Brain Teasers & Riddles

Here are some brain teasers and riddles that I like, and the first brain teaser here I learned from someone coming home from London on the train once with my mum.    Some of them are really hard and not all of them are completely ’logical’ so you will need to think “out of the box”.

When you think you know the answer to one of them, leave me a comment. Tell me which puzzle your answer belongs to and what the answer is itself and I’ll let you know if you got it right or not by publishing it in the comments section at the bottom of the page.

Here’s the first brain teaser…

I warn you this is quite a hard one.  It’s a question that they used to ask people when they came for an interview for a job at Microsoft (the big computer company) – and they had to answer it within 3 minutes!  If you have to admit defeat,  see if your parents can manage it:

There were four friends who needed to cross a bridge at night time.

They only had one torch.

Only 1 or 2 people could cross the bridge at a time  (ie. no more than 2 at a time)

They had to have the torch with them every time they crossed the bridge.

And on top of all that, the friends had to cross in 17 minutes exactly – not a minute more or less.

…Now the 4 friends (being human!) each took a different time to cross the bridge – as follows:

Malcolm  - took 10 minutes    (hmm, I think he was a bit of a tortoise )

Hugh – took 4 minutes

Eddy – took 2 minutes

Geoff – took 1 minute   

…for example, Eddy and Geoff crossed together with the torch.   Geoff left Eddy, went back over the bridge carrying the torch and picked up Hugh, etc. . . . . .

Ok, now you work out how they all managed to get across the bridge in the 17 minutes…

Hard eh?!

Fill in the comments box below to let me know if you solve it (or if you need to ask anything) – and although I won’t publish the answer, I will publish your name if you get it right.

Good luck!

 

This next one is quite a hard riddle…

Here’s a really good riddle that I learned about at school. I think it is quite a hard one and you might need your parents to help you but I think that these kind of things are very good for your mind, can be fun and are very satisfying when you solve them. You need to think “outside the box”. Send me a comment when you think you have the answer and i will tell you if you are right or not.

Here it is:

All dwelling in one house are strange brothers three,

as unlike as any three brothers can be,

yet try as you may to tell brother from brother,

you’ll find that the trio resemble each other.

The first isn’t there, though he’ll come beyond doubt.

The second’s departed so he’s not about.

The third and the smallest is right on the spot, and manage without him the others could not.

Yet the third is a factor with which to be reckoned

because the first brother turns into the second.

You cannot stand back and observe number three,

for one of the others is all you will see.

So tell me, my child, are the three of them one?

Or are there but two? Or could there be none?

Just name them, and you will at once realize

that each rules a kingdom of infinite size.

They rule it together and are it as well.

In that, they’re alike so where do they dwell?

Can you solve it?

Let me know in the box below if you know the answer…

Good luck!

Btw, we’re ‘on the case’ trying to think of a way that we can let you know the answers if you really, really,  …really can’t get them  - we’ll let you know when we do.