Quizical Questions

[Misson]

(I got 1, 4 and 5 without looking at the answers. How about you?)

1. A man is condemned to death. He has to choose between three rooms. The first is full of raging fires, the second is full of assassins with loaded guns, and the third is full of lions that haven't eaten in three years. Which room is safest for him?

2. There are two plastic jugs filled with water. How could you put all of this water into a barrel, without using the jugs or any dividers, and still tell which water came from which jug?

3. What is black when you buy it, red when you use it and gray when you throw it away?

4. Can you name three consecutive days without using the words Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday or Sunday?

5. This is an unusual paragraph. I'm curious how quickly you can find out what is so unusual about it. It looks so plain you would think nothing was wrong with it. In fact, nothing is wrong with it! It is 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.

[Red-Handed Jill]

I got the first four - five will take a bit of thinking.

[Silkie McDonough]

Got 1,2 & 4 without hesitation. 3 & 5 may take some time.

[Red-Handed Jill]

Okay - took another look and got number five.

[Gigi]

I got one and five and had to look up all the rest.

[LongTom]

Got all but 2. (with which I quibble. You can solve anything if you assume potentially infinite extra equipment, and unreasonably short solution times.)

4 is also ambiguous; I came up with an answer which, while not their answer, satisfies the requirements nonetheless.

I liked this one:

Man walks into a bar, asks the bartender for a glass of water. The bartender pulls out a handgun and points it at the man. The man says, "Thank you," and walks out. Why is the man satisfied?

[Red Cat Jenny]

1, 3 and 5

[Silkie McDonough]

Got 3. Still chewing on 5.

[roytheodd]

I got 1, 3, and 4... but where's the answers so I can cheat on the other two?

[roytheodd]

Man walks into a bar, asks the bartender for a glass of water. The bartender pulls out a handgun and points it at the man.  The man says, "Thank you," and walks out.  Why is the man satisfied?

Heh, took me a moment but I got that one. Clever.

(sorry about a double post but I didn't read all the way through the thread before replying)

[Misson]

It's been a day, so I'll just post the answers here. (If you want to keep working on them, skip this post!)

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1. After 3 years of no food, the lions would all be dead. Choose the third room.

2. Freeze the water in the jugs, then place the frozen water into the barrel.

3. Charcoals.

4. Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow. (There is definitely more than one way to get this one right, though.

5. There are no 'e's in the paragraph. 'E' is the most commonly used letter in the alphabet, which is why it is unusual.

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[Silkie McDonough]

Wow, that is an unusual paragraph.

[Salty]

1 lions

2

3freeze it

4 yesterday, today, and tomorrow

5

[Graydog]

Spoiler

If you freeze the water how do you tell which jug it is from? You just have two frozen blocks of ice, which is which?

Now, it would be far easier to fill one jug with H20 (water) and the other jug with H2O2 (Heavy Water), that way you could always tell down to the molecule which jug the water came from. Simply determine which molecule has the extra oxygen atom and eureka that water molecule is from the heavy water jug. If need be you could seperate all the water with a pair of very small tweezers.

[Coastie04]

For the water one, you can also make one jug of water heavier by adding salt. Then, dye the jugs different colors, and without movement, they won't mix readily. The dye can also be used to assist if freezing them. I like the H2O2 idea as well.

Coastie