Quick Wit
You’re in a race and you pass the person in second place. What place are you in now?
If you pass the person in second place, you take their position, and you would now be in second place.
A farmer had 17 sheep. All but 9 of them ran away. How many sheep does she have left?
The farmer has 9 sheep left. The phrase "all but 9 of them ran away" means that 9 sheep did not run away.
If a plane crashes on the border of two countries, where are the survivors buried?
Survivors aren’t buried.
A deaf man came into a store to pick up flowers he ordered for his beloved wife. How did he explain that he needs to pick up the flowers that he ordered before?
The man is deaf and not dumb.
There are two ducks in front of a duck, two ducks behind a duck and a duck in the middle. How many ducks are there?
Three.
Two ducks are in front of the last duck; the first duck has two ducks behind; one duck is between the other two.
You start walking north for 5 km, turn left and walk 3 km, then turn left again and walk 5 km. Finally, you turn right and walk 2 km. What direction are you facing now?
You are facing west.
If January 5, 2025, is a Sunday, January 5, 2026, will be which day?
It will be a Monday because 2025 is not a leap year, so the weekday shifts forward by one day.
If you go to the movies and you're paying, is it cheaper to take one friend to the movies twice, or two friends to the movies simultaneously? Explain.
Comparing the two scenarios, taking two friends at the same time is cheaper (3 tickets < 4 tickets). So, it's more cost-effective to take two friends to the movies simultaneously.
What comes next in the series? 5, 10, 20, 40?
80 (Each term doubles the previous one).
What will be the number if you divide 40 by half and add 10 to it?
40/0.5 = 80
And, 80 + 10 = 90
A window cleaner is cleaning a window on the 25th floor of a skyscraper when, suddenly he slips and falls. He has no safety equipment and yet he is not hurt. How can this be ?
He was cleaning the window from inside.
There are 20 people in an empty, square room. Each person has full sight of the entire room and everyone in it without turning his head or body or moving in any way (other than the eyes). Where can you place an apple so that all but one person can see it?
To achieve this scenario where all but one person can see the apple, you can place the apple on the head of one of the individuals.
5 people sit in a row. Mary is to the left of Bob but to the right of Sarah. Tom is to the right of Bob but to the left of John. Who is sitting in the middle?
Bob is in the middle.
Order: Sarah, Mary, Bob, Tom, John.
If you're 2000 feet away from a door and with each move you advance half the distance to the door. How many moves will it take to reach the door?
If you halve the remaining distance to the door with each move, you will never actually reach the door, but you will get arbitrarily close to it.
A tree doubles in size every year until it reaches its maximum height in 10 years. After how many years will the tree grow halfway to its maximum height?
9 years. In the last year, it doubles from half its maximum height to full height.
A man is in a maze, suddenly the power shuts off. He walks on and it gets colder and colder. He comes to a set of doors numbered 1, 2, 3 and 4. He walks through door 3. Then, he comes to three more doors labeled A,B, and C. He goes through B and it locks behind him trapping him so he cannot turn back. In front of him are two doors. In one is a loaded gun that will shoot him and the other contains an electric chair that he will be strapped to. Which one should he choose and Why?
The electric chair because at the beginning of the maze, the power shut off!
A guy is stuck in a room with two doors. Behind one door is a room with a magnifying glass that makes everything burn in the sun. Behind the other door is a fire-breathing dragon. How can the man get out?
Escape through the first door at night.
You're all set to leave for your holiday when you realize you forgot your socks! Rushing back to your room, you’re met with a power outage, leaving you in complete darkness. Thankfully, you recall the contents of your sock drawer: ten pairs of forest green socks, ten pairs of midnight black socks, and eleven pairs of ocean blue socks, all jumbled together. How many socks must you grab to guarantee at least one perfectly matching pair?
The answer is four.
Although there are many socks in the drawer, there are only three colors, so if you take four socks then you are guaranteed to have at least one matching pair.
You planted sunflower seeds in your garden. Every day, the number of flowers doubles. If it takes 52 days for the flowers to fill the garden, how many days would it take for them to fill half the garden?
If the number of sunflowers doubles every day, then the day before it fills the garden, it would be half filled.
So, if it takes 52 days for the flowers to fill the garden completely, it would take 52 - 1 = 51 days for the flowers to fill half of the garden.
The ages of a father and son add up to 66.
The father's age is the son's age reversed.
How old could they be? (Give 2 possible solutions).
51 and 15.
42 and 24.
60 and 06.
How many phone calls, at most, does someone need to make when trying numbers starting with 9998888 _ _ _ to reach the correct phone number, considering the last three digits were accidentally erased?
If the last three digits of the phone number starting with 9998888 were accidentally erased, there are 1,000 possible combinations for the missing digits (000 to 999). Therefore, at most, someone would need to make 1,000 phone calls to exhaust all possible combinations and reach the correct phone number.
UNO plans a gathering. However, there is a threat of terrorist attacks. So the security guard who is a mathematician, plans something to secure the place. A terrorist stands nearby the door where 1st ambassador comes, the security guard said 'twelve' and ambassador replied with 'six'. 2nd ambassador comes, the security guard said 'six' and ambassador replied with 'three'. The terrorist thinks it’s enough and walks to the door. The security person said 'eight’, terrorist replied 'four' and get immediately arrested. Why?
The security guard is using a code based on the number of letters in the spoken number.
Since the terrorist didn't understand the pattern, the security personnel recognized the discrepancy and realized the person was not an ambassador, leading to their immediate arrest.
After concluding a business conference, each of the 11 attendees shakes hands with every other person exactly once. How many total handshakes will occur?
Think of each person shaking hands with everyone else:
If we keep counting like this, we get: 10 + 9 + 8 + 7 + 6 + 5 + 4 + 3 + 2 + 1 = 55 handshakes.
Jake bought a pair of shoes and a shirt, which cost a total of $150. The shoes cost $100 more than the shirt. How much was each item?
The shoes cost $125, the shirt $25.
A person has 53 socks in their drawer, comprising 21 identical blue socks, 15 identical black socks, and 17 identical red socks. In complete darkness, how many socks must the person take out to ensure they have, without a doubt, at least one pair of black socks?
40 socks.
If he takes out 38 socks (adding the two biggest amounts, 21 and 17), although it is very unlikely, it is possible they could all be blue and red. To make 100 percent certain that he also has a pair of black socks he must take out a further two socks.