Here Come My Wife and Daughter

Two men are standing on one side of a bridge and two women are approaching them. One of the men says, "Here comes my wife and daughter" to which the second man replies, "Here comes my wife and daughter". If they have not married the same woman and the women aren't pregnant, how is this true?

Solution »

The men are widowers and married each others' daughter.

6 glasses in a row

There are six glasses in a row. The first three are full of water, and the next three are empty. By moving only one glass how can you make them alternate between full and empty?

Solution »

Pour the water from the 2nd glass into the 5th glass.

What's wrong with this paragraph?

This is an unusual paragraph. I'm curious as to just how quickly you can find out what is so unusual about it. It looks so ordinary and plain that you would think nothing was wrong with it. In fact, nothing is wrong with it! It is highly 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. Try to do so without any coaching.

Solution »

The letter e, the most common letter in the English language, never appears in the entire paragraph

Who kill the man on a Sunday morning?

A man was killed on Sunday morning. His wife found the body and called the police. The police arrived and questioned the chef, maid, butler, and gardener. Their alibis were:
Chef - making breakfast
Maid - getting mail
Butler - setting table
Gardener - watering plants
The police immediately arrested the criminal. Who was it and how did they know?

Solution »

The maid. Mail isn't delivered on Sunday

What is special about the following number sequence?

8, 5, 4, 9, 1, 7, 6, 10, 3, 2, 0

Solution »

It's the numbers 0-10 in alphabetical order.

Prisoner's Probability to Live

You are a prisoner sentenced to death. The Emperor offers you a chance to live by playing a simple game. He gives you 50 black marbles, 50 white marbles and 2 empty bowls. He then says, "Divide these 100 marbles into these 2 bowls. You can divide them any way you like as long as you use all the marbles. Then I will blindfold you and mix the bowls and marbles up. You can then choose one bowl and remove one marble. If the marble is white, you live, but if the marble is black...you die.

How do you divide the marbles up so that you have the greatest probability of choosing a white marble?

Solution »

Place 1 white marble in one bowl, and place the rest of the marbles in the other bowl (49 whites, and 50 blacks).


This way you begin with a 50/50 chance of choosing the bowl with just one white marble and living. But even if you choose the other bowl, you still have an almost 50% chance of picking one of the 49 white marbles. There are no guarantees in life, but this is your best bet at surviving.

Two Guards

You're in a room with two doors. There's a guard at each door. One door is the exit, but behind the other door is something that will kill you. You're told that one guard always tells the truth and the other guard always lies. You don't know which guard is which. You are allowed to ask one question to either of the guards to determine which door is the exit. What question should you ask?

Solution »

Ask either guard what door the other guard would say is the exit, then choose the opposite door.


If you ask the guard who always tells the truth, he knows the other guard would lie, so he'll point you to the door leading to death. If you ask the guard who always lies, he knows the other guard would truthfully show you the exit, so he'll lie and point you to the door leading to death.