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"Riddle" Riddles - Next 10 of 720.
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:
Hidden in the poem below, a manly name you'll seek; just read and listen to the rhyme, but please, don't take a week! MYSTERY POEM: I do not mind addition; I'll tolerate subtraction; but try not to increase my stress, by tossing in those fractions. I'll multiply and then divide, and figure out those sums; but modern math --- the math you use, just makes me want some Tums. What is the man's name you hear in the rhyme?
Answer: The name you'll hear is MATTHEW.
Riddle:
A recently purchased implement for brushing away floor dirt invariably effaces the dirt most efficiently. What is the proverb?
Answer: A new broom sweeps clean.
Riddle:
I have heard of a something-or-other, growing in its nook, swelling and rising, pushing up its covering. Upon that boneless thing a cocky-minded young woman took a grip with her hands; with her apron a lord's daughter covered the tumescent thing. What is it?
Answer: Dough turning into bread.
Riddle:
Why is a lumberjack like a stage actor?
Answer: He is known by his axe (acts).
Riddle:
What is that which is invisible, but never out of sight?
Answer: The Letter I.
Riddle:
I have a heart that doesn't beat, a mouth that doesn't speak, and a head that doesn't think. What am I?
Answer: An artichoke.
Riddle:
My first is a very uncomfortable state,
In cold weather it mostly abounds.
My second's an instrument formed of hard steel,
That will cause the stout foe to stagger and reel,
And when used, is a symptom of hate.
My whole is an author of greatest renown,
Whose fame to the last day of time will go down.
Who am I?
Answer: Shakespeare.
