A king has 1000 bottles of wine and one has been poisoned. Even a sip of the poisoned wine is enough to kill a person.
The king asks the royal jailor to identify the poisoned wine bottle by testing them on the prisoners.
It takes up to 24 hours for the poison to take effect. There are unlimited number of prisoners at the jailer’s disposal. What is the minimum number of prisoners the jailer needs to identify the poisoned wine bottle in 24 hours?
Riddle AnswerFour people need to cross a rickety rope bridge to get back to their camp at night. Unfortunately, they only have one flashlight and it only has enough light left for seventeen minutes. The bridge is too dangerous to cross without a flashlight, and it’s only strong enough to support two people at any given time. Each of the campers walks at a different speed. One can cross the bridge in 1 minute, another in 2 minutes, the third in 5 minutes, and the fourth takes 10 minutes to cross.
How do the campers cross the bridge in 17 minutes?
Riddle AnswerYou have two jugs. One holds exactly 3 gallons and the other 5 gallons of water. You have unlimited supply of water. How do you fill 4 gallons of water into the five-gallon jug?
Riddle AnswerA guard is stationed at the entrance of a bridge. He is tasked to shoot anyone who tries to cross to the other side of the bridge, and to turn away anyone who comes in from the opposite side of the bridge. You are on his side of the bridge and want to escape to the other side.
Because the bridge is old and rickety, anyone who tries to cross it does so at a constant speed, and it always takes exactly 10 minutes to cross.
The guard comes out of his post every 6 minutes and looks down the bridge for any people trying to leave, and at all other times he sits in his post and snoozes. You know you can sneak past him when he’s sleeping, but the problem is that you won’t be able to make it all the way to the other side of the bridge before he sees you (since he comes out every 6 minutes, but it takes 10 minutes to cross).
One day a brilliant idea comes to you, and soon you’ve successfully crossed to the other side of the bridge without being shot. How did you do it?
Riddle Answer