Brainteasers
Can you work out the answers to the following brainteasers?
| 1 | The train line between Edinburgh and Glasgow is 50 miles long. At 12:00, train A leaves Glasgow for Edinburgh and travels at 60 miles per hour. At 12:10, train B leaves Edinburgh for Glasgow and travels at 80 miles per hour. When the two trains pass each other, which will be closer to Glasgow? They will both be the same distance from Glasgow when they pass each other. |
| 2 | A woman has two sons who were born on the same hour of the same day of the same year, but they are not twins. How could this be? The are two brothers from a set of triplets. |
| 3 | You are walking through a forest, when you come across two paths - one which will lead you out of the forest, one which will get you completely lost. There are two twins who know which path you should take, but one twin always lies and one always tells the truth, and you can only ask one question. What question should you ask? "What would your brother say is the correct path?" (If the correct path is left, then the twin who tells you the truth will say his brother would say the correct path is right. The twin who lies will say his brother would say the correct path is right too. In either case, you would know to use the left path.) |
| 4 | Forward's I'm heavy, but backwards, I'm not. What am I? The word "not". |
| 5 | Two boxers are in a boxing match. The fight is scheduled for 12 rounds but ends after 6 rounds, after one boxer knocks out the other boxer. This is regular boxing and not kick boxing, but no man throws a punch. How can this be explained? They are female boxers |
| 6 | Mary has a large bedroom and the only light switch is on the wall approximately 20 feet away from her bed. How can she turn off the light, but still get into bed before it is dark? By going to bed when it is still daylight. |
| 7 | You are running a race and overtake the person who is in third place. In which position are you now? Third. |
| 8 | Two men live on an island completely covered by long grass. A fire starts on the opposite end of the island and begins to spread. The fire was too big for them to put it out using water so how did the men stay on the island and survive without getting burned at all? They removed the grass around them to stop the fire from spreading. |
| 9 | What is the longest word can be typed using only the top row of letters on a typewriter? Typewriter |
| 10 | A man lives on the 20th floor of a block of flats. If it is a rainy day, he gets into the elevator in the morning, goes down to the ground floor and goes off to work. In the afternoon when he comes home, he gets into the elevator and goes straight to the 20th floor. However, if it is a sunny day he goes down to the ground floor in the morning, but when he comes home he only goes up to the 10th floor and then walks up 10 flights of stairs. Why? The man is short, and can only reach the elevator button 20 when he has his umbrella. |