Riddles and Puzzles

[mr_cellophane]

That's what I thought earlier, but there's the problem of when to start heating the water. Obviously, it must be boiling when the 7 minute timer ends, so can you bring tap water (enough to boil an egg) to the boil in only 7 minutes?

No mention in the question of the initial temperature of the water, so you should be able to assume it doesn't matter. Anyway, I can boil water in well under 7 minutes.

 

[nickyboy]

Coconuts, Castaways And The Monkey
Ten people land on a deserted island. There they find lots of coconuts and a monkey. During their first day they gather coconuts and put them all in a community pile. After working all day they decide to sleep and divide them into ten equal piles the next morning.

That night one castaway wakes up hungry and decides to take his share early. After dividing up the coconuts he finds he is one coconut short of ten equal piles. He also notices the monkey holding one more coconut. So he tries to take the monkey's coconut to have a total evenly divisible by 10. However when he tries to take it the monkey conks him on the head with it and kills him.

Later another castaway wakes up hungry and decides to take his share early. On the way to the coconuts he finds the body of the first castaway, which pleases him because he will now be entitled to 1/9 of the total pile. After dividing them up into nine piles he is again one coconut short and tries to take the monkey's slightly bloodied coconut. The monkey conks the second man on the head and kills him.

One by one each of the remaining castaways goes through the same process, until the 10th person to wake up gets the entire pile for himself.

What is the smallest number of possible coconuts in the pile, not counting the monkeys?

Is it 5,039?

The logic is that the number of coconuts must be one less than the smallest number which is divisible by all the numbers 1 to 10. I think that is 10 x 9 x 8 x 7 which is 5,040

 

[classic33]

Is it 5,039?

The logic is that the number of coconuts must be one less than the smallest number which is divisible by all the numbers 1 to 10. I think that is 10 x 9 x 8 x 7 which is 5,040

Yes & No.

 

[classic33]

Start both timers
when the seven minute one ends start boiling
when the eleven minute timer ends restart it.
take the egg out when that finishes again

Total time required 22 minutes

No. Although the short answer is 15 minutes.

 

[classic33]

Deadly Drink
A rich old man has died. After his death, his children are surprised to learn that he has left all of his money to his eldest son James, ignoring his other children, who hated him.

The funeral is a day or two later, and the other sons and daughters have decided to kill James and take the inheritance. Since his father's death, James has taken to drinking, and they know that, at the wake, he's going to be gulping down the liquor like it was nectar of the gods. So they decide to poison the drinks. One of the other sons, tends the bar, and gets the poison all ready.

So when James comes up, crying and depressed, and orders a scotch on the rocks. William serves him one, and he chugs it down in two seconds. "Give me another." William gives him a second glass of scotch, which he also drinks in a matter of moments. The other siblings are puzzled...the poison is fast-acting; James should be convulsing on the floor and retching his guts out.

Finally, fifteen minutes later, a rather inebriated and very much alive James orders one last glass of scotch, but as William hands it to him, he changes his mind and leaves, sobbing. The other siblings come over to William, and wonder what's going on. They talk about what could have gone wrong for a few minutes, and figure the poison's harmless. So William sips the drink he poured for James, and is pronounced DOA thirty minutes later.

Why did James live? (He had no immunity to the poison, he didn't know it was coming, and the poison was obviously deadly.)

 

[benb]

Deadly Drink
A rich old man has died. After his death, his children are surprised to learn that he has left all of his money to his eldest son James, ignoring his other children, who hated him.

The funeral is a day or two later, and the other sons and daughters have decided to kill James and take the inheritance. Since his father's death, James has taken to drinking, and they know that, at the wake, he's going to be gulping down the liquor like it was nectar of the gods. So they decide to poison the drinks. One of the other sons, tends the bar, and gets the poison all ready.

So when James comes up, crying and depressed, and orders a scotch on the rocks. William serves him one, and he chugs it down in two seconds. "Give me another." William gives him a second glass of scotch, which he also drinks in a matter of moments. The other siblings are puzzled...the poison is fast-acting; James should be convulsing on the floor and retching his guts out.

Finally, fifteen minutes later, a rather inebriated and very much alive James orders one last glass of scotch, but as William hands it to him, he changes his mind and leaves, sobbing. The other siblings come over to William, and wonder what's going on. They talk about what could have gone wrong for a few minutes, and figure the poison's harmless. So William sips the drink he poured for James, and is pronounced DOA thirty minutes later.

Why did James live? (He had no immunity to the poison, he didn't know it was coming, and the poison was obviously deadly.)

The poison was in the ice

 

[benb]

Go Boil An Egg
You want like to boil an egg for exactly 15 minutes. But you only have two hour glasses, one of zeven and one of eleven minutes.

What is the the fastest way to do this?

Put egg in and start both timers.
When the 7 min one is done, turn it back over. (7 mins)
When the 11 mins is up, turn the 7 back over. There is 4 mins of sand in the 7 timer. (11 mins)
When that has finished, 15 mins is up.

 

[classic33]

The poison was in the ice

No.

 

[classic33]

A Question Of Sport.
In which sport do winners move backwards and losers move forwards?

 

[classic33]

Money In The Bank.
I have a large money box, 10 inches square and 12 inches tall. Roughly how many coins can I place in my empty money box?

 

[classic33]

Words Don't Come Easy.
Only four words in Standard English begin with the letters "dw".
Name two of them?

 

[classic33]

Rhyme Time.
What rhyme does this represent: mce, mce, mce?

 

[classic33]

Numbers.
Take 1000 and add 40 to it. Now add another 1000. Now add 30. Add another 1000. Now add 20. Now add another 1000. Now add 10.
What is the total?

 

[Shut Up Legs]

Words Don't Come Easy.
Only four words in Standard English begin with the letters "dw".
Name two of them?

dwarf, dwell.

 

[mr_cellophane]

A Question Of Sport.
In which sport do winners move backwards and losers move forwards?

Tug of War