Riddle:
Even though the odds are always in favor of the gambling house, why does the establishment insist on a house limit on stakes?
Answer: Every casino in the world would go bankrupt without a house limit on stakes. Without it, gamblers would keep doubling their stakes until they won. No matter how bad a losing streak they were on, they would eventually win.
Riddle:
With potent, flowery words speak I, Of something common, vulgar, dry; I weave webs of pedantic prose, In effort to befuddle those, Who think I while time away, In lofty things, above all-day The common kind that lingers where Monadic beings live and fare; Practical I may not be, But life, it seems, is full of me! What am I?
Answer: A riddler. ( or riddle )
Riddle:
Upon my top there is a golden shop wherein a dollar can't be spent. Along my sides stretch nature's slides which will never relent. At my feet where people meet full of ire, dread and lament. What am I?
Answer: A mountain. On the top one can find clarity and make memories that a conventional shop can't sell. Nature's slides are rivers. At my feet or foot of the mountain is the first step and place everyone has to be to begin the climb, which will be difficult (ire, dread and lament)
Riddle:
Can you read this? Yy u r Yy u b I c u Yy 4 me
Answer: Too wise you are, too wise you be, I see you too wise for me.
Riddle:
No legs lay on one leg, Two legs sat near on three legs, Four legs got some. What is it?
Answer: Fish on a little table, man at table sitting on a stool, the cat has the bones.
Riddle:
You have 52 playing cards, 26 red, and 26 black. You draw cards one by one. A red card pays you a dollar. A black one fines you a dollar. You can stop any time you want. Cards are not returned to the deck after being drawn. What is the optimal stopping rule in terms of maximizing your expected payoff? Also, what is the expected payoff following this optimal rule?
Answer: The solution to this problem is, in my opinion the most difficult to understand of all the puzzles. Indeed I was unable to solve it and didn't receive a complete solution until two years after originally posting it. The final solution, in the form of the spreadsheet was sent to me by Han Zheng. For this reason I have left on the page the thoughts i had before I had the final solution as they represent an easier to understand and more simplistic approach. Also the reasoning may help you arrive at the final solution by yourself or help you understand it. I would recommend reading that answer before you dive into the full answer. But an important thing to note are that as the player we can't lose this game as we can gamble till all the cards are drawn and our net position is zero. From our earlier analysis it is clear we need a dynamic quit rule. A singal value is not sufficent. We must, at each stage consider what cards are remaining, and therefor the probability of a positive or negative outcome from drawing again. For the explanation i will ask you first to consider a deck containing only 6 cards, 3 +ve & 3 -ve (note i'm no longer calling the cards black and red, it confuses me.)
Riddle:
Three American military veterans: Ron(Army), Terry(Army), and Ron(Marines) retired from their military careers and decided to go into business together. Using all of their engineering knowledge and expertise, the three veterans have revamped an idea for an old device, made many improvements to it, and are now trying to patent it under the name: The Ron - Terry - Ron device, or (R.T.R). They advertise it by saying, "The R.T.R is designed only for those who want to move forward in life, but never backward. It is guaranteed to get your heart pumping, your blood pressure rising, and your armpits sweating"(classy advertising by these veterans). The advertising continues: "The R.T.R. is for the person who tries to move ahead, but always ends up exactly where they started." The only problem with the R.T.R device is, to use one, you will have to ignore the Gadsden flag(i.e., the one with the coiled rattlesnake pictured on it) and its famous motto. Forrest Gump would be very proud of these veterans. Just exactly what is the Ron - Terry - Ron (R.T.R.) device, and why must the Gadsden flag motto be ignored by its users?
Answer: The three veterans have made some innovative improvements to a basic Treadmill design, and are trying to patent these improvements in the hope of selling their newly created device. Of course, these veterans realize that anyone who uses their new product will be violating the early Continental Marine message and motto of the famous Gadsden flag which states, "Don't Tread on Me". Just as Forrest Gump was encouraged to "Run - Forrest - Run", we wish success to these three veterans with the words, "Ron - Terry - Ron".
Riddle:
Completely round, they are very white. After a full meal and a refreshing bath, they lie down together. What are they?
Answer: A stack of white ceramic bowls.
Riddle:
A man runs along a hall with a piece of paper. When the lights flicker, he drops to his knees and begins to cry. Why?
Answer: He is running to deliver a pardon, and the flickering lights indicate the convict to be pardoned has just been electrocuted.
Riddle:
King Tut died 120 years after King Eros was born. Their combined age when they died was 100 years. King Eros died in the year 40 B.C. In what year was King Tut born?
Answer: King Tut was born in 20 B.C. There were 120 years between the birth of King Eros and the death of King Tut, but since their ages amounted to only 100 years, there must have been 20 years when neither existed. This would be a period between the death of King Eros, 40 B.C., and the birth of King Tut, 20 B.C.
Riddle:
A man crosses a desert in 10 days with no water. How?
Answer: He's a camel named Abdul.
The unexpected twist (a camel, not a man) mirrors the surprise element of April Fools' pranks.
Riddle:
In the land of forgotten past, where logic falters and chaos lasts, I whisper quietly through the veil, a cryptic message, delicate and frail. First, you'll seek the titan's home, where footsteps dwindle in silver foam. A cosmic dance of two in sync, their secret lies within the brink. Second, venture to the ancient tale, where elements meet and logic fails. The fifth in line, a metal's pride, with water's touch, it must divide. Third, within the sequence known, a pattern's end, infinitely grown. The first to break, the last to stay, it marches on, in ordered sway. Combine these three, a code is made; the answer hidden, a secret shade. Now, solve the riddle, if you dare, and seek the answer, hidden where?
Answer: "A cosmic dance of two in sync" refers to Janus and Epimetheus, two moons of Saturn that share the same orbital path and swap positions, in what is sometimes referred to as a "cosmic dance." The fifth in line, a metal's pride, with water's touch, it must divide: The fifth element in the periodic table is Boron (B). It's a metalloid, so it shares properties with both metals and non-metals. Boron will react with water at high temperatures, dividing or breaking apart. The second clue points to Boron. The first to break, the last to stay, it marches on, in ordered sway: In the Fibonacci sequence, the first number to "break" the pattern is 4 because it doesn't fit the pattern of summing the two preceding numbers. This may be the third clue's answer. Combining these three answers, we get: Janus and Epimetheus, Boron, and 4. While this combination doesn't lead to a specific location or concept, we can interpret the riddle's last line: Combine these three, a code is made; the answer hidden, a secret shade. The riddle itself is the answer, a secret hidden in the veil of its cryptic language. The joy of the riddle lies in solving the clues and piecing together the puzzle. In this case, the destination is the journey itself.
Riddle:
Ripped from my mother's womb, beaten and burned, I become a blood-thirsty slayer. What am I?
Answer: Iron ore.
Riddle:
Jordan is leaving from a small town in Wyoming and hiking through the wilderness to a post where he will spend the summer. The hike will take Jordan six days. One man can only carry enough food and water for four days. Jordan cannot take a mule or any other animal to haul his food and water, because there will be insufficient food and supplies for the animals at his destination.
How can Jordan make it to his destination?
Answer: Jordan takes two other hikers with him. Each hiker starts out with a four day supply of food and water. After the first day, the first hiker gives a one day supply to each Jordan and the second hiker. This leaves the first hiker with a one day supply to go home and Jordan and the second hiker now each have a four day supply again. After the second day, the second hiker gives Jordan a one day supply and keep a two day supply for himself so that he can get home. This gives Jordan a four day supply of food and water, and now he has enough to reach his destination.
Riddle:
What is special about the number 854,917,632?
Answer: It contains the numbers 1-9 in alphabetical order.
Riddle:
Gaze at this sentence for just about sixty seconds and then explain what makes it quite different from the average sentence. Quick!
What is it?
Answer: It contains all of the letters in the alphabet.
Riddle:
I am not found on any ground,But always in the air; Though charged each cloud with thunder loud, You can not find me there. Now, if from France you choose to dance Your way just into Spain, I there am seen, and near the queen, In hail, in mist, and rain.
What am I?
Answer: The letter I.
Riddle:
There is a certain club which is for men only. There are 600 men who belong to this club and 5% of these men wear one earring. Of the other 95% membership, half wear two earrings and the other half wear none. How many earrings are being worn in this club?
Answer: Six hundred. We know that 5%, or 30 of the men are wearing one earring. Of the other 95%, or 570, we know that half are wearing two earrings and the other half none. This is the same as if they all wore one.
Riddle:
Eight years ago, Bill was eight times the age of his son Bill Jr. Today, if you add their ages together, they add up to 52. How old are Bill and his son?
Answer: Bill is 40, and Bill Jr. is 12.
Riddle:
There are two numbers whose product added to the sum of their squares is 109, and the difference of whose squares is 24. What are the two numbers?
Answer: 5 and 7.
(5)² = 25(7)² = 49(5x7)+25+49=10949-25=24
