Brain Busters
You are running a race and pass the person in second place. What place are you in?
Second place
A plane crashes directly on the border between the United States and Canada. Where do they bury the survivors?
You don't bury survivors.
A man walks into a restaurant and asks for a glass of water. The waiter suddenly points a toy gun at him. The man says, "Thank you!" and leaves. Why?
The man had hiccups, and the waiter scared them away.
How many months have 28 days?
All 12 months.
Q: You roll a standard six-sided die. What is the probability of rolling an even number?
50% (3 out of 6).
What comes next in this sequence? 3, 7, 15, 31, 63, ___
127. Each number is doubled, then 1 is added.
A girl has as many brothers as sisters, but each of her brothers has only half as many brothers as sisters. How many boys and girls are in the family?
3 boys and 4 girls.
A necklace goes missing. Three suspects make statements:
Alex: "Blake stole it."
Blake: "Casey stole it."
Casey: "Blake is lying."
If exactly ONE person is lying, who stole the necklace?
Blake stole it. Alex and Casey are telling the truth.
If you take 3 apples from a basket containing 10 apples, how many apples do you have?
3 apples.
You flip a coin three times and get heads every time. What is the probability of getting tails on the fourth flip?
50%.
A farmer has 17 sheep. All but 9 run away. How many sheep are left?
9 sheep
Five people are in a room. Every person shakes hands with every other person exactly once. How many handshakes happen?
10 handshakes.
Q: A detective finds a note that reads:
20 – 18 – 21 – 19 – 20
Each number represents a letter's position in the alphabet (A = 1, B = 2, etc.).
What word does the note spell?
TRUST.
A doctor gives you 3 pills and tells you to take one every 30 minutes. How long will it take to finish all 3 pills?
60 minutes.
A bag contains 5 red, 3 blue, and 2 green marbles. Without looking, how many marbles must you pull out to guarantee that at least two are the same color?
4 marbles.
Three boxes are labeled APPLES, ORANGES, and MIXED. Every label is wrong. You can take one fruit from one box. Which box should you choose to figure out what's in all three?
Choose the box labeled MIXED. Since every label is wrong, it contains only apples or only oranges. One fruit tells you which, and you can use the incorrect labels to identify the other boxes.
Three switches are outside a closed room. Inside the room are three traditional light bulbs, each controlled by a different switch. You can flip the switches as much as you want, but you can enter the room only once. How do you figure out which switch controls each bulb?
Turn on Switch 1 for several minutes, then turn it off. Turn on Switch 2 and enter the room. The lit bulb belongs to Switch 2, the warm but unlit bulb belongs to Switch 1, and the cold bulb belongs to Switch 3.
Four students — Alex, Blake, Casey, and Drew — are sitting in a row.
Alex sits immediately to the left of Casey.
Blake sits somewhere to the right of Casey.
Drew sits to the left of Alex.
What is their seating order from left to right?
Answer: Drew, Alex, Casey, Blake.
Two fathers and two sons go fishing. Each catches exactly one fish, but they only catch 3 fish total. How is this possible?
There are only 3 people: a grandfather, a father, and a son.
You roll two standard six-sided dice. What is the most likely total?
7.
Four people need to cross a bridge at night. They have one flashlight. Only two can cross at once. Their crossing times are 1, 2, 5, and 10 minutes. What is the fastest total time?
17 minutes.
You have two ropes. Each rope takes exactly 60 minutes to burn completely, but they burn at uneven speeds. How can you measure exactly 45 minutes using only the ropes and a lighter?
Light Rope 1 at both ends and Rope 2 at one end. Rope 1 burns out after 30 minutes. Immediately light the other end of Rope 2. It will burn out in 15 more minutes, giving you exactly 45 minutes.
Q: A detective finds a locked safe with a three-digit code.
The clues are:
682: One digit is correct and in the right position.
614: One digit is correct but in the wrong position.
206: Two digits are correct but both are in the wrong positions.
738: None of the digits are correct.
780: One digit is correct but in the wrong position.
What is the three-digit code?
Answer: 042
Explanation: Each clue helps eliminate numbers and determine the correct positions. All five clues must be true for the code to work.
A man is looking at a photograph. Someone asks, "Who is in the picture?"
He replies, "Brothers and sisters, I have none. But that man's father is my father's son."
Who is in the photograph?
His son.
You're on a game show with three doors. Behind one is a $1,000 prize, and behind the other two are nothing. You pick Door 1. The host, who knows where the prize is, opens Door 3 to reveal nothing. The host then offers you the chance to switch to Door 2. Should you switch or stay to have the best chance of winning?
Switch! Switching gives you a 2/3 chance of winning, while staying gives you a 1/3 chance, assuming the host always opens an empty door and offers the switch.