Brain Teasers

[fairweatherfan]

Okay, here is one more.  Again, no tricks.  Just use your logic.

You are alone in a room. 

In the room there are two lengths of fuse (like the sort of thing used to light dynamite or a firecracker), a box of matches and a pair of scissors.    Each fuse is about five feet long, but not exactly.  You know that each fuse burns for exactly one hour.  But you also know that they burn unevenly (so that it could burn up four of the five feet in the first ten minutes but then take the next fifty minutes to burn the last foot, or in some other way, you don't know).  You also know that each fuse is different (so while they both burn unevenly, they both burn at different rates).  You don’t know the rate at which either fuse will burn, just that they each last exactly one hour.

The only way you can get out of the room is by measuring 45 minutes, exactly.  There are no watches, cell-phones, clocks, sundials, miniature stone henges or any other time telling devices available to you.  Just what you have, the two fuses, a box of matches and a pair of scissors (which can cut the fuses into any lengths you like).

How do you measure 45 minutes?

Ok, I think I've got this - I'm assuming you can light either end of the fuse.  Take the two fuses, and at the same time, light one end of one of them, and both ends of the other.  The fuse you lit twice should burn out in 30 minutes, while the other one will be half gone (maybe not in length, but in time).  So, it's been 30 minutes and you have 30 minutes left of one fuse.  Now light the other end of the fuse that's still burning.  The 30 minutes left on that fuse now becomes 15, and you'll have a total of 45 minutes.  Does the few seconds it would take to light everything count?

[BigThreePeat]

<snip>

That doesn't qualify as a brain teaser.  That's a gag created to mess with people.  Nobody ever will naturally get that brain teaser correctly, because it defies logic and explanation.   The whole thing is a joke.  

Btw... I think I figured out the Grant Canyon one, but i'm not ruining it... because it's a valid brain teaser

I got it naturally, and so did wdleehi apparently - while it starts vaguely, it's solvable and interesting to puzzle your way back through.  Just involves a lot of thinking and narrowing down through Q + A.  I agree it really can't be solved without followup questions though.

True.  Sorry if I ruined that one, but I'm pretty sure that "brain teaser" was created as a gag and isn't supposed to be solved outright.

And it also defies all logic.   Theres no way you can go from "guy eats bird... walks outside and kills himself" and come up with

"ooh... ok... well clearly he was on a deserted island with a group of friends and then his wife went missing and someone fed him albatross, but after eating the albatross he noticed he had a distinct taste of his wife's perfume which he had recently bought from Nordstroms at the Sunset Mall in Gateway, California.  See... the reason he knew the taste of the perfume was because when the front desk lady sold him the perfume she jokingly squirted some on him... the lady was a bit of a booze hound and didn't really know how to properly service gentlemen at the store.  Some of the squirted perfume got into his open mouth and eyes causing temporary blindness.   Consequently, the woman was fired but he was able to complain the the store manager and take home the perfume for free.   Having that experience fresh in his mind was relevant, because upon eating the "albatross", he tasted the slight hint of that very perfume.  He would have confronted the rest of the group about his suspicions, but several of the members were escaped convicts who had hijacked a plane lead by Nicolas Cage and just so happened to crash on the same island.  Fearing for his life, he didn't dare question the "albatross"... perhaps this mischievous group of escaped convicts (lead by Nicolas Cage) would eat him next.  So... he kept mum about the perfume taste and instead waited until he got back to land.   Coincidentally enough, the boat that saved him was lead by Captain Charles Kelper.  Kelper's nephew Jonathan actually went to the very same high school as our main character, but I digress... that's a story for another brainteaser...   back on point... he walked into a restaurant and ordered "albatross".  Unfortunately that restaurant had never even heard of "albatross".   See, Albatross range widely in the Southern Ocean and the North Pacific. They are absent from the North Atlantic, although fossil remains show they once occurred there too and occasional vagrants turn up... and unfortunately, our main character was now in Chicago and the waitress at this Sizzler had never even heard of the dish.  So disappointed and frustrated, he took a detour to McDonalds, had a few hamburgers and went to see "Pineapple Express" with his buddy Jeremy... but that's neither here nor there.   After getting home, grieving over his wife's death and explaining to his ex-mother-in-law, Doris, why he decided to take his wife on 3 hour tour with Gilligan and Skipper through the Bermuda Triangle (see, he never really had much of a relationship with his mother-in-law.  His wife was brought up in a very strict Jewish household and they didn't approve of his atheism... something that becomes relevant later in this brain teaser...  Doris always felt her daughter should have accepted the proposal of Scott Butala back in 83.  Scott was a darling young man whose sister happened to be Jenna Butala... who eventually married Bohdi Elfman... nephew to famous Tim Burton composer,  Danny Elfman.   But those days were long gone and now Doris's daughter was married to this doof who just "lost" her on a deserted island.  It's also important to note that our main character has a bit of a gambling problem... he initially was going to take his wife to Reno, but she wouldn't allow it... so lets not pretend like she's without fault here, ok?... )... so after that long conversation with Doris, he eventually checked out MSN Citysearch and found a small little mom-and-pop cafe in downtown Chicago that happened to serve an Albatross soup.   He immediately got on his bicycle and peddled his little heart out until he got to Cafe Juanita.   Sadly, they had a waiting list of 3 days (the Albatross Soup is to die for) and our main brainteaser character wasn't smart enough to make reservations!  Fool!  ... so... he made reservations for the next Thursday, went about his normal routine for a week and eventually came back eager to try the albatross soup.   Egats... wouldn't you know it?... they were out of Albatross Soup! ...  Frustrated at this development, he verbally assaulted the hostess until the Cafe owner confronted him on his behavior.  The cafe owner threatened to press charges, but our main character was able to calm them down by explaining that he had recently lost his wife on an island and suspected that he had eaten her.   After thoroughly explaining his story, the cafe owner (Sully Jacobson) explained that they were out of Albatross soup, but weren't out of Albatross.   "Oh... ha ha ha... you shoulda said something.   It's not that we ran out of Albatross... we merely ran out of the chive cream we use as a base.   If Albatross is all you're looking for... albatross you shall get!".    Flash forward 30 minutes and our main character is eating a fresh plate of roasted albatross.   Two bites in, he notices it tastes NOTHING like the perfume infested human flesh he had eaten the month prior on that island.   In a fit of despair, he bolts out the door, pulls out a glock and offs himself in the middle of the street.  If that's not bad enough, he never tipped his waitress... what a jerk.  "

Makes sense for the most part, but any normal sane individual would first seek out the group of escaped convicts who apparently killed his wife and fed him her meat, right?  Why off yourself in the middle of a street without first getting a little vengeance?   That brain teaser is full of fail.

Side note:  it turns out his wife wasn't dead at all.  She was picking coconuts from a palm tree on the island when she accidentally fell and knocked herself out on a rock.  She came to a few days later, walked to the other side of the Island and found a Timeshare resort owned by Westgate.  And guess what?... while soaking in the resort jacuzzi she bumped into none other than her old flame, Scott Butala!  He expressed his undying love for her and after spending an amazing week together they left it with, "another time... another place... another life, maybe?".   By the time she  back home to Chicago, her husband had already offed himself in the middle of the street.   Wouldn't you know it?... apparently roasted albatross and fire-cooked albatross tastes extremely different.  Not to mention the lemon-herb sauce that Cafe Juanita glazed over the bird prior to cooking it.   You might consider this a depressing story, but a few weeks later the wife found out her husband was actually cheating on her with a circus clown and had 3 gigs of child ****ography on his laptop.  Good riddance... that guy got what he deserved.  The wife is now married to Scott Butala.

[CelticPride]

My answer to the grand canyon question was to string the rope around the earth and tie it to itself (unlimited rope and all)

My follow-up question is which takes more rope, around the world or filling up the canyon?

The fuses question I've seen before, good solution fair-weather.

As to the island on fire, possible solutions

1) Douse the fire
2) create raft to float on water for duration of fire
3) Move to burnt out side of island for duration of fire

My favorite - get on airplane that noticed fire and landed to let you board.

[BigThreePeat]

<snip>

That doesn't qualify as a brain teaser.  That's a gag created to mess with people.  Nobody ever will naturally get that brain teaser correctly, because it defies logic and explanation.   The whole thing is a joke.  

Btw... I think I figured out the Grant Canyon one, but i'm not ruining it... because it's a valid brain teaser

I got it naturally, and so did wdleehi apparently - while it starts vaguely, it's solvable and interesting to puzzle your way back through.  Just involves a lot of thinking and narrowing down through Q + A.  I agree it really can't be solved without followup questions though.

True.  Sorry if I ruined that one, but I'm pretty sure that "brain teaser" was created as a gag and isn't supposed to be solved outright.

And it also defies all logic.   Theres no way you can go from "guy eats bird... walks outside and kills himself" and come up with

"ooh... ok... well clearly he was on a deserted island with a group of friends and then his wife went missing and someone fed him albatross, but after eating the albatross he noticed he had a distinct taste of his wife's perfume which he had recently bought from Nordstroms at the Sunset Mall in Gateway, California.  See... the reason he knew the taste of the perfume was because when the front desk lady sold him the perfume she jokingly squirted some on him... the lady was a bit of a booze hound and didn't really know how to properly service gentlemen at the store.  Some of the squirted perfume got into his open mouth and eyes causing temporary blindness.   Consequently, the woman was fired but he was able to complain the the store manager and take home the perfume for free.   Having that experience fresh in his mind was relevant, because upon eating the "albatross", he tasted the slight hint of that very perfume.  He would have confronted the rest of the group about his suspicions, but several of the members were escaped convicts who had hijacked a plane lead by Nicolas Cage and just so happened to crash on the same island.  Fearing for his life, he didn't dare question the "albatross"... perhaps this mischievous group of escaped convicts (lead by Nicolas Cage) would eat him next.  So... he kept mum about the perfume taste and instead waited until he got back to land.   Coincidentally enough, the boat that saved him was lead by Captain Charles Kelper.  Kelper's nephew Jonathan actually went to the very same high school as our main character, but I digress... that's a story for another brainteaser...   back on point... he walked into a restaurant and ordered "albatross".  Unfortunately that restaurant had never even heard of "albatross".   See, Albatross range widely in the Southern Ocean and the North Pacific. They are absent from the North Atlantic, although fossil remains show they once occurred there too and occasional vagrants turn up... and unfortunately, our main character was now in Chicago and the waitress at this Sizzler had never even heard of the dish.  So disappointed and frustrated, he took a detour to McDonalds, had a few hamburgers and went to see "Pineapple Express" with his buddy Jeremy... but that's neither here nor there.   After getting home, grieving over his wife's death and explaining to his ex-mother-in-law, Doris, why he decided to take his wife on 3 hour tour with Gilligan and Skipper through the Bermuda Triangle (see, he never really had much of a relationship with his mother-in-law.  His wife was brought up in a very strict Jewish household and they didn't approve of his atheism... something that becomes relevant later in this brain teaser...  Doris always felt her daughter should have accepted the proposal of Scott Butala back in 83.  Scott was a darling young man whose sister happened to be Jenna Butala... who eventually married Bohdi Elfman... nephew to famous Tim Burton composer,  Danny Elfman.   But those days were long gone and now Doris's daughter was married to this doof who just "lost" her on a deserted island.  It's also important to note that our main character has a bit of a gambling problem... he initially was going to take his wife to Reno, but she wouldn't allow it... so lets not pretend like she's without fault here, ok?... )... so after that long conversation with Doris, he eventually checked out MSN Citysearch and found a small little mom-and-pop cafe in downtown Chicago that happened to serve an Albatross soup.   He immediately got on his bicycle and peddled his little heart out until he got to Cafe Juanita.   Sadly, they had a waiting list of 3 days (the Albatross Soup is to die for) and our main brainteaser character wasn't smart enough to make reservations!  Fool!  ... so... he made reservations for the next Thursday, went about his normal routine for a week and eventually came back eager to try the albatross soup.   Egats... wouldn't you know it?... they were out of Albatross Soup! ...  Frustrated at this development, he verbally assaulted the hostess until the Cafe owner confronted him on his behavior.  The cafe owner threatened to press charges, but our main character was able to calm them down by explaining that he had recently lost his wife on an island and suspected that he had eaten her.   After thoroughly explaining his story, the cafe owner (Sully Jacobson) explained that they were out of Albatross soup, but weren't out of Albatross.   "Oh... ha ha ha... you shoulda said something.   It's not that we ran out of Albatross... we merely ran out of the chive cream we use as a base.   If Albatross is all you're looking for... albatross you shall get!".    Flash forward 30 minutes and our main character is eating a fresh plate of roasted albatross.   Two bites in, he notices it tastes NOTHING like the perfume infested human flesh he had eaten the month prior on that island.   In a fit of despair, he bolts out the door, pulls out a glock and offs himself in the middle of the street.  If that's not bad enough, he never tipped his waitress... what a jerk.  "

Makes sense for the most part, but any normal sane individual would first seek out the group of escaped convicts who apparently killed his wife and fed him her meat, right?  Why off yourself in the middle of a street without first getting a little vengeance?   That brain teaser is full of fail.

Side note:  it turns out his wife wasn't dead at all.  She was picking coconuts from a palm tree on the island when she accidentally fell and knocked herself out on a rock.  She came to a few days later, walked to the other side of the Island and found a Timeshare resort owned by Westgate.  And guess what?... while soaking in the resort jacuzzi she bumped into none other than her old flame, Scott Butala!  He expressed his undying love for her and after spending an amazing week together they left it with, "another time... another place... another life, maybe?".   By the time she  back home to Chicago, her husband had already offed himself in the middle of the street.   Wouldn't you know it?... apparently roasted albatross and fire-cooked albatross tastes extremely different.  Not to mention the lemon-herb sauce that Cafe Juanita glazed over the bird prior to cooking it.   You might consider this a depressing story, but a few weeks later the wife found out her husband was actually cheating on her with a circus clown and had 3 gigs of child ****ography on his laptop.  Good riddance... that guy got what he deserved.  The wife is now married to Scott Butala.

Final Sidenote:  Following the albatross brainteaser events and the media circus that followed, the feds spearheaded a thorough investigation into this seemingly bizarre and fascinating story.  Several holes in the wife's explanation were openly questioned... such as why she decided to spend a week at the Timeshare resort with her old flame, Scott Butala, and never once attempted to contact her grieving husband during the week he was in Chicago believing her to be dead.  Further CSI evidence showed that the husband's body had heavy traces of perfume and also a weaponized hallucinogen derived from a rare blue flower found on that particular island.   Additional investigations uncovered that the perfume and weaponized hallucinogen had been laced into the albatross the man had originally swallowed on the Island.   When the dust had settled from this headline rattling story, the following was clear:  The wife and her secret lover, Scott Butala, had concocted this entire scheme from the start.  Convincing her husband to go on the "3 hour tour" instead of going to Reno as planned, she paid off the island-people to inject the Albatross with traces of her prefume for flavor and heavy doses of the rare hallucinogenic drug to leave the man confused, paranoid and erratic.  Using Scott's Hollywood connections (his sister married into the Elfman family), they hired a heroin-addicted female circus clown to come forward with faux allegations of infidelity and also planted several gigs of questionable material on the dead husband's computer.  The wife's plan was simple... force a suicide, cash in on an insurance policy and run away with her secret lover.  Unfortunately for her, the insurance company disputed the circumstances surrounding the suicide... and the woman and Scott are currently now facing life sentences in prison for their roles in the conspiracy.


Freakin brain teasers

[Roy Hobbs]

Well, that certainly makes logical sense.

[celticmaestro]

glad to see this thread has taken off.

after a ridiculously long day i'm in no state to read through everything, so i will do that tomorrow. looking forward to cracking some of these riddles.

[greg_kite]

Okay, here is one more.  Again, no tricks.  Just use your logic.

You are alone in a room. 

In the room there are two lengths of fuse (like the sort of thing used to light dynamite or a firecracker), a box of matches and a pair of scissors.    Each fuse is about five feet long, but not exactly.  You know that each fuse burns for exactly one hour.  But you also know that they burn unevenly (so that it could burn up four of the five feet in the first ten minutes but then take the next fifty minutes to burn the last foot, or in some other way, you don't know).  You also know that each fuse is different (so while they both burn unevenly, they both burn at different rates).  You don’t know the rate at which either fuse will burn, just that they each last exactly one hour.

The only way you can get out of the room is by measuring 45 minutes, exactly.  There are no watches, cell-phones, clocks, sundials, miniature stone henges or any other time telling devices available to you.  Just what you have, the two fuses, a box of matches and a pair of scissors (which can cut the fuses into any lengths you like).

How do you measure 45 minutes?

Okay, so maybe the rope one was too hard.  Here is a slightly easier one (and then I have to stop procrastinating!)

You are stranded on an island that is two miles long and fifty feet wide.  You hear some planes going over head and think you should set a fire on the island so they can see it and come rescue you.  This turned out to be a pretty bad idea.  The island is completely covered with old dried out trees and is quite flammable.  The fire quickly gets out of control. You are smart enough to run away from the fire.  For a while it looks like it will just burn itself out.  But just when you think you are safe, the wind picks up.  It is blowing very strongly.  The fire starts moving towards you quickly, maybe at about a foot per second.  The wind dies down and you see the fire stop moving towards you.  About a half a mile of the island is burned to a crisp.  You deduce that when there is no wind the fire does not spread, but when there is wind, the fire spreads only in the direction the wind is blowing. 

Suddenly the wind picks up again, and this time it is not stopping.  You have about a mile and a half of island that is not yet burned but if you don’t do anything, it will burn up in about two hours.  You could jump into the water, but the water is inhabited by carnivorous dingo fish that will eat you alive in seconds.  But if you just stand there and do nothing, you will be burned alive.  What do you do?

You can hope the tide is dropping and there is enough room on the beach to walk over to the side that is already burned without walking through the fire.  The fish can't get you and sand doesn't burn.  If the other side of the island is already burnt to a crisp it can't go up in flames again and you're safe.

[Roy Hobbs]

Okay, so maybe the rope one was too hard.  Here is a slightly easier one (and then I have to stop procrastinating!)

You are stranded on an island that is two miles long and fifty feet wide.  You hear some planes going over head and think you should set a fire on the island so they can see it and come rescue you.  This turned out to be a pretty bad idea.  The island is completely covered with old dried out trees and is quite flammable.  The fire quickly gets out of control. You are smart enough to run away from the fire.  For a while it looks like it will just burn itself out.  But just when you think you are safe, the wind picks up.  It is blowing very strongly.  The fire starts moving towards you quickly, maybe at about a foot per second.  The wind dies down and you see the fire stop moving towards you.  About a half a mile of the island is burned to a crisp.  You deduce that when there is no wind the fire does not spread, but when there is wind, the fire spreads only in the direction the wind is blowing. 

Suddenly the wind picks up again, and this time it is not stopping.  You have about a mile and a half of island that is not yet burned but if you don’t do anything, it will burn up in about two hours.  You could jump into the water, but the water is inhabited by carnivorous dingo fish that will eat you alive in seconds.  But if you just stand there and do nothing, you will be burned alive.  What do you do?

Hmm...  I'm not sure how practical this would be in real life, but in the scenario presented, I guess you could start a fire on the other side of you.  Let's say the original fire is moving east to west.  Start a fire to the east of where you're currently standing.  The current wind will blow that second fire east, leaving a bunch of burnt trees in its wake.  Eventually, that fire will burn down every tree on the eastern part of the island, leaving nothing for the first preexisting fire to spread to.

Of course, this presumes:

1) That you have more matches;

2) When the fire moves forward, it doesn't continue to burn in the spot where it just left, or leave the burnt area uninhabitably hot;

3) The wind doesn't suddenly change directions, leaving you running from a fire that is substantially closer to you.

Of course, I'd recommend going down near the tide line, where the fire hopefully wouldn't spread to, and digging myself a little bunker there for awhile.

[popeyejones]

Okay, here is one more.  Again, no tricks.  Just use your logic.

You are alone in a room. 

In the room there are two lengths of fuse (like the sort of thing used to light dynamite or a firecracker), a box of matches and a pair of scissors.    Each fuse is about five feet long, but not exactly.  You know that each fuse burns for exactly one hour.  But you also know that they burn unevenly (so that it could burn up four of the five feet in the first ten minutes but then take the next fifty minutes to burn the last foot, or in some other way, you don't know).  You also know that each fuse is different (so while they both burn unevenly, they both burn at different rates).  You don’t know the rate at which either fuse will burn, just that they each last exactly one hour.

The only way you can get out of the room is by measuring 45 minutes, exactly.  There are no watches, cell-phones, clocks, sundials, miniature stone henges or any other time telling devices available to you.  Just what you have, the two fuses, a box of matches and a pair of scissors (which can cut the fuses into any lengths you like).

How do you measure 45 minutes?

Ok, I think I've got this - I'm assuming you can light either end of the fuse.  Take the two fuses, and at the same time, light one end of one of them, and both ends of the other.  The fuse you lit twice should burn out in 30 minutes, while the other one will be half gone (maybe not in length, but in time).  So, it's been 30 minutes and you have 30 minutes left of one fuse.  Now light the other end of the fuse that's still burning.  The 30 minutes left on that fuse now becomes 15, and you'll have a total of 45 minutes.  Does the few seconds it would take to light everything count?

Well done!  I am told that there is answer to this one that involves calculus.  Needless to say, I prefer yours. 

[popeyejones]

Okay, so maybe the rope one was too hard.  Here is a slightly easier one (and then I have to stop procrastinating!)

You are stranded on an island that is two miles long and fifty feet wide.  You hear some planes going over head and think you should set a fire on the island so they can see it and come rescue you.  This turned out to be a pretty bad idea.  The island is completely covered with old dried out trees and is quite flammable.  The fire quickly gets out of control. You are smart enough to run away from the fire.  For a while it looks like it will just burn itself out.  But just when you think you are safe, the wind picks up.  It is blowing very strongly.  The fire starts moving towards you quickly, maybe at about a foot per second.  The wind dies down and you see the fire stop moving towards you.  About a half a mile of the island is burned to a crisp.  You deduce that when there is no wind the fire does not spread, but when there is wind, the fire spreads only in the direction the wind is blowing. 

Suddenly the wind picks up again, and this time it is not stopping.  You have about a mile and a half of island that is not yet burned but if you don’t do anything, it will burn up in about two hours.  You could jump into the water, but the water is inhabited by carnivorous dingo fish that will eat you alive in seconds.  But if you just stand there and do nothing, you will be burned alive.  What do you do?

Hmm...  I'm not sure how practical this would be in real life, but in the scenario presented, I guess you could start a fire on the other side of you.  Let's say the original fire is moving east to west.  Start a fire to the east of where you're currently standing.  The current wind will blow that second fire east, leaving a bunch of burnt trees in its wake.  Eventually, that fire will burn down every tree on the eastern part of the island, leaving nothing for the first preexisting fire to spread to.

Of course, this presumes:

1) That you have more matches;

2) When the fire moves forward, it doesn't continue to burn in the spot where it just left, or leave the burnt area uninhabitably hot;

3) The wind doesn't suddenly change directions, leaving you running from a fire that is substantially closer to you.

Of course, I'd recommend going down near the tide line, where the fire hopefully wouldn't spread to, and digging myself a little bunker there for awhile.

Roy strikes again.  The basic idea is right.  Given the speed of the fire and the length of the island, there should be plenty of time to back burn.  And, you don't even need extra matches.  The entire island is kindling so just break something off, light the end, run to the other side of the island (presuming you can run faster than a foot a second) and set a small fire near the other shore.  If the wind doesn't shift, it will burn towards the shore and you should be able to get into the burned patch before the big fire gets there.  As it won't burn twice, you should be safe.  And if the wind does shift, just run towards the big fire because it shouldn't be moving towards you any more. 

[popeyejones]

Okay, one more tonight.  And it is an easy one.

You are on a road trip going from east to west, from the home of the 2008 NBA champions, Boston, to the home of the NBA runners up, Los Angeles.  (couldn't resist).  You are somewhere North Platte Nebraska.  You look in the rearview mirror and you notice that your hair is getting pretty unruly.  You decide to get off at the next exit to get a haircut.  About 50 miles later you come to the next exit.  You find yourself in what can best be described as a one horse town.  You go to the diner, order a coffee, and ask the waitress if there is a barber in town.  She tells you that there are only two people in town who cut hair, and both barbers work right across the street from each other.  You are about to ask her which one is better, but you don't want to put her in the uncomfortable position of badmouthing one of the barbers in such a small town; after all, everyone knows everyone here.  So you finish your coffee and walk over to where the barber shops are.  You peer into the windows of each one.  One is clean, brightly lit, and the barber inside has a sharp looking haircut.  The other is dingy, dark, and the barber inside has one of he worst haircuts you've ever seen.  It is about 2:00 in the afternoon, and you want to get to Denver before nightfall so you need to decide quick.  Which barber do you go to?

[Roy Hobbs]

Okay, one more tonight.  And it is an easy one.

You are on a road trip going from east to west, from the home of the 2008 NBA champions, Boston, to the home of the NBA runners up, Los Angeles.  (couldn't resist).  You are somewhere North Platte Nebraska.  You look in the rearview mirror and you notice that your hair is getting pretty unruly.  You decide to get off at the next exit to get a haircut.  About 50 miles later you come to the next exit.  You find yourself in what can best be described as a one horse town.  You go to the diner, order a coffee, and ask the waitress if there is a barber in town.  She tells you that there are only two people in town who cut hair, and both barbers work right across the street from each other.  You are about to ask her which one is better, but you don't want to put her in the uncomfortable position of badmouthing one of the barbers in such a small town; after all, everyone knows everyone here.  So you finish your coffee and walk over to where the barber shops are.  You peer into the windows of each one.  One is clean, brightly lit, and the barber inside has a sharp looking haircut.  The other is dingy, dark, and the barber inside has one of he worst haircuts you've ever seen.  It is about 2:00 in the afternoon, and you want to get to Denver before nightfall so you need to decide quick.  Which barber do you go to?

You're right, this one *was* really easy.

You go to the guy in the dingy shop who has the terrible haircut.  If only two people in town cut hair, that means the guy who gave him the terrible haircut was the other barber.  Inversely, the guy who gave the other barber the great haircut was the guy in the dingy shop.

[kw10]

Ok, I've got one:

A man in a foreign land is arrested for a serious crime.  He is brought before a judge and sentenced to death.  The judge explains to him that the death penalty in their land is designed to not give the condemned the peace of mind of knowing when the end will come.  So, the judge explains, the execution will take place sometime during the next month.  The man will not know which day he will be executed until he is taken from his cell at noon on the day of the execution. He will be dead almost immediately after. The execution, the judge says, must be a surprise according to the law of the land.

"Wait!" says the man.  He asks to approach the bench and speaks to the judge quietly for a few minutes.  The judge thinks over what he has said and declares the death sentence to be invalid.  What did the man tell him to get him to change his mind?  

This is a logical answer, not anything like "I'm your son" or "I have your wife hostage".  Good luck!

What's the answer?? I can't get it....and doesn't seem like anyone is trying...

[Chris]

Ok, I've got one:

A man in a foreign land is arrested for a serious crime.  He is brought before a judge and sentenced to death.  The judge explains to him that the death penalty in their land is designed to not give the condemned the peace of mind of knowing when the end will come.  So, the judge explains, the execution will take place sometime during the next month.  The man will not know which day he will be executed until he is taken from his cell at noon on the day of the execution. He will be dead almost immediately after. The execution, the judge says, must be a surprise according to the law of the land.

"Wait!" says the man.  He asks to approach the bench and speaks to the judge quietly for a few minutes.  The judge thinks over what he has said and declares the death sentence to be invalid.  What did the man tell him to get him to change his mind? 

This is a logical answer, not anything like "I'm your son" or "I have your wife hostage".  Good luck!

What's the answer?? I can't get it....and doesn't seem like anyone is trying...

Well, the judge just told him that he will be taken from the cell at noon on the day he is to be executed.  That means that the prisoner will know when he is taken from the cell at noon, that he is going to be executed immediately after, which means that it will no longer be a surprise, and therefore is against the "law of the land".

[Roy Hobbs]

Ok, I've got one:

A man in a foreign land is arrested for a serious crime.  He is brought before a judge and sentenced to death.  The judge explains to him that the death penalty in their land is designed to not give the condemned the peace of mind of knowing when the end will come.  So, the judge explains, the execution will take place sometime during the next month.  The man will not know which day he will be executed until he is taken from his cell at noon on the day of the execution. He will be dead almost immediately after. The execution, the judge says, must be a surprise according to the law of the land.

"Wait!" says the man.  He asks to approach the bench and speaks to the judge quietly for a few minutes.  The judge thinks over what he has said and declares the death sentence to be invalid.  What did the man tell him to get him to change his mind? 

This is a logical answer, not anything like "I'm your son" or "I have your wife hostage".  Good luck!

What's the answer?? I can't get it....and doesn't seem like anyone is trying...

Well, the judge just told him that he will be taken from the cell at noon on the day he is to be executed.  That means that the prisoner will know when he is taken from the cell at noon, that he is going to be executed immediately after, which means that it will no longer be a surprise, and therefore is against the "law of the land".

I hope that isn't the answer.  Why wouldn't the guards just take him out of his cell *every* day at noon?  The judge didn't say he would *only* be taken out of his cell when it was time for his execution.