Puzzles

QUESTIONS:
1. There is a man who lives on the top floor of a very tall building.
Everyday he gets the elevator down to the ground floor to leave
the building to go to work. Upon returning from work though, he
can only travel half way up in the lift and has to walk the rest of
the way unless it's raining! Why?
This is probably the best known and most celebrated of all lateral
thinking puzzles. It is a true classic. Although there are many
possible solutions which fit the initial conditions, only the
canonical answer is truly satisfying.
2. A man and his son are in a car accident. The father dies on the
scene, but the child is rushed to the hospital. When he arrives the
surgeon says, "I can't operate on this boy, he is my son!" How can
this be?
3. A man is wearing black. Black shoes, socks, trousers, coat,
gloves and ski mask. He is walking down a back street with all the
street lamps off. A black car is coming towards him with its light
off but somehow manages to stop in time. How did the driver see
the man?
4. One day Kerry celebrated her birthday. Two days later her
older twin brother, Terry, celebrated his birthday. How?
5.. Why is it better to have round manhole covers than square
ones? This is logical rather than lateral, but it is a good puzzle
that can be solved by lateral thinking techniques. It is supposedly
used by a very well-known software company as an interview
question for prospective employees.
6. A man went to a party and drank some of the punch. He then
left early. Everyone else at the party who drank the punch
subsequently died of poisoning. Why did the man not die?
7. This is an unusual paragraph. I'm curious how quickly you can
find out what is so unusual about it. It looks so plain you would
think nothing was wrong with it. In fact, nothing is wrong with it!
It is unusual though. Study it, and think about it, but you still may
not find anything odd. But if you work at it a bit, you might find
out.
8. A woman had two sons who were born on the same hour of the
same day of the same year. But they were not twins. How could
this be so?
9. A man walks into a bar and asks the barman for a glass of
water. The barman pulls out a gun and points it at the man. The
man says 'Thank you' and walks out. This puzzle claims to be the
best of the genre. It is simple in its statement, absolutely baffling
and yet with a completely satisfying solution. Most people struggle
very hard to solve this one yet they like the answer when they hear
it or have the satisfaction of figuring it out.
10. A murderer is condemned to death. He has to choose between
three rooms. The first is full of raging fires, the second is full of
assassins with loaded guns, and the third is full of lions that
haven't eaten in 3 years. Which room is safest for him?
11. A woman shoots her husband. Then she holds him under
water for over 5 minutes. Finally, she hangs him. But 5 minutes
later they both go out together and enjoy a wonderful dinner
together. How can this be?
12. There are two plastic jugs filled with water. How could you
put all of this water into a barrel, without using the jugs or any
dividers, and still tell which water came from which jug?
13. What is black when you buy it, red when you use it, and gray
when you throw it away?
14. Can you name three consecutive days without using the words
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, or
Sunday? (or day names in any other language)
SOLUTIONS:
1. The man is very, very short and can only reach halfway up the
elevator buttons. However, if it is raining then he will have his
umbrella with him and can press the higher buttons with it.
2. The surgeon was his mother.
3. It was day time.
4. At the time she went into labor, the mother of the twins was
traveling by ship. The older twin, Terry, was born first early on
March 1st. The ship then crossed a time zone and Kerry, the
younger twin, was born on February the 28th. Therefore, the
younger twin celebrates her birthday two days before her older
brother.
5. A square manhole cover can be turned and dropped down the
diagonal of the manhole. A round manhole cannot be dropped
down the manhole. So for safety and practicality, all manhole
covers should be round.
6. The poison in the punch came from the ice cubes. When the
man drank the punch, the ice was fully frozen. Gradually it
melted, poisoning the punch.
7. The letter "e," which is the most common letter in the English
language, does not appear once in the long paragraph.
8. They were two of a set of triplets (or quadruplets, etc.). This
puzzle stumps many people. They try outlandish solutions
involving test-tube babies or surrogate mothers. Why does the
brain search for complex solutions when there is a much simpler
one available?
9. The man had hiccups. The barman recognized this from his
speech and drew the gun in order to give him a shock. It worked
and cured the hiccups--so the man no longer needed the water.
The is a simple puzzle to state but a difficult one to solve. It is a
perfect example of a seemingly irrational and incongruous
situation having a simple and complete explanation. Amazingly
this classic puzzle seems to work in different cultures and
languages.
10. The third. Lions that haven't eaten in three years are dead.
11. The woman was a photographer. She shot a picture of her
husband, developed it, and hung it up to dry.
12. Freeze them first. Take them out of the jugs and put the ice in
the barrel. You will be able to tell which water came from which
jug.
13. The answer is Charcoal.
14. Sure you can: Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow!
ALTERNATE SOLUTIONS:
4. Because one of them did not necessarily celebrate their birthday
on the day they were born, but celebrated later or earlier. Much
simpler than having Mom giving birth while crossing the
International Date Line and tossing in a Leap Year and the like.
Needlessly complicated.
6. Because he was the one who put the poison in the punch. Of
course he wouldn't drink any *after* he poisoned it. Who goes to
the effort of making poison ice cubes, except Bond villains and
those bad guys in the "Encyclopedia Brown" mystery stories we
read in elementary school?
8. Because they were adopted. It's a coincidence they were born on
the same exact day. OK, so Occam's Razor could be applied
equally to both solutions...

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