Category Archives: Cool Problems

This is a most unusual paragraph. How quickly can you find out what is so unusual about it? It looks so ordinary that you would think that nothing is wrong with it at all, and, in fact, nothing is. But … Continue reading →

On the right, you see a silver and a golden pot. One of these pots contains a treasure and the other one is empty. Assume that you can determine from the text prints which pot contains the treasure. The text … Continue reading →

The poor have it, the rich want it, but if you eat it you will die. What is this?

In front of you are 10 bags, filled with marbles. The number of marbles in each bag differs, but all bags contain ten marbles or more. Nine of the ten bags only contain marbles of 10 grams each. One bag … Continue reading →

A long, long time ago, two Egyptian camel drivers were fighting for the hand of the daughter of the sheik of Abbudzjabbu. The sheik, who liked neither of these men to become the future husband of his daughter, came up … Continue reading →

General Gasslefield, accused of high treason, is sentenced to death by the court-martial. He is allowed to make a final statement, after which he will be shot if the statement is false or will be hung if the statement is … Continue reading →

Four men want to cross a bridge. They all begin on the same side. It is night, and they have only one flashlight with them. At most two men can cross the bridge at a time, and any party who … Continue reading →

A pirate ship captures a treasure of 1000 golden coins. The treasure has to be split among the 5 pirates: 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 in order of rank. The pirates have the following important characteristics: * Infinitely smart. … Continue reading →

In a distant, dark forest, lives a population of 400 highly intelligent dwarfs. The dwarfs all look exactly alike, but only differ in the fact that they are wearing either a red or a blue hat. There are 250 dwarfs … Continue reading →

In a small village in the middle of nowhere, three innocent prisoners are sitting in a jail. One day, the cruel jailer takes them out and places them in a line on three chairs, in such a way that man … Continue reading →

Three men decided to split the cost of a hotel room. The hotel manager gave them a price of $30. The men split the bill evenly, each paying $10, and went to their room. However, the hotel manager realized that … Continue reading →

You have two ropes that each burn for 1 hour end to end, but at varying rates. You have a lighter. You cannot cut the ropes (and doing so wouldn’t help, since they burn at unknown rates and you only … Continue reading →

You have 8 bricks, but one of them is lighter than the rest.

You have a balance you can only use twice.

How do you find the lighter brick? Continue reading →

There are 3 doors. There is a prize behind one door. You pick one at random. Then, a single wrong door is eliminated. Should you switch your answer to the other door?