Tricky Questions:
Brainteasers 5

Watch out! Every one of these puzzles involves a trick.

Example: How much dirt is in a hole 3 feet by 2 feet by 4 feet? Answer: There is no dirt in a hole. It has only air in it!

Note: These were adapted from Martin Gardner's excellent Perplexing Puzzles and Tantalizing Teasers (Dover, 1988). If you like brainteasers, get this book!

1. HIGGS’S PIGS
Farmer Higgs owns three pink pigs, four brown pigs, and one black pig. How many of Higgs’s pigs can say that it is the same color as another pig on Higgs’s farm? _____________

2. PENNIES FOR SALE
Why are 1984 pennies worth almost twenty dollars in 1994? _____________

3. POP AND GRANDPOP
Tom says his grandfather is only six years older than his father. How is that possible? __________________________

4. THE TRAMP AND THE TRAIN
A tramp was walking down a railroad track when he saw a fast express train speeding toward him. Of course, he jumped off the track. But before he jumped, he ran ten feet toward the train. Why? ______________________________

5. A HARD-BOILED PROBLEM

If it takes twenty minutes to hard-boil one goose egg, how long will it take to hard-boil four goose eggs? ____________

6. HEAP TOUGH PROBLEM
A big fat Indian and a small thin Indian were sitting outside a teepee, each smoking a pipe. The little Indian was the son of the big Indian, but the big Indian was not the little Indian’s father. How come? _________________________________

7. THE MISPELLED WORD
Somewhere in No. 7 there is a word that is not spelled correctly. Can you find it? ___________________________

8. FLAPDOODLE’S WALK
Archibald Flapdoodle walked outside through a pouring rain for twenty minutes without getting a single hair on his head wet. He didn’t wear a hat, carry an umbrella, or hold anything over his head. His clothes got soaked. How could this happen? __________________________________________

9. STAMPS TO STUMP YOU
It takes twelve one-cent stamps to make a dozen. How many four-cent stamps does it take to make a dozen?___________

10. MIDGE ON THE ELEVATOR
Midge lives on the twelfth floor of a modern elevator apartment building. Whenever she gets into the automatic elevator on the ground floor, and no one else is in the elevator, she pushes the button for floor 6, gets off on the sixth floor, and walks up the stairway to the twelfth floor. She would much prefer to ride the elevator all the way up to her floor. Why does she do this? __________________________________

11. MRS. FUMBLEFINGER’S FUMBLE
Mrs. Fumbleringer was working in the kitchen when a loose ring, with a big diamond on it, slipped off her finger and fell smack into some coffee. Strange to say, the diamond did not get wet. Why? ____________________________________

12. THE SNEAKY WAITER
At Sloppy Joe’s Restaurant a customer was shocked to find a fly in his coffee. He sent the waiter back for a fresh cup. After his first sip, the customer pounded on the table and shouted: "This is the same cup of coffee I had before!" How could he tell? ______________________________________

13. THE KING AND THE ALCHEMIST
One day, centuries ago, an alchemist brought a small bottle to the king. "This bottle," said he, "holds a liquid so powerful that it will instantly dissolve anything it touches." How did the king know the man was lying? __________________

14. BETSY AND PATSY
"We were born on the same day of the same year," said Betsy.
"And we have the same mother and father," said Patsy.
"But we’re not twins," said Betsy.
Can you explain? ___________________________________

15. THE PURPLE PARROT
"I guarantee," said the salesman in the pet shop, "that this purple parrot will repeat every word it hears." A customer bought the bird, but found that the parrot wouldn’t speak a single word. Nevertheless, what the salesman said was true. How could this be? _________________________________

Scoring:
14-15 correct: You ought to be making up your own brainteasers!
10-13 correct: Anyone for Mensa?
6-9 correct: You're probably a very trusting soul.

Answers

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