A man brought a jeweler six chains that each had five links. He wanted the jeweler to join all six chains together to make one long, closed, circular chain.
The jeweler said, “It’ll cost you a buck for every link I open and close. You want me to join six chains, so the job will cost you six bucks.”
“No, no,” replied the man, “the job can be done for less.” Is he right, and if so, how can it be done?
Answer
The job can be done for $5.
Open all the five links from one chain and use them to join the remaining chains together.