1) Below is a very special grid, around each shaded number are 8 white squares.

However, each
white square should have a number from 1 to 7. Once filled in, these 8 numbers will sum to the shaded
number. In addition, once completed correctly, neither row nor column will contain a duplicate number
within a white square. For example, the top row may be 5 6 4 2 3 1 7, etc.

2) There are 5 houses in 5 different colors. In each house lives a person of a different nationality.
The 5 owners drink a certain type of beverage, smoke a certain brand of cigar, and keep a
certain pet. Using the clues below can you determine who owns the fish?

The Brit lives in a red house.

The Swede keeps dogs as pets.
The Dane drinks tea.
The green house is on the immediate left of the white house.
The green house owner drinks coffee.
The person who smokes Pall Mall rears birds.
The owner of the yellow house smokes Dunhill.
The man living in the house right in the middle drinks milk.
The Norwegian lives in the first house.
The man who smokes Blend lives next door to the one who keeps cats.
The man who keeps horses lives next door to the man who smokes Dunhill.
The owner who smokes Blue Master drinks beer.
The German smokes Prince.
The Norwegian lives next to the blue house.
The man who smokes Blend has a neighbor who drinks water.
3) The four people in this puzzle all competed in different classes of dog agility at a recent
competition. The competitions all required the dogs to run over jumps, through tunnels and
various other obstacles in as quicker time as possible. Each had a different result - one came
first, one third, one fourth and one ninth. All four dogs were each of a different breed.

Can you work out who handled which dog, at what level each competed, the place each finished
in and the breed of each dog?

1. If Tiff finished first then Terry finished fourth.

2. If Terry finished fourth then Jago is a collie.
3. If Jane competed in the Senior class then she finished third.
4. If Jane competed in Novice then she finished fourth.
4. The dog that finished 9th was an alsatian. This was either Jago, in which case Jago
competed in the Elementary class or this was Kelly in which case Terry handled Kelly.
5. Mark won Starters.
6. If Mark's dog is called Patti then Patti is a labrador otherwise Patti is a collie.
7. Ruth's dog is called Jago.
8. If Jago finished fourth then she competed in the Novice class otherwise she
competed in the Senior class.
9. If Patti finished first then Terry's dog is an alsatian else Terry's dog is a collie.
10. If Jane's dog is a doberman then Jane finished fourth else Jane finished third.

Handler's Names: Jane, Mark, Ruth and Terry

Dog's Names: Tiff, Patti, Jago and Kelly
Breed: Alsatian, Collie, Labrador and Doberman
Level: Starters, Elementary, Novice or Senior

4) The weather at the Cape of Good Hope makes it a notorious location where many ships have
been lost to the sea. Philip Wood, the famous diver, has discovered four ships that sank in the
same spot, one on top of each other.

With some skill, Philip was able to determine the name, captain, cargo, destination and year
each ship was built. The question is, can you?

1. During his first exploration of the site, Philip determined there were four ships -
the Red Rover, the ship built in 1743, the ship captained by Quigley and the ship
carrying tea that was bound for North America.
2. The ship that carried a cargo of saffron was built after the ship that carried a cargo
of tea.

3. An entry in one ship's log found at the site indicated that the ship built in 1522
was carrying a valuable cargo of gold.

4. One ship was carrying botanical specimens to France. Philip determined that this
was not the Royal Bride.

5. The Scarlet Queen, a pirate ship, was certainly built before the nineteenth century
but not as early as the sixteenth. The captain of this ship was the famous rogue
Clubfoot.

6. The Wanderer was built after the Royal Bride. The Royal Bride's cargo was not tea
and the Royal Bride was not travelling to the South Seas.
7. Captain Bolton's ship was built before Clubfoot's and before The Royal Bride.

Ships: Red Rover, Royal Bride, Scarlet Queen, Wanderer

Year Built: 1522, 1688, 1743, 1817
Captain: Bolton, Clubfoot, Quigley, Vickers
Cargo: Gold, Saffron, Specimens, Tea
Destination: England, France, North America, South Seas
5) A customer at a 7-11 store selected four items to buy, and was told that the cost was $7.11. He
was curious that the cost was the same as the store name, so he enquired as to how the figure
was derived. The clerk said that he had simply multiplied the prices of the four individual items.
The customer protested that the four prices should have been ADDED, not MULTIPLIED. The
clerk said that that was OK with him, but, the result was still the same: exactly $7.11. What
were the four prices?

6) During a recent plane and train spotting contest, five eager entrants were lined up ready to be
tested on their spotting ability. They had each spotted a number of planes (26, 86, 123, 174,
250) and a number of trains (5, 42, 45, 98, 105). From the clues below, can you determine what
colour anorak each was wearing, their position, their age (21, 23, 31, 36, 40) and the number of
trains and planes spotted?

1. Simon spotted 44 less trains than planes.

2. Keith was 36 years old.
3. The person on the far right was 8 years younger than Simon, and spotted 174 planes.
4. James was wearing a beige anorak and spotted 37 trains fewer than Simon.
5. The person who was wearing a green anorak, was 19 years younger than the person to
his left.
6. Steven spotted 105 trains and 250 planes.
7. The person in the centre was 31 years old, was wearing a blue anorak and spotted 42
trains.
8. Alan, who was on the far left, spotted 26 planes, and spotted 72 trains more than
planes.
9. The person who was wearing a red anorak, was 4 years older than Keith and was not
next to the person wearing a blue anorak.
10.The person who was next to the 31 year old but not next to the person who spotted
26 planes, was wearing a orange anorak, and spotted 45 trains.

7) Below you can find 10 words which have had their beginnings and endings removed. In each
case, the same two letters can be found at the beginning and the end. For example REspiRE.

..QUI..
..YLI..
..GIB..
..SUL..
..LIV..
..IFI..
..RMI..
..ALG..
..GRA..
..STO..

8) Matthew Shelborn frequently has to travel for his company, which gives him a chance to meet
many people from all parts of the USA. In April, Matthew flew to five different US cities on
business and he flew a different airline each time. During each trip he chatted with the person
next to him, and no two people he talked to were in the same profession.

From the information, can you determine the date Matthew made each flight (each was on a
Monday exactly one week apart starting on April 2nd), the airline he flew, his destination, and
the profession of the person who sat next to him on each flight?
 1. Three consecutive flights were, in order from first to last, the flight Matthew took with
WTA Airways, the flight where he sat next to the teacher, and the flight he took to
Atlanta.

2. Matthew sat beside the sports coach on a flight some time earlier in the month than
the one he took to Seattle.

3. The week he flew Air Express was some time earlier in the month than the trip to
Boston, which was some time earlier in the month than the trip where he sat next to the
ballet dancer.

4. It wasn't on the trip to San Diego where Matthew sat next to the doctor.

5. Matthew didn't fly Skyways on his trip to Seattle, and he didn't fly WTA Airways on the
trip where he sat next to the sports coach.

6. Atlanta was not Matthew's destination on the trip where he made the acquaintance of
the ballet dancer.

7. The Fly America flight was exactly two weeks before the flight where Matthew passed
the time chatting with the attorney.

Dates: April 2nd, April 9th, April 16th, April 23rd, April 30th
Airline: Air Express, Fly America, Mid USA Air, Skyways, WTA Airways
Destination: Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, San Diego, Seattle
Seat Mate: Attorney, Ballet Dancer, Doctor, Sports Coach, Teacher

9) Three people check into a hotel. They pay $30 to the manager and go to their room. The
manager suddenly remembers that the room rate is $25 and gives $5 to the bellboy to return to
the people. On the way to the room the bellboy reasons that $5 would be difficult to share
among three people so he pockets $2 and gives $1 to each person. Now each person paid $10
and got back $1. So they paid $9 each, totalling $27. The bellboy has $2, totalling $29. Where is
the missing $1?

10) There are three houses, and three utilities: gas, electricity and water. Your task is to connect
each house to all three utilities. Therefore each house will have three lines and each utility will
also have three lines. However, you cannot cross lines. You cannot pass lines through houses or
utilities. You cannot share lines. Can you draw the 9 lines required?
11) Mr Smith has lots of pound coins, ten boxes in all. Each box contains 100 pound coins, but one
box contains coins which are counterfeit and are slightly lighter, 1/16 of an ounce lighter to be
exact. The problem lies in the fact that they all look identical, the only way to tell them apart is
to weigh them. How to determine which box contains the counterfeit ones in one weighing ?

12) You have a pile of 24 coins. Twenty-three of these coins have the same weight, and one is
heavier. Your task is to determine which coin is heavier and do so in the minimum number of
weighings. You are given a beam balance (scale), which will compare the weight of any two sets
of coins out of the total set of 24 coins. You are required to identify the heavier coin in three
weighings?

13) U2 has a concert that starts in just 17 minutes and all of the band members must all cross a
bridge to get there. The four men begin on the same side of the bridge and you must help them
to get across to the other side.

Due the age of the bridge, only two people can cross at one time. To make matters worse, it is
night-time and there is only one torch. The torch is always required when crossing the bridge
and the torch must be walked back and forth, it cannot be thrown, etc. Each band member walks
at a different speed and a pair must walk together at the rate of the slower man:

Bono takes 1 minute to cross

Edge takes 2 minutes to cross
Adam takes 5 minutes to cross
Larry takes 10 minutes to cross

For example, if Bono and Larry walk across first, it takes them 10 minutes to cross. If Adam then
returns with the torch , a total of 15 minutes will have passed. There is no trick behind this, it is
the simple movement of resources in the appropriate order.
14) A landlord is threatening to evict a father and his beautiful young daughter, unless she agrees to
marry him. In a false gesture of sincerity, he offers her an opportunity for her and her father to
remain in the house, without marrying him. He has a silk bag in which he says he has placed a
white and a black stone from the footpath on which they're standing. If she picks the white stone
from the bag, without looking, she wins; if she picks the black, she loses. However, the young
girl saw him place two black stones in the bag. She can't expose him in front of the witnesses
without angering him and making things worse. How does the clever girl win?

15) Three switches outside a windowless room are connected to three light bulbs inside the room.
How can you determine which switch is connected to which bulb if you may enter the room only
once?

16) A snail is at the bottom of a 20 meters deep pit. Each day the snail climbs 5 meters upwards, but
at night it slides 4 meters back downwards. How many days does it take the snail to reaches the
top of the pit?

17) The day before yesterday, Jenny was 17 years old. Next year, she'll be 20 years old. How
is this possible?

18) An island is inhabited by two classes of people: knights, who make only true
statements, and knaves, who make only false statements. Three inhabitants are
conversing. Alfred says, "All of us are knaves." Bert says, "Exactly one of
us is a knight." What are Alfred, Bert, and Charles?

19) A man comes accross a unknown road. He doesnt know whether it is safe or
danger. Two brothers are standing there. One always says the truth and one
always lies. The man doesnt know who says truth and who lies. What single
question would he ask one of the brother to discover the correct road ?

20) There are 1000 coins of Re.1/- each. They have to be divided into 10 such groups that
any payment within Rs.1000/- (whole numbers only, no decimals) can be done either by a single
group or by simply combining more than one group. But none of the group should be broken or
split. Which are those ten groups ?

21) There are 4 weight bars such that any weight within 40kg (whole numbers only, no
decimals) can be done using those 4 bars. What is the weight of each of those 4 bars ?

22) Your sock drawer contains ten pairs of white socks and ten pairs of black socks. If you're
only allowed to take one sock from the drawer at a time and you can't see what color sock
you're taking until you've taken it, how many socks do you have to take before you're
guaranteed to have at least one matching pair?

23) You have three boxes of fruit. One contains just apples, one contains just oranges, and
one contains a mixture of both. Each box is labeled -- one says "apples," one says "oranges,"
and one says "apples and oranges." However, it is known that none of the boxes are labeled
correctly. How can you label the boxes correctly if you are only allowed to take and look at just
one piece of fruit from just one of the boxes?

24) An Arab sheikh is old and must will his fortune to one of his two sons. He makes a
proposition. His two sons will ride their camels in a race, and whichever camel crosses the finish
line last will win the fortune for its owner. During the race, the two brothers wander aimlessly for
days, neither willing to cross the finish line. In desperation, they ask a wise man for advice. He
tells them something; then the brothers leap onto the camels and charge toward the finish line.
What did the wise man say?
25) You have a jug that holds five gallons, and a jug that holds three gallons. You have no
other containers, and there are no markings on the jugs. You need to obtain exactly seven
gallons of water from a faucet. How can you do it? Second Problem: You need exactly four
gallons. How do you do it?

26) You are on a game show. You are shown three closed doors. A prize is hidden behind one,
and the game show host knows where it is. You are asked to select a door. You do. Before you
open it, the host opens one of the other doors, showing that it is empty, then asks you if you'd
like to change your guess. Should you, should you not, or doesn't it matter?

27) You are given eight jelly doughnuts. The doughnuts all weigh the same amount except for
one which is heavier. You have a balancing scale at your disposal. What's the minimum number
of weighings required for you to pick out the heavy doughnut every time?

28) Three men, members of a safari, are captured by cannibals in the jungle. The men are
given one chance to escape with their lives. The men are lined up and bound to stakes such that
one man can see the backs of the other two, the middle man can see the back of the front man,
and the front man can't see anybody. The men are shown five hats, three of which are black and
two of which are white. Then the men are blindfolded, and one of the five hats is placed on each
man's head. The remaining two hats are hidden away. The blindfolds are removed. The men are
told that if just one of the men can guess what hat he's wearing, they may all go free. Time
passes. Finally, the front man, who can't see anyone, correctly guesses the color of his hat.
What color was it, and how did he guess correctly?

29) You have a 12 liter jug, an 8 liter jug, and a 5 liter jug. None of the jugs have any
markings on them. The 12 liter jug is full, and the other two are empty. How can you divide the
12 liters of water equally (i.e., so two of the jugs have exactly 6 liters of water in them, and the
third is empty)?

30) A gambler bet on a horse race, but the bookee wouldn't tell him the results of the race.
The bookee gave clues as to how the five horses finished -- which may have included some ties
-- and wouldn't pay the gambler off unless the gambler could determine how the five horses
finished based on the following clues:
 Penuche Fudge finished before Near Miss and after Whispered Promises.
 Whispered Promises tied with Penuche Fudge if and only if Happy Go Lucky did not tie with
Skipper's Gal.
 Penuche Fudge finished as many places after Skipper's Gal as Skipper's Gal finished after
Whispered Promises if and only if Whispered Promises finished before Near Miss.

The gambler thought for a moment, then answered correctly. How did the five horses finish the
race?

31) Three humans and three monkeys (one big, two small) need to cross a river. But there is
only one boat, and it can only hold two bodies (regardless of their size), and only the humans or
the big monkey are strong enough to row the boat. Furthermore, the number of monkeys can
never outnumber the number of humans on the same side of the river, or the monkeys will
attack the humans. How can all six get across the river without anyone getting hurt?

32) 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 -- the other dogs lack this skill. How did the five men and the five dogs cross
the river?
33) On your travels, three men stand at a fork in the road. You're not sure which fork you
need to take, but each of the three men do. One of these people tells the truth, one always lies,
and the third tells the truth sometimes and lies the other times. Each of the three men know
each of the others, but you don't know who is who. If you could ask only one of the men (chosen
at random, since you don't know which man is which) one yes/no question, what question would
you ask to determine the road you wish to take?

34) Four gentlemen (Adam, Bill, Chuck, and Dan) went to an expensive restaurant to dine.
They checked their coats, hats, gloves, and canes at the door (each of the gentlemen had one of
each). But when they checked out, there was a mix up, and each of the men ended up with
exactly one article of clothing (a pair of gloves is considered a single article of clothing)
belonging to each one of the four. Adam and Bill ended up with their own coats, Chuck ended up
with his own hat, and Dan ended up with his own gloves. Adam did not end up with Chuck's
cane. State whose coat, hat, gloves, and cane each of the gentlemen ended up with.

35) Four intellectuals are lined up so that each intellectual can see the ones in front of him
but not the ones behind him. (The back one can see the other three, and the front one can't see
anybody.) One hat is placed on the heads of each of the intellectuals. (None of them may see
the color of their own hat, but each may see the color of the hats on the intellectuals in front of
him.) Each of the four hats are one of three different colors (red, white, and blue), and there is
at least one hat of each color (so there's one duplicate). Each of the intellectuals, starting with
the back and ending with the front, is asked the color of the hat he is wearing. Each of the
intellectuals is able to deduce and give a correct answer out loud, in turn. What arrangement of
the hats permits this to be possible without guessing (since the specific colors chosen are
arbitrary, just indicate which two intellectuals must be wearing hats of the same color), and how
did they do it?

36) There are four men (call them 1, 2, 3, and 4) standing in front of a firing squad in a line.
They are all facing the same direction such that 1 is at the back of the line, and 4 is at the front.
1 and 3 are wearing black hats, and 2 and 4 are wearing white hats. Between 3 and 4 is a brick
wall. So 1, at the back of the line, can see 2 and 3. 2 can see 3. Neither 3 and 4 can see
anybody. The men know that two of them are wearing black hats and two of them are wearing
white hats. The commander of the firing squad offers a challenge. The challenge is that he will
let all of them go if only one of them correctly names the color of his own hat. The men are not
allowed to talk amongst themselves. Which of the men know for sure the color of his hat?

37) You have two slow-burning fuses, each of which will burn up in exactly one hour. They
are not necessarily of the same length and width as each other, nor even necessarily of uniform
width, so you can't measure a half hour by noting when one fuse is half burned. Using these two
fuses, how can you measure 45 minutes?

38) You have an eight-gallon tank of water, which is completely full, an empty five-gallon
tank, and an empty three-gallon tank. Without throwing any water away, can you put exactly
four gallons in the eight-gallon tank and four gallons in the five-gallon tank?

39) Five competitors -- A, B, C, D, and E -- enter a swimming race that awards gold, silver,
and bronze medals to the first three to complete it. Each of the following compound statements
about the race is false, although one of the two clauses in each may be true.
 A didn't win the gold, and B didn't win the silver.
 D didn't win the silver, and E didn't win the bronze.
 C won a medal, and D didn't.
 A won a medal, and C didn't.
 D and E both won medals.

Who won each of the medals?

40) A man is the owner of a winery who recently passed away. In his will, he left 21 barrels
(seven of which are filled with wine, seven of which are half full, and seven of which are empty)
to his three sons. However, the wine and barrels must be split so that each son has the same
number of full barrels, the same number of half-full barrels, and the same number of empty
barrels. Note that there are no measuring devices handy. How can the barrels and wine be
evenly divided?

41) This problem requires basic algebra. Let 'a' and 'b' be two variables that are equal, so
that a=b. From these two variables, we can show that 2 is equal to 1:

1 a=b Given.

2 a*a = a*b Left-multiply both sides by a

3 a*a-b*b = a*b-b*b Subtract (b*b) from both sides

4 (a-b)*(a+b) = (a-b)*b Factor (a-b) from both sides

5 (a+b) = b Cancel (a-b) from both sides

6 (b+b) = b Replace a with b (given, see line 1)

7 2b = b Simplify (b+b) to 2b

8 2=1 Answer: 2 is equal to 1

What is wrong with this reasoning?

42) Four switches can be turned on or off. One is the lightswitch for the incandescent
overhead light in the next room, which is initially off, but you don't know which. The other three
switches do nothing. From the room with the switches in it, you can't see whether the light in
the next room is turned on or off. You may flip the switches as often and as many times as you
like, but once you enter the next room to check on the light, you must be able to say which
switch controls the light without flipping the switches any further. (And you can't open the door
without entering, either!) How can you determine which switch controls the light?

43) Nine dots are arranged in a three by three square. Connect each of the nine dots using
only four straight lines and without lifting your pen from the paper.

44) You drive to the store at 20 mph and return by the same route at 30 mph. Discounting
the time spent at the store, what was your average speed?

45) Arrange the numbers 1 through 9 on a tic tac toe board such that the numbers in each
row, column, and diagonal add up to 15.

46) If you drive to the store at 20 mph, how fast must you go (again returning by the same
route) for your average speed to be 40 mph?
47) A clock is observed. The hour hand is exactly at the minute mark, and the minute hand is
six minutes ahead of it. Later, the clock is observed again. This time, the hour hand is exactly on
a different minute mark, and the minute hand is seven minutes ahead of it. How much time
elapsed between the first and second observations?

48) On a man's tombstone, it is said that one sixth of his life was spent in childhood and one
twelfth as a teenager. One seventh of his life passed between the time he became an adult and
the time he married; five years later, his son was born. Alas, the son died four years before he
did. He lived to be twice as old as his son did. How old did the man live to be?

49) Isaac and Albert wanted to take a vacation. They were debating how they could get to
their hotel in the fastest manner. Isaac said, "We should go by train." But Albert said, "No, the
train reaches the end of the line half way to the hotel -- we would have to walk the rest of the
way. We should bike to the hotel instead." Isaac disagreed. So Albert biked the whole way to the
hotel, while Isaac took the train for the first half of the journey and walked for the remainder.
The speed of the train turned out to be four times that of the bike's speed. The bike's speed
turned out to be two times faster than walking speed. Who got to the hotel first?