1. Why was the man able to pass three cars going 70 miles-per-hour, while he was going only 60 miles-per-hour?

2. A man woke up in the middle of the night and turned off the light. Ten people died as result. Why?

3. Agatha spent several days in the hospital. She wasn’t injured and she wasn’t sick, but she did have to be carried out when she left though. Why was she in the hospital?

4. You’re flying over a river and you see two boats both heading east, but one boat is heading up the river and the other is going down the river. How is this possible?

5. The only things you possess are a lighter and two ropes with the following property: they burn from end to end in exactly one hour, but they do not burn regularly. Hence, for example, if you lit one from one end, the first half could burn in 13 minutes, the next quarter in two minutes and the last quarter in 43 minutes. Also, the two ropes do not have the same irregularities. How to accurately measure 45 minutes?

6. A man was to be sentenced, and the judge told him, “You may make a statement. If it is true, I’ll sentence you to four years in prison. If it is false, I’ll sentence you to six years in prison.” After the man made his statement, the judge decided to let him go free. What did the man say?

7. You have a barrel of oil, and you need to measure out just one gallon. How do you do this if you only have a three-gallon container and a five-gallon container?

8. On my way to St. Ives I saw a man with seven wives. Each wife had seven sacks. Each sack had seven cats. Each cat had seven kittens. Kitten, cats, sacks, wives. How many were going to St. Ives?

Answers:

1. The cars he passed were going in the opposite direction.

2. He was the lighthouse keeper, and turned off the light, causing a ship to wreck on the rocks.

3. She was a newborn baby

4. The boats are on opposite sides of a bend in the river.

5. You should light, at the same time, one rope at both ends, and the other at one end. When the first rope is fully burnt (30 minutes), light the remaining end.

6. He said, “You’ll sentence me to six years in prison.” If it was true, then the judge would have to make it false by sentencing him to four years. If it was false, then he would have to give him six years, which would make it true. Rather than contradict his own word, the judge set the man free.

7. Fill the three-gallon container with oil and pour it into the five-gallon container. Then fill the three-gallon container again and use it to fill the five-gallon container the rest of the way. One gallon will be left in the three-gallon container.

8. Just one – me — because I ‘saw’ a man!— Compiled by The Surfer