Paula, the apartment-house mouse, is trying to get in shape. She wants to do this by climbing stairs. She starts on the fourth floor, climbs up five stories, down seven, up six, down three, and up four again. What floor is she on now?
Riddle AnswerMath Riddles
10 Cigarette Butts
Bruce is an inmate at a large prison, and like most of the other prisoners, he smokes cigarettes. During his time in the prison, Bruce finds that if he has 3 cigarette butts, he can cram them together and turn them into 1 full cigarette. Whenever he smokes a cigarette, it turns into a cigarette butt.
One day, Bruce is in his cell talking to one of his cellmates, Steve.
“I really want to smoke 5 cigarettes today, but all I have are these 10 cigarette butts,” Bruce tells Steve. “I’m not sure that will be enough.”
“Why don’t you borrow some of Tom’s cigarette butts?” asks Steve, pointing over to a small pile of cigarette butts on the bed of their third cellmate, Tom, who is out for the day on a community service project.
“I can’t,” Bruce says. “Tom always counts exactly how many cigarette butts are in his pile, and he’d probably kill me if he noticed that I had taken any.”
However, after thinking for a while, Bruce figures out a way that he can smoke 5 cigarettes without angering Tom. What is his plan?
Riddle AnswerBirthday Puzzle
The day before yesterday I was 25 and the next year I will be 28. This is true on only one day in a year. What day is my birthday?
Riddle AnswerFour Chains
You have four chains of three links each. Although it is difficult to cut the links, you wish to make a single loop with all 12 links.
What is the fewest number of cuts you must make to accomplish this task?
Riddle AnswerSisters and Brothers
My daughter has many sisters. She has as many sisters as she has brothers. Each of her brothers has twice as many sisters as brothers. How many sons and daughters do I have?
Riddle Answer