. RACECAR, DEED, LEVEL, PIP, ROTOR, CIVIC, POP Try to list outsome more.

92. The above are just words. Can you make some group of words thatgives the same sounding from both sides? E.g. Bar crab, borrow orrob, live evil, evil olive.

93. You have a jug that holds five gallons, and a jug that holds threegallons. You have no other containers, and there are no markings on

the jugs. You need to obtain exactly seven gallons of water from awell. How can you do it?


26/90

94. In the above question if you need to obtain exactly four gallons howdo you do it?

95. You have a 12 litre jug, an 8 litre jug, and a 5 litre jug. None of thejugs have any markings on them. The 12 litre jug is full, and the othertwo are empty. How can you divide the 12 litres of water equally (i.e.,so two of the jugs have exactly 6 litres of water in them, and the thirdis empty)?

96. Can you find a word in this diagram?

97. What are countries touching Indian boarder.

98. Take the numbers from 1 to 9 and create hundred by adding or subtractingthem without changing the order. For example, it can be done as 123-45-67+89 =100. Now make 10 in the same fashion.

99. I bet that I would lift an elephant with one hand. You challenged and broughtan elephant. You lost and paid me. Why?
http://images.google.co.in/imgres?imgurl=http://oneechan21.files.wordpress.com/2007/12/optical_liar1.jpg&imgrefurl=http://oneechan21.wordpress.com/&h=640&w=368&sz=15&hl=en&start=6&sig2=vPjHAaI9QHO6fZ6MDp4vcw&tbnid=k5IEKNPacR40fM:&tbnh=137&tbnw=79&ei=KVmdSPTvC4OSswLV3fT6Bw&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dliar%26gbv%3D2%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DG


27/90

100. I was going to the market and came across a family consisting of a father,mother, two sons and three daughters and a puppy. How many male aregoing to the market?

101. The word HEROINE contains other English words in a row like HE, HER,HERO, IN. Likewise, find out a seven-letter word, which contains nine Englishwords without any rearrangement. Here is a tip: the first four letters are;THER. Find out the next three letters.

102. Here is a question testing your verbal I.Q. If somebody asks you how you cuta cake into eight pieces with just three cuts, you knowthat a plus (+) cutabove the cake, followed by a horizontal slice in the middle can make it eightpieces. Visual thinking does not play a role here, but the verbalcommunication does. Can you explain in words the solution to your friend or ablind man without using your hands? How to cut the cake into 8 pieces with

just three cuts? Tell us in any language, either English or your colloquial.

103. This exercise improves your language skills. Take a single letter and expand itinto a word, by adding just one letter to it. For example if you take a youcan continue like this: A, At. Now add one more letter to it and make a threeletter word, Mat. Now make it four, Team Steam, Stream, Steamer etc. Withthe letter B you can make: Be, Bet, Beat, Abate etc. Now start with E andcreate words like Me, Met... try to create at least three more words.

104. A hunter walked 1 kilometre straightfrom his hut, found a bear, chased it tohis left exactly at 90 degrees for 1 kilometre, killed it, turned to his leftperpendicularly and dragged it straight for 1 kilometre. Surprisingly he foundhis hut, without turning to his left and walking again for another 1 kilometre,to complete the square. Now the question is: What is the colour of the bear?

105. A woman had two sons who were born on the same hour of the same day ofthe same year. But they were not twins. How could this be so?

106. Unable to bear the passengers non-stop talking, the taxi driver said that he isdeaf and cannot hear anything without an aid machine. The passenger keptquiet but realised that the driver told him a lie when got down. How?

107. 5-year old Ram is presented with two situations and was asked: who shouldreceive more punishment? In the first story, a little boy breaks a cup when hesecretly climbs over the refrigerator to steal a cake placed above. In thesecond story, a little girl breaks six cups by accident, when she stumbles andslips over while helping her mother in the kitchen. Which of these answersRam is going to give? A. The little boy, because he broke the cup whilestealing the cake. B. The girl should be punished 6 times more than the boy,because she did more damage. C. The boy and girl equally, as breaking

valuable pieces is wrong. D. Intentionally they have not broken them, andhence nobody can be punished.


28/90

108. There are 4 squares underneath. Each square is divided into 4 equal parts indifferent shapes. How many shapes can you make other than the below? Youcan make at least 6 more. Of course...if you are intelligent and think of thetechnique, then you can make millions. Try.

109. A and B participated in a 100 metres running race. When race wasover, B was behind by 5 metres. To encourage him, this time A stood5 metres back from the starting line. Now who will win? A/ B / Both atsame time.

110. Golkonda Express from Hyderabad at 60 miles per hour and KrishnaExpress from Vijayawada at 70 miles per hour started at same timeand met in between. Which train is nearer to Vijayawada? Golkonda/Krishna/ Both.

111. Desert express in Afghanistan at 8 am proceeds to Kabul at 80 miles per hour,and Toofan mail starts from Kabul at 60 miles per hour in the oppositedirection at 9 a.m. When they meet, which train will be nearer to Kabul, if thedistance between stations is 480 miles?

112. If A1 is A, A2 is B, A3 is C; and B1 is B, B2 is C, then what is: H2 J3N2P7A5L2B4.

113. NEW NEW DOOR: Re-arrange these 10 letters to make one new word.


29/90

114. I have five hundred and fifty rupees with me in my purse. One is not a fiftynote. What might have been the combination?

115. Two teachers differed in their opinion when they saw an answer sheet whereinit was written 81=9X9. Why?

116. A young bachelor stays on the top floor of a flat. His office is at 10.30 a.m. Hehas the following things to do: Exercise / bath / pooja / coffee preparation /shoes / dress / lift / Cooking: 10 minutes each and Journey to office: 40minutes. Total: 2 hours. In a hypothetical situation, let us suppose his fatherwhile dying, has taken an oath that he should use only fresh tap water for allthe above works. As he can not start his daily routine before 9.00 a.m. hereaches his office at 11.00 a.m. More trouble than this is, his fiance stays inthe ground floor and he cannot go to his work before seeing her at least oncein the morning. She has to leave for her office at 10 oclock. How can he

manage his time?

117. By mistake, a golfer hit the ball into a paper bag that had blown onto theground. He has two options: play it with the paper bag or incur one strokepenalty. Can you suggest him any alternative?

118. What was the highest mountain before Mount Everest was found.

119. What was the largest island in the world before Australia was discovered?

120. One midnight a cat enters your room. You want to know its weight. You havea weighing machine, but as you put the cat on the machine, it jumps awaybefore you look into the meter reading. Tell different methods as how you cando it?

121. Which is correct: Seven eights fifty four or Seven eights is fifty four?

122. When British left our country, the officials were surprised to see the bungalowof an army commander having four servant toilets in the back yard.Commanders are given only five to six servants at any given time. Havingseparate bathrooms for male and female is understandable. But why fourrooms for five people? A black mailer sent a ransom note by post. Theprosecution could prove and get the black mailer convicted using the postalcover as perfect undisputed evidence, though there were no finger prints on it.How?

123. A black-mailer sent a note for ransom and was later caught by the police.Without any other second proof, the prosecution could prove the case. What issuch a strong first proof?

124. If Russia and America launch their everything-equal missiles at the same

time, America will be destroyed first. Why?125. How many days can you be without sleep?


30/90

126. Police know that one Mr. Subrabanyam is the thief, and is now playingcards in a particular hotel room. They know only the name andnothing else. No other identity and photograph were available. Whenthey reached there, four were playing cards. Without even calling thename, they found him and arrested. How?

127. How could a baby fall out of a twenty-story building onto the groundand live?

128. A married couple goes to a movie. During the movie the husband killshis wife. He is able to get her body home without attracting attentionand nobody noticed him pulling her body out of the theatre. How?

LATERAL THINKING ANDLOGICAL INFERENCE


31/90

SIMPLE COMMON SENSE:

129. Can you solve this question? If one orange and one apple cost 2rupees, how much does two oranges and three apples cost?

130. How can Ram be behind his wife, when she is behind him?

131. What would you do if you find a fire station burning?

132. What would you do if you find a fire station burning where there is nonearby fire station nearby?

133. On which side of the cat is the greater hair contained?

134. You can hold it only with your right hand, but never with your left.What is it?

135. A man walked down a lonely country lane with no streetlights. Therewas no moon. He was dressed all in black. Suddenly he heard a carspeeding towards him. The car did not have its headlights on. Therewas no foot-path or room for him to step out of the way and avoidbeing struck by the car. But yet, the driver of the car screeched to ahalt just in time - how did the driver know?


32/90

136. I want to pluck a mango from the tree. A peacock is sitting just by theside of the fruit. How can I get the same fruit without disturbing thebird?

137. I inserted seven doughnuts to a rope and tied the two ends of it. Iwanted to eat a doughnut without cutting the rope and breakingdoughnut. How?

138. In a running race, if you overtake the person running second, wherewould you be?

139. If you overtake the last... then where would you be?

140. A dog is tied to a rope 10 m long. A bone is 15 m away. The dog gotthe bone? How?

141. Two persons, one standing at the door of his house and the otherwalking from the beginning of the street to the end, were countingpassers-by for five minutes. Who counted more??

142. Are you adventure oriented? In a time machine you can go to futureor past and return to exactly the same spot in space, after one hour.Would you try if it comes free of cost?

143. Here is an interesting question based on maths and physics. The TVnews says that the present days temperature in Kashmir is 0 degreesCelsius and it would be twice colder the next day. What would be thetemperature the next day?

144. If I show you a painting and say, His father is my fathers son, who ishe to me, if have no brothers? Is it me or my son or my father or my grandfather?

145. This question is to test your logical inference. At a three-road junction; youare confused which one leads to your destination, Rampur. You find twobrothers standing there and you knowthat one is always a liar and the otheris always a truth teller. You dont know who is a liar and who is a truth letter.But... by asking just only oneof them only one question, how can you findyour route?

146. Three men stand at a three junction on the road. You're not surewhich turn you need to take. One of these people tells the truth, onealways lies, and the third tells the truth ones and lies next time. Eachof the three men knows each of the others, but you don't know who iswho. If you could ask only one of the men (chosen at random, sinceyou don't know which man is which) only one yes/no question, whatquestion would you ask to determine the road you wish to take?


33/90

147. Test your quick reflexes. I was trekking through a remote jungle whenI was captured by cannibals. The chief told me, "You may now speakyour last words. If your statement is true, we will burn you in flames.If your statement is false, we will boil you in oil". I thought for amoment, and made my statement. Perplexed, the clever cannibalsrealised they could do nothing but let me go. What did I tell them?

148. The following problem was posed at an M. N. C interview. A bottlecontains sweets, another biscuits and the third has a mixture of bothof them. All labels were wrongly pasted. Without looking into thebottles, and just by taking blindly one piece from only one bottle, howcan you re-paste the labels correctly?

149. This is a question on your capacity to shift your paradigm. A doctor and his

son are in a car accident. The doctors hand was broken. The son is rushed tothe hospital with a brain injury. In the operation theatre, the surgeon sees theboy and says, I cant operate on this boy, he is my son! How can this be?

150. When compared to the previous question, this is more complicated and testsyour capacity to think beyond normal limitations. A doctor, his wife and theirown son were going in a car that met with an accident. The doctor broke hishands, other had a head injury, but the mother escaped. Outside theoperation theatre, the mother was weeping, and inside the neurosurgeonsays, I cant operate, he is my own son! How can this be?

TRUTH HEAD-ACHES:

151. In a bank robbery, A, B and C are suspected robbers. A says B isguilty, B says C is guilty and C says A is guilty. If all are telling lies,then who is the real culprit?

152. In a bank robbery, A, B and C are the suspects. A says B is guilty. Bsays C is guilty. C says B is guilty. If two people are telling the truth,who is guilty?

153. In a bank robbery, among A, B and C, one is a sure culprit. A says B isguilty. B says A is guilty. C says A is guilty. If nobody is telling thetruth who is / are guilty?

154. In a bank robbery, A, B and C are the suspects. A says he is not

guilty. B says he is not guilty. C says, B is guilty. Who is the realculprit, ifonly one among them is telling the truth?


34/90

155. This is the best questioning challenging your lateral thinkingcapacities. Suppose you are going in a deep forest on a stormy nightand found 3 people underneath a tree. One is a doctor, who savedyour life when you were kid and the other was a 90-year-old ladysuffering from asthma requiring immediate hospitalisation. The thirdone was your dream girl / boy. It takes two hours to reach a town. Ifyou have only one seat in your car besides you, what would you do?Around 87% prefer to take the old lady and are called sentimentalists.Approximately 22% prefer to take the doctor. They are realists. 1%Materialists of course prefer to go with their ideal he or she. But canyou think a better way?

156. This is an interesting question, basing on your logical deduction.

What is today? I asked. If tomorrow is yesterday, today isSaturday he replied. What is today?

157. A flock of sheep was going down cautiously on a narrow highway. Onthe left side it was a huge hillock and other side, a deep valley. Atorrent river was violently flowing down the valley. As the Sheppardwas steering his herd, a truck came from behind blowing the horn.The young driver was in a rush to take his ailing mother to thehospital. He urged the Sheppard to move the sheep aside so that hecould pass through. The Sheppard declined to do so, fearing that thecrammed sheep, dreaded by the horrifying sound of the truck, mightpanic and fall down into the overflowing waters. The boy explained thesituation. But there was no other way except to follow the sheep

slowly from behind, till the road widens, which would take another halfan hour. The condition of the ailing mother was deteriorating. Sensingthe severity of the situation, the Sheppard was struck by an idea.What is the idea?

158. A king wanted more warriors in his country. He proposed to increasethe population of men compared to women. Hitherto it was 1:1. Heset down a law that required every couple to continue having malechildren until it had its first female baby and then to stop having childrenaltogether. Excellent idea. First: Male baby? Continue for another. Secondmale? Congratulations. Third female? Stop. The country has now two malesand one female. If your first baby is female, you cannot take risk of anotherbaby, as there is a scope for the second one also being a female. The idea ofthe king appears to be logical. After two generations what would have

happened? How much would have been the growth of males compared tofemales? Double? Triple?


35/90

159. In the following figure, can you draw three lines from their house to theirgates? The lines should not touch one another.

160. During an examination, a medico was asked to identify a femur thathe recognised as a human thigh bone. How many of them do youhave? was the next question. The student replied, Two. Theexaminer passed him and failed another two female students, whosaid Three and Four respectively. Both the students preferred anappeal and won, after explaining their reasons. What may be theirreasons?

161. This question tests your practical assumptions. A beggar unable to findany food or charity from anybody on a particular day prayed God, OGod! Give me something. I promise to pay you half of what I gettoday. Later in the afternoon surprisingly he found a bag containingtwo hundred rupees. He was very happy and spent away everything.

Next day his inner conscious started warning him and he thought Godwould certainly punish him. Day by day his fear increased and wasunable to bear his tension. Then he had an idea, to get relieved from


36/90

his mental tension, in spite of not paying the Gods share. What mighthave been the idea?

162. A lady was reading news paper, listened to the continuous phone bellbut does not bother to rise from the chair. Tell two reasons at least.

163. You married an ugly, poor and unhealthy person. Pleased by your act,an angel offered one of the three, beauty, money and health to yourspouse. What do you take?

164. After giving health and money, the angel wanted to give beauty alsoto spouse, but only for 8 hours a day. Which time do you prefer?Morning? Afternoon? Evening? Night?

165. Why did a perfectly healthy girl put a full plaster cast on her arm when

it was not injured in any way? Give at least four reasons.

166. A person wanted to purchase a talking bird, went to an auction andexpected the price to be thousand rupees. But the bid went up to tenthousands. There were no other competitors. Still the bid rose to sucha huge amount. What would have happened?

167. A person inserts a white paper into a printing machine and a perfectthousand rupee note comes out from the other side. The note ischecked out by Reserve Bank people, but can not differentiate it withthe original one. He sells the printing machine for one million rupeesand the buyer later finds out that he has been cheated. How?


37/90

MORE COMPLICATEDPUZZLES

168. A stiff competition is going on between two rival companies. Onecompany gave promotion to a lazy, inefficient, unproductive wastecandidate two promotions in a small span of one year, to make him anexecutive, who later resigned. Give two reasons for the promotion.

169. An office is located exactly in between two bus stops. A woman passesher office, gets off the bus and walks back every day. Why? She hasno other work to do at the bus stop like: purchases, friends houseetc.

170. This question tests your rational assumptions. A, E, I, O, U are thevowels, and as you know 2, 4,6,8,10,12 etc are the even

numbers. You have to pick up two cards from the following 4cards to prove that Vowels have even numbers on their

reverse. Which two cards do you pick up from the above?


38/90


39/90

180. When do Russians celebrate the October Revolution? October /November / December

181. A man is five feet tall, is an assistant at a grocery shop, andwears size 11 shoes. What does he weigh?

182. 25% can be written as , 75% can be written as and 33.3%can be written as 1/3. How would 58 1/3% be written as afraction (when reduced to the lowest denominator)?

183. Name the only English word that ends in the letters "mt"?

184. Name 3 English words that end in "dous."

185. Find at least two English words that have "uu" in them.

186. Can you find an English word that has the six vowels, A, E, I, O,U and Y, in their alphabetical order? For example, there is theword "facetiously." What is another one?

187. Three very intelligent monkeys came to a solid river that waswide and deep. Unfortunately, they didn't know how to swim,and there were no materials nearby to make a bridge. However,they were across in just a few minutes. How did they cross theriver?

188. A woman is driving off-road in the middle of the desert and shegets a flat tire. She takes the spare tire out of the trunk, andthen removes the flat one. She accidentally drops all four lug

nuts (the nuts that hold the tire on) down a hole that is ten feetdeep and only a few inches wide. She'll die of thirst if she can'tfind a way to put that spare tire on securely enough to drive outof the desert. Just using what is normally available in any car,can you come up with at least two ways to solve this problem?

189. A person born in no.1964 and died in 1984 at the age of 30.How?

190. If a doctor gave you three pills and told you to take one everyhalf hour, how long would they last you?

191. An archeologist claims that he found some gold coins dated 34B.C. Do you believe him?

192. Ravana was sitting on the royal chair. Rama challenged: "I bet, Ican make you stand, before I walk around your throne threetimes." Ravan replied, "May be youll prick me with a knife or


40/90

something". Rama smiled, "I won't touch you either directly orwith any object. By your own choice you will get out of the chair.Ravana thought for a while and said, I accept the challenge. Ifyou make me stand, I give back your wife to you. If you fail, shewill be with me forever. Ram won the challenge and got backSita. How?

193. How can you remove one from 19 and make it 20?

194. Ramas mother had three children: one is named Laxman. Otheris Bharath. What is the name of the third one?

195. In a group of siblings, there are seven sisters, and each sisterhas one brother. How many are there in total?

196. How many times can you subtract 2 from 21 without getting anegative number for an answer?

197. If the Prime Minister dies, who would be the Prime Minister?

198. This type of question is asked earlier. Now try this. There arethree switches outside a closed room. There are three lampsinside the room. You can flip the switches as much as you wantwhile the door is closed, but then you must enter just once anddetermine which switch is connected to which lamp. How canyou do it?

199. A woman comes home from shopping, changes her dress, goesto the kitchen, cooks, comes into their bedroom, looks at her

husband, weeps, goes to the phone calls on the doctor, andinvites her sister for late night movie show. Whats happening?

200. In a five star hotel, I ordered for a cup of tea. When I was aboutto sip, I found a fly in the tea. I complained. The managerapologised, took back the cup and brought one fresh one. But Irealised that he bought the same tea. I sued the hotel and woncompensation in a consumer court. The question is not how Iwon the case. How could I recognise that the manager hasbought the same tea?


41/90


42/90

FUNNY BRAIN TEASERS(Brain is not funny. Teasers are amusing)

201. I travelled 100 miles on a nasty road by car with a flat tyre. How?

202. There are six glasses in a row, first three with full (F) of water, andthe next three empty (E). Can you arrange in such a way that it wouldbe FEFEFE. You are allowed to make just one move i.e. touch only oneglass.

203. A and B are walking on a road. A is the father of Bs son. Who is A toB?

204. You are going in a boat against the stream at 7 miles per hour. Thestream is flowing against you with 3 miles per hour speed. A smallcork is floating towards you in the water and is at 14 miles away fromyou. How much time does it take for your boat to meet the cork?

205. How many faces can you find in this :


43/90

206. To make one dozen, you require 12 one-rupee notes. How many ten-rupee notes do you require to make ten dozen?

207. Pour hot water into a thick drinking glass and into a thin wine glass.Which glass in more likely to crack? And why?

208. The speed of sound in air is about 740 miles per hour. Supposethat a police car is sounding its siren and is driving towards youat 60 miles per hour. At what speed is the sound of the sirenapproaching you?

209. An ice cube floating hitherto on the water melts. Does the levelof water rises? Goes down? Maintains same level?

210. Are these lines parallel and straight or curved?


44/90

211. This is a very interesting question, testing your common-sensicaldeduction and lateral thinking. People of island A always tell the truth.People of Island B always tell lie. You met three people A, B, C but dontknow from which island they are from. May be two are from one,another one form second island. Or, all the three may be from oneisland. You ask A, from which island the other 2 are from? He says theyboth are from same island. Then you ask B the same question. He also

replies the same. Can you guess what the third Islander willanswer to the same question?

212.Two cars start from Hyderabad and proceed to Secunderabadwith same speed and on the same route. One car reaches thereafter 5 minutes. Why?

213. A, B, C are three co-workers who would like to know their averagesalary. How can they do it, without disclosing their own salaries?

214. A good pot without any holes is kept right under a running water tapbut it does not get filled up. Why?

215.This problem is based on high sensible imaginative judgment.Many have devised various formulas but complicated theanswer. You think and derive the solution and write on a paperand explain to others. If they could understand what you aretelling, you are a success. The puzzle is like this: A feudalist kinghas 4 bottles of wine. He is hosting a party in next one hour. Asthe guests are about to arrive, it was found that one of thebottles is highly poisonous, and even if one small drop of it is

consumed, the person would be normal for first one hour andsuddenly die. The king had some prisoners to be hanged nextday. He can call 4 among them and ask them individually todrink one drop from one bottle. Only one would becomeunconscious and thus he can find out the adulterated bottle. Butthe sadistic king wants to experiment with minimum number ofprisoners on this job. He does not mind the deaths. With howmany minimum numbers of prisoners he can find out thepoisonous bottle?

216. In the above problem, if 8 bottles are to be tested, how manyprisoners does the king require?

217. In the above question, suppose the king is giving a very lavish partyand the bottles are 1,000. Then how many numbers of prisoners

does he require?


45/90

218. Punctuate the following so it makes sense: "That that is is that thatis not is not is not that it it is."

219. What number, when multiplied by 1 or added by 1 gives thesame result?

220. Snflwr. What is this word? Three ovals are taken away from thatword. It has no flavor but oil is extracted from it.

221.What is the fourth number? Can you give two alternativenumbers in this sereies: 2, 4, 8

222.What is the fourth number? Can you give two alternatives? 10,11, 12

223. A man died, leaving 10,000,000 for his widow, 5 sons and 4daughters. Each daughter received an equal amount, each sonreceived twice as much as a daughter, and the widow receivedthree times as much as a son. How much did the widow receive?

224. What number should come next in this series: 479126, 47926,4796, 796 ?

225. How much more available capacity is there in: 20 four-galloncans that are half full than in twenty-four gallon cans that arehalf empty?

226. Of these two, which number is bigger? The number of half-inches in 10 yards, or the number of half-seconds in 6 minutes.

227. Rearrange these letters to form the name of a famous play-writer in English based on whose play was made a film omkara:I AM A WEAKISH SPELLER.

SIMPLE BUT FUNNY RIDDLES:

228. Why the chicken crossed the road? Here are six reasons: 1.Because it felt like it. 2. It needed exercise. 3. Because that's what

chickens normally do. 4. God ordained from the time of Creation

that this chicken should come into the world and should cross Theroad exactly when it did. 5. It got bored. 6. It had a death wish. Youtry for another ten.


46/90

229. What is that poor people have and extraordinarily rich dontneed?

230. What number gives the same result when it is added to 5 and/ormultiplied by 5?

231. How can you make seven even? Give two reasons.

232. What is the speed of darkness?

233. How does a person get his hair cut on the moon?

234.What time is it when the number of hours since midnight is twotimes the number of hours before noon?

235. As you have understood how to solve the above question, here aslightly complicated one. What time is it when the number ofhours since midnight is five times the number of hours beforenoon?

236. Basing on the above, here is the most difficult one. What time isit when the number of minutes since midnight is nine times thenumber of minutes before noon?

237. Here is a puzzle to tease you. Start from the letters and draw astraight line to the next grid, either to left, right or down. On 1you can change the direction again to left, right or downaccording to your wish. But the condition is on 2 you have to

compulsorily move forward only (Of course, if the 2 is at thecorner, you can take a turn or go up/down). You should not passany grid twice. At the end of the game, you should have coveredall the grids.

1 1 1 1

1 1 1 1

2 S 2 2


47/90

2 1 2 2

238. Applying the same principle as in question 238, solve the puzzlebelow.

2 2 S 2 1

2 1 1 2 2

2 1 1 1 1

1 2 2 2 1

1 2 2 2 1

239. There is one number less than 1000 that gives a remainder of 1 whenit is divided by 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 or 8. What is that number?

240. A father, mother and a boy go for a 10 mile walk, starting from pointA. The father and mother can walk at 2 mph and the son at 4 mph.They also have a bicycle which only one of them can use at a time.

When riding, either the father or mother can at 12 mph while the boycan pedal at 16 mph. What is the shortest time in which all three cancomplete the trip?

241. This is an irritating puzzle. In a group, the chickens are double in

number than the sheep. Their heads + legs are 99. How manychickens and sheep are there?

242. A fish is fifteen inches long. Its head is as long as its tail. If the head were

twice as long as it really is, the head and tail would together be as long as

what is in between. How long is each part of the fish?

243. There is a mistake on the cover page. What is it?

244. A farmer had nine sheep, and all but seven died. How many did he haveleft?


48/90

245. A certain five letter word becomes shorter when you add two letters to it.What is the word?

246. Some months have 30 days. Some have 31. How many months have 28

days?

247. How many times can you subtract 2 from 19, till you get a negative(minus) answer?

248. If you are given numbers 2, 3, 4 and 9 and asked to make it 42 bykeeping some symbols and brackets in between them you would workout (9 4) + (2 3). Now basing on the same principle, from thesame numbers, can you make 42 again with different combinations?There are at least three other alternatives. Try.

Answers for odd numberedquestions

1. Two oranges would remain with you.

3. Three oranges. You gave one to your friend from the oranges taken byyou.

5. Yes. I can answer the question is the answer. Two rupees is also o.k.

7. Two minutes. Let us take the example of a marriage. If it takes 3 hoursfor a boy to marry a girl, it takes same time even for one thousand couples marrying

at a time.

9. kilo. In 64 people-days the consumption is 8 kilos. In 4 people-dayshow much? is the question.


49/90

11. 5000? No. The correct answer is 4100. Dont you believe it? Check it nowwith a paper and pen or on your calculator!

13. 50. If you have answered 20, you might have calculated 20/2+10. No. Itis (20 ) + 10.

15. Lava was born on 28th Feb, and his brother was born on 29th. This beingnot a leap year, he has not celebrated his birthday.

17. At the time she went into labour, the mother was travelling in a ship. Theolder twin was born early on March 1st. The boat then crossed the international timezone and the younger twin was born on February the 28th. Therefore, the youngertwin celebrates his birthday a day before his older brother. (In India, if it is morning 8,in US it would be still evening 8 of the previous day. Hence people adjust their watches

while travelling abroad. The International Date Line is an imaginary line which runsfrom the North Pole to the South Pole and is 180 away from the Greenwich Meridian.Whoever crosses the said line, should change their calendar and watch a day either +or -. For more interesting details about Greenwich, browse the internet.)

19. Suppose my birthday is on December 31, 2000. That means my ninthbirthday is December 31, 2009. And let's say "today" is January 1, 2010. Then twodays earlier would be December 30, 2009, the day before my ninth birthday. I was 8.Now let's get back to today's date, January 1, 2010. "Next year" is 2011. On January1, 2011, I will only be 10, but on December 31 that same year, I'll be 11.

21. Manmohan Singh. He was the prime minister in 2006. His name was thesame in 1984 also. See the question again. It is not Who is our prime minister in1984? The question is What is the name of our prime minister in 1984.

23. Legs.

25. 8 Fs.

27. First light up the two ends of one candle. It takes 30 minutes for it tototally burn out. Then light the second candle. (30+60=90 minutes). Now check upwhether you can derive 45 minutes with the same 2 one-hour candles.

29. Towards your left.

31. On your back side.

33. The correct answer is One or more than one. All the crows fly away onhearing the pistol sound, but Zero is not the correct answer, as one dead crow wouldbe there because the birds are on a floor. At this stage, one appears to be a correctanswer. But never leave anything to escape logic. There may be some deaf crows. Youmay argue that those deaf birds may also fly away noticing other crows. They can beboth deaf and blind also. No. Dont get irritated or confused. There is one more


50/90

probability. What happens if the dead crow is the beloved child of a dead mother crow?Or just married (--: With all this inference, the conclusion is: one or more than wouldbe there. Among the 4 given answers, this is the most logical one.

35. They are passengers in an airplane and see the bird get sucked into anengine. The engine stalls, and the plane crashes.

37. This question is to be worked on three steps. 1. There are two white andtwo black hats. C can see the hats of the two men in front of him. So, if front 2 hatsare white, he would automatically know that his hat is black. If the front 2 hats areblack, he would shout, that his hat is white. But, since he doesn't answer anything,he must be seeing one black hat and one white hat ahead of him. 2. After it becomesapparent to B that the man behind him can't figure out what he's wearing, he knowsthat there is at least one black hat worn by himself and the front man A. Knowing this,

if the middle man saw a white hat in front of him, he knows that his own hat wasblack, and could answer the question correctly. "My hat is black." And thus, threepeople escaped death.

39. Total 8 cigarettes. With 49 he makes 7 and again with 7, he can makeone more.

41. Dont take the offer. The fortune-teller simply tells that the scores are 0:0 as the match is yet to start.

43. 4 games.

45. The answer is in the way the question is worded. You cannot add all theamounts to what someone else has paid to arrive at any kind of a meaningful

number. Lodgers (3), receptionist (25) and the Boy (2). Total 30. It is as a simpleequation.

47. All the numbers. 2 divides every number evenly into half. For example 5can be divided evenly to 2.5.

49. 11.25 seconds. The clock takes five seconds to strike five bells means...five seconds to complete four intervals. (See the clarification for question No.11). Instriking ten, there are nine intervals. To complete the same, it would take 9 X 5divided by 4, i.e., 11.25 seconds.

51. Weigh 6 and 6. From the batch that weighs less, weigh 3 and 3 again.From the batch that again shows less weight, take two coins and weigh them to knowwhich is of less weight. If both are equal, then the third coin is the odd one.

53. The stumbling block is the number of artisans. One hundred is just toomany to handle. But it can be found. Take one toy from A, two from B... hundred fromthe last artisan. The total weight should have been (1 + 2 + 3 .... 100) x 10 grams. If


51/90

one gram is short, the first artisan is the culprit. If fifty grams are short, the fiftiethartisan is the thief.

55. A7/B1. First calculate cost of chapattis. C ate 1/3 and paid 8 Rupees.Hence, the total cost of chapattis is 24. Each chapatti is worth 3 rupees. It means; Ahas 5 (15 rupees worth) chapattis and B has 3 (9 rupees worth). A and B ate 8 rupeesworth each and gave the extra to C. Hence A should get 7 Rupees (15-8). B should get1 rupee (9-8).

57. 65 minutes if A (a person who walks faster) brings all the other three,i.e., 10 minutes for A and B to come to their own countryside, +5 minutes for A to goto the other side, +20 minutes for A and C to come back, +5 minutes for A to go backand finally +25 minutes for both A and D to come to their country.

59. 1 x 2 x 3 = 1 + 2 + 361. If you answer as 3 kilos, you are wrong. The correct answer is 4 kilos asunder: Suppose the weight of the fish is x kilos. That is equal to 2+x according tothe question. The formula is x= 2+x, which means x-x=2. Hence x = 4. Manystudents miscalculate in a hurry and say 3. Never answer a question in a hurry.

63. Same as the above question, but here he has to pour out the paint. To getthe correct mix, he should pour out 3 litres of mixture and add 3 litres of white paintfresh.

65. Two b.

67. One egg. For a simple question of this nature, most students answer twoeggs or four or zero. Analyse the question. If 4 hens lay 4 eggs in 4 days, then 2 hens

lay 2 eggs in 4 days; and in two days it works out to one egg. Note that this is anarithmetic problem.

69. Last person took the egg with the bag.

71. Start cooking and flip both hourglasses. When the four minute hourglassruns out, flip it back over immediately. When the seven minute hourglass runs out, flipthat back over immediately too. One minute later, the four minute hourglass will runout again. At this point, flip the seven minute hourglass back over. The seven minutehourglass was running only for a minute, so when it is flipped over again it will runonly for a minute more. Total is nine minutes.

73. Ten trains. At 5 o clock, when the passenger started from Agra, there arealready five trains on the track. Another five trains start between 5 to 10 p.m. Hence

the total is ten. A complicated answer, but you can visualise.

75. A=5, B=1, C=4, D=2, E=3.


52/90

77. The answer is 18. Assume that the total number of bullets is: A. Eachfriend had A/3 bullets. After shooting the bullets each had A/34 bullets. In total theyhave remaining 3(A/3-4) bullets. According to the question this is equal to 1/3A. Itmeans 3(A/3-4) =A/3. It works out to A-1/3A=12 i.e. A= 18. There is an alternativework-out. Suppose the total bullets are A. spent bullets are 12, which is equal to 1/3 rd

of the total bullets. Hence the equation is A-12 = 1/3A. When simplified, it would be3A-36= A. Hence A = 12.

79. He studied for 3 hours in candle light. Here is the calculation: Assume thatthe initial length of both the candles was L and he studied for X hours. In X hours, totalthick candle burnt = XL/6. In X hours, thin candle burnt = XL/4.After X hours, totalthick candle remaining = L - XL/6. After X hours, total thin candle remaining = L -XL/4. Also, it is given that the thick candle was twice as long as the thin one when he

finally went to sleep. (L - XL/6) = 2(L - XL/4) which works out to (6 - X)/6 = (4 - X)/2which means (6 - X) = 3(4 - X) that leads to 6 - X = 12 - 3X and hence 2X = 6 i.e. X= 3. Hence, he studied for 3 hours i.e. 180 minutes in candle light.

81. 200. Many misguide with answer as 300. You can also look at the problemas follows: The total expenses are 600 + 800 = 1400. The total earnings are 70 + 90= 1600. The overall profit is therefore 1600 - 1400 = 200.

83. If you have written down a full paper of mathematical formulas, youhaven't been thinking in the right direction. It is obvious that the two cars meet eachother after one hour. That means the bird has also flown for one hour i.e. 80 miles.

85. You can never attain, even if you travel at lights speed. It is aninteresting question. work out.

87. Sekhar

89. It is up to you to know that I will kick you out of this city if you dont optto show your support to my son, who is in politics. There is no A or E in the sentence.Try one more sentence.

91. Madam, eye, nun, radar, toot, kayak, noon, poop, solos, pop, tot, mom,dad.

93. Fill the 5 gallon jug and dump into the 3 gallon jug. There are now 2gallons in the big jug. Throw out the water from the small jug, and put the 2 gallonsfrom the big jug into the small jug. Then fill the 5 gallon jug. The total is seven gallons.

95. Fill the 8 litre jug with the 12 litre jug, leaving 4 remaining. Fill the 5 jugwith the 8 jug, leaving 3 litres remaining. Empty the 5 litre jug into the 12 jug. Nowthere are 9 litres in the 12 litre jug and 3 litres in the 8 jug. Pour the 3 litres from the8 jug into the 5 jug. Now fill the 8 litre jug with water from the 12 litre jug, leaving 1litre in the 12 jug. Fill the 5 litre jug (which already has 3 litres in it) from the 8 litre


53/90

jug, leaving 6 in the 8 litre jug. Empty the 5 litre jug into the 12 litre jug. Now thereare 6 litres in the 12 jug, 6 litres in the 8 litre jug, and the 5 litre jug is empty.

97. China, Pakistan, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Nepal and consideringP.O.K is ours... Afghanistan.

99. You could not bring an elephant with one hand.

101. THEREIN. This word contains 9 English words: There, the, he, her, here,ere, rein, I, in.

103. Meat, Teams, Stream, streams. Try different words with the letter Aagain.

105. Dont strain your brain with too much thinking and analysing the question.

They are Triplets. (Or quadruplets). This puzzle stumps many people. They tryoutlandish solutions involving test-tube babies or surrogate mothers.

107. Ram is 5 years old. At that age, to answer a question of this sort, kids takeinto consideration the loss to the property. He says B is correct, and the girl should bepunished six times more than the boy. But as the children grow, they take intoaccount, the intent of the doer and the situational circumstances. Then they say thatthe Boy should be punished and not the girl. When they arrive at the teen age, theysurprisingly argue that D is correct. Teenagers say that neither the boy nor the girl hasbroken the articles intentionally, and hence nobody should be punished. This is calledPiaget and Kohlberg theory.

109. Even then A would reach first. Suppose, it took A 100 seconds to reach 100metres. In that time B ran only 95 metres. As speed is 1 metre per second and Bs is

0.95 seconds per second. Now in the revised race, A has to travel 105 metres and ittakes 105 seconds for him to reach the target. Within this time B runs 99.75 metresonly.

111. There are no railway tracks in Afghanistan.

113. One new word (ten same letters).

115. They were looking at the paper from opposite sides of the table.

117. He can burn the paper bag as if it is an accident.

119. Green land. Australia is a continental land mass. It is separated from allother continents by young oceanic crust. Greenland is geologically part of NorthAmerica. Australia has highly distinct plants and animals. If separation is key factor,

then Antarctica should also be considered an island (making Australia second largest).

121. Both are wrong. Seven eights fifty six.


54/90

123. The police could prove by the DNA of his saliva from the back side of thepostal stamp.

125. Any number of days, as he can sleep in the night.

127. The child fell out, from the first floor of the twenty floor building.

129. No. I cannot solve the question is the answer. Can you solve thequestion? is the question.

131. Call another fire station.

133. Outer side. There are six sides: outside, inside, left, right, front and back.Obviously, the hair is on the outside.

135. It was daytime... not night

137. By untying the knot.

139. If you answer that you would be second from last you are wrong. How canyou overtake the last?

141. Both counted the same.

143. It is difficult to answer this question scientifically, but can be logicallyworked out. Convert the Celsius into Fahrenheit. 0 degrees Celsius means 32 degreesF. Double chill means half of it (16 degrees F). Convert back to Celsius. 16 x 5/9works out to 8.80 C. funny? Yes. It does not stand on technical grounds.

145. Ask any one of them a simple question, If I enquire your brother whetherthis road leads to Rampur; would he say yes or no? If the reply is yes the road does

not lead to your destiny. Did not get the point? Ok. Here is the explanation. Step one:Suppose you are asking the question to a LIAR BROTHER, and he said yes. Then it isunderstood that his brother (who is a truth teller) certainly says no and that is thetruth i.e., the road does not lead to the village. Step II: Suppose the person whom youare asking is the truth-teller and your are asking him what his brother would say, hereplies yes, it is understood that the liar also says yes. When the liar says yes,which means obviously the road does not lead to the village. Thus ... in any case... forany yes answer, the road does not lead to your destination and vice versa.

147. I told them, You will boil me in oil.

149. The Surgeon is the mother of the child.

151. Nobody. To understand this answer, think the other way. If all are telling the

truth, all the three are the culprits. Here the vice versa happened.

153. C is guilty.


55/90

155. Shift your paradigm. How about giving your keys to the doctor asking him totake the old lady to the hospital? Doctor is a better person to join the old lady at hospitaland you personally know him also. You can be with your dream girl / boy spending abeautiful rainy night at the forest!

157. He asked the boy to stop his ignition and the sound of the vehicle. Hereversed his sheep and navigated them to the rear-side of the truck. And that is lateralthinking.

159. If you try from As house first, you can never think of an answer. Try from Cshouse first to reach C gate. Then go from Bs house to B gate. Finally you would knowhow to proceed from As house to his gate.

161. He went to the temple and prayed: God! Give me another two hundredrupees today. I give half of it. As he did not get anything, he went again to the temple

in the evening and said, Hope you have settled your account by adjusting my past dues.Thank you

163. Asking for my spouses beauty and money include my selfishness also. I ask healthfor my spouse for her more comfort. But still there is a better answer. Check up with thenext question.

165. One: she is having some problem from rising: like back pain, legs not in a positionto cooperate. Two: it is not her phone or from the neighbours flats on the other side ofthe wall.

167. The machine simply washes away the white tint on a original thousand rupeenote.

169 Her office is on the road to a hilltop. The woman finds it easy to climb down the roadto reach her office, rather than going up.


56/90

171 The wise man advised the brothers to change their camels. Now whichever camelcrosses the line, that camel is defeated. As they changed the camels, they rush to thefinishing line, to see that the camel that they are riding crosses first and thus the brother(owner of the said camel) is defeated.

173. Up to 30 miles only. 900 square miles means 30x30 miles.

175. Whatever color yours are. You're the bus driver.

177. There isn't any smoke. It's an electric train.

179. Ecuador

181. Groceries.

183. Dreamt.

185. Vacuum

187. It is solid (frozen) river and hence they could simply walk across on the ice.

189. He was born (see the question again) in room No. 1964.

191. How do the coin makers know that Christ is going to born in next 34 years?

193. Remove I from XIX (nineteen) it would become XX (twenty).

195. Eight.

197. The current Prime Minister, who is alive, would continue as the Prime Minister.

199. Her Husband died long back. She was looking at her husbands photo.

201. It was my spare tyre.

203. A is Bs spouse, either wife or husband.

205. If you can find five faces, it is good. But if you can find eight, it is excellent. We aresorry if the photograph is not clearly visible.

207. Chances are more for the thick glass to break.

209. As the ice melts, it contracts. Same level would be maintained.

211. Suppose A is a liar, it means B and C are notfrom same island. Then one amongthem must be truth-teller. Suppose A is a truth teller, then both B and C must be fromone island and both may be liars or truth tellers. Same rule is applicable to B also. If Aand B are truth-tellers, C must also be a truth teller. If they are from different islands,

then C must be a liar. In any case, C will tell, Both are from same island. Complicatedanswer, but by this time after doing all the above puzzles, you might have understoodthe logic by this time.


57/90


58/90

239. Multiply the numbers 3x5x7x8 leaving 1, 2 and 4, as 8 is divisible by all of them.

The product is 840. Add 1 to it to get the reminder of 1. The final answer is 841.

241. Let S be the number of sheep and Cbe the number of chickens. So: 2S = C.Each has one head and hence 5S + 3C = 99. Rephrase the first equation 6S - 3C =0 which yields: 11S = 99.So there are nine sheep and eighteen chickens.

243. On the cover page it is printed 250 puzzles.

245. Short..er.

247. Only once. Later it would become 19.


59/90

Answers for even numberedquestions

2. Two oranges. You gave one to your friend from it i.e., basket.

4. Four rupees. Your intelligence lies in not calculating individually the costof Apple (two rupees) and orange (one rupee). But this is not the answer. You neednot work out the cost separately. The correct answer is Four rupees and it is given inthe question itself. Just check the question again. And that is natural intelligence.

6. Two minutes.8. Four minutes.

10. kilo. Four people eat 1 kilo in 1 day according to the question. Henceone person eats th kilo in a day.

12. Half-rupee. Do you think the correct answer is One rupee? No..... If thecost of Blouse is one rupee (according to you), then the cost of the sari should be 11rupees (because: the sari cost is ten rupees more than the blouse cost). Then the totalof the two would be 12/-which does not tally with the

puzzles final book (1)

Documents