Brain Twisters!
Here are some brain twisters for you to ponder over...

If you want to know what the solution is, email me with your answer and I will tell you if you are correct. It's no fun if I just give the answers away... (but if you're persistent, I might give you some hints). Please tell me the number and name of the question in your email otherwise it will take me a long time to get back to you. Oh yeah, in case you are wondering about the numbering system, I am not putting all of the twisters in because some of them are not as good as others!

I am still working on this page, so there will be a lot more of these in a couple of days. However, I just wanted to get the link active because I often forget what stuff I have to fix links to on the index page.

HINT: Do not assume anything!! In lateral thinking, you must explore all possibilities. Sit back and consider the facts. Ask yourself if you are assuming anything about the story. If you are stuck, put the question away and come back to it later. Try not to get too frustrated, and don't give up! You can always email me for hints.

Here are a couple of easy ones to start off with...

EASY BRAIN TWISTERS:

1.1 The Apple Problem
There were six apples in a basket and six girls in the room. Each girl took one apple, yet one apple remained in the basket. How come?

1.2 The Two Presidents
The 22nd and 24th presidents of the United States had the same mother and the same father, but were not brothers. How could this be so?

1.3 Game, Set, and Match
Two men were playing tennis. They played five sets and each man won three sets. How did they do this?

1.5 Father and Son
William's father was older than his grandfather. How did that happen?

1.6 The Amazing Fall
A man who was not wearing a parachute jumped out of a plane. He landed on hard ground yet he was unhurt. Why?

1.8 Your Turn to Drive
Two brothers were talking. One said, "I am fed up with living in Birmingham because I have to drive all the time. Why don't we move to London?" His brother replied, "But that would mean that I would have to drive all the time." Why was this true?

1.11 The Deadly Drive
A man drove to and from work every day along a dangerous and twisty mountain road. However, he know the road very well so could drive quickly yet safely. One day, while he was at work, his car was broken into and several items were stolen. As the car was not damaged the man got in and started driving. He never reached home. His car swerved off the road and he was killed. Why?

1.13 Growing Younger
Ben was 20 years old in 1980 but only 15 years old in 1985. How come?

1.15 Greenland
Greenland is a huge country covered with snow and ice. Why did the man who discovered it call it Greenland? (No, there is no hidden meaning in translating "Greenland" or anything like that!)

1.17 The Boxing Match
At the end of a long hard boxing match, one boxer was knocked out by the other. The judges agreed it was a completely proper victory. Yet during the course of the match no man threw a punch. What happened?

1.18 The Nephew
A man and his sister were out shopping one day when the man said, "That boy over there is my nephew." "That is right," replied his sister, "but he is not my nephew." How come?

MODERATE PUZZLES

2.2 Flat Tire I
A man woke up one morning to find that one of the wheels of his car had a completely flat tire. Despite this he set off in his car and drove 100 miles to visit a customer. He then drove 100 miles home. He did not repair or inflate the flat tire. How did he manage to make the journey?

2.3 Flat Tire II
Four college students arrived late for a lecture, explaining to their instructor that their car had a flat on the way there. How did the clever lecturer immediately show those assembled that the late arrivals were not telling the truth?

2.4 Bottled Fruit
We all know that there's a way to get a ship into a bottle. How would you get a full-sized pear into a bottle without damaging the pear or breaking or cutting the bottle? (and, no, you do not use a bottle with a big neck!!)

2.7 The Island Fire
A man is on an island which is one mile long and about 100 yards wide. The grass and shrubs are very dry from a long drought. Suddenly, a fire starts at one end of the island. It is racing towards him along the width of the island fanned by a strong wind blowing in his direction. He cannot take refuge in the sea because it is infested with sharks. There is no beach, just sheer cliffs that are too steep to climb. What can he do to avoid being consumed in the flames?

2.9 The Portrait
A man stands looking at a portrait and says, "Sons and brothers have I none, but this person's father is my father's son." Who is in the portrait?

2.14 Saturday Flights
A man flew into Los Angeles on Saturday. He stayed for three nights at the Beverly Hills Hotel, then spent one night in the Santa Monica Hilton. He then flew out again on Saturday. Between the two flights he never left the Los Angeles area and he did not stay anywhere except those two hotels. How could he arrive and leave on Saturday, yet stay only four nights?

2.15 The Trains That Did Not Crash
A single train track runs through a tunnel which goes from east to west. One afternoon two trains run along the track at the same speed and enter the tunnel, one going east and the other going west. Neither stops or changes speed, yet they do not crash. Why not?

2.17 The Ransom
A rich man's son was kidnapped. The ransom note told the man to bring a valuable diamond to a phone booth in the middle of a public park. Plainclothes police officers surrounded the park, intending to follow the criminal or his messenger. The rich man arrived at the phone booth and followed instructions but the police were powerless to prevent the diamond from leaving the park and reaching the crafty villain. How did the villain accomplish this?

2.18 Moving Parts
Two common objects carry out the same function. One of the objects has many thousands of moving parts while the other object has no moving parts. What are the objects?

2.19 An Early Burial
John Brown died on Thursday, December 6, and was buried the same week -- on Wednesday, December 5, to be precise. How did that happen? (No, he was not buried alive...)

2.20 Trouble and Strife
Mrs. White was happily knitting while her husband watched television. Suddenly the phone rang. Mr. White answered it. He was angry because it was a wrong number, but she was even more angry. Why?

2.21 Bath Water
Some time ago, before central heating and water boilers, people would heat water on stoves. At that time a scullery maid was heating a large pan of water in order to add it to a bathtub which contained some water at room temperature. When the butler saw it he told her off. "Don't you realize," he said, "that the longer you heat that water on the stove, the colder the bath will be when you pour the hot water in?" He was right. Why?

2.22 The Hold-Up
A man parked his car outside a bank and rushed in. He held up twenty-five people and ran out with $200. A policeman who saw the whole incident stopped the man. He told him off and then let him go. Why?

2.23 The Worst Sailor
Jim was one of the worst sailors on board ship. He was surly, lazy, untrustworthy, uncooperative, and always causing trouble. Yet the ship's captain often said of him, "I wish we had ten men like Jim." Why?

2.24 The Valuable Book
A man had a book which was worth $40,000. Why did he deliberately destroy it?

Too easy so far? Okay... here are some harder ones!

DIFFICULT PUZZLES

3.1 Cuddly Bears
At a children's hospital the patientes loved to play with the cuddly teddy bears they had there. Unfortunately, the children liked them so much that the bears were disappearing at an alarming rate as the young patients took them home. How did the hospital solve this problem?

3.2 The High Society
At a fancy, upper-class dinner party a precious gold coin was being passed around the table for inspection when suddenly the lights went out. When the lights came on again the coin was missing. A search of each guest was ordered. One man refused to be searched. The police were called but before they arrived the missing coin was found under a saucer. Why did the guest refuse to be searched?

3.3 Eight Years Old
A girl was eight years old on her first birthday. How could that be?

3.4 Cover That Hole
A manhole is a hole which allows someone to gain access to the sewers or other pipes which are below ground. Our local town council recently decided that all the town's manhole covers should be changed from square to round ones. We are used to the town council making silly decision, but this time they were absolutely right. Why?

3.5 The Protagoras Paradox
Protagoras was a lawyer in ancient Greece. As an act of kindness he took on a poor but promising young man as a pupil. He agreed to teach him law but make no charge until the student had won his first case, when the student would repay his tuition fees. The young man gladly agreed to this plan. The student completed his training, then decided that he did not wish to practise law. Instead, he retired to the countryside to keep goats. Protagoras was disgusted at this waste of talent and training and dismayed that he would not be reimbursed for the tuition. He decided to sue his pupil in order to recover his fees. If the two men met in court to argue the case, who do you think would have won?

3.6 Hand in Glove
A French glove manufacturer received an order for 5,000 pairs of expensive artificial sealskin gloves (well... I couldn't very well have real sealskin gloves on a webpage about animals, could I?) from a New York department store. He then learned that there was a very expensive tax on the import of artificial sealskin gloves into the United States. How did he (legitimately) get the gloves into the country without paying the import tax?

3.7 The School Superintendent
A visiting school superintendent noticed that whenever he asked one class a question all the children would put up their hands. Morever, although the teacher always chose a different child to answer, the answer was always correct. Why?

3.8 No Trumps
Can you resolve this argument which arose at a recent bridge match? Spades were trumps. Which is more likely: that a pair of players will have no spades dealt to them or all the spades dealt to them?

3.9 How to Beat Nick Faldo
A man challenged the Masters Golf champion, Nick Faldo, to a round of golf on the condition that he be allowed to chose the time and place of their contest. The champion accepted the challenge but was easily defeated by the challenger. Why?

3.10 How to Beat Carl Lewis
A man challenged the Olympic 100-metres sprint champion, Carl Lewis, to a race over a short distance on the condition that he be allowed to choose the course. How does the man manage to beat the champion? (Note: The solution to the preceding problem won't help you here.)

3.13 The Busy Hospital
St. James Hospital handled all the accident cases for the city. They were kept especially busy by the large number of drivers and passengers injured on the city's roads. To improve road safety, a law was passed making the wearing of seat belts mandatory. Drivers and passengers now started to wear seat belts in their cars. The frequency of road accidents remained exactly the same. However, the hospital was now even busier handling road-accident victims than before. Why?