Puzzle

Puzzle #1 - The gold chain Views : 4882
23-May-08 Rated 4.0 by 10 Users
A wealthy man needed to pay the mason building his house. He was running low on cash, so
he decided to pay the mason with a gold chain with 7 links. The mason's fee was equivalent
to one gold link a day. The wealthy man needed to pay the mason each day, as otherwise he
would stop working. If he overpaid, the mason might run away with the extra payment.
The wealthy man did not want to make too many cuts in the chain as he wanted it back once
he had the cash to pay the mason in cash. What is the minimum number of cuts that the
wealthy man needs to make in the chain?
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Solution
The man needs to make only one cut - on the third link. So he ends up with three pieces: 1 link
(the one that was cut), 2 links joined together and 4 links joined together.
Day 1: give the single cut link

Day 2: give the piece with 2 links and take back the single link
Day 3: give the single link
Day 4: give the piece with 4 links and take back the pieces with 1 and 2 links
Day 6: give the piece with 2 links and take back the single link
Puzzle #2 - Two horses in a race Views : 6284
A king was dying and devised a strange plan to determine which one of his twin sons would inherit
the throne. He told his sons to ride their horses in a race, and whichever horse crossed the finish
line LAST would win the throne for its owner. His sons didn't know what to do, and wandered
aimlessly for days. Neither of them wanted to cross the the finish line first. Finally they met a sage
who gave them some advice. Immediately, the brothers leapt onto the horses and galloped toward
the finish line. What was the advice?
Solution
The sage told them to switch horses and whoever finishes first wins the throne (since they
swapped, his horse would have reached the finish line last!).
Puzzle #3 - Two jars with marbles Views : 4335
06-Jun-08 Rated 4.1 by 7 Users
Once Birbal was returning from a visit to a far land when his ship capsized. He was taken prisoner
by a mad king in a distant land who had heard of Birbal's intelligence. The king wanted to see how
intelligent Birbal really was. He gave Birbal two large jars - one with 50 red marbles and the other
with 50 white marbles. He allowed Birbal to move the marbles around between two jars. The only
condition was that each of the 100 marbles should finally be accounted for in one of the two jars.
After Birbal finished, he would be blindfolded and the two jars will be shaken. Then the king will
chose one of the jars at random and give that jar to Birbal. Birbal will have to pick one marble out
of that jar. If he picks a white marble, he will be set free and sent home in comfort; if he picks a
red marble, he will be given 100 lashes and sent-off on a boat without food or water.
What should Birbal do to maximize his chances of picking a white marble?

Solution
Birbal leaves one white marble in the first jar and transfers the rest to the second jar. The
probability of drawing a white marble from the first jar is 1 (100%). The probability of
drawing a white marble from the second jar is 49/99.
Given that either of the two jars is equally likely to be picked up, the combined probability is
(0.5 x 1) + (0.5 x 49/99) = 74/99. That's a 74.75% chance of drawing a white marble.
Puzzle #4 - Timing with ropes Views : 4893
You have two ropes, each of which takes two hours to burn if lit at one end. These ropes are not
homogeneous and some parts of the rope burn more quickly than the other parts. If you cut the
rope into half, you cannot assume that the half rope will take one hour to burn.
Use these ropes to measure 1hr 30 min.

Solution
Set fire to both ends of one rope. At the same time, set fire to one end of the other rope. The
rope lit from both ends will take one hour to burn completely (it is burning at twice the rate).
Just as it finishes burning, the other rope would have burned for one hour with one hour
remaining. Now light this rope from the other end as well, so that the remaining part burns
in 30 minutes.
since there were 5 hats, 2 hats remained unused). There is no light in the tent and there is no way
the scientists can see or figure out which hat is which.
He told the scientists that they have to walk out of the tent in a queue, and then any one of them
has to guess the colour of the hat on top of HIS head. They are to stand so that the third scientist
can see the colour of the hats on the two scientists in front of him. The middle one can only see
the colour of the hat on the scientist in front of him. The first scientist cannot see anyone's hat.
The scientists were given 10 minutes inside the tent to discuss their strategy. Once they walk out,
the only thing any one of them is allowed to say is "The colour of my hat is ..........". If the colour is
correct they will all be set free. If the colour is wrong or anyone says or does anything else, all of
them will be cooked and eaten!
The scientists went out, they stood there for some time, and then one of them said "The colour of
my hat is ........!". What colour was his hat?
Solution
The colour was white!
If the last scientist saw two black hats ahead of him, he would know that his hat had to be
white. If he kept quiet for a fixed time, it would indicate to the scientists ahead of him that at
least one of the other two had a white hat.
Now the second scientist would know that there was at least one white hat between him and
the first scientist. If the first one has a black hat, then he himself should have a white hat.
But he kept quite. So, the first scientist knew that he had a white hat.
Using the strategy explained above, at least one of the scientists will always be able to
correctly predict the colour of the hat on his head (whatever be the distribution of hats!)
Puzzle #5 - Three scientists with hats Views : 4451
Three scientists went on an expedition in the Amazon forests where they were captured by
cannibals. The cannibal chief likes having fun, so he devised a game that gives the scientists a
chance to survive! He took them to a tent where he had 3 white hats and two black hats (no
points for guessing where he got the hats from!). He then put one hat on the head of each of
the scientists (since there were 5 hats, 2 hats remained unused). There is no light in the tent
and there is no way the scientists can see or figure out which hat is which.
He told the scientists that they have to walk out of the tent in a queue, and then any one of
them has to guess the colour of the hat on top of HIS head. They are to stand so that the third
scientist can see the colour of the hats on the two scientists in front of him. The middle one
can only see the colour of the hat on the scientist in front of him. The first scientist cannot see
anyone's hat. The scientists were given 10 minutes inside the tent to discuss their strategy.
Once they walk out, the only thing any one of them is allowed to say is "The colour of my hat
is ..........". If the colour is correct they will all be set free. If the colour is wrong or anyone
says or does anything else, all of them will be cooked and eaten!
The scientists went out, they stood there for some time, and then one of them said "The
colour of my hat is ........!". What colour was his hat?
Solution
The colour was white!
If the last scientist saw two black hats ahead of him, he would know that his hat had to be white.
If he kept quiet for a fixed time, it would indicate to the scientists ahead of him that at least one
of the other two had a white hat.
Now the second scientist would know that there was at least one white hat between him and the
first scientist. If the first one has a black hat, then he himself should have a white hat. But he
kept quite. So, the first scientist knew that he had a white hat.
Using the strategy explained above, at least one of the scientists will always be able to correctly
predict the colour of the hat on his head (whatever be the distribution of hats!)
Puzzle #181 - Dessert Habits Views : 7145

04-Nov-11 Rated 3.5 by 6 Users
Aniket, Ajinkya, and Saurabh go out for dinner together almost every night. At the end of dinner,
they usually order dessert. A few generalisations about their dessert habits are as follows:
1. They either order caramel custard or ice cream after dinner.
2. If Aniket orders ice cream after dinner, then Ajinkya orders the same dessert as ordered by
Saurabh.
3. If Ajinkya orders ice cream, then Aniket orders the dessert that Saurabh does not order.
4. If Saurabh orders caramel custard, then Aniket orders the dessert that Ajinkya orders.
Using this data, identify the person who orders the same dessert after dinner. Provide an
explanation along with your answer.
Solution
Aniket (Caramel Custard).
Aniket Ajinkya Saurabh

Case I Ice cream Ice cream Ice cream
Case II Ice cream Caramel Custard Caramel Custard
Case III Caramel Custard Ice cream Ice cream
Case IV Caramel Custard Caramel Custard Caramel Custard
Case V Caramel Custard Ice cream Caramel Custard
Case VI Caramel Custard Caramel Custard Ice cream
Then, from [3], Cases I and V are eliminated and, from [4], Cases II and V are eliminated.
So you know that Aniket always orders the same dessert (caramel custard) after dinner.
Puzzle #182 - Identify the Twins Views : 7330

The ages of three friends: Anurag, Bhavik & Tarun are related to the diagram given below such that
when just one digit is written in each box:
(1) a across is Anurag's age
(2) a down is the sum of Anurag's age and Bhavik's age
(3) b across is the sum of Anurag's age, Bhavik's age and Tarun's age
(4) Among Anurag, Bhavik and Tarun, we have a pair of twins.
All ages mentioned above are in years.
Using this data, determine the twins. Also, find out how many possible solutions are their for their
ages and give one possible solution to their ages. Provide a detailed explanation along with your
answer.

Solution
Let W, X, Y & Z represent the 4 digits as shown in the diagram.

Then, from (1) and (2), Anurag's age is a 2 digit number. Also, WX plus Bhavik's age equals
WY. So, Bhavik's age must be a 1-digit number.
From (3), WY plus Tarun's age equals ZY. So, Tarun's age must end in Zero. Thus, Tarun's
age is a 2 digit number.
From (4), and the fact that only Bhavik's age is a one digit number, Bhavik is a different age
in years from the other two.
Hence, Anurag and Tarun are the twins.
Because Tarun's age ends in zero, Anurag's age must also end in zero. So, Anurag and Tarun
may each be 10, 20, 30 or 40 and Bhavik may be 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 or 9.
Of the (9 * 4 =) 36 ways of doing this, here's one way:
Puzzle #183 - The Identical Cubes Views : 6248

While walking down the isle in a museum, Manoj came across 2 ancient identical cubes in
the section for ancient runes. All he could see of them is what is shown in the figure:
The hidden faces of the 2 cubes that have been indicated by the arrows have the same symbol
on them.
Which symbol from the ones given below happens to be on the face indicated by the arrows?
Provide a detailed explanation along with your answer.

Solution
As the cubes are identical and from the first figure, at least one of and occurs twice.
If both occur twice, the identical tubes look like:
But in each case, duplicate faces cannot occur at the arrows, which contradicts the fact that
they have the same symbol.
So either only occurs twice or occurs twice.
If only occurs twice, then the identical cubes look like this:
But, in this case duplicate faces cannot occur at the arrows, contradicting the fact that the
faces are identical.
So only occurs twice and the identical cubes look like this:
In this case the occurs on the right cube at the arrow. Thus, in accordance with the fact
that both faces have identical symbols, the occurs on the left cube at the arrow. Thus,
is on the faces indicated by the arrows. (The occurs on the unmarked face in the last
diagram.)
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name of the boy who had the joker. Provide a detailed explanation along with your answer.
Solution
Billu.
From 1 and 3, one man had exactly two singletons: a king and a queen. From 2, Billu cannot
have had exactly two singletons unless one of them was the joker. So Ashish had the single
ton king and the singleton queen.
Then, from 3, each of Billu and Chiru cannot have had more than one singleton. If Chiru had
no singletons, then - from Ashish's holding and 1 & 2 - he had 2 kings and 2 queen. But
then, from 1 & 2, Billu would have had three singletons - contradicting previous reasoning.
So Chiru had exactly one singleton.
Then, from 1, 2 & 4 - Chiru had 3 queens and a singleton king; if Chiru had the joker
instead of a singleton king, Billu would have had three kings - contradicting 4.
Then, from the other men's holdings and from 1 & 2, Billu had the joker and 2 Kings.
Puzzle #185 - Of Peas and Queues... Views : 5813
02-Dec-11 Rated 1.0 by 1 User
In an old village called Amphipolis in Greece, there existed two great families: The Peas and the
Queues. The friends, Ariel, Bertha and Christie, happened to marry into either of these families.
1. The Peas always tell the truth while the Queues always lie. Once a girl married into these
families, she would immediately have to adopt their culture of lying or telling the truth.
2. Once Danielle, Ariel's friend, met Ariel after a really long time. While catching up on lost time,
Ariel said, Either I belong or Bertha belongs to a different family from the other two.
Using this date, deduce whose family you know the name of. Also, don't forget to mention which
family that is. Provide a detailed explanation along with your answer.
Solution
From 1 & 2,
Case 1: If Ariels statement is true, all three cannot be members of the Pea family and
Christie cannot be the only one of the three who is a member of the Queue family. So, if
Ariels statement is true, either: Ariel is the only one of the three who is a member of the Pea
family or Bertha is the only one of the three who is a member of the Queue family.
Case 2: If Ariels statement is false, Ariel cannot be the only one of the three who is a
member of the Queue family and Bertha cannot be the only one of the three who is a
member of the Pea family. So, if Ariels statement is false, either: Christie is the only
member of the three who is a member of the Pea family or all three are members of the
Queue family.
Then: Ariel is a member of the Pea family in Case 1 and a member of the Queue family in
Case 2. Bertha is a member of the Queue family in case 1 and in case 2. Christie may be a
member of either family in case 1 as well as in case 2. So, we only know the name of
Berthas Family Queue.
Puzzle #186 - Identify the Killer Views : 7544
09-Dec-11 Rated 3.0 by 6 Users
A rich man named Azim stayed all alone in Delhi in a huge castle. He had no family, no
friends, no pet. One day, the news in the newspaper read that Azim had been killed the
previous evening. The Police, after a lot of investigations had deduced that there were 3
visitors to the castle around the time Azim was killed. They were Alrick, Bansi and Caius.
Apart from that, they also found out the following information:
1. The killer was one among the three visitors to the castle. Also, the killer arrived at the
castle later than at least one of the other two visitors.
2. One of the three visitors was a private investigator who had been hired by Azim himself.
The investigator arrived at the castle before at least one of the other two visitors had arrived.
3. The investigator arrived at the castle at midnight.
4. Neither Alrick nor Bansi arrived at the castle post midnight.
5. Among Bansi and Caius, the one who arrived earlier was not the investigator.
6. Among Alrick and Caius, the one who arrived later was definitely not the killer.
Using this data, help the police to nab the killer. Provide a detailed explanation along with
your answer.
Solution
Alrick was the killer.
From 2 & 3, the investigator arrived at midnight and at least one of the three visitors arrived after
midnight. Then, from 4, Caius arrived after midnight. So, Caius was not the investigator. Then,
from 4 & 5, Bansi was not the investigator. So, from 2, Alrick was the investigator. Then from 6,
Caius was not the killer. Then, from 1 & 4, Alrick arrived after Bansi and Alrick was the killer.
In short, Bansi arrived before midnight; Alrick, who was both investigator and killer, arrived at
midnight; and Caius arrived after midnight.
Puzzle #187 - The Misinformed Salesperson Views : 6758
Roadside stalls in India sell bubble gums, lollipops, and candy sweets. Little Ramu wanted to
buy some sweets for his friends. So, he went and inquired at 3 different stalls.
1) The salesperson at stall 1 told him that any 7 bubble gums together with any 5 lollipops
have the same value as any 6 candy sweets.
2) The salesperson at stall 2 told him that any 4 bubble gums together with any 9 candy
sweets have the same value as any 5 lollipops.
3) The salesperson at stall 3 told him that any 6 candy sweets together with any 3 lollipops
have the same value as any 4 bubble gums.
4) On purchasing some of each kind of sweet, Ramu discovered that exactly one of these
salespersons was wrong.
Using the data, deduce which salesperson was wrong. Provide a detailed explanation along
with your answer.
Solution
Let b represent bubble gums, g represent lollipops, t represent candy sweets, '+' represent
"together with", and '=' represent "have the same value as".
Using (2), substitute 4b + 9t for 5g in (1). Using (3), substitute 6t + 3g for 4b in (2). Using (1),
substitute 7b + 5g for 6t in (3). Then simplify.
In summary:
(1), using (2) is impossible because some bubble gums and 9 candy sweets cannot have the same
value as 6 candy sweets. (3), using (1), is impossible because some lollipops and 7 bubble gums
cannot have the same value as 4 bubble gums. Because only one salesperson was wrong, from (4),
neither the second nor the third salesperson was wrong; otherwise, more than one salesperson was
wrong. So, only the first salesperson was wrong.
One possible price list, from (2) and (3), is:
candy sweet - $0.80
bubble gum - $5.70
lollipop - $6.00
Puzzle #188 - The Sleepover Views : 6372

23-Dec-11 Rated 3.0 by 1 User
Last week, Amisha held a sleepover at her house. Her friends Bijal & Chinky were invited to her
home that evening. After dinner, the three girls decided to play a card game called "Teen Patti".
They had several rounds of the game, each round having exactly one winner.
1. No player won two rounds in succession.

2. She, who was the dealer for a round, ended up not winning that round.
3. The deal proceeded from Amisha to Bijal to Chinky. This cycle was repeated until they stopped
playing.
4. Only one player won more than two rounds and she did not win the first round.
Using this data, identify the only player to win more than two games. Provide a detailed
Solution
Let A represent Amisha, B represent Bijal, and C represent Chinky. Then, from [1] and [2],
the possible sequence of wins is as follows:
From [4],listing continues until one player win three rounds. (each asterisk indicates the
point where the rest of a sequence is determined; one deal earlier a choice between two
players is possible. Each succeeding case represents the other choice for the preceding case.)
From [4], cases 1,2,3,5,6 and 8 are eliminated. So case 4 or 7 is the right one. In either case,
Chinky was the only player to win more than two games.
Puzzle #189 - The Murder after Arguments Views : 6081

Four people went together on trip two men, Arjun and Bhushan, and two women, Champa and
Divya. One of them was murdered.
Data available about the four people says that:
1. Arjuns sister argued exactly once with Champas legal husband after the murder.
2. Bhushans sister argued twice with the victims legal spouse after the murder.
Using this data, deduce the name of the victim and the victim's spouse. Provide a detailed
Solution
From (1), Arjun's sister is either Champa or Divya.
Suppose Arjun's sister is Champa. Then from (1), Champa's husband is Bhushan. Then, from
(1) & (2), Bhushan's sister is Divya.
Suppose Arjun's sister is Divya, then from (1), Champa's husband is either Arjun or
Bhushan. Suppose, Champa's husband is Arjun,; then from (2), Bhushan's sister can be either
Champa or Divya. Suppose Champa's husband is Bhushan; then, from (1) & (2), Bhushan's
sister is Divya.
In summary:
In case 1, Arjun must be the victim. Then the victim's legal spouse can only be Divya. This
situation is impossible so Case 1 is eliminated.
In case 2b, either Bhushan or Champa must be the victim, then Bhushan can have no legal
spouse; this situation contradicts (2). If Champa is the victim, then Divya and Arjun argued
exactly once - from (1) - and twice - from (2); this situation is impossible. So, case 2b is
eliminated.
In case 2c, either Arjun or Champa must be the victim. If Arjun is the victim, then Arjun can
have no legal spouse; this situation contradicts (2). If Champa is the victim, then Divya and
Bhushan argued exactly once - from (1) - and twice - from (2); this situation is impossible
So, case 2c is eliminated.
Then Case 2a is the correct one. Then Bhushan must be the victim. From (2), Bhushan's
spouse can only be Divya.

Puzzle #190 - Pillow-Fights! Views : 6154
06-Jan-12 Rated 4.7 by 3 Users
After Arpita's New Year's Eve party, Bhavika and Chandini stayed back at Arpita's home. In
the middle of the night, the girls woke up. Having nothing else to do, two of them started a
little pillow-fight.
The following data is given:
1. The shorter girl among Arpita and Bhavika is the older pillow-fighter.
2. The younger girl among Bhavika and Chandini is the shorter pillow-fighter.
3. The taller girl among Arpita and Chandini is the younger pillow-fighter.
Using this data, deduce the girl among Arpita, Bhavika and Chandini who is not a pillow-
fighter. Provide a detailed explanation along with your answer.
Solution
Chandini is not a pillow-fighter.
From (1), Chandini is not the older fighter. From (3), Bhavika is not the younger fighter.
So either:
Case 1: Arpita is the older fighter and Chandini is the younger fighter.
Case 2: Bhavika is the older fighter and Arpita is the younger fighter.
Case 3: Bhavika is the older fighter and Chandini is the younger fighter.
Then:
From (3), Chandini is the taller fighter for case (1) and Chandini is taller than Arpita for Case 3.
From (1), Bhavika if the shorter fighter for case (2) and Bhavika is shorter than Arpita for case 3.
From (1) & (3), Chandini is taller than Bhavika for case 3.
In summary:
From (2), Arpita is not the shorter fighter; so case 1 is eliminated From (2), Bhavika cannot be
both older and shorter than Chandini; so case 3 is eliminated. Then Case 2 is the correct one and
Chandini is not fighting.
Then, from (2), Bhavika is younger than Chandini (so Chandini is the oldest of the three and Arpita
is the youngest) and from (3), Arpita is taller than Chandini (so Arpita is the tallest of the three).
Puzzle #191 - The Quest for the Gods Views : 4696

Sashi and Rashi were fond of visiting religious places. One day they decided to visit all the three
temples in their hometown in a single day. Before entering the first temple, they purchased some
flowers as offering to the deities. To get to each temple, they needed to cross a little lake.
However, being swimming champs in their school days, one of them would dive into the lake with
the flowers and swim to the other side. On crossing the lake, they would realise that the flowers
they initially had on them, would just miraculously double in number. On offering exactly 8 flowers
in each temple, they emerged with no flowers after their visit to the third temple. Using this data,
find out exactly how many flowers they had purchased initially. Provide a detailed explanation
along with your answer.
Solution
They purchased 7 flowers initially.
Let's reverse the process.
No of flowers at the end = 0

No of flowers they offered in the 3rd temple = 8
No of flowers they had before a dip in the 3rd pond (or when they came out of the 2nd
temple) = 8/2 = 4
No of flowers they offered in the 2nd temple = 8
No of flowers they had before a dip in the 2nd pond (or when they came out of the 1st
temple) = 12/2 = 6
No of flowers they offered in the 1st temple = 8

No of flowers they had before entering the 1st temple = 6 + 8 = 14
No of flowers they had before a dip in the 1st pond (or initially) = 7
Puzzle #192 - The Quest for the Gods 2 Views : 5940

After visiting the temples, Rashi and Sashi decided to visit all the churches in the neighbouring
town. That town had 3 churches. Before entering the first church, Rashi gave Rs. 2 to an urchin.
God was so pleased with her good deed that he doubled the money she had on her. Feeling elated,
she donated Rs. 2 to another urchin outside the church when she came out. After that, they went
to the 2nd church. Once again she donated Rs. 2 to an urchin before entering. Once again, on
entering the church, God blessed her and the money she had on her doubled. Again after exiting
the church, she gave Rs. 2 to an urchin. The same thing happened at the 3rd church as well. After
donating Rs. 2 to the urchin outside the 3rd church, she had no money left on her. Sashi paid for
their ride back home. Using this data, determine the amount that Rashi had initially. Provide a
detailed explanation along with your answer.
Solution
She had Rs. 5.25.
Amount Rashi had at the end = 0

Amount given to the 6th urchin = 2
Amount she had when she came out of the 3rd Church = 2
Amount she had before entering the 3rd Church = 1/2 of 2 = 1

Amount given to the 5th urchin = 2
Amount give to the 4th urchin = 2
Amount she had when she came out of the 2nd church = (1+2+2) = 5
Amount she had before entering the 2nd Church = 2.50

Amount given to the 3rd urchin = 2
Amount given to the 2nd urchin = 2
Amount she had when she came out of the 1st Chruch = (2.50 + 2 + 2) = 6.50
Amount she had before entering the 1st Church = 1/2 of 6.50 = 3.25
Amount to the 1st urchin = 2

Amount he had initially = 3.25 + 2 = 5.25
Puzzle #193 - Darwin's Dilemma Views : 6470
On a business trip, Darwin had to stay ina hitel in Pune. The hotel rent happened to be Rs. 5000 per
day. As per the hotel's rules, he is expected to pay up the rent every evening by cheque.
Also, the hotel management is not allowed to accept any advance payment and it does not allow
default either. Hence, at the end of every day no guest pays anything in excess, nor does he/she
pay any amount less than what he/she is supposed to. Also, as per protocol, they wait for 8 days
before encashing any cheque that has been issued to them.
Within those 8 days, a guest is allowed to replace his previous cheque by a new one, if he deems it
necessary.
Darwin checked into the hotel on 1st of March and is scheduled to stay in the hotel the entire
month. Unfortunately, he has only five blank cheques remaining in his cheque book. (His bank is in
another city and has no branches in Pune). As per rules, he cannot use any mode of payment other
than cheque.
Using this data, you need to come up with a plan on how Darwin can settle his bills on a daily basis
and stay there the entire month. Provide a detailed explanation along with your answer.
Solution
Darwin, at the end of the 1st day, signed a cheque for Rs. 5000 and gave it to the hotel
manager.
On the 2nd day, he gave a cheque for Rs 10000 and collected his cheque for Rs. 5000.
On the 3rd day, he gave a cheque for Rs. 5000 as he had to pay Rs. 15000 for 3 days.
On the 4th day, he made a cheque for Rs. 20000 and gave it to the hotel manager and
collected his previous cheques of Rs. 5000 and Rs. 100000.
Using these 3 cheques, he can manage for 7 days, because 7 days stay amount = Rs. 35000
(7 * 5000).
The next cheque is released on the 8th day for Rs. 40000 and he now has only 1 cheque left.
on the 15th day, the final cheque was drafted for Rs. 80000.
Since July has 31 days, he paid all 5 cheques (Rs. 5000, 10000, 20000, 40000 & 80000 = Rs.
155000).
Puzzle #194 - Daily Allowance Views : 6714
03-Feb-12 Rated 3.0 by 4 Users
Ritesh, Hitesh and Jitesh were three siblings. Every day, their father would give them an
allowance to take care of their needs.
Each one used to get a different amount on the basis of his age; i.e. the eldest got the highest
amount.
Some interesting facts about the amount they received today are:
1. If you divide Ritesh's amount by 7 and multiply it by 5 you can find Jitesh's amount.
2. If you divide Ritesh's amount by 5 and multiply it by 7 you can find Hitesh's amount.
3. Hitesh has Rs.24 more than Jitesh.
Using this data, deduce the amount each one got as their daily allowance. Also identify the
eldest brother. Provide a detailed explanation along with your answer.
Solution
From, 1 and 2, we get:
Ritesh's amount is a multiple of 7 & 5 i.e. 35. Hence, possible amounts are 35, 70, 105 and so on.
Jitesh's amount is less than that of Ritesh's and is a multiple of 5.
Hitesh's amount of pocket money is more than that of Ritesh's and is a multiple of 7.
Net result,
Multiple of 7 - Multiple of 5 = 24
When Ritesh's amount is 35, the possible amount with Hitesh is 49, and with Jitesh is 25
49 - 25 = 24
which satisfies condition 3.
Hence,
Hitesh has Rs. 49

Ritesh has Rs. 35
Jitesh has Rs. 25
and Hitesh is the oldest among the three siblings.
Puzzle #195 - Hardworking Krishna Views : 5755

My gardener's daughter, Krishna, was a studious girl. She would study until very late every night as
she was determined to pass her HSC exams with flying colors. One night, when she was in the
middle of studying, the electricity went off.
Nonetheless, she didn't give up and decided to study using candle-light. She found 2 candle boxes
with one candle in each them. The 2 candles were equal in length but one was much thicker than
the other. As per the respective candle boxes, the thick candle would last for six hours and the thin
one, two hours less. She lit the candle at 1 a.m. and resumed studying.
When she was done studying, she blew off the candles. At that time, the thick candle was twice as
long as the thin one.
At what time did she blow off the candles? Provide a detailed explanation along with your answer.
Solution
4 am.
The 2 candles are of equal length, but the thicker candle lasts for 6 hrs, while the thinner
candle lasts for 4 hrs.
Suppose Krishna lit the candle at t = 0
At t = 1 hr,
thick candle = 5/6th of its original length, while thin candle = 3/4 of its original length.
3/4 isn't half of 5/6.
After 2 hrs.,
thick candle = 4/6 = 2/3 of its original length
thin candle = 1/2 of its original length
1/2 isn't half of 2/3.
After 3 hours,
thick candle = 3/6 = 1/2 of its original length
thin candle = 1/4 of its original length
1/4 is half of 1/2.

Hence, she studied for 3 hrs and slept at 4 am.
Puzzle #196 - Of Temples & Coconuts Views : 6117

Hitesh was a stout devotee of Lord Shiva. One day he decided to visit a temple of Shiva and seek his
blessings. He decided that he would offer 5 coconuts to the Lord. For that he has to pass through
ten gates. At each gate, he is expected to offer one coconut per bag and pass through the gate. As
per the visitors' laws, he can have a maximum of 10 coconuts in each bag. Using this data, deduce
the least number of coconuts that he should carry from the main gate. Provide a detailed
Solution
20 coconuts.
Back tracking or Reverse process will help us to solve the puzzle in no time.
Number of coconuts he had finally = 5 ( it means he carries only one bag at the end.)
Toll at the 10 th gate = 1
Toll at the 5 th gate = 2 ( Why 2 ? A bag can hold maximum of 10 coconuts only. So he
needs another bag. For two bags he has to give 2 coconuts as a toll )
Toll at the 1 st gate = 2
So Total number of coconuts = 20
Therefore to start with he carried 20 coconuts in Two bags.
Puzzle #197 - The Fallen Oar Views : 4949

Amar and Samar were 2 friends who grew up to be fishermen. The both used a canoe to fish in the
local stream. As per the norms, the were to paddle their canoes at the speen of 7 mph. The stream
water flowed at 3 mph. One day while paddling up the stream, Samar dropped his oar into the
stream. At that point, Samar was 14 miles upstream of Amar. He immediately called up Amar on his
cell phone and asked Amar to get it to him. Amar immediately started off towards the oar. How
long will it take Amar to reach the oar? Provide a detailed explanation along with your answer.
Solution
2 hours.
The distance between Amar and Samar's oar is 14 miles.
He paddles the canoe at the rate of 7 miles per hour.
Speed of the stream is 3 mph. So the speed of his canoe in upstream is 4 mph.
And the oar floats along the stream towards Amar at the rate of 3 miles per hour, which is
nothing but the speed of the stream.
So in 1 hour, the oar and the canoe together will cover 7 miles. Hence, Amar will reach the
oar in 2 hours.
Puzzle #198 - Driving Home Views : 5738

02-Mar-12 Rated 4.4 by 5 Users
Vishal, a drunken driver, was driving home late one night. He drove his car homeward at a uniform
speed. On his way, he saw a milestone which bore a 2 digit number. After driving for an hour, he
came across another milestone. This time, he was amazed to note that, it bore the same digits -
but in the reverse order.
He continued driving at the same speed for an hour more and came across yet another milestone.
This time, it bore the same two digits with a zero in between.
What is the average speed at which Vishal drove home? Provide a detailed explanation along with
your answer.
Solution
45 miles per hour
Let the number on the 1 st mile stone = 10x + y
After an hour number on 2 nd mile stone = 10y + x
An hour later number on teh 3 rd mile stone = 100 x + 0 + y
Since he crosses the mile stone after every hour with a uniform speed,
Distance covered in I st hour = Distance covered in the 2 nd hour
(10 y + x ) - (10x + y) = ( 100x + y ) - ( 10 x + y),
by solving we get,
y = 6x or x/y = 1/6
When x = 1 , y = 6
All other values are not possible as we end up with a double digit value for y, as x varies.
The result is as follows : 16, 61, 106
Hence, the speed is: 45 km/hr
Puzzle #199 - The 100 "Chaturs" (09-Mar-12) Views : 6131

People of the Chatur tribe are known for their intelligence and honesty. To test their intelligence,
the king of Asgard decides to invite 100 wisest men of the tribe. The process that the king will
undertake once the 100 wisest men are in his court is as follows:
The king will write a certain number greater than 1 on their hats and line them up. Once lined up,
they will not be allowed to communicate with each other or look behind or remove their respective
hats. However, they will be allowed to see the number written on all the hats in front of them.
Hence, a person wont know the number written on his own hat or on the hats behind him.
Everyone will be allowed to listen to the answer of every person behind him.
The King, starting from the last man in the queue, will ask each man Is number written on your
hat prime? The wise men will be allowed to answer Yes or No only. All men who give the
correct answer will dine with the King while the others will be asked to leave the palace silently.
The King makes it clear to the gathered people that if any one breaks any of the rules, then all of
them will be severely punished. He allows them to devise their strategy for the game. Assuming
that all of them play the game honestly, how many of them will definitely dine with the King? What
could be their strategy for the same?

Solution
Answer: 99 people
As the last person can see all the numbers in front of him, he knows how many people have
hats which have prime numbers on them.
Hence, the last person knows the number of prime numbers in front of him.
Similarly, the second last person can see all the prime numbers written on every other man
except the last man and himself.
Now, if the last man indicates whether the number of prime numbers in front of him is even
or odd then the second last man can easily deduce the nature of the number on his hat.
The strategy that they could adopt is as follows:

If the last man sees an even number of primes in front of him, he will start by saying Yes
and if he sees an odd number of primes then he will start by saying No.
For example, assume that the last man can see 30 prime numbers in front of him. As this is
an even number, he will start by saying Yes.
If the number of primes that the second last man can see is also 30, then he will know that
the number written on his hat is a composite number.
Hence, he will say No.
If instead, the second last man can see 29 prime numbers, he will know that the number
written on his hat is a prime number and hence, he will say Yes.
Now, the third last man knows the nature of all the numbers written on every other man
except himself, the second last man and the last man.
Hence, if he knows whether the number of primes in front of the second last man is even or
odd, he can easily find out the nature of the number written on his hat.
Similarly, every other man will be able to know the nature of the number written on his hat if
he knows whether the number of primes in front of the person who is immediately behind
him is even or odd.
Hence 99 people (all except the last one) can identify the nature of their respective numbers
if the last man indicates whether the number of primes in front of him is even or odd.
Hence 99 people will definitely dine with the King.

The Tricky Triangular Views : 5331
Kolkata Kamikazes (KK), Mumbai Marauders (MM) and Delhi Destroyers (DD) play a triangular cricket
tournament which consists of three games namely - KK v/s MM, KK v/s DD and MM v/s DD. The
scores made by the three teams in the matches were amongst the following figures: 324, 277, 289,
300, 244, and 261. The team who wins the maximum number of games wins the tournament. The
team with second highest number will be the first runner up and the team with least number of
wins will be second runner up.
The following peculiarities were noticed after the tournament got over.
1) The team that scored the maximum number of runs in its two matches unfortunately ended up as
the second runner up and the team that scored the minimum number of runs in its two matches
ended up as the tournament winner.
2) The difference between the lower score of MM and the lower score of DD is 3 times that of the
difference between the higher score of KK and the higher score of MM.
Find out which team won the tournament, which team secured the first runner up position and
which team was second runner up. How many runs were scored by the first runner up in both the
matches? Provide a detailed solution with your answer.

Solution
It is given that one team was the winner, one team secured the first runner up position and
one team secured the second runner up position. Thus one of the teams won both its games,
one team won only one game out of the two games it played and one team didn't win any of
the games.
The team that didn't win any of the games scored the maximum number of runs and the team
that won both its games scored the minimum number of runs.
Let us arrange the scores in ascending order: 324, 300, 289, 277, 261 and 244.
Assume that the three teams are A, B and C such that A won both its games, B won only one
game and C lost both the games that they played.
Now C cannot score 324 as if it does so, then it will end up winning a game.
C can also not score 300 and 289 in two of its games, as even in this case; C will end up
winning atleast 1 game.
As the total score of C is the highest, he must have scored 300 in one of the games.
Out of the remaining 3 scores (277, 261 and 244), C cannot score 244 as then his total score
will not be highest.
If C scores 261, then the total score of C will become 300 + 261 = 561.
Even if the team scoring 324 in one of the games scores the least amount of runs (244) in its
other game, the total runs scored by this team will become 568 which is greater than 561.
Hence, C has not scored 261 runs.
Thus C has scored 300 and 277 in its two games and lost both of them.
Also it is to be noted that A, who wins both the games it plays, scores the least.
Now out of the 4 remaining scores (324, 289, 261 and 244), the sum of the least and the
highest score (i.e. 324 + 289 = 568) is greater than the sum of the other two scores (i.e. 289
+ 261 = 550).
Hence, A has not scored 324 in any of the two games it has played.
This means that B scores 324 in the game against C, A scores 289 in the game against C. As
A wins against B, A scores 261 and B scores 244. The summary of the three games is given
below.
B v/s C A v/s C B v/s A
B - 324 A - 289 B - 244
C - 300 C - 277 A - 261
Let us look at the second condition now.

On calculating the difference between the lower scores of the three teams, we get,
Alower - Blower = 261 - 244 = 17
Clower - Alower = 277 - 261 = 16
Clower - Blower = 277 - 244 = 33
The difference between the lower scores of MM and DD is 3 times the difference between
the higher scores of KK and MM.
In the above obtained figures, only 33 is divisible by 3.
Hence team C is MM, team B is DD and team A is KK.
Thus Kolkata Kamikazes won the tournament, Delhi Destroyers secured the first runners up
position and Mumbai Marauders got the second runners up position.
Delhi Destroyers, who got the first runners up position, scored (324 + 244) = 568
Puzzle # 201 - The Three Logicians Views : 8736

Ramesh, Suresh and Dinesh are three great logicians of the Puru dynasty. Observing their increasing
popularity, one day, King Puru decides to test who among them is the greatest. He invites all of
them for dinner, and before proceeding to the dinner, he asks them to solve a puzzle. He shows
them 8 stamps - 4 white and 4 black, and says, "I will blind fold you and will affix two stamps to the
forehead of each logician, and will hide the remaining two stamps." Hence, each logician can see
only the 4 stamps affixed on the forehead of the other two logicians. King Puru then starts asking
them if they know the colour of the stamps on their own forehead. Following are the answers
received by him in the following order:
Ramesh: "I don't know"
Suresh: "I don't know"
Dinesh: "I don't know"
Ramesh: "I don't know"
Suresh: "I know"
What are the colour(s) of the stamps on Suresh's forehead, and how does he deduce the colours?
Provide a detailed explanation with the solution.

Solution
There are three possibilities. Suresh can have White - White, Black - Black or White - Black.
Case I: (Suresh has two White stamps)
In this case, if Ramesh also has two White stamps then Dinesh will notice 4 White stamps
and he will be able to deduce the colour of the stamps on his forehead, hence Ramesh cannot
have two White coloured stamps on his forehead.
Now, consider the case wherein Ramesh has two Black stamps on his forehead.
In this case, if Dinesh has two White stamps, then Ramesh will be able to deduce the colour
of his own stamps. Hence, Dinesh cannot have two White stamps either. Similarly, if Dinesh
has two Black stamps then Suresh will see four Black stamps and so he will be able to
deduce the colour of the stamps on his forehead in first attempt itself. Hence, both Ramesh
and Dinesh cannot have two Black stamps. Hence, the only possibility in this case (Suresh
with two white stamps and Ramesh with two black stamps) will be that Dinesh has one
White and one Black stamp. Hence, Dinesh will be able to deduce that he has one White and
one Black stamp on his forehead if Ramesh has two Black stamps and Suresh has two White
stamps and neither is able to guess the colour of the stamps on his forehead in the first
attempt itself.
Thus, in accordance to the statements provided by the three logicians to the king, it is not
possible that Suresh has 2 white stamps on his forehead.
Similarly, we can prove that the above conversation is also not possible if Suresh has two
Black stamps.
Hence, Suresh must have one White and one Black stamp on his forehead.
Puzzle # 202 - The Birthday Conundrum Views : 5119

Lalwani, Mehra, Narayan, Ojha and Patel recently found out that all of their birthdays were on the
same day, though they are of different ages.
On their mutual birthday, the following conversation took place between them and I was the lucky
one who overheard this conversation.
Ojha said to Mehra: "I'm nine years older than Patel."

Patel said to Mehra: "I'm seven years older than Lalwani."
Lalwani said to Mehra: "Your age is exactly 70% greater than mine."
Mehra said to Narayan: "Patel is younger than you."
Narayan said to Ojha: "The difference between our ages is six years."
Narayan said to Lalwani: "I'm ten years older than you."
Narayan said to Lalwani: "Mehra is younger than Ojha."
Mehra said to Narayan: "The difference between your age and Ojha's is the same as the difference
between Ojha's and Patel's."
Since I knew these people -- and how old they were, I knew that all the statements are not true.
After thinking about it, I realized that when one of them spoke to someone older, everything one
said was true, but when speaking to someone younger, everything one said was false.
How old is each person?
Please provide a detailed solution along with your answer.

Solution
Narayan said to Lalwani that he is 10 years older than him.
Narayan cannot be younger than Lalwani because in that case, Narayan would have
mentioned that he is younger than Lalwani instead of older.
Hence, Narayan is older than Lalwani and the difference between their ages is not 10 years.
Let us denote this using (N > L)
Narayan also told Lalwani that Mehra is younger than Ojha. This becomes a false statement
as Narayan is older than Lalwani.
Hence, Mehra is older than Ojha. Let us denote this using (M > O)
Ojha said to Mehra that he is 9 years older than Patel. This statement is true as Ojha is
younger than Mehra.
Let us denote this using O = P + 9 (O > P)
As Ojha is older than Patel, Patel has to be younger than Mehra.
Patel said to Mehra that he is 7 years older than Lalwani.
Thus, P = L + 7 (P > L)
Lalwani said to Mehra that Mehras age is exactly 70% greater than that of his.
Thus, M = 1.7L
Also, M > O > P > L
Let us write everyones age in terms of Lalwanis age
Thus the order we will obtain is:
1.7L (M) > L + 16 (O) > L + 7 (P) > L
Mehra says to Narayan that Patel is younger than him and the difference between Narayans
age and Ojhas age is the same as the difference between Ojhas and Patels.
Either both the statements are true or both the statements are false.
If both the statements are false, then Mehra will be older than Narayan and Narayan will be
younger than Patel but elder than Lalwani i.e. Narayan will become the second youngest
amongst the 5.
Also, Narayan said to Ojha that the difference between their ages is 6 years.
Now, according to our supposition, Narayan is younger than Ojha and so O = N + 6 = L + 16
Hence, N = L + 10
But P = L + 9.
Thus Narayan becomes elder than Patel which contradicts our supposition.
Thus both the statements made by Mehra to Narayan will have to be true.
Hence, the correct sequence will be
N > M > O > P > L
Difference between Ojhas and Patels age is 9 years.
Hence, N = L + 25
Thus, L + 25 (N) > 1.7L (M) > L + 16 (O) > L + 7 (P) > L
As the conversation is taking place on their birthday, all their ages are whole numbers and
not fractions.
This inequality holds true only for L = 30
Thus Lalwani is 30 years old, Patel is 37 years old, Ojha is 46 years old, Mehra is 51 years
old and Narayan is 55 years old.
Puzzle # 203 - The Birthday Guests Views : 6064

06-Apr-12 Rated 3.3 by 6 Users
Dennis was very happy about the way his birthday was celebrated. When asked about the
birthday party he said:
1. The total number of women and children was 6.

2. The number of children was two less than the number of men.
3. There could be 12 different man-woman pairs.
4. Out of the above mentioned 3 groups (men, women and children), one group had 3
members.
5. One group had 4 members.
6. One group had 6 members.
It is known that Dennis mentioned some incorrect data out of over-enthusiasm. At least how
many of the given statement(s) could be false and which is/are they?
Provide a detailed explanation for your answer.
Solution
Let us assume that Dennis made exactly one wrong statement, and verify if such a case is possible
or not.
Let statements 4, 5 and 6 be correct.
In this case, statement 1 is definitely false.
Now, if statement 2 is correct, then number of children must be 4.
Hence, statement 3 will definitely false.
Similarly, if statement three is correct then number of children becomes 6.
Hence, statement 2 is false in this case.
If statements 4, 5 and 6 are true, then at least two of the given statements are false.
Hence, one of the statements 4, 5 or 6 must be false.

If statement 5 is wrong then either statement 1 or statement 3 must be wrong.
In this case also, atleast 2 statements will be incorrect.
Similarly, if statement 6 is wrong, then at least one of statement 1 or 2 will also be wrong.
Thus in this case also atleast 2 statements will be incorrect.
If statement 4 is assumed to be wrong, then all the other statements can be true.
If statement 4 would have been one group had 2 members and this group is assumed to be equal
to the number of women who had come for the birthday party, the group with 6 members to be
equal to the number of men and the group with 4 members to be equal to the number of children,
then all except statement 4 will turn out to be true.
Hence, it is possible that only 1 statement is false out of the 6 statements if statement 4 is
assumed to be incorrect.
Puzzle # 204 - The Mathematical Moolah Mess! Views : 6375

The city of Mathematica had a peculiar currency system. The currency, which was called moolah,
had only 3 denominations i.e. 6 moolahs, 9 moolahs and 20 moolahs. Accordingly, the items sold in
the city could never be of certain values, for example, no item had a value that was less than 6
moolahs or 7 moolahs, so on and so forth. The values which could be paid using the three
denominations were used to price the items. What is the maximum value which cannot be assigned
as the price of an item to be sold in Mathematica?
Please provide a detailed solution.

Solution
Any value that is a multiple of 3 (apart from 3 itself) can be assigned to any item as such a
value can be paid using various combinations of 6 moolahs and 9 moolahs.
If the value is greater than 20 moolahs, then one denomination of 20 moolahs can be used. If
the remaining value is a multiple of 3 (except 3 itself), then it can be paid using a certain
combination of 6 and 9 moolahs. In this case, 23 moolahs cannot be the price assigned to
any item.
Now, if the assigned value goes beyond 40 moolahs, either one or two denominations of 20
moolahs may be used such that the value remaining after using 20 moolah denominations is
a multiple of 3. In this way, any value apart from (20 + 20 + 3) = 43 moolahs can be paid.
Any value greater than 43 can be of three forms i.e. 3k, 3k + 1 or 3k + 2 where k is a natural
number greater than or equal to 14
If it is of the form 3k, then that particular amount can be paid using 6 and 9 moolah
denominations.
If the value is of the form 3k + 1, then two 20 moolah denominations are to be used. This
will give us 40 moolahs which is of the form (3 13 + 1)
Now (3k + 1) (3 13 + 1) = 3(k 13) which is a multiple of 3 and greater than 3 as the
lowest possible value of k is 15 in this case.
Thus the remaining amount can be paid using 6 or 9 moolah denomination
If the value is of the form 3k + 2, then one 20 moolah denomination is to be used.
20 = 3 6 + 2
Now, (3k + 2) (3 6 + 2) = 3(k 6) which is a multiple of 3 and greater than 3 as the
minimum possible value of k in this case is 14.
Thus the remaining amount can be paid using a combination of 6 and 9 moolah
denominations.
Thus every amount greater than 43 can be paid using the three denominations used in
Mathematica and 43 is the maximum value which cannot be assigned as the price of an item
to be sold in Mathematica.
Puzzle # 205 - Miss Tip-Top's Age Views : 6114
Miss Tip-Top will be participating in a leading dance competition. To participate in the

competition she has to mention her age to the coordinator. No one could participate in the
competition without mentioning his/her age. As she abhors sharing her age with everyone,
she makes the following statements to the coordinator:
If my age is a multiple of 2 then it is between 20 and 29 (Both inclusive).
If my age is not a multiple of 5 then it is between 30 and 39 (Both inclusive).
If my age is not a multiple of 6 then it is between 40 and 49 (Both inclusive).
After doing some calculations, the coordinator allowed her to participate in the competition.
What is Miss Tip-Tops age?

Solution
If Miss Tip-Tops age is not between 20 and 29 then it must not be multiple of 2, and similarly if
her age is not between 40 and 49 then it must be multiple of 6.
Hence if Miss Tip-Tops age is not between 20 and 29 or 40 and 49 then it must not be multiple of
2 and must be multiple of 6.
But this is not possible.
Hence, Miss Tip-Tops age is between 20 and 29 or 40 and 49.
Now, if Miss Tip-Tops age is between 20 and 29 then it must be multiple of 2, 5 and 6.
No number, in the specified range, satisfies the given criteria.
Hence Miss Tip- Tops age must be in the range 40 and 49.
Now if her age is between 40 and 49 then it must not be a multiple of 6 and 2 and should be
multiple of 5.
The only number in this range which satisfies the given criteria is 45.
Hence Miss Tip-Tops age must be 45.
Puzzle # 206 - The Game of Straws Views : 5604

Amit and Bhanu have a packet of straws with themselves. It contains innumerous straws. They
decide to play a game with the straws that they have. They sit around a round table with diameter
equal to the length of the straw, and decide to place the straws one by one in such a way that none
of the straws should touch each other. The ends of the straws need not remain in the confines of
the table, the only important rule being that no straw should touch each other inside the table.
Amit decides to start the game. What could be the strategy that Amit should use to ensure that he
wins the game?
Solution
As Amit is going to start the game, he should start by putting a straw exactly at the middle of
the table in such way that it coincides with one of the diameters of the table.
Now, Bhanu will put a straw at a certain position on the table.
Amit has to ensure that he puts his straw at a position such that his straw becomes the mirror
image of the straw put by Bhanu if the central (diametrical) straw is considered as the
mirror.
Now, for every point on the table, there will be a point on the table which is the mirror image
of the point.
Hence, for every straw placed by Bhanu, there will always be a mirror image position for
that straw on a round table where Amit will be able to put his straw.
This will ensure that Bhanu will be the first one to run out of space to place his straw and
Amit will ensure his victory in the game.
Puzzle # 207 - The Great Gamblers Views : 5444

The annual competition Akkad-Bakkad-Bambe-Bo is very popular among the gamblers

society. In the competition, all the players of a team will be placed in one room. Either a blue
or a red hat will be placed on their head such that no one will know the colour of his hat.
Everyone can see the color of every other participants hat. Everyone will have to guess the
color of his hat.
Following are the rules of the competition:

A. There must be no communication amongst the team mates once the hats have been placed
on their heads.
B. All must answer simultaneously
C. Each participant is allowed to pass if one doesnt want to hazard a guess.
D. A team will win if at least one of the team members answers correctly and none of the
other team members answer incorrectly. If they all pass or even if atleast one team member
answers incorrectly, the team will lose.
A team can devise a strategy before the commencement of the game.
Team Tukka is a prominent contender of the competition. What could be Team Tukkas
strategy for the game such that they have a 75% chance of winning the game if they have
three players in their team?
Solution
As there are 3 players in Team Tukka, two of them will definitely have hats of the same colour.
Consider the following strategy.
If anyone sees 2 hats of the same colour, then he/she must respond with the colour that he/she
cannot see and the others must pass.
Assume that the three players in the team are A, B and C.

The table given below gives all the possible cases of Actual Hat colours worn by the players,
Response of the players and the corresponding verdict i.e. win or loss.
Here, BW indicates that that person says blue and the result being wrong, RW indicates red wrong,
BC indicates blue correct and RC indicates red correct. In the verdict column, L stands for Loss
and W stand for Win.
Hence, in this case, probability = 6/8 = 3/4 which is 75%.

Puzzle #208 - Astra's Astronomical Expedition Views : 5336
Astra, a space explorer, was once exploring our neighbouring galaxy Andromeda. Suddenly,
her space ship got sucked into a black hole. The black hole was a time trap and it transported
her to another dimension to a planet named Sorcera. The inhabitants of Sorcera were known
all around the universe for their extreme cruelty. Their king Dark Matter, was a mathematical
genius. He used to capture every trespasser and burn the person alive. But he always taunted
the prisoner by giving it an extremely difficult puzzle to solve. If the prisoner was able to
solve the puzzle, he would set him/her free. He would also let the prisoner know the code that
reverses the time trap and returns the prisoner to the dimension from which it had come. Dark
Matter gave Astra a 5 5 magic square which was partly filled. The magic square had to be
filled using numbers 1 to 25 such that the sum of all the numbers in every row, every column
and every diagonal is same. Help Astra solve this magic square so that she can return to her
own dimension.
Give a detailed explanation for your answer.

Solution
This needs to be distributed equally in n columns, n rows.

Thus the sum of all numbers in any column or row
Let us put letters of the English alphabet in the blank spaces which will be helpful for us to
calculate the values that should be put in them.
Let us first make a list of the numbers between 1 and 25 that are not present in the magic square.
They are 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 11, 12, 15, 19, 20 and 23.
One of the diagonals has 4 numbers present in it so we can easily deduce that the fifth number
should be 5.
Hence, d = 5.
Now as we know that the sum of each row, each column and each diagonal should be 65, a + b =
23.
Thus a + b can be (12 + 11) or (20 + 3) or (15 + 8)
Similarly, b + j can either be (11 + 7) or (3 + 15) or (6 + 12).
Let us take the first case of a + b i.e. (12 + 11).
Accordingly, let us take a as 12, b as 11 and j as 7.
As a = 12, g + l becomes 18 which can be obtained as (3 + 15) and f + g will be 26 which can either
be (23 + 3) or (15 + 11).
But 11 has already been used in place of b and hence f + g = (23 + 3).
Accordingly, g will have to be 3, f will have to be 23 and l will have to be 15.
But f cannot be 23 as in that case, the sum of the numbers in the second column will exceed 65.
Hence, our basic assumption that a = 12 and b = 11 is incorrect.
Similarly, if we try all the other possibilities, we will get a = 8 and b = 15 as the final answer.
The corresponding value of j will be 3.
Now g + l will be 22 which can only be (20 + 2)
Also, g + f will be 26 which will be (20 + 6)
Thus g has to be 20, f is 6 and l is 2.
Similarly, the whole magic square can be filled and the final square obtained will be as follows:
Alternatively,
There is a certain algorithm that is used to fill such a magic square.

The algorithm is as follows:
1) Put 1 in the cell that corresponds to the top row and the middle column.
2) Put the next values in the cell that is immediately across and to the right of the cell where 1
has been inserted.
3) If you have reached the top cell in a certain column, put the next number in the bottom cell of
the next column.
4) If you have reached the farthest right cell in a certain row, put the next number in the farthest
left cell of the row above it.
5) If you have reached a cell which is neither at one of the extreme positions (extreme top of a
column or extreme right of a row) nor is there any space to go right across that particular cell,
then put the next number in the cell that is exactly below this cell and continue.
This is represented in the diagram given below:
Puzzle # 209 - The Land Distribution Dispute Views : 5690

Rajesh, the landlord of Panditpur is breathing his last. He has 5 sons Ramesh, Suresh, Paresh,
Dinesh and Ritesh. He divides his land amongst his five sons as shown below:
The blue portion indicates Rameshs land, red portion indicates Sureshs land, brown region
indicates Pareshs land, yellow region indicates Dineshs land and green region indicates Riteshs
land.
His sons are satisfied with the amount of land they are receiving but they want their respective
portions of lands in different positions.
For example, Paresh will be happier if he gets the south-west portion of the land and Suresh wants
the north-east portion of the land.
Rajesh, worried sick by this new problem he is faced with, decides to call Mr. Bhagat to seek an
answer.
After thinking a lot, Mr. Bhagat comes up with a new distribution pattern as shown below. (Color
code remains the same.)
In this arrangement, everyone gets the same amount of land as was desired by their father Rajesh,
but there is still a piece of land remaining which is not allotted to any of the 5 sons. How is this
possible and to whom does this land belong to?
Solution
Consider the following diagram:
Here slope of AC = 3/8 and slope of BC = 2/5.

Now, 2/5 > 3/8 Hence ACB are not in the same line.
Hence, DACB is a convex quadrilateral.
Similarly in the second figure, DACB is a concave quadrilateral.
Area of convex DACB > area of concave DACB and the difference between the areas of the
two quadrilaterals is equal to the portion of land that has not been allotted to anyone in the
second figure.
It is easy to observe that the area of Sureshs, Pareshs, Dineshs and Riteshs land remain
same.
There is an anomaly in the distribution of land when the two figures are compared and the
piece of land that has not been allotted in the second figure should belong to Ramesh.
Puzzle # 210 - Astra'a Astronomical Expedition II Views : 4596

25-May-12 Rated 5.0 by 1 User
Astra successfully solved the magic square and so king Dark Matter of Sorcera had to release
her and give her the codes which would reverse the time travel and help her return to the
dimension to which she belonged. But Dark Matter had his own twisted schemes which made
him give Astra incorrect codes due to which she passed through the black hole and reached an
altogether new dimension and landed on a planet named Draconia. She was captured by King
Megamath of Draconia and was imprisoned. There, she met 14 other inmates who were also
explorers and were stuck in the cell. King Megamath also has a penchant for puzzles. Seeing
Astras desperation to be free again, he offers Astra a deal. He has two boulder crushing
machines, each one of which is either currently switched off or switched on. Only Megamath
knows which machine(s) is/are on and which machine(s) is/are off.
One of the prisoners will be randomly called and ordered to toggle the switch position of
exactly one of the two machines i.e. the prisoner can either switch off exactly one machine
which is already on or it can switch on exactly one machine that is off but a prisoner will not
be allowed to reinstate the position of the switch to what it was in the beginning. No order
will be followed when it comes to calling the prisoners and any one may be ordered to come
to toggle switch positions any day for any number of times. This process may or may not take
place everyday and depends totally on Megamaths mood. None of the prisoners know who
or when someone has been asked to toggle switches. A time will come when all the prisoners
will get their respective turns to toggle switches. If Astra is successfully able to declare when
all the prisoners have got their turns, they all will be released. However, if even a single
prisoner is yet to get his/her turn and Astra declares that all of them have toggled at least
once, then all the prisoners will be crushed using the boulder crushing machines. The
prisoners cannot communicate amongst themselves once the king starts ordering the prisoners
to go and toggle switches. If any one is caught communicating with the others, then all of
them will be crushed. Help Astra to devise a strategy to counter the evil lords cunning plans.
Give a detailed solution for the same.
Solution
The strategy that should be devised by Astra is as follows:
Let the two switches be M1 and M2 and assume that the switch moves in up-down direction.
All the inmates except Astra will use M1 in such a way that the switch faces upwards. This is to be
done by them for the first two times they are ordered to toggle a switch.
If M1 is already facing up, then they may toggle the other switch.
If any of the 14 inmates (barring Astra) is ordered to toggle a switch after their second turn is
over, then they will toggle M2. They are supposed to put M1 in upward position only twice and
that too in their first two turns after which they should operate M2.
Only Astra will put down switch M1.
If M1 is already off when Astras turn comes, then she will operate the switch.
Astra can count how many times she is putting switch M1 down and hence she can know when all
the other inmates have had their turn atleast once.
This can be done as follows:
As there are 14 other inmates, whenever Astra puts down M1 28 times, she will be sure of the fact
that every other cell mate has put up M1 atleast once which means that every cell mate has got
atleast one turn.
Note that when Astras first turn comes and if the switch M1 is already facing up, then she doesnt
know whether it has reached that position normally or some other inmate has put it in that state.
So if she switches M1 in such a way that it is facing downwards only 14 times and then declares
that every one has had atleast one turn, there is a chance that one of the inmates hasnt got a
turn as yet and so the risk factor is not zero.
Puzzle # 211 - "The Bachelor Party Problem" Views : 5787
01-Jun-12
Rated 3.5 by 2 Users
Alan, Bonny, Chris, Damien, Eli and Francis go to a pub to celebrate Alans bachelor party. They
order 600 ml of liquor. The waiter is a part time worker there. He is pursuing a mathematics course
from a reputed college. He decides to play a game with the six guys. He pours a different amount
of liquor, greater than equal to zero, in each of the six friends glasses in such a way that amount
of liquor got by Alan, Bonny, Chris, Damien, Eli and Francis are in descending order. He then asks
Alan to equally divide the liquor present in his glass into the glasses of the rest of his friends. He
now asks Bonny to repeat the procedure. One by one, he asks all the 6 friends to do the same.
After Francis, who is the last one to distribute his liquor into the glasses of the rest of his friends,
they noticed that all of them had the same amount of liquid that was originally poured into their
glasses. They were mighty pleased by the intelligence of the waiter and tipped him handsomely.
What is the amount of liquor (in ml) that was poured into Damiens glass? Give a detailed
explanation for your answer.
Solution
Consider this situation for only 3 people - A, B and C.
Let total amount of liquor is x ml.
Let A has a ml liquor in his glass and B has b ml liquor in his glass.
As C is the last one to distribute his liquor equally between A and B, he will be left with no liquor at
all.
This means that he started with no liquor.
Hence, Cs glass is empty to begin with.
The successive distribution of liquor by A, B and C respectively is shown in the table given below.
Now, it is known that every one starts and ends with the same amount of liquor in his glass.
Hence, b/4 + 3a/8 = b.
Thus, a = 2b.
The total amount of liquor was assumed to be x ml and hence, A has 2x/3 ml in his glass and B has
x/3 ml in his glass.
If the same process is carried out for 4 people, (say A, B, C and D) the result of every round is shown
in the table that is given below.
On equating the corresponding column cells of second and the last rows, we get
a = 37a/81 + 16b/27 + 4c/9
Hence, 11a 12b 9c = 0 (1)
Similarly, the other two equation obtained will be
7a 15b + 9c = 0 (2)
4a + 3b 18c = 0 (3)
On adding (1) and (2), we get,
18a 27b = 0
Thus, 2a = 3b
Putting the above obtained equation in (3), we get
6a = 18c
Thus, 2a = 6c
So, 2a = 3b = 6c
Hence, a : b : c = 3 : 2 : 1.
It has been assumed that the total amount of liquor is x ml.
So A has 3x/6 ml of liquor, B has 2x/6 ml of liquor and C has x/6 ml liquor in his glass. Ds glass is
empty.
From the above given examples, we can observe the following;
1) The denominator when there are n people between whom the liquor is being distributed is equal
to nC2 (6 when there are 4 people which is nothing but 4C2 and 3 when there are 3 people which is
nothing but 3C2)
2) The numerators of all the n people starting with the person who has the highest amount of liquor
to begin with to the person who has the lowest amount of liquor with him (non-zero) is (n 1)x, (n
2)x, 2x, x.
Thus if there are 6 people, the liquor will be distributed in the following manner.
Alan will get 5x/15 ml = 5(600)/15 = 200 ml.
Bonny will get 4x/15 ml = 4(600)/15 = 160 ml.
Similarly, Chris gets 120 ml, Damien gets 80 ml, Eli gets 40 ml and Francis gets nothing in the
beginning.
Thus, Damien gets 80 ml.
Puzzle # 212 - "The Mars Mishaps" Views : 4620
08-Jun-12
A manned mission to Mars was sent in the year 2050, captained by Robert Hooke. When the
spacecraft reached Mars, Robert found 4 space crafts which had previously crashed in Mars.
Robert found the names, captains, the missions to which the space-crafts belonged to, the
countries to which they belonged and the year in which each spaceship was built. But the
information received by Mr. Hooke was in very haphazard manner. Following are certain clues that
Robert could deduce from the rubble he found on Mars and with the help of the experts present
with him.
1) During his first exploration of the site, Robert determined there were four spaceships The
spaceship named Sputnik, the spaceship built in 1983, the spaceship captained by Lowell and the
spaceship that belonged to The United States of America which was dedicated to the mission to
moon.
2)The spaceship meant for mission to Jupiter was built after the spaceship meant for mission to
moon.
3)An engraving in one spaceship's body found at the site indicated that the spaceship was built in
1945 and was meant for mission to Pluto.
4)One spaceship was meant for mission to Saturn and it belonged to Japan. Robert determined that
this was not the Voyager.
5)The Akatsuki was certainly built before the twenty first century but not before 1950. The captain
of this spaceship was the Vyom.
6)The Aryabhatt was built after the Voyager. The Voyager was not meant for mission to moon and it
didnt belong to India.
7)Captain Haddock's spaceship was built before Vyom's and before The Voyager.
8)Two of the spaceships were built in 1965 and 2006. Skywalker was the captain of one of the four
spaceships and one of the spaceships belonged to Russia.
Help Captain Robert Hooke find out the correct combination of name of the spaceship, the year in
which it was built, the mission for which it was sent, the captain of the spaceship and the country
to which the spaceship belonged.
Solution
Let us denote Sputnik as S, Voyager as V, Akatsuki as A and Aryabhatt as AB.
Also, let us denote Lowell as Lo, Vyom as Vy, Haddock as Ha and Skywalker as Sk.
The following information can be directly obtained from the given data.
From statement 4 and 6, we get that the Voyager was neither missioned to Moon nor to Saturn.
Now, Captain Haddocks spaceship was built before Voyager, hence, Voyager must have built after
1945.
Hence, Voyager was not missioned to Pluto.
Hence, Voyager was missioned to Jupiter.
Now, by 4 and 5, we can conclude that Aryabhatt and Akatsuki were not built in 1945.
Hence, Sputnik must have built in 1945.
Now, Aryabhatt was built after the Voyager. Thus Aryabhatt was not built in 1945 or 1965. Hence it
was built in 1983 or 2006.
From Statement 5, Akatsuki was built in either 1983 or 1965.
The Voyager didnt belong to India.
Either mission to Pluto or mission to Jupiter belongs to India.
But mission to Jupiter was achieved by The Voyager and so mission to Pluto was achieved by the
spaceship from India
Hence, the mission to Jupiter was carried out by Russia.
Aryabhatt was built after Voyager (mission to Jupiter) and Voyager was neither built in 1965
(mission to moon) nor in 1945 (mission to Pluto) hence Voyager was built in 1983.
Accordingly, mission to Saturn (Aryabhatt) was built in 2006.
Lowell was not the captain of the spaceship built in 1983 or the one that belonged to U.S.A or that
of Sputnik. Hence, Lowell is the captain of the spaceship that was built in 2006 for mission to
Saturn. This spaceship has to be Aryabhatt (as Akatsuki was built either in 1983 or in 1965)
Hence, the spaceship built in 1965 for mission to moon is Akatsuki, captained by Vyom.
Captain Haddocks ship was built before Vyoms and hence it has to be in 1945 which leaves
Skywalker as the captain of The Voyager.
The above data can be tabulated in the following table.
Puzzle # 213 - "Don's Dilemma"
15-Jun-12
Views : 5901
Intelligence of Interpol happened to know that Don is in either city A, B or C. City A, City B and City
C are at equidistance from each other. Interpols head office is 30 km from city A, and 40 km from
city B. As they were preparing to surprise Don, one of the Dons informer, informs Don about the
given condition. But, he fails to avoid security norms, due to which Interpol has managed to deduce
that Don is in city C. They immediately started cruising towards city C with constant speed of 70
km/hr. Don, a genuine genius, has grasped the possibility of such an event and starts preparing to
leave the city. If he knows the exact speed of the Interpol officer then what is the maximum time
Don has got to leave the city? Provide a detailed solution and win reward points.
Solution
Consider the following diagram;

Here, city A, city B and city C are denoted by points A, B and C.
Let I be the head quarter of the Interpol.
As we need to find the maximum possible distance, we should consider I at other side of AB as
compared to the side where C is present.
Now, by Ptolemys Inequality, we have,
AB CI AI BC + BI CA
The inequality sign will be replaced by equality symbol if the quadrilateral is cyclic.
Now, AB CI AI BC + BI CA
As AB = BC = CA, we get,
CI AI + BI
Hence, CI 70 km
CI will assume the maximum value, i.e. 70 km, when AIBC becomes a cyclic quadrilateral.
Hence, maximum distance between city C and Interpols office is 70 km.
Hence, Interpols officer will reach C in maximum 70/70 = 1 Hour.
Hence, Don has at most 1 hour to leave the city.
Puzzle 214 - "The Cable Capacity Conundrum"
22-Jun-12
Views : 5434

Abhro, an electrical engineer, has two fuse cables of equal capacity. The capacity of a cable is the
minimum current at which the cable melts and becomes useless. He knows that the capacity of
these cables is something between 1 and 100 amperes. He has 100 current sources, which can
supply 1 ampere, 2 amperes, 3 amperes and so on till 100 amperes respectively, to test the
capacity of the cables. Find the minimum number of trials required by Abhro to check the capacity
of the two cables. What could be his strategy to achieve this? (Capacity of the cables can assume
any value between 1 and 100 amperes with equal probability)
Provide a detailed solution for the same.
Solution
Assume that Abhro requires n trials.

Hence, to minimize this, he must adopt the following strategy;
Check if the first fuse cable sustains n amperes of current or not. Two cases are possible here.
CASE 1:
If the first fuse cable blows up at n amperes then we must check the second fuse cable with all the
current sources starting from 1 to n 1
CASE 2:
If the first cable is able to sustain n amperes, then check it for (n + n 1 = 2n 1) ampere capacity.
Again, two cases are possible here.
If the first cable blows up at (2n 1) amperes then check for all the current sources starting from (n
+ 1) amperes to (2n 2) amperes i.e. n 2 values.
If it doesnt blow up then check for n + n 1 + n 2 = 3n 3 amperes and so on.
Hence, maximum value which one can achieve in these n trials is (n + n 1 + n 2 + n 3 + 1)
which is nothing but
n = n(n + 1)/2
Hence, we have to find the value of n for which n(n + 1)/2 100
Hence, minimum value of n is 14.
Puzzle # 215 - "The Renovated Homes"
29-Jun-12
Views : 5085

After a recent spate of home improvements, four couples were having a dinner party to discuss the
additions to their houses. The four Husbands are; Amit, Vishal, Chander and Dinesh. Amit had not
recently had a new bathroom. Kalpana had not yet done her kitchen, but perhaps would update it
next. Vishal, who is married to Mala, had not had new windows. Laila delighted in showing
photographs of her new conservatory. Neither Chander nor Dinesh had a new kitchen. Julie had not
had new windows. Amit, who also had not had windows, is not married to Laila and Chander is not
married to Kalpana. Who is married to whom and what work had they recently undertaken,
assuming that each couple had one improvement and no two couples had the same improvement.
Solution
Three parameters have to be matched here husband, wife and home improvement.
Let us denote Kalpana by K, Mala by M, Julie by J and Laila by L, and kitchen by kit, conservatory by
con, windows by win and bathroom by bat.
Let us make a table and fill it up according to the data given to us.
It is given that Amit is not married to Laila. Hence Amit didnt have a new conservatory.
Hence, Amit had a new kitchen. As Amit can be married to either Julie or Kalpana, and Kalpana had
not done her kitchen yet, Amit must be married to Julie.
Now, Kalpana is not married to Amit, Vishal or Chander and hence she is married to Dinesh. Hence
Laila must be married to Chander and they had a new conservatory. Vishal and Mala had a new
bathroom and Dinesh and Kalpana had new windows.
These information can be tabulated in the following table.

Hence, we can infer that;
Amit is married to Julie and they had a new kitchen.
Vishal is married to Mala and they had a new bathroom.
Chander is married to Laila and they had a new conservatory.
Dinesh is married to Kalpana and they had new windows
Puzzle # 216 - The Door Lock Problem
06-Jul-12
Views : 5534
Ashok has a peculiar lock for the door of his home. Its peculiarity lies in the way the door lock is
opened. There is a grid present on the door on which numbers from 1 to 8 are to be inserted in a
particular pattern to open the door. One day, Anil, Ashoks brother came to visit Ashok. He used
the door bell to call Ashok. But Ashok didnt come out. Instead, he gave Anil a clue using his
intercom about how the door should be opened. He told Anil that the numbers 1 to 8 are to be
inserted in such a manner that no two upward, downward and diagonally adjacent cells should
contain consecutive numbers. Any such configuration obtained will open the lock and let him in.
The lock grid is as given in the figure below.
For example, consider the following arrangement;
In this arrangement, 7 and 8, 5 and 5, 3 and 4 are adjacent to each other. Hence, this is not
possible.
Help Anil open the door and get into Ashoks house. Provide a detailed solution for the same.
Solution
Lets number the cells in the following manner;
Now, cell numbered C is adjacent to all six cells except cell number H. Similarly, cell numbered F is
adjacent to all six cells except cell number A.
Now, every number except 1 and 8 has two immediate neighbors.
Hence, numbers 1 and 8 are to be occupied in cells C and F in any particular order.
Now, without loss of generality, we can assume that 1 is in cell C, and 8 is in cell F.
Accordingly, 2 and 7 have to be in cells H and A respectively.
Now, 3 can be in cell B or D.
As the grid is symmetric, without loss of generality we can assume that 3 is in cell B.
Now, 6 can be in cell E or G.
But if 6 is in cell E, then 4 and 5 will have to be accommodated in cells D and G and they will be
adjacent to each other.
This is violation of the condition given to us and hence 6 cannot be present in cell E.
Hence, 6 must be in cell G.
Hence, 4 and 5 must be cell D and E respectively.
The arrangement obtained will be as shown in the figure.
As the grid is symmetrical, the following arrangements can also be possible combinations to open
the lock.
Puzzle # 217 - "The Hair Colour Complication"
13-Jul-12
Views : 5596
Amar, Akbar and Anthony are brothers.
1. Amar has exactly two brothers with black hair.
2. Akbar has exactly two brothers with black or brown hair.
3. Anthony has exactly two brothers who do not have white hair.
4. At least one of the three has brown hair and at least one of the three has white hair.
Whose hair color can be deduced by the given information?
Solution
By statement 4, we get following six cases:

Now, as Amar has two brothers with black hair, hence there must be at least four brothers.
For the time being, assume that there are only 4 brothers and that the fourth brother has black
hair.
Now, consider statement 1 and 2,
In cases I, Amar has brown hair and two of Amars brothers will have black hair.
So 3 brothers of Akbar (Amar + 2) will have black or brown hair which contradicts statement 2 and
hence, case I is eliminated.
The above analysis also holds true for case V and hence it is also eliminated.
Similarly, by 1 and 3, cases IV and VI get eliminated.
Hence, we are left with two cases, i.e. cases II and III.
Consider case II: (Amar has white hair and Akbar has brown hair)
By 1 and 2, Anthony and the fourth brother have black hair.
Consider Case III: (Amar has white hair and Anthony has brown hair)
By 1 and 2, Akbar and the fourth brother have black hair.
Hence, among the three brothers, we can only deduce Amars hair color, i.e. white.
Note: there can be more than 4 brothers. In that case, by statement 3, all the other brothers must
have white hair.
Puzzle # 218 - The Plant Positioning Puzzle Views : 5079
20-Jul-12
Akash, a botany professor, was also fond of mathematics. He was particularly interested in geometry.
One day, he decided to plant 10 new shrubs in his garden. He decided that he will plant the 10 shrubs
in such a way that there are exactly 4 shrubs in 5 distinct lines.
Help Akash in planting these shrubs in the manner he wants.
Solution
Draw x and y axis and plant a shrub at the origin. This is represented in the diagram below:
Draw a line intersecting the x and y axis and plant 2 new shrubs at the two new intersection
points. This is represented in the diagram below:
Draw a line intersecting the 3 already present lines and plant 3 shrubs in the 3 new intersection
points obtained. This is represented in the diagram below:
Draw a line intersecting the 4 already present lines and plant 4 new shrubs in the consequent
intersection points obtained. This is represented in the diagram below:
This will ensure that the each of the five lines has four shrubs and total number of points is 1 + 2 +
3 + 4 = 10.
Puzzle # 219 - The Toss Outcome Strategy Views : 4865
27-Jul-12
Tejash and Sushil were playing a game. The game was such that Tejash and Sushil will have to guess a
sequence of three outcomes that may come by tossing an unbiased coin. For example, THH or HTT
can be a sequence where T is Tails and H is Heads. Tejash will be the one who will toss the coin.
Tejash will first announce his sequence and then Sushil will announce his. The person whose
mentioned sequence arrives first will win the game. What could be Tejashs optimal strategy?
Provide a detailed solution and win reward points.
Solution
Tejash will first announce his sequence.
Now, there can be 8 different sequences;
HHH
HHT
HTH
HTT
THH
THT
TTH
TTT
Hence, to get optimal strategy, we have to calculate probability of any of the above given
combination appearing after each possible couple (HH, HT, TH and TT)
For example, let Tejash choses TTT and Sushil choses HTT. In that case, there is only way in which
TTT can appear before HTT. This can happen only if the first three tosses are tails. In all other
cases, TTT cannot appear before HTT. Hence, probability of TTT appearing before HTT is 1/8.
We may calculate the probability for each such case.
For instance, consider the probability that the sequence TTH comes before HTH;
There are four possible cases;
TTH may appear after either HH or HT or TH or TT but appears before HTH in all cases.
Case I: (TTH appears after HH but before HTH)
Let p(HH) be the probability that out of TTH and HTH, TTH is the first sequence to appear after
HH.
The next outcome will either be H or T.
If H appears, then we are at the same position from where we have started i.e. HH. If T appears,
then the following sequence becomes HT.
Hence, we have,
p(HH) = p(HH)/2 + p(HT)/2 (I)
Let us now calculate the probability of TTH appearing before HTH but after HT.
Case II: (TTH appears first following HT)
In this case, if H appears then the sequence HTH is obtained before TTH. This is a contradiction
and so the corresponding probability is zero.
If T appears, then the following sequence becomes TT.
Hence, we have,
p(HT) = 0 + p(TT) = p(TT)/2 (II)
Let us now calculate the probability that TTH appears before HTH but after TT.
Case III: (TTH appears first following TT)
In this case, if the result of the next toss is H then TTH is obtained which ensures that TTH comes
before HTH and hence the probability becomes 1.
If the result of the next toss is T then following sequence remains TT.
Hence, we have,
p(TT) = 1 + p(TT)/2 = p(TT)/2 + 1/2
Hence, p(TT) = 1 (IV)
Case IV: (TTH appear first following TH)
In this case, if H appears then sequence becomes HH, and else sequence becomes HT)
Hence, we have,
p(TH) = p(HH)/2 + p(HT)/2 (III)
Solving I, II, III and IV, we get;
p(HT) = 1/2
p(HH) = 1/2
p(TH) = 1/2
Now, the total probability is mean of these probabilities.

Hence, total probability = (1 + + + )/4 = 5/8
I.e. probability of TTH appearing before HTH is 5/8.
Similarly, we can calculate probability for each such pair of sequences.
Probability of each such pair is tabulated in the following table;
Now, based on the given table, Tejash can reduce Sushils winning strategy if he chooses the
sequences HTH, HTT, THT or THH. In these cases, Sushils maximum winning probability is 2/3.
Hence, Tejashs optimal strategy should be choosing one of the sequences out of HTH, HTT, THT
and THH.
Puzzle # 220 - The Card Game
03-Aug-12
Views : 4953
Rated 5.0 by 1 User
Amar and Akbar were playing a card game. They arranged 52 cards and numbered them from 1 to
52. Now, Amar takes the first 26 cards and Akbar takes the remaining 26 cards. Now, Amar places
his first card on table and then Akbar places his first card on table and so on till they places all the
cards on the table. In this way a new sequence of the cards became 1, 27, 2, 28, 3, 29 , 26, 52. If
they plan to play the game until the order of the cards became what it was at the beginning, how
many rounds did Amar and Akbar played?
Provide a detailed solution and win reward points.
Solution
Lets define a function f(n), which gives the position of nth card in next round.
I.e. in the present case, f(1) = 1, f(2) = 3 and so on.
We can observe that;
f(n) = 2n 1 (If n 26)
f(n) = 2n 52 (If n > 26)
Now, we can easily observe that the first and last card will always be at their respective places.
Now, consider the second card.
f(2) = 3,
f(3) = 5,
f(5) = 9,
f(9) = 17
f(17) = 33
f(33) = 14
f(14) = 27
f(27) = 2
I.e. the card at second position comes to third position and card at third position comes to 5th
position and so on and finally, the card at 27th position will come to the 2nd position.
Thus, a card at the second position will return to its original position after 8 rounds (2 3 5 9
17 33 14 27 2).
Similarly, we can also say that the cards at positions 2, 3, 5, 9, 17, 33, 14 and 27 will return to their
original places after 8 rounds.
Similarly, we can show that,
4 7 13 25 49 46 40 28 4
I.e. the cards at positions 4, 7, 13, 25, 49, 46, 40 and 28 will come back to their respective original
places after 8 rounds.
6 11 21 41 30 8 15 29 6
I.e. cards at position 6, 11, 21, 41, 30, 8, 15 and 29 will come back to their respective original places
after 8 rounds.
10 19 37 22 43 34 16 31 10
I.e. cards at position 10, 19, 37, 22, 43, 34, 16 and 31 will come back to their respective original
12 23 45 38 24 47 42 32 12
20 39 26 51 50 48 44 36 20
18 35 18
I.e. cards at position 18 and 35 will come back to their respective original places after 2 rounds.
Hence, number of rounds required = LCM (8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 2) = 8
Hence, total number of rounds required = 8.
Puzzle # 221 - Of Witchcraft and Wizardry
10-Aug-12
Views : 4202
Diagon Alley was a location of furious activities during the last week of the English summer
vacation. Harry and four of his friends stopped by today morning to buy certain stuffs for their next
academic year in Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Each one wanted to buy a magic
wand. Each wand was of different length, colour and the core of each wand had a different
component. They had also gone to buy a pet for themselves and each of them either bought an owl,
a cat or a frog. The colours of the pets were distinct.
1. Rons wand core wasnt thestral tail hair but the length was 8 and a quarter inches. Neville got
an owl as a pet.
2. The two friends who got cats were the one who got the brown coloured pet and the one whose
wand was 13 inches long.
3. The dragon heartstring core wand was not 11 inches long but the one who got the dragon
heartstring core wand also got a white pet which was not an owl.
4. The five friends were Harry, the one who got the frog, the one who got the black coloured pet,
the one with the wand having thestral tail hair core and the one who got a 9 and three quarters
inches long wand.
5. Hermione didnt get the wand with unicorn hair core but she did get red coloured pet. The black
coloured pet was bought by the one who also got the wand with phoenix feather core but this
person was not Neville.
6. The 15 inches long wand was not the wand with unicorn hair core but the person who got the 15
inch long wand also bought a frog. The wand with Veela hair core was 11 inches long but Luna
didnt get this wand. One of the friends got a cream coloured pet.
7. Hermione didnt get the wand with Veela hair core and Harrys wand length was not 13 inches.
Determine the length and the core of the wands, the pet bought and the colour of the pet for each
of the five friends respectively.
Solution
A matrix is constructed and gives a comparison of each parameter with every other parameter
present. The matrix is as given below. If a component of a parameter corresponds to another
component of a different parameter, it will be represented as a tick mark and if it doesnt
correspond to a particular component of some parameter then it will be depicted as a cross mark.
TT, DH, UH, PF and VH are representations of thestral tail, dragon heartstring, unicorn hair, phoenix
feather and Veela hair respectively.
8, 9, 11, 13 and 15 are representations of the wand length, br, w, bl, r and c are the first letter (s) of
the colours of the pets and f, o and c represents frog, owl and cat respectively.
Using the direct data given to us in the form of the 7 clues, the following table can be formed.
If there is a tick mark in a certain cell of a parameter, the other cells in the corresponding row and
column will have a cross as one component of a parameter can correspond to a distinct component
of another parameter only.
The friend with the brown coloured pet got a cat and the friend with the white coloured pet didnt
get an owl according to clue 2 and clue 3.
Thus Nevilles owl is cream coloured.
The dragon heartstring wand is obtained by the person having white pet and the phoenix feather
wand by the one with black pet.
Thus Hermione doesnt have the Dragon heartstring wand or the phoenix feather wand.
Thus Hermione has the Thestral hair wand.
Harrys pet wasnt a frog and hence his wand length is not 15 inches.
Thus his wand length is 11 inches.
The 11 inch wand is the one with Veela hair core.

The Veela hair core belongs to Harry and his pet is neither cream coloured nor red coloured.
So Harrys pet is brown coloured.
On completing the colour versus wand core grid (first column third major block), we see that the
unicorn hair wand is cream coloured.
Thus Nevilles wand has Unicorn hair core.
Thus Nevilles wand length cannot be 15 inches according to clue 6.
Also, the person whose wand length is 13 inches got a cat.
Thus Nevilles wand length has to be 9 and three quarter inches.
Hermione got the Thestral tail core wand so she doesnt have a frog as a pet.
Harry, who has an 11 inch long wand has a pet cat.
Thus, Ron, with 8 and a quarter inch long wand will have an owl as a pet.
Ron got an owl so his pet cannot be white coloured.
So Rons pet is a black coloured owl.
Accordingly, Lunas pet is a white coloured frog and she got the dragon heartstring core wand.
Thus, Hermione got a cat and her wand has to be 13 inches long.
By completing the table, phoenix feather core wand will be Rons

The final table will be as follows:
Puzzle # 222 - Figuring Out the Letter Cubes
17-Aug-12
Views : 4590
Akash challenges Amit in a game of Letter Cubes. Akash has 4 cubes say C1, C2, C3 and C4.
Different alphabet is present on each face of each of the 4 cubes in such a way that 24 of the 26
alphabets, including W, have been used. Using the letters on the top faces of the four cubes, and
by rearranging the 4 cubes Akash forms 15 words and showed them one by one in an isolated
manner to Amit. The 15 words formed are listed below.
CAVE
CLEF
DUPE
PRAY
RAIN
PARK
HAZY
KITH
LOIN
POEM
RASP
SMUG
RITE
VARY
JIBE
Akash tells Amit that J and C is on one of the cube, and asked Amit to find out the rest of the
alphabets present on this cube.
Solution
Let the cubes be represented by C1, C2, C3 and C4.
Choose any of the 14 words and place 1 letter each against C1, C2, C3 and C4. This is shown in the
table below.
Any arbitrary word can be chosen. As the A and E have been used quite frequently, lets choose
CAVE. Now, without loss of generality we can assume that C is in C1, A is in C2, V is in C3 and E is in
C4.
Now, letters on each cube can be tabulated as shown below;

Now C has been used in C1 so it cannot be used in the other three cubes.
Locate all the words containing C. The letters apart from C present in those words will not be
present in C1 because of the presence of C in it.
Thus, A, V, E, L, F are not present in C1.
Locate all the words containing A. The letters apart from A present in those words will not be
present in C2.
Thus, C, V, E, P, R, Y, I, N, K, H, Z, S are not present in C2.
Locate all the words containing V. The letters apart from V present in those words will not be
present in C3.
Thus, A, C, E, R and Y are not present in C3.
Locate all the words containing E. The letters apart from E present in those words will not be
present in C4.
Thus, A, C, V, L, F, D, U, P, O, M, I, T, J, B and R are not present in C4.
We can see that R is not present in C2, C3 and C4 and hence it has to be present in C1.
Thus, the letters apart from R in the words containing R are also not present in C1.
Thus, P, Y, I, N, K, S, T, A, V, E, L and F are not present in C1.
P is not present in C1, C2 and C4 and hence it has to be present in C3.
Accordingly, S has to be in C4 to form RASP.
As P, A and R have been used, Y and K have to be in C4 to form PRAY and PARK.
C2 doesnt have I and so it has to have T or else we cannot form RITE using the 4 cubes. Accordingly,
I is in C3.
H has to be present in C1 to form KITH.

Z has to be in C3 to form HAZY
N is in C4 to form RAIN.
L is not present in C1. It has to be in C2 and O has to be in C1 to form LOIN
M has to be in C2 to form POEM and F has to be in C3 to form CLEF
To form SMUG, U and G will have to be in C1 and C3 in any order.
Now U cannot be present in C3 because then DUPE cannot be formed as P and U will be on the
same cube. So U is on C1 and G on C3
D will be on C2 so that DUPE can be formed
J and B cannot be on C4 or else JIBE cannot be formed. Hence W is on C4.
Now, J and C are on same cube, hence J is on C1.
Hence, we get;
Hence, letters on the cube which contains J and C are R, H, O, U and J.

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Puzzle #1 - The gold chain Views : 4882

23-May-08 Rated 4.0 by 10 Users

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(4) Among Anurag, Bhavik and Tarun, we have a pair of twins.

All ages mentioned above are in years.

Get In Email Get this!

Let W, X, Y & Z represent the 4 digits as shown in the diagram.

Hence, Anurag and Tarun are the twins.

Of the (9 * 4 =) 36 ways of doing this, here's one way:

Puzzle #183 - The Identical Cubes Views : 6248

Get In Email Get this!

If both occur twice, the identical tubes look like:

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View the solution you submitted

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Puzzle #191 - The Quest for the Gods Views : 4696

Let's reverse the process.

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Puzzle #192 - The Quest for the Gods 2 Views : 5940

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Amount she had before entering the 3rd Church = 1/2 of 2 = 1

Amount she had before entering the 2nd Church = 2.50

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3. Hitesh has Rs.24 more than Jitesh.

Jitesh's amount is less than that of Ritesh's and is a multiple of 5.

which satisfies condition 3.

Hitesh has Rs. 49

and Hitesh is the oldest among the three siblings.

Puzzle #195 - Hardworking Krishna Views : 5755

Suppose Krishna lit the candle at t = 0

3/4 isn't half of 5/6.

thick candle = 4/6 = 2/3 of its original length

thin candle = 1/2 of its original length

1/2 isn't half of 2/3.

thick candle = 3/6 = 1/2 of its original length

thin candle = 1/4 of its original length

1/4 is half of 1/2.

Puzzle #196 - Of Temples & Coconuts Views : 6117

Toll at the 10 th gate = 1

Toll at the 9 th gate = 1

Toll at the 8 th gate = 1

Toll at the 7 th gate = 1

Toll at the 6 th gate = 1

Toll at the 4 th gate = 2