1 The Man In The Elevator: A man lives on the tenth floor of
a building. Every day he takes the elevator to go down to the ground floor to
go to work or to go shopping. When he returns he takes the elevator to the
seventh floor and walks up the stairs to reach his apartment on the tenth
floor. He hates walking so why does he do it? Solution.
2 The Man In The Bar: A man walks into a bar and asks the
barman for a glass of water. The barman pulls out a gun and points it at the
man. The man says 'Thank you' and walks out. Solution.
3 The Man Who Hanged Himself: Not far from Madrid, there is
a large wooden barn. The barn is completely empty except for a dead man hanging
from the middle of the central rafter. The rope around his neck is ten feet
long and his feet are three feet off the ground. The nearest wall is 20 feet
away from the man. There is a puddle of water nearby. It is not possible to
climb up the walls or along the rafters. The man hanged himself. How did he do
it? Solution.
4 Red Light: A police officer was sitting on his motorcycle
at a red traffic light when two teenagers in a sports car drove by him at
50mph. He did not chase them or try to apprehend them. Why not? Solution.
5 Car In The River: A man was driving alone in his car when
he spun off the road at high speed. He crashed through a fence and bounced down
a steep ravine before the car plunged into a fast flowing river. As the car
slowly settled in the river, the man realized that his arm was broken and that
he could not release his seat belt and get out of the car. The car sank to the
bottom of the river. He was trapped in the car. Rescuers arrived two hours
later, yet they found him alive. How come? Solution.
6 The Coal, Carrot And Scarf: Five pieces of coal, a carrot
and a scarf are lying on the lawn. Nobody put them on the lawn but there is a
perfectly logical reason why they should be there. What is it? Solution.
7 Trouble With Sons: A woman had two sons who were born on
the same hour of the same day of the same year. But they were not twins. How
could this be so? Solution.
8 Recovery: A truck driver called into his office to report
that his truck had broken down. A tow-truck was sent out to tow back the
disabled truck. When they arrived, the truck that had broken down was towing
the tow-truck. Why? Solution.
9 Man Overboard: A man holidaying abroad was alone on his
yacht when he fell off into deep water. He was a non-swimmer and he was not
wearing anything to keep him afloat. He was rescued half an hour later. Why
didn't he drown? Solution.
10 The Great Wall: An American, who had never been to any
country other than the United States, was standing one day on solid ground when
he saw the Great Wall of China with his own eyes. How come? Solution.
11 The Cut Finger: A man is peeling potatoes when he cuts
his finger. He immediately puts his finger into water and leaves it there for
thirty seconds. However, when he pulls his hand out the cut has entirely
disappeared. How can this have happened? Solution.
12 Manhole Covers: Why is it better to have round manhole covers
than square ones? Solution.
13 Bouncing Baby: How could a baby fall out of a
twenty-storey building and live? Solution.
14 Small Furniture: A factory specializes in producing
furniture that is 20% smaller than normal furniture. The furniture is not
designed for or sold especially to smaller sized people. Why do they make it?
Solution.
15 The Twelve: From the beginning of time and up to the time
of this writing, twelve and only twelve people have achieved this feat. What is
it? Solution.
16 See Saw: A deaf man need to buy a saw to cut some wood.
He went into a hardware store. How did he indicate to the storekeeper that he
wanted to buy a saw? Solution.
17 Radio On: A young girl was listening to the radio.
Suddenly it went off for a minute and then came back on again. There was
nothing wrong with the radio or with the program transmission from the radio
station. She did not touch the radio controls. Why did it go off and on?
Solution.
18 The Penny Black: The famous 'Penny Black', the world's
first postage stamp, was introduced in England in 1840. The idea of postage
stamps was a great success and was taken up worldwide. Yet the 'Penny Black'
was in use for only one year before it was replaced by the 'Penny Red'. Why?
Solution.
19 The Cellar Door: A little girl was warned by her parents
never to open the cellar door or she would see things that she was not meant to
see. One day while her parents were out she did open the cellar door. What did
she see? Solution.
20 The Truck Driver: A police officer saw a truck driver
clearly going the wrong way down a one-way street, but did not try to stop him.
Why not? Solution.
21 The Key: Every night before he went to bed, a man
carefully locked all the doors of his house. Then he placed the front door key
inside a bucket of cold water. In the morning he retrieved the key from the
bucket in order to open the door. Why did he do this? Solution.
22 February 1866: What happened in February 1866 that will
not happen again for another two and a half million years? Solution.
23 Price Tag: Many shops have prices set just under a round
figure, e.g. £9.99 instead of £10.00 or £99.95 instead of £100.00 . It is
assumed that this is done because the price seems lower to the consumer. But
this is not the reason the practice started. What was the original reason for
this pricing method? Solution.
24 Large Number: Assume there are approximately
5,000,000,000 (5 billion) people on Earth. What would you estimate to be the
result, if you multiply together the number of fingers on every person's
left-hands? (For the purposes of this exercise, thumbs count as fingers, for
five fingers per hand.) If you cannot estimate the number then try to guess how
long the number would be. Solution.
25 The Coconut Millionaire: A man buys coconuts at £5 a
dozen and sells them at £3 a dozen. As a result of this he becomes a
millionaire. How come? Solution.
26 The Fallen Guide: A mountain climber in the Himalayas
took along with him two mountain guides. After a few hours, one of the guides
fell into a deep crevasse. The climber and the other guide continued the climb
and did not raise the alarm. Why? Solution.
27 Rich Man, Poor Man: A man making over £10,000,000 a year
drives a small car, lives in a modest house, and insists he can't afford
luxuries. Why not? Solution.
28 The Hairdresser: A New York City hairdresser recently
said that he would rather cut the hair of three Canadians than one New Yorker.
Why? Solution.
29 Cheap Treasure: A man acquired an item without choosing
it specifically. It was not of particular value to him, but a second man
offered him £5,000 for it, as he wanted it as a gift for his wife. The wife was
delighted with her present, but within a week she damaged it. This was not a
problem as a replacement was easily made at a cost of £20. Sometime later the
wife reluctantly sold it to another woman for £8,000. What was it? Solution.
30 The Coconut Grove: An American nightclub called 'The
Coconut Grove' had a terrible fire in which over 400 people died. A simple
design flaw in the building led to the death toll being so high. Subsequently,
regulations were changed to ensure that all public buildings throughout the
country eliminated this one detail, which proved so deadly. What was it?
Solution.
31 The Two Fingers: A Frenchman cut off the first and second
fingers on the right hand of six other men. Why? Solution.
32 Happy Or Sad: Three women dressed in swimsuits were
standing together. Two were sad and one was happy. But the sad women were both
smiling and the happy one was crying. Why should that be so? Solution.
33 The Unseen Walker: On a busy Friday afternoon, a man
walked several miles across London from Westminster to Knightsbridge without
seeing anybody or being seen by anybody. The day was clear and bright. He had
perfect eyesight and he looked where he was going. He did not travel by any
method of transport other than by foot. London was thronged with people yet not
one of them saw him. How? Solution.
34 One Step Beyond: A man stood looking through the window
on the sixth floor of an office building. Suddenly, he was overcome by an
impulse. He opened the window and leapt through it. It was a sheer drop outside
the building to the ground. He did not use a parachute or land in water or on
any special soft surface. Yet the man was completely unhurt when he landed. How
could that be so? Solution.
35 Coming Home: A man walked home after having been out
drinking. He walked down the middle of a deserted country road. There were no
streetlights to illuminate the road and there was no moonlight. He was dressed
all in black. Suddenly a car that did not have its headlights on came racing
down the road. At the last moment, the driver of the car saw the man and
swerved to avoid him. How did he manage to see him? Solution.
36 King George IV: King George IV was born in 1763. He was
King of England from 1820 until his death in 1830. He was not a great king, but
he did start a new trend in footwear. His boots were different from everybody
else's. The innovation concerning his boots was copied and it is commonplace
today, but at the time was very unusual. What was it? Solution.
37 The Lonely Man: A man lived alone in a house for two
months. Nobody came to visit him and he never went out. At the end of that
time, he became deranged. One night he put out the fire, turned off the lights,
and walked out of the house. He was never seen or heard of again. His actions
in leaving that house resulted in the deaths of ninety people. Why was that?
Solution.
38 Silent Murder: The police went to an apartment building
to investigate a murder and found the body on the living room floor, with the
murder weapon, a shotgun, nearby. The time of the murder was narrowed down to a
three-hour period, and the victim's neighbors were questioned. Both of the
people in the adjacent apartment, separated from the victim's living room by
only a thin wall, were home at the time of the murder. Separately questioned,
they both denied hearing a gunshot. The police were not surprised. Why not?
Solution.
39 Defying Gravity: A man was painting using an ordinary
brush and paint container. Something startled him. He dropped the paintbrush
and it fell on the ceiling, not the floor. Why? Solution.
40 Avoiding The Train: Another man was walking along a
railway track when he spotted an express train speeding towards him. To avoid
it, he jumped off the track, but before he jumped he ran ten feet towards the
train. Why? Solution.
41 A Safe Place: Chuck leaves home. When he tries to return,
a man wearing a mask blocks his path. a) What is Chuck doing? b) What is the
masked man's occupation? c) Where is Chuck's 'safe place'? Solution.
42 The Stranger: A married couple was speeding into town
when their car ran out of petrol. The man went for help after making sure his
wife closed the windows and locked the doors of the car. Upon his return, he
found his wife dead and a stranger in the car. The windows were still closed,
the doors were still locked, and no damage was done to the car. How did the
woman die, and what was the stranger doing? Solution.
43 What Are They?: "How much will one cost?" asked
the customer in a hardware store. "Twenty pence," replied the clerk.
"And how much will twelve cost?" "Forty pence." "Okay.
I'll take one hundred and twelve." "Fine. That will be sixty
pence." What was the customer buying? Solution.
44 A Job In A Million: Robert Bradley is a lucky man indeed.
He is only 29 and works for an important corporation with offices all over the
world. Robert travels extensively, always first-class, staying at the best
hotels. He does not buy or sell anything and yet is in close contact with
important business people and even royalty. When he speaks, everyone listens
with undivided attention. Arriving at his destination, he spends his time at
the swimming pool, if he is not out shopping. After a day or two, he leaves,
without having concluded any business. Explain. Solution.
45 Pilot Error: Tim Shaw, a pilot for eighteen years, had an
outstanding safety record. One afternoon he was trying to land a British
Airways 757. Visibility was good in spite of a slight snow flurry. He was
easing the plane gently down towards the runway when it happened. It appeared
that Tim had throttled back too early and the plane, one of the safest in
service, stalled and crash-landed. Although no one was hurt, the accident was
clearly due to pilot error, and in spite of this blemish on his record, his
career remained unaffected. How was this possible, considering the stringent
safety measures applied by all international airlines? Solution.
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