Anyone know any good riddles or brain teasers? My niece told me this one the other day and I'm wondering why I hadn't heard it before... or what the solution is if indeed there is one?

"3 guys go to a hotel, and rent a room for $30 bucks a night. They each pay $10 bucks. Later on, the guy who took the money realizes he made a mistake and over charged them by 5$ (i.e., the room was only $25). So he tells the Bellboy to go and give back $5 to the guys who rented the room. While going up, the Bellboy decides to keep $2, so that he can give each one of them $1 back evenly. So: if the Bellboy kept $2, and in giving back $1 each to the 3 guys so that they paid only $9 each, where did the extra $1 go? (9x3=27+2=29)"

There is no missing dollar. The error lies in the math at the end.

It should be (9x3) - 2 = 25.

They each paid nine dollars. The bellboy got two and the hotel got 25.

Or if you want to look at it another way, what happened to the original $30?

25 went to the hotel, 2 to the bellboy, and 1 to each of the three guests. That makes 30.


Here's a riddle for you. A father and his son are riding their bikes. Son says, "Dad... 1 and three is three , right?"

"Yes, son."

"But three and one are thirteen, right?"

"Yes."

"So what's two and two?"

Your answer?

Cool... thanks... in answer to yours... hmmm... would that be twenty-two (unless it's really 4)?

Is the answer 10? No... 8. Well, one of two (hopefully). That's if you work it out mathmatically, but riddles are supposed to be worked out logicalle [img]tongue.gif[/img] . I got two if anyone wants to try:

1)
You live with your male room-mate. One day, he leaves the apartment to go shopping. Just as he leaves, you hear voices outside. Your roomate shouts "NO! Don't shoot! I love you!". After that, you hear a gunshot. You rsh outside to find your roomate dead on the floor with three people standing around him - a fireman, a lawyer, and a postman. Who killed your room-mate?

2) (This is pretty popular so you'll probably get it).
"I have a mouth, but never speak. I have a bed, but never sleep. I run, but never walk. What am I?

Hehehe... I love riddles :D .

Nice thinking, Ehrys, but it's not a positional cypher thing. Three and five, for example, is not thirty-five.

And Jaradu, you're just about there. One of your answers is correct... but which one, and can you tell me why? I'll note that it comes from a real-world scenario, and I told you all about it.

If it will make it easier, you can consider that for some people, three and one is thirteen. For others, it's fifteen. And for others (such as my kids), it doesn't even exist.

As for your answers...

1. I'm thinking it's the roommate, who just committed suicide after receiving a bad piece of mail. Gruesome, but... [img]smile.gif[/img] Someone else can prove me wrong later... I'm curious.

2. Rather Intriguing Version Expanding Rapidly, I think. I don't want to spoil an answer too quickly.

Hmmm I'll have to go with 8 because:

1 and 3 make 3. 3 and 1 make 13. 2 is the average of 1 and 3, so I found the average of each sum: (13 + 3) / 2 = 8.

As for your answer to number 1, nope [img]tongue.gif[/img] . Great answer, though so you get extra credit marks :D .

EDIT: Oh, oh, oh, oh! I just got your answer to number 2 ;) and it's correct. You're a sly fellow, Bungleau [img]tongue.gif[/img] . Well done!

[ 04-16-2004, 03:19 PM: Message edited by: Jaradu ]

Jaradu-
1) You shot him, lol.

[img]graemlins/angel.gif[/img]
Bonus points, again :D

I am right? The term 'you' from your post is me answering as 'you' as if i was the person in qustion, now that makes no sense!

[ 04-16-2004, 03:35 PM: Message edited by: Ironbar ]

Sorry, nope.