Riddle: Irene and her friend Mark were walking down the street when they saw two houses. Mark wanted to play a game with Irene. He said, "One family lives in each house. And each family has two pets: either dogs or cats. The first family has a dog who likes dry food, while the other pet likes canned food. The second family has a 6-year-old dog and a newborn pet. If you can guess which family has a cat, I'll take you out for lunch." Irene manages to get the riddle right, and the two of them go out for lunch. Which family did she choose?
Answer: Irene chose the first family. There are three different possibilities for the pets that the first family has: 1) an older dog and a younger cat; 2) a younger dog, and an older cat, and; 3) two dogs. Two of these options involve a cat, and all of them are equally possible, so the chance of the first family having a cat is 2/3. There are two different possibilities for the pets that the second family has: 1) a 6-year-old dog and a newborn dog, and; 2) a 6-year-old dog and a newborn cat. One of these options involves a cat, and both of them are equally possible, so the chance of the second family having a cat is 1/2. Irene's odds of winning will be higher if she chooses the first family.
Riddle: Dillon, Brandon, and Jacob are brothers. Assuming that all three of the following statements are true, which of them is the youngest? 1) Dillon is the oldest. 2) Brandon is not the oldest. 3) Jacob is not the youngest.
Answer: Brandon is the youngest brother. Dillon cannot be the youngest brother because the first statement says that he is the oldest; he can't be the oldest brother and the youngest one at the same time. Jacob cannot be the youngest brother either, because the third statement says that he is NOT the youngest; he can't be the youngest brother and NOT the youngest one at the same time. This leaves us with Brandon.
Riddle: Mr. Green, Mr. Brown, and Mr. Black meet up for coffee one Monday morning. Mr. Green says, "Hey, do you realize that we're all wearing shirts of colors that don't match our names?". The man wearing the brown shirt says, "Wow, Mr. Green, you're right"! What colored shirt is each man wearing?
Answer: Mr. Green cannot be wearing the green shirt, because his statement that all three men are wearing shirts that don't match their names is correct. And he cannot be wearing the brown shirt, because the man wearing the brown shirt replied to his words, and let's be honest–it doesn't make sense to reply to your OWN words, right? This means Mr. Green can only be wearing the black shirt. Mr. Brown can either be wearing a green or a black shirt. The black shirt is already taken, so Mr. Brown is wearing the green shirt. And Mr. Black is wearing the brown shirt.
Riddle: Walker has to unlock his locker to get his uniform and get dressed for his basketball game. However, his lock requires a three-digit code to be unlocked. Walker doesn't know the exact code, but here are some clues. A) 8-6-5 One number is correct and in the right position. B) 8-4-0 One number is correct but in the wrong position. C) 3-5-0 Two numbers are correct but in the wrong positions. D) 3-6-9 Nothing is correct. E) 7-6-9 One number is correct but in the wrong position. What is the code?
Answer: The code is 0-7-5. Starting with Clue D, we can eliminate 3, 6, and 9, and all instances of those numbers, because none of them are in the final code. 8 cannot be in the final code because Clues A and B would contradict each other if it was in the code. This means that 5 is in the code, and it takes the third position; we can therefore eliminate 4, too. From Clue C, we can conclude that 5 and 0 are part of the code, because 3 is not (we already eliminated it based on Clue D). And based on Clue E, the last digit we need is 7, because we already eliminated 6 and 9 based on Clue D. We do not know the positions of 0 and 7, however, but we know that 5 takes the third position, which leaves us with just two options for the code: either 7-0-5 or 0-7-5. 7-0-5 cannot be the code because it would contradict Clue E since 7 cannot go in the first position; it can only go in the second position, while 0 goes in the first position. This means that the correct code is 0-7-5.
Riddle: Zoe wants to do a science experiment where she drops two tennis balls into two buckets. She will drop the first tennis ball into a bucket filled with water at a temperature of 20°C, and she will drop the second tennis ball into a bucket at 20°F. Assuming that both tennis balls are completely identical and that they are both dropped into the buckets simultaneously, which ball will reach the bottom of its bucket first?
Answer: The tennis ball dropped into the second bucket will reach the bottom first. The water in the first bucket will slow down the first tennis ball, and thus, it will take longer for that ball to reach the bottom of the bucket. Did you think the "water" in the second bucket had to be frozen at 20°F? Well, I didn't say that there was water in the second bucket–the bucket ITSELF was at 20°F. Therefore, there is no water or ice to slow the first tennis ball down.
Riddle: Zane is a big boss in a hugely successful company. Every week, however, he finds out that one of his worst employees has been stealing his documents. After a whole year of stolen documents, Zane rounds up his three worst employees– Kelly, Raymond, and Natalia– and questions them. Kelly says, "Raymond has been stealing your documents!". Raymond says, "I haven't been stealing your documents!". Natalia says, "I haven't been stealing your documents, either!". Only one of the employees is telling the truth. Who has been stealing the documents, and which employee is telling the truth?
Answer: Natalia has been stealing the documents. Raymond is telling the truth. If Kelly was the one stealing the documents, then she would be lying, and Raymond would be telling the truth. But then, Natalia would also be telling the truth, which goes against the condition that only one employee is telling the truth. If Raymond was the one stealing the documents, then he would be lying, Kelly would be telling the truth, and Natalia would also be telling the truth. This also contradicts that only one employee is honest. If Natalia was the one stealing the documents, then she is lying. But then, who is telling the truth? It's not Kelly, because if it was so, both she and Natalia would be telling the truth, and Raymond would be lying, which doesn't meet the requirements. Therefore, Raymond is telling the truth, Kelly and Natalia are both lying, and Natalia is the one stealing the documents.
Riddle: Claudia invented a game for her friends to play at her birthday party. Here is how it goes: she will place two marbles into a box– one yellow marble, and one purple marble. The player will have to pull out one of the marbles from the box. If the marble is yellow, the player will win $100.00, but if the marble is purple, the player will have to pay $10.00. Claudia decided to trick the players by putting two purple marbles into the box, rather than one yellow and one purple. Brian watched the other players lose the game one by one. But when it was his turn, he won $100.00! How did he do it?
Answer: Brian pulled out one of the marbles, and, without showing it to anyone, quickly put it in his mouth, being careful not to swallow it. Then, he pulled out the remaining marble, which was purple, and showed it to everybody. According to the rules, it meant that the marble Brian had chosen was yellow. Claudia had to admit it, otherwise, everyone at the party would know that she was a liar.
Riddle: Emily wants to become a professional chef, but the cooking school she wants to apply to only accepts applicants over 17. Here's what you know about Emily's siblings' ages: 1) Emily's brother Patrick's age is two times that of Emily, and; 2) Emily's sister Nicole's age is one-half of that of Patrick. Nicole turned 17 this year. Using this information, can Emily apply to the cooking school this year?
Answer: No, she cannot. If Nicole is 17, and her age is one-half of that of Patrick, then Patrick must be two times Nicole's age. Therefore, Patrick is 34. If Patrick is 34, and his age is two times that of Emily, then Emily must be one-half of Patrick's age. Therefore, Emily is 17. Emily and Nicole are of the same age because they are twins. However, the cooking school only accepts applicants "over 17", not "17 and over". Therefore, Emily cannot apply to the cooking school this year.