ArcaMax

You are enjoying your breakfast after having put some salt on your scrambled eggs when your nerdy brother presents you with an ice cube floating in a glass of water and a short length of string. He challenges you to remove the ice cube from the glass using the string without tying any knots. What strategy do you use to remove the ice cube from the water glass?

You awake inside a small transparent capsule sitting on the surface of Venus. From a small speaker you hear a voice that says, "We will leave you here either for a day or a year. If you choose to stay a day, we will give you $1 million. If you choose to stay a year, we will give you $2 million. Either way, you will have sufficient food and water. We will make sure the temperature is a constant 70 degrees Fahrenheit. We will also supply cable TV."

What is your choice? (Don't let money decide your answer).

What is this rebus?

BOLT
TH

You drop two coins into a muddy river by mistake. You saw one falling in, a 1 euro coin. You know the other one had to be either a 1 euro coin, or a 2 euro coin.

After searching and pulling out one, and discovering its a 1 euro coin, what is the chance that the other is also a 1 euro coin?

What does this represent?

mankind vs midnight

You're heading into class and your classmate Denni sits down next to you and finds the following written on the desk:

K P C O F G s

Wondering why the "s" is lowercase, Denni asks you.

What does the "s" stand for?

A rich man left his home, with only a gold chain with 123 links. He decides to stay at an inn. The owner of the inn wants one link for the first week, two links for the second week, three links for the third week, etc. What is the minimum amount of cuts?

Andy dislikes the catcher. Ed's sister is engaged to the second baseman. The center fielder is taller than the right fielder. Harry and the third baseman live in the same building. Paul and Allen each won $20 from the pitcher at pinochle. Ed and the outfielders play poker during their free time. The pitcher's wife is the third baseman's sister. The pitcher, catcher, and infielders except Allen, Harry, and Andy, are shorter than Sam. Paul, Andy, and the shortstop lost $50 each at the racetrack. Paul, Harry, Bill, and the catcher took a trouncing from the second baseman at pool. Sam is involved in a divorce suit. The catcher and the third baseman each have two children. Ed, Paul, Jerry, the...

When is one silver bar preferable over one gold bar?

If a solid piece of iron shaped as a doughnut was placed under extreme heat, what would the hole in the middle do?

The following task involves several steps, but they are out of order. Arrange them so that a person who follows the steps exactly can perform the task:

You have three heavy beams marked A, B, and C, and want to find out which one is the heaviest. You also have a scale that tells you which of any two beams is heavier, but it does not give the specific weight of any beam. In what order must you perform the following steps to determine which beam is the heaviest, and to mark it accordingly? Assume that all three have different weights.

a) Weigh A against B.
b) Weigh B against C.
c) Weigh A against C.
d) If A is heavier, skip the next three statements.
e) If A is...

Five men and five dogs (each man owned a dog) went hiking. They encountered a river that was swift and deep. The only way to cross it was an abandoned boat, left ashore on their side. But it would only hold three living things. Unfortunately, the dogs were edgy and could not be near another person (not even momentarily) unless its owner was present. One of the dogs attended a highly advanced, highly specialized obedience school and therefore knew how to operate the boat (as the men did) -- the other dogs lack this skill. How did the five men and the five dogs cross the river?

In the Yosef family there are 11 children. 7 of them are girls named: Ilana, Tikva, Efrat, Ziva, Lilly, Zahava & Ronit. The rest are boys named: Ofer, Rami, Zalman & Ronny. You have to find out in which order they were born, according to the next 12 statments:

1) The eldest and the youngest are girls.
2) The second youngest starts with an R.
3) The first starts with a Z.
4) Ronny & Ronit were born one after the other, in that order.
5) Ronit is not the youngest, not the 2nd youngest.
6) The youngest child starts with a vowel.
7) The 4th has an M in his/her name.
8) Zalman & Lilly were born one after the other in that order.
9) The 7th ends ...

You're walking down a street, when you see some people gambling on the roadside.

The dealer says:

"There are 10 black balls and 10 white balls in this jar. You are blindfolded and you randomly pick 10 balls. If 5 of the balls you picked are black and the other 5 are white, you lose $2. Otherwise you win $1."

Is the gamble fair?