Head Scratchers 9

[Bumper]

1. What is it that when you take away the whole, you still have some left over?

2. Farmer Brown came to town with some watermelons. He sold half of them plus half a melon, and found that he had one whole melon left. How many melons did he take to town?

3. Name one eight letter word that has kst in the middle, in the beginning, and at the end.

4. A logician with some time to kill in a small town decided to get a haircut. The town had only two barbers, each with his own shop. The logician glanced into one shop and saw that it was extremely untidy. The barber needed a shave, his clothes were unkempt, his hair was badly cut. The other shop was extremely neat. The barber was freshly shaved and spotlessly dressed, his hair neatly trimmed. Why did the logician return to the first shop for his haircut?

5. How many bricks does it take to complete a building made of brick?

6. What hath but two feet, three hands, and three eyes?

7. A professional fisherman caught 30 fish during a 5-day tournament. Each day, he caught three more fish than the day before. How many fish did the fisherman catch on the first day?

8. How could a cowboy ride into town on Friday, stay two days, and ride out on Friday?

9. In a stable there are men and horses. In all, there are 22 heads and 72 feet. How many men and how many horses are in the stable?

10. A king decided to let a prisoner try to escape the prison with his life. The king placed 2 marbles in a jar. One of the marbles was supposed to be black, and one was supposed to be white. If the prisoner could pick the white marble, he would be given his freedom. If he picked the black marble, he would be executed. However, the king was an evil man, and he wickedly placed 2 black marbles in the jars and no white marbles. The prisoner witnessed the king only putting 2 black marbles in the jar. If the jar was not see-through, and the prisoner was mute, so he could not say anything, how did he escape with his life?

[SunKneeMarie]

1. What is it that when you take away the whole, you still have some left over?

2. Farmer Brown came to town with some watermelons. He sold half of them plus half a melon, and found that he had one whole melon left. How many melons did he take to town?

3. Name one eight letter word that has kst in the middle, in the beginning, and at the end.

4. A logician with some time to kill in a small town decided to get a haircut. The town had only two barbers, each with his own shop. The logician glanced into one shop and saw that it was extremely untidy. The barber needed a shave, his clothes were unkempt, his hair was badly cut. The other shop was extremely neat. The barber was freshly shaved and spotlessly dressed, his hair neatly trimmed. Why did the logician return to the first shop for his haircut? cuz the first barber must have trimmed and shaved the second barber

5. How many bricks does it take to complete a building made of brick? one

6. What hath but two feet, three hands, and three eyes?

7. A professional fisherman caught 30 fish during a 5-day tournament. Each day, he caught three more fish than the day before. How many fish did the fisherman catch on the first day? 0

8. How could a cowboy ride into town on Friday, stay two days, and ride out on Friday? the horse was named Friday

9. In a stable there are men and horses. In all, there are 22 heads and 72 feet. How many men and how many horses are in the stable? 8 men and 14 horses (and I actually used that two algebra statements thing to figure it out--Ryan's homework is paying off!)

10. A king decided to let a prisoner try to escape the prison with his life. The king placed 2 marbles in a jar. One of the marbles was supposed to be black, and one was supposed to be white. If the prisoner could pick the white marble, he would be given his freedom. If he picked the black marble, he would be executed. However, the king was an evil man, and he wickedly placed 2 black marbles in the jars and no white marbles. The prisoner witnessed the king only putting 2 black marbles in the jar. If the jar was not see-through, and the prisoner was mute, so he could not say anything, how did he escape with his life?

[MWC]

1. What is it that when you take away the whole, you still have some left over?
The word “wholesome”
2. Farmer Brown came to town with some watermelons. He sold half of them plus half a melon, and found that he had one whole melon left. How many melons did he take to town?
I have semantics difficultly with this. If “watermelon” and “melon” are to be considered synonymous, the answer is: Two and a half.
If “melon” is to be considered different from “watermelon”, the answer is: a half.
3. Name one eight letter word that has kst in the middle, in the beginning, and at the end.
Inkstand (In – kst – and)
6. What hath but two feet, three hands, and three eyes?
(POLITICAL) Two survivors of an IED in Iraq.
10. A king decided to let a prisoner try to escape the prison with his life. The king placed 2 marbles in a jar. One of the marbles was supposed to be black, and one was supposed to be white. If the prisoner could pick the white marble, he would be given his freedom. If he picked the black marble, he would be executed. However, the king was an evil man, and he wickedly placed 2 black marbles in the jars and no white marbles. The prisoner witnessed the king only putting 2 black marbles in the jar. If the jar was not see-through, and the prisoner was mute, so he could not say anything, how did he escape with his life?
The prisoner who witnessed the king putting the marbles in the jar was NOT the prisoner who would be choosing the marble.

[Bumper]

Originally Posted by MWC

1.
2. Farmer Brown came to town with some watermelons. He sold half of them plus half a melon, and found that he had one whole melon left. How many melons did he take to town?
I have semantics difficultly with this. If “watermelon” and “melon” are to be considered synonymous, the answer is: Two and a half.
If “melon” is to be considered different from “watermelon”, the answer is: a half.

Nope, no trick words. A watermelon is a melon.

[Bumper]

The Official Answers

1. Wholesome

2. Three melons

3. "Inkstand". "in" is at the beginning, "kst" is in the middle, and "and" is at the end.

4. Each barber must have cut the other's hair. The logician picked the barber who had given his rival the better haircut.

5. Only one, the last one!

6. Two pirates. (I'm guessin' the answer is based on the guys having peg legs, and one with an eye patch, and one with a hook. Kinda' obscure, I'll grant you.)

7. He didn't catch any fish the first day, but he caught 3 on the second day, 6 on the third day, 9 on the fourth day and 12 on the fifth day.

8. His horse is named Friday.

9. 14 horses and 8 men. 14 x 4 = 56 + 8 x 2 = 16 = a total of 72 feet.

10. The prisoner grabbed one of the marbles from the jar and swallowed it, and picked up the other marble and showed everyone. The marble was black, and since the other marble was swallowed, it was assumed to be the white one. So the evil king had to set him free.

[Jesus]

Originally Posted by Bumper

The Official Answers
10. The prisoner grabbed one of the marbles from the jar and swallowed it, and picked up the other marble and showed everyone. The marble was black, and since the other marble was swallowed, it was assumed to be the white one. So the evil king had to set him free.

An easier one: he showed all the people that both were black, thus showing that the king was not fair.

[Bumper]

Originally Posted by Jesus

An easier one: he showed all the people that both were black, thus showing that the king was not fair.

True, but that still wouldn't necessarily have gottn him off the hook. There is no indication in the question that there were any people there to witness the exercise, and besides, the king could do anything he wanted to. When you're the king, you can be as arbitrary as you like. At least, if I was a king, I suspect I would do pretty much as I pleased, or whats the point of being king? Of course, that raises the issue of why he started the whole thing in the first place, unless it was just a slow day in the king business and he was looking for entertainment.