July26
22 people are locked in a room, each having wagered $1000 to be there.
Every hour, they are asked a YES or NO question.
They may lie or tell the truth.
The majority always loses.
For example, if they majority says YES, they will forfeit their money and leave the room. If they say NO and are in the minority, they play on.
In the result of a tie, a new question is asked.
The questions are asked until one person remains who gets the entire prize pool.
What is the best possible way not lose your $1000 and make some cash?
HINT: The solution is not logically flawed but is still flawed none the less.
Bonus points for those who know the original source of this puzzle.
Posted in Puzzle | 8 Comments »
March18
Puzzle time.
The following is a list of passwords.
Only one is decent.
The rest are rubbish.
The question is, which one is the good one?
RUSH2112
QAZWSX
123456
THX1138
NCC1701
W0WS3L45
ABGRTYU
14159265
OU812
PASSWORD
Put your guess in the comments below….
qwerty123? seriously?
Posted in Internet, Puzzle | 6 Comments »
December15
I’m sitting down playing a friendly game of Bridge with my good friends Jimmy “Trouble Waters” Smits, Max “River Kwai” Stone and Johnny “London” Phoenix.
I’m half way through dealing the hands when Johnny reaches over and tries to touch his cards. Jimmy pulls a gun and threatens to shoot Johnny.
“Where I come from,” Jimmy says. “We shoot people who touch their cards before their dealt.”
After everyone calms down, I go back to the dealing. But we have a problem. With all the fuss when Jimmy pulled the gun, I’ve completely forgotten who should get the next card.
Since I can’t touch the cards in any way or Jimmy will shoot me, how can I make sure that everyone gets the right cards without counting the cards on the table or the ones in my hand?
Posted in Puzzle | 1 Comment »
October9
After ten days of hunting for crooked poker games, dodgy lotteries and scamming taxi drivers, I’ve just checked into a fancy hotel in Malaysia where they bang a gong every time a guest arrives.
Here is an old hotel puzzle to keep with the theme.
Three men check into a hotel. Nothing dodgy, they all get their own rooms.
The cost is $100 per night per room. The men pay up and go up to their rooms.
However, the concierge realises that he forgot that there is a bulk booking discount of $50 when three rooms are booked at once.
He sends up the bellboy to the three men with $50 change in $10 notes.
However, since the men can’t split the money evenly, they take $10 each and give $20 to the bellboy as a tip.
If each man paid $90 each ($100 minus the $10 refund) that equals $270. Add the $20 tip and it equals $290.
Who swindled the remaining $10?
(My favourite bell boy is Daniel Oldaker)
Posted in News, Puzzle, Travels | 1 Comment »
September30
Here is a little puzzle from Toxophilus, Roger Ascham’s 1544 book by way of Ricky Jay.
Imagine two con artists are playing dice with an honest man.
The game has been played fairly for the past few hours and, by chance, the swindlers are losing.
One of the men has a set of identical loaded dice in his pocket which he wants to switch into play.
However, a problem arises. The crowded bar they are gambling in closes in a just a few minutes. There is only time for one more roll.
Not only that, but these are percentage dice, they won’t win every time, just more often.
How can the con artists recoup all of their money on just one roll of the dice?
Posted in Gambling, History, Puzzle | No Comments »
September21
Here is a puzzle for you…what the hell is this small device?
It’s a piece of equipment used by cheats but how does it work and what does it do?
Closest answer can have anything from the bottom shelf. Roll up, roll up, every child wins and prize.
Posted in Gambling, Puzzle | 5 Comments »
June29
A hip black guy wonders up to you on the streets of San Fransisco and says
“I bet you five bucks I can tell you were you got you shoes.”
You’re in a strange city, hundreds miles from home and you KNOW that he can’t possibly have any idea where you got your footwear.
So you take him up on the offer.
“You got them on your feet.”
Posted in Puzzle | No Comments »
June27
Here is an old riddle for you from my previous blog.
Google is cheating.
Imagine you just purchased a Rolex off ebay. It is identical in every way to a Rolex watch. You test the metal content and the gold is real gold, the silver is real silver and the stainless steel is real steel. Unlike the fakes, it weighs exactly the same as a Rolex, down to the gram. The second hand ticks once a second, every second and is perfectly in time with the atomic clock. The watch comes with papers individually certified by the Contrôle Officiel Suisse des Chronomètresand. The box is sealed with an official Rolex seal.
Is the watch real?
Posted in Puzzle | 8 Comments »
May27
Who wins in this transaction? Me? The woman? Neither of us?
Me: What sort of gum do you have.
Her: Just the ones on the counter. Peppermint, spearmint, cinnamon…
Me: Cinnamon! Who buys cinnamon?
Her: Lot’s of people. People who like the zing but don’t like the coolness of mint buy it.
Me: I don’t know, that sounds dodgy to me.
Her: That’s nothing, the distributor was pushing liquorice the other week.
Me: Liquorice gum?
Her: It’s pitch black. Looks like tar.
Me: I think I’ll just stick with peppermint.
Her: That’s 50 cents.
Me: I’ve only got a 50 dollar note or a 100 dollar note. Is that cool?
Her: I suppose. It’s almost closing time anyway. I’ll just have to go to the bank for more change in the morning.
Me: Thanks, sorry to be a pain.
Her: I’ll take the lower of the two.
Me: Of course
Her: And here is your exact change.
Me: Hang on, I think I’ve got a bunch of change in my bag.
Her: That would be better…
Me: Man, I’ve got 50 bucks here in coins!
Her: I only need 50 cents.
Me: Ok, well if you give me my fifty bucks back I’ll give you the 50 cents.
Her: Here is the fifty…
Me: Hang on, why don’t I give you the change back plus all my loose change and you give me a hundred dollar note. Then you have some spare change.
Her: I’m not sure that adds up…
Me: Oh yeah, you’re right. That only adds up to $99.50.
Her: And…
Me: …and I need to pay for the gum too so here is another dollar. $100 in change for the $100 note plus 50 cents for the gum.
Her: Let me count that up again.
Me: Sure. It’s exactly hundred plus 50 cents.
Her: All adds up. Here’s your $100.
Me: You can’t be too careful.
Posted in Puzzle | 4 Comments »
