Brainteasers
Compiled by Julianne Scibetta, University at Albany
I apologize for my long absence!
Answers for December 2005
Thanks to the enthusiasm for December's puzzle entries! I had some great explanations.
Congratulations to Reese Yontz of Jackson State Community College as the puzzler
with the most correct answers (including TreeTent)! Thanks also to the staff
at Hawaii Community College, including Guy Kimura and Warren Walker, for sharing
with me your thoughts about the $25 hotel!
- The $25 Hotel: The addition and subtraction just doesn't seem to add up
in this one. The actual hotel rate is $25, not $30, so the manager returns
the $5. The bellboy gives back $1 to each of the three tenants and keeps $2
for himself. Where is the extra dollar? When the bellboy returns the money,
each person has then paid $27 for the room. Since the room costs $25, there
are only $2 extra, which the bellboy keeps.
- Would you rather have a crocodile attack you or an alligator? Personally,
I'd have the crocodile attack the alligator. :)
- Tree-Tent: Email me if you need a graphic! Thanks!
February's Puzzles - Let the Games Begin!
- Soccer Crazy - You are refereeing a soccer match between two teams, the
Red City Rovers and the Blue City Wanderers. Four of the 22 players on the
field are called Kevin, one in the red team and three in the blue team. Three
of the players are called Dick, two in the blue team and one in the red team,
and both goalkeepers are called John. What is the referee's name?
- Tempting Offer - Legend has it that a rich but wicked man in ancient Greece
once offered a poor beggar an earthenware jug containing a sweet-smelling
liquid that the wicked man swore would turn everything it came into contact
with into pure gold. Why was the poor beggar not deceived?
- Conflicting Allegiance - Who played for both Italy and Russia at the Olympic
Games in the same year?
This month's puzzles from I.Q. Challenge: The Lateral Thinking Game,
a trademark of the Lagoon Trading Company Ltd. Lagoon 2001.
Email your answers to Julianne (jscibetta3@hotmail.com)
before February 28, 2006!