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"Hat" Riddles - Next 10 of 3478.
Riddle:
Place three piles of matches on a table, one with 11 matches, the second with 7, and the third with 6. You are to move matches so that each pile holds 8 matches. You may add to any pile only as many matches as it already contains. All the matches must come from one other pile. For example, if a pile holds 6 matches, you may add 6 to it, no more or less.
You have three moves. How can you do it?
Answer: First pile to second; second to third; third to first:
| Pile | Initial number | First move | Second move | Third move |
| First | 11 | 11-7=4 | 4 | 4+4=8 |
| Second | 7 | 7+7=14 | 14-6=8 | 8 |
| Third | 6 | 6 | 6+6=12 | 12-4=8 |
Riddle:
What is yours but never yours?
Answer: A Gift.
Riddle:
If a bee lands in the palm of your hand, what is in your eye?
Answer: Beauty, because beauty is in the eye of the bee-holder!
Riddle:
You have 52 playing cards, 26 red, and 26 black. You draw cards one by one. A red card pays you a dollar. A black one fines you a dollar. You can stop any time you want. Cards are not returned to the deck after being drawn. What is the optimal stopping rule in terms of maximizing your expected payoff? Also, what is the expected payoff following this optimal rule?
Answer: The solution to this problem is, in my opinion the most difficult to understand of all the puzzles. Indeed I was unable to solve it and didn't receive a complete solution until two years after originally posting it. The final solution, in the form of the spreadsheet was sent to me by Han Zheng. For this reason I have left on the page the thoughts i had before I had the final solution as they represent an easier to understand and more simplistic approach. Also the reasoning may help you arrive at the final solution by yourself or help you understand it. I would recommend reading that answer before you dive into the full answer. But an important thing to note are that as the player we can't lose this game as we can gamble till all the cards are drawn and our net position is zero. From our earlier analysis it is clear we need a dynamic quit rule. A singal value is not sufficent. We must, at each stage consider what cards are remaining, and therefor the probability of a positive or negative outcome from drawing again. For the explanation i will ask you first to consider a deck containing only 6 cards, 3 +ve & 3 -ve (note i'm no longer calling the cards black and red, it confuses me.)
Riddle:
If you have it you can have a happy life. It is invisible. It flows between people like an energy. You might call it a commodity. Without it, you quickly find enemies. It can't be bought. What is it?
Answer: Effort.
Riddle:
I am round, I am sharp, I am small, I am big, I exist, then I don't. What am I?
Answer: The Moon. It's round when it's full, it's sharp when it's a crescent, its size can vary depending upon its phase, and it's gone when it's a new moon.
Riddle:
My legs are knives. I am a knight. I can reclaim what I lose in a fight. What am I?
Answer: A crab.
Riddle:
I'm greater than God, yet worse than the devil. I am what the miser spends and the spendthrift saves. I am what the blind see and the paralised hold. What am I?
Answer: Nothing.
Riddle:
I am a plant. Every second I grow. You can not cut me or you will die. What am I?
Answer: Time/Thyme.
Riddle:
What do you call a Frenchman wearing sandals?
Answer: Phillipe Phillope.
