1. There is a man that lives on the top floor of a very tall
building. Everyday he gets the elevator down to the ground floor
to leave the building to go to work. Upon returning from
work though, he can only travel half way up in the lift and
has to walk the rest of the way unless it's raining!
WHY? This is probably the best known and most celebrated
of all lateral thinking puzzles. It is a true classic. Although
there are many possible solutions which fit the initial
conditions, only the canonical answer is truly satisfying.
2. A man and his son are in a car accident. The father dies on the
scene, but the child is rushed to the hospital. When he arrives the
surgeon says "I can't operate on this boy, he is my son!" How can this be?
3. A man is wearing black. Black shoes, socks, trousers,jumper, gloves
and balaclava. He is walking down a black street with all the street
lamps off. A black car is coming towards him with its light off too
but some how manages to stop in time. How did the driver see the man?
4.The Younger Twin One day Kerry celebrated her birthday. Two days later her older twin
brother, Terry,celebrated his birthday. Why?
5. A man went to a party and drank some of the punch. He then left early. Everyone else at the party
who drank the punch subsequently died of poisoning. Why did the man not die?
6. A woman had two sons who were born on the same hour of the same day of the same year. But they
were not twins. How could this be so?
7. Title : The Man in the Bar A man walks into a bar and asks the
barman for a glass of water. The barman pulls out a gun and points it
at the man. The man says 'Thank you' and walks out.
8. Tom's mom had three children. The first was named May, the second was
June. What was the third childs name?
9. The word CANDY can be spelled using just 2 letters. Can you figure out how?
10. Bill bets Craig $100 that he can predict the score of the hockey game
before it starts. Craig agrees, but loses the bet. Why did Craig lose the bet?
11. What is the next 3 letters in this sequence?
o t t f f s s _ _ _
12. FOUR is HALF of FIVE.
Is this statement True or False?
13. A woman shoots her husband. Then she holds him under water for over 5 minutes.
Finally, she hangs him. But 5 minutes later they both go out together and enjoy a wonderful dinner
together. How can this be?
14. What is black when you buy it, red when you use it, and gray when you throw it away?
15. Can you name three consecutive days without using the words Monday,Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, or Sunday?
16. This is an unusual paragraph. I'm curious how quickly you can find out
what is so unusual about it? It looks so plain you would think nothing was
wrong with it! In fact, nothing is wrong with it! It is unusual though.
Study it, and think about it, but you still may not find anything odd. But
if you work at it a bit, you might find out! Try to do so without any
coaching!
15. This one's a tuffy! There is a common English word that is seven letters
long. Each time you remove a letter from it, it still remains a common
English word - from seven letters right on down to a single letter. What is
the original word, and what are the words that it becomes after removing a
letter at a time?
16. In olden days you are a clever thief charged with treason against the
king and sentenced to death. But the king decides to be a little lenient and
lets you choose your own way to die. What way should you choose? Remember,
you're clever!
17. What is it that when you take away the whole, you still have some left over?
18. What six letter word in the English language contains ten other words
without rearranging any of its letters?
20. A man was found murdered on Sunday morning. His wife immediately called
the police. The police questioned the wife and staff and got these alibis:
The Wife said she was sleeping.
The Cook was cooking breakfast.
The Gardener was picking vegetables.
The Maid was getting the mail.
The Butler was cleaning the closet.
The police instantly arrested the murdered. Who did it and how did they
know?