THE MIND GAMES PAGE!!!

The questions listed below are popular with the members of MENSA. Mensa members are recruited exclusively from the most intelligent 2% of the population, those with an IQ of 140 or higher. If you are looking for a challenge, you have found it!

The questions all vary in levels of difficulty. I recommend that you use scrap paper when trying to answer some, as one can often forget even the most obvious details. Form hypotheses and test them. Remember that even the most complicated of questions can have simple answers. Don't confuse yourself with uneccessary details, and try to remain focused on the question that is at hand.
Good luck! All of the answers to the questions can be found by pressing the "ANSWERS" button at the bottom of the page. Try not to peek though, and remember that all of the answers are derived from pure logic, and nothing else.

  1. A ship is at anchor. Over its side hangs a rope ladder with rungs a foot apart. The tide rises at a rate of 8 inches per hour. At the end of 6 hours how much of the rope ladder will remain above water, assuming that 8 feet were above water when the tide began to rise?

  2. MAN: How many birds and how many beasts do you have in your zoo?
    ZOOKEEPER: There are 30 heads and 100 feet.
    MAN: I can't tell from that.
    ZOOKEEPER: Oh, yes you can!
    Can you?

  3. A traveler comes to a fork in the road and does not know how to reach his destination. There are two men at the fork, one of whom always tells lies, while the other always tells the truth. The traveler doesn't know which one is which. He may ask one of the men only one question to find his way. What is his question and which man does he ask?

  4. Three boxes are labeled "Apples," "Oranges," and "Apples and Oranges." Each label is incorrect. You may select only one fruit from each box. (No feeling around or peeking permitted.) How can you label each box correctly?

  5. A missionary visits an island where two tribes live. One tribe always tells the truth. The other always lies. The truth tellers live on the western side of the island and the liars live on the eastern side of the island. The missionary's problem is to determine who tells the truth by asking one native only one question.
    The missionary, seeing a native walking in the distance, asks a nearby native: "Go ask that native in the distance which side of the island he lives on." When the messenger returns he answers: "He lives on the western side of the island." Is the messenger a truth teller or a liar? How can you be sure?

  6. You have 10 gray socks and 20 blue socks in your bureau drawer. If you reach into it in the dark, how many socks must you take out to be sure of having a pair that matches?

  7. A circus performance is witnessed by 120 people who have paid a total of $120. The men paid $5, the women $2, and the children 10¢ each. How many of each went to the circus?

  8. One bucket contains a gallon of water, another a gallon of alcohol. A cup of alcohol from the second bucket is poured into the bucket of water. A cup of the resulting mixture is then poured back into the bucket of alcohol. Is there:
    (a) More water in the alcohol than alcohol in the water;
    (b) More alcohol in the water than water in the alcohol;
    (c) The same amount of water in the alcohol as alcohol in the water?

  9. In the South Pacific, so the story goes, white people get sunburned to a brown color that is identical to the native islanders' color. There is only one way to tell them apart: by what they say. Islanders always lie. Non-islanders always tell the truth.
    A visitor is paddling a canoe up to the beach of an island when he sees three people, all the same brown color. He asks, "Are you the white people burned brown or are you the islanders?" The first one calls out something that is lost in the sound of the surf, so the man in the canoe again shouts, "Are you islanders or sunburned white people?"
    This time the second man on the beach calls back, saying, "The first person who answered said he is a white man, and he is a white man, and so am I." The third person on the beach called out, "The first two people here on the beach are islanders and I am a white man burned brown."
    From what they have said, determine what each man really is.

  10. "A rolling stone gathers no moss" means:
    (a) None of the Rolling Stones smoke marijuana.
    (b) Shifting stones around in a rock garden prevents weeds.
    (c) Rock collections don't appreciate in value with time.
    (d) Stay in your groove to do your thing.

  11. "A stream cannot rise higher than its source" means:
    (a) You decline after achieving your highest level.
    (b) Streams of knowledge don't come from high sources.
    (c) Your stream of consciousness is highly resourceful.
    (d) Your stream of achievement is limited by your background.
    (e) Gravitational factors prevent water from running uphill.

  12. A hunter arose early, ate breakfast, and headed south. Half a mile from camp he tripped and skinned his nose. He picked himself up, cursing, and continued south. Half a mile farther along, he spotted a bear. Drawing a bead, he pulled the trigger, but the safety was on. The bear saw him and headed east at top speed. Half a mile later the hunter caught up, fired, but only wounded the beast, which limped on toward the east. The hunter followed and half a mile later caught and killed the bear. Pleased, the hunter walked the mile north back to his camp to find it had been ransacked by a second bear.
    What color was the bear that tore up his camp?

  13. A snail is at the bottom of a well 30 feet deep. It can crawl upward 3 feet in one day, but at night it slips back 2 feet. How long does it take the snail to crawl out of the well?

  14. There are two jars of equal capacity. In the first jar there is one amoeba. In the second jar there are two amoebas. An amoeba can reproduce itself in three minutes. It takes the two amoebas in the second jar three hours to fill the jar to capacity. How long does it take one amoeba in the first jar to fill to capacity?

  15. You are in a room with three light switches on the wall. Down a very long hall and around the corner, out of sight from the doorway of the room you are in, there are three light bulbs, each one corresponding to a seperate switch. By only making one trip (to the room with the lights, not there and back), how can you tell which switch corresponds to which light?


MIND GAME ANSWERS.

TOUR THE SITE:
The Mind Games.
The Mind Games Answers.
Graphic Mind Games.
Graphic Mind Games Answers.
Code Madness.
Code Madness Answers.
Infuriating Jokes.
Infuriating Joke Answers.
The Links.
The Brain Puzzle. (under construction)
Famous Quotes.
Stimulating HTML Backgrounds.

E-Mail The Web-Master: adfreak@hotmail.com

Register Your Own Site!

!Register-It! - Promote Your Web Site!