Logical Riddles

1- EARRING IN THE COFFEE. This morning I dropped an earring (hoop) in the coffee. And
Although the cup was full, the earring didn't get wet. Why?

The mistaken presumption is that coffee means 'liquid coffee.' But if the slope fell into a
coffee cup in beans, or powdered, it's no miracle that it remained dry.

2- FORGETTING THE DRIVER'S LICENSE. A lady left her driver's license forgotten at home.
driver's license. He did not stop at a level crossing, disregarded a directional sign.
forbidden and traveled three blocks in the opposite direction on a one-way street. Everything
this was observed by a traffic agent (police), who, however, did not do the slightest
I tried to prevent it. Why?

The lady was walking, not in a car.

3- TWO CANS OF WATER. We have two cans full of water and a large empty container.
Is there any way to put all the water inside the large container so that
Then it can be distinguished which water came out of each can?

Freeze the contents of both cans, and put the two pieces in the large container.
ice.

4- CANINE INGENUITY. A dog is tied by the neck to a 2-meter rope.

length. How can a dog reach a tasty bone situated 4 meters away from it?

You should head towards the bone as soon as possible, as it is located 2 meters from the other one.
side of the tree.

5- WALKING ON WATER. Reverend Horacio Buenaspalabras announced that

One certain day, at a certain hour, I would perform a great miracle: for twenty minutes I would walk on
the surface of the Hudson River without sinking into its waters. A large crowd gathered
to witness the feat. The Reverend Goodwords did exactly what he claimed
What would he do? How could he manage?

The Hudson River was frozen when Reverend Goodwords walked over its waters.

If it takes 8 minutes to boil a hard-boiled egg (meaning from a hen), how much
How much time is needed to make three hard-boiled eggs?
The same 8 minutes, if you put them together in the pot.

A truck gets stuck while crossing under a bridge. There are barely two left.
centimeters. Do you have any advice to give?

Deflate the tires a little bit.

8- Where is there more fish, on land or in the sea?

On land. The sea is full of fish, not yet caught.

9- What does Adam have in front that Eve has behind?

The letter A.

10- What happened on July 17, 1999, between 5 and 6 in the morning in Salsipuedes,
picturesque village in the province of Córdoba?

One hour.

11- When God formed Adam, where did he place his hand?

On the arm

12- How can you carry water in a strainer?

Frozen

13- WHAT GOES UP MUST COME DOWN. You fall from a 6-meter ladder and land
on a concrete path, but you don't get hurt! Why not?

You were standing on the last step at the bottom of the stairs, or maybe the stairs were
lying on the floor.

14- TO FISH. What is the smallest number of fish that can swim with this?
Training: 2 fish in front of a fish, 2 fish behind a fish, and a fish between 2 fish?

Three fish in a row

15- CAROLINA GOES DOWN TO THE FOURTH. Carolina lives on the nineteenth floor of a
building. every time she gets on the elevator on the ground floor, she presses the button for the fourth floor,
he goes out and walks the rest of the way up. When he leaves his apartment, without
embargo, take the elevator all the way down. Carolina would prefer to go by elevator.
before walking, so why does it do this?

Carolina es una niña pequeña y sólo puede llegar al botón del cuarto piso. Puede bajar sin
problems because he has no trouble reaching the ground floor button.

16- FASTER THAN LIGHT. Your light switch is on the wall opposite to the one of
the bed. However, you can turn off the light and then jump into bed before the room
It stayed dark. There are no special devices at play. How is that possible?

Lie down while there is still light outside and you will be in bed before the room gets dark.
dark

17- THE TRUTHFUL SELLER. "This little parrot can repeat everything it hears," he
the owner of the pet store assured the lady. But a week later, the lady who
he was back at the store, protesting because the parrot wasn't saying a single word
word. And yet, the seller hadn't lied. Can you explain it?

The parrot was deaf.

18 - THE BOTTLE AND THE CORK. A bottle of wine, corked with a cork is
Fill it halfway. What can we do to drink the wine without pulling the cork or breaking it?
the bottle?

Sinking the cork in the bottle.

19 - IN THE MOUNTAIN SHELTER. One night of strong wind, upon entering a

mountain refuge, you find yourself with only one match and there, on the table
a candle, and in the fireplace some logs. What would I light first?

The match, no doubt.

20- ON A NEWSPAPER. How can two people remain standing

about a newspaper sheet at the same time, without being able to touch each other, even if they wanted to?
Of course, you cannot step outside the newspaper.

Simply, we place the newspaper page at the threshold of an open door. A

A person stands on one side, and the other, once the door is closed, on the other.
a wooden board prevents them from touching without having to step outside the newspaper.
Riddle.

1.- A shepherd has to get a wolf, a goat, and a lettuce across to the other side of a river,
he has a boat in which only he and one of the other three things can fit. If the wolf
If the goat is left alone, it will eat it; if the goat is left alone with the lettuce, it will eat it.
How should he/she do it?

Solution

The shepherd first passes the goat, leaves it on the other bank, and returns for the wolf, while crossing.
leave the wolf and return with the goat, leave the goat and cross with the lettuce, leave the lettuce with
the wolf and returns for the goat.

2.- A bear walks 10 km south, 10 km east, and 10 km north, returning to

starting point. What color is the bear?

Solution

The color of the bear is white, because it is a polar bear.

The only places where the condition of returning to the starting point is fulfilled are the Pole.
North and any point located 10 km north of the parallels that measure 10 km of
circumference, since by traveling 10 km to the east we will return to the starting point.

In any of these cases, we will be at one of the Poles, so the bear will be white.

Riddle.

3.- What animal has all five vowels in its name?

Solution

The bat.

NOTE.- I admit that this riddle is not a mathematical challenge nor does it have anything to do with the
recreational mathematics, but he suggested that I dedicate it to a person for whom I have great affection.
darling and this is dedicated to her.

Riddle.

A man is at the beginning of a long hallway that has three switches, at the end there is
a room with the door closed. One of these three switches turns on the light of that.
room, which is initially off.

How did he manage to find out which switch turns on the light by going through it only once?
hallway route?
Clue: The man has a flashlight.

Solution

At the beginning of the hallway, there are three switches, A, B, and C, our character presses the
switch A, wait 10 minutes, turn it off, press B and walk through the hallway.

Upon opening the door, one may encounter three situations:

If the light is on, the button will be B.

If the light is off and the bulb is hot, it will be A.
And if it is off and the bulb is cold, it will be C.

5.- On a table, there are three black hats and two white ones. Three gentlemen stand in a single line.
They put on a random hat each without looking at the color.

The third person in line is asked, who can see the color of the second person's hat and the
First, if you can say the color of your hat, to which you respond negatively.

The second one is asked, who only sees the first one's hat, and he also cannot answer.
to the question.

Finally, the first in line who does not see any hats correctly answers that
What color is the hat he was wearing.

What color is this and what logic do I use to know it?

Solution

The last in line can see the color of their companions' hats, if not, they cannot know.
What color is yours since the other two are not white, so they are either both.
Blacks or it is one of each color.

The second in line can see the color of the first person's hat and has already deduced what it is.
I think the third one, if he also doesn't answer the question, it's because he sees that the color of the first one is
black, if he were white he would know that his is black.

The first one deduces that his hat is black from that very reasoning.

6.- A prisoner is locked in a cell that has two doors, one leads to the
death and the other to freedom. Each door is guarded by a watcher, the prisoner
You know that one of them always tells the truth, and the other always lies. To choose the door
for which only one question can be asked to one of the guards

How can one be saved?

Solution

The question could be: If I ask the other guardian which door I have to exit through
What would they answer me?

In the case that we are talking to the one who always lies, he would tell you, 'The other guardian will'
I would say that the door you have to exit is ... (the false door).

In case you ask the other, he would say something like this: 'The other guardian would tell you that the'
the door you must exit is ... (the false door)

In this way, you only need to ask either of the two and choose the opposite door.
to the one they indicate.

7.- We have twelve seemingly identical coins, but one of them has a different weight.
slightly higher. Using a balance scale and with only three weighings to find the
different currency.

Solution

We place four coins on one side and another four on the other; if the scale balances.
we know that the heaviest is among those we haven't put on the scale and if not
it will be on the plate that tilts this way, we already know that the heaviest coin is in a
group of four, of which we put two on each dish, we perform this operation once
but with the group of two that tilts the scale and we already know which is the heaviest.
9.- Three friends with financial difficulties share a coffee that costs them 30 pesetas,
so each one puts in 10.

When they are about to pay, they ask for a discount and the owner reduces it by 5 pesetas, taking each one.
one peseta and leaving two in a common fund.

Later they do the math and say:

Each one has paid 9 pesetas so we have spent 9x3=27 pesetas which with the two from the
They make 29, where is the missing peseta?

Solution

There is not a single peseta missing, there is just a calculation error, the two pesetas from the fund are not there.
to add them to what has been paid, otherwise to subtract them, the correct operation would be 9x3=27 points paid 27-
2=25 points spent.

10.- A surveyor goes to a house where a woman attends to him:

How many children? Three, she says.

Ages? The product of the ages is 36 and the sum equals the house number, respond.

The interviewer leaves but after a while he comes back and tells the woman that the data she gave him is not
sufficient; the woman thinks and says to him: you are right, the eldest studies piano.

This is enough for the pollster to know the ages of the children. What are they?

Solution

The surveyor asks for the ages and upon receiving the answer that the product of these is
36 and its sum is the house number, look at the number of this, which we do not know
but he does.

The pollster breaks down 36 into its factorials and makes the following combinations
of ages. (all possible)

1-1-36
1-2-18
1-3-12
1-4-9
1-6-6
2-2-9
2-3-6
3-3-4
We just need to know which of these combinations of ages add up to the number of the house.
then he realizes that he is missing some data, it can only be because there are two
combinations that add up to the same:

1+6+6=13
2+2+9=13

Upon returning and knowing that the oldest one studies piano, she deduces that there is only one oldest, not two, because
the ages will be 2, 2 and 9 years.

11.- The warden of a prison reports that he will release a person at random from the prison.
to celebrate that he has been warden for 25 years.

They choose a man and tell him that he will be free if he takes a ball out of a box.
white, having 9 black balls inside and only 1 white.

The prisoner learns from a tip-off that the warden will put all the balls of color
black, the next day he plays the game, and the prisoner is set free.

How did you manage to get out of jail if all the balls were black?

Solution

The prisoner, upon taking out the ball, looks at it, keeps it hidden from anyone else, and says it is white.

Teach, says the warden, to which he replies: It is not necessary, look at the rest of the balls, the
Blanca is not in the box, it's mine.
13.- A jeweler is given four pieces of chains, each with three links, and is tasked with
that you unite them to make a bracelet.

When making the repair estimate, the jeweler calculates that he has to solder four.
links, at one Euro each the price would be four Euros, but the customer is not in
agreement and tells him how to do it by welding only three links.

How did he/she do it?

Solution

The jeweler has to separate the three links from one of the pieces of chain and with them
join the other three, it is only necessary to weld three links.

14.- Three brothers divide their father's inheritance, which consists of 35 horses and
in the will, the father wrote that the eldest would keep half of the inheritance,
the medium one with the third part and the smallest one with the ninth part

As the divisions were not exact, they could not agree, so they decided
consult with an old mathematician who proposed the following:

Since 35 horses cannot be divided exactly in half, nor by a third.

Part of me for the ninth, I gift you mine, now you have 36 horses so the three
You will come out ahead. You, being the oldest, will take half of 36, which is 18 horses. You
for being the medium the third part, 12 horses. And you for being the small according to the wishes of
your father, the ninth part, 4 horses.

Now you all three have your inheritance, and since 18+12+4=34, there are two horses left over.
so I recover mine and I also keep the other one to resolve yours.
problem.

How is this possible?

Solution

The sum of the inheritance percentages is 1/2 + 1/3 + 1/9 = 17/18, so when making the
Distribution of the 35 horses would have left 1/18 of these, which is equivalent to one horse.
whole and part of another.

This incomplete part of the horse is the one that is most shared among the brothers so that they can
they can carry whole horses, and the extra horse along with the mathematician's is
the two horses that this one takes.

15.- A hiker is captured by cannibals and they say to him:

If you tell a lie, we kill you slowly, and if you tell the truth, we kill you quickly.
What does he say so that they don't kill him?

Solution

You are going to kill me slowly.

If taken as truth, he should be killed quickly, because the answer would be

Lie, and if it is taken as such, it would have to be killed slowly, which would make it true.

6.- Among cows, sheep, and chickens.

The master gave the servant 500 pesetas to go to the market to buy him 100 heads of
cattle, having to buy: cows, sheep, and chickens and use exactly the 500 pesetas.

When I arrived at the market, I checked that the cows cost 25 pesetas, and the sheep 5 pesetas.
and the hens one real.

How many heads of cattle did he buy of each?

Solution

80 hens x 1 real = 80 reales = 20 pesetas

1 sheep for 5 pesetas

19 cows at 25 pesetas = 475 pesetas

80 hens = 20 pesetas
1 sheep = 5 pesetas
19 cows = 475 pesetas

----------------

100 animals = 500 pesetas

Riddle.

17.- In a slaughterhouse, the boss says to the employee:

Hay que matar estas 30 ovejas en 15 dias, matando al menos una por dia y siempre numero
odd.

Can the employee fulfill their boss's order?

Solution

The problem asks us to kill at least one a day, starting from killing one sheep per day in
In 15 days, 15 sheep are killed, and we have another 15 left to kill.

If on any given day we kill X sheep instead of one, and X is an odd number, the
the total number of sheep killed that day increases by an EVEN number.

Since it is not possible to reach 15 by adding even numbers, the 15 sheep cannot be killed.
remaining increasing an even number of sheep dead per day.

18. - Terencio is an inveterate gambler who, when he has money, stakes it on the
data.

He always does it the same way: win or lose, he bets half of the money he has;
in the second round, bet half of the money you have then; in the third round, the
half of what it has after the second; and so on.

One afternoon I had 16 euros and played 6 times, won three and lost another three.

How much money does he/she end up with?

Solution

The order of losses and gains is indifferent, you end up losing 9 euros and 25 cents.

19.- How do we make it so that adding one to twenty gives us nineteen?

Solution

Twenty in Roman numerals is XX, if we add a one in the middle, it becomes XIX.

20.- Two shepherds were talking:

Why don't you give me one of your sheep, so we will have the same amount?

To what his friend responds:

Better give me one of yours so I will have double the sheep as you.

How many sheep did each one have?

Solution

A shepherd had 5 sheep and the other had 7.

In an extraordinary battle, at least 70% of the combatants lost an eye;
75% lost an ear, at least 80% lost a hand, and 85% lost a leg.

How many at least lost all four organs?

Solution

At least 45% lost an eye and an ear.

At least 65% lost their hand and leg.

At least 10% lost all four organs.

22.- Would you be able to answer the following question in just 15 seconds?

Which is larger, 36% of 67 or 67% of 36?

Solution

If you were able to do the operations in 15 seconds or if you thought about the property.
The commutative property of multiplication you may have noticed that the two numbers are the same.

23.- We have a jar with 10 liters of water and another with 10 liters of wine, three are poured in.
liters of water in the wine bottle and it is mixed, then three liters of it are added again.
mix in the water jug.

What will there be after the change, more water in the wine bottle or more wine in the water bottle?
water?

Solution

There are two ways to solve this puzzle, either through arithmetic or logic.

Arithmetic option.

By adding three liters of water to the wine, we will have 13 liters of mixture in the wine jug.
of which 3/13 parts will be water and 10/13 parts wine.

By returning the three liters of mixture to the water jug, we will have returned 3*10/13 liters.
from wine to water, or in other words 30/13 liters of wine in the water bottle.

When we had 13 liters of mixture in the wine jug, 3 liters were water, and we said
that we had 3/13 parts of water and 10/13 parts of wine, when returning 3 liters to the jug of
we return 3*3/13 liters of water, or in other words, we take out 9/13 liters of water
the bottle of wine, therefore there will be 3 ± 9/13 liters of water in the wine, which is equal to
39/13 - 9/13 is equal to 30/13 liters of water in the wine.
Therefore, through the arithmetic mean, we know that in the wine jug we have 30/13 of
liters of water and in the water 30/13 liters of wine.

Logical option.

After mixing in the two jugs, we still have 10 liters, therefore

the water that is missing from a jug has been replaced by the same amount of wine and to the
in the other jug, in both jugs we will have the same amount of liquid from the
another one is what the problem was asking us.

This last solution is faster, we know that the answer to the puzzle is that in both
There are bottles on the same part as the other, but we do not know what the quantity is, in the middle.
arithmetic if we knew it.

24.- Is half of two plus two three?

Solution

The answer to the riddle is YES.

Half of two is one, and one plus two is three.

27.- If 5 cats hunt 5 mice in 5 minutes, how many cats will hunt 100 mice in 100?
minutes?

Solution

Exactly... 5 cats.

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