To Challenge Students
Winning Ways: Greg and Tim go to their local tennis club and play three tennis matches. Both win and lose an equal number of matches. How is this possible, given that you cannot have a draw in a tennis match? (3 points). Answer: They were playing against their girlfriends, not against each other.
Triple Trick: How many times does the digit 3 appear between 1 and 50? (3 points). Bonus Question: How many times can you subtract 3 from 39? Answer: 15 times - 3, 13, 23, 30, 31, 32, 33(two 3's), 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 43. Bonus Answer: Once. After that you're subtracting 3 from 36 and so on.
Spare Part: At a DIY evening class the instructor passes around a box in which there are ten screwdrivers, one for each person present, including himself. Everybody takes a screwdriver, yet there is still one left in the box. Explain. Answer: The instructor is the last person to pick a screwdriver and he leaves it in the box and picks up the box.
Legal Loophole: A French-owned jet carrying forty British tourists home form Sicily crash-landed on the border between Northern Italy, France and Switzerland. Legally speaking, where should any survivors have been buried? (1 point)
Time Warp: Henry goes cross-country running every Saturday morning after he has had a shower, shaved and had breakfast. He always follows exactly the same route, which takes him 85 minutes from start to finish. One Saturday morning, feeling extremely tired, he forgets to shave but goes out for his run along the usual route. This time it takes him an hour and twenty-five minutes. Why is this? (2 points)
True or False?: Which statement is true out of the following? "One statement here is false", "Two statements here are false", "Three statements here are false". (3 points)
Football Crazy: You are refereeing a football match between two teams, the Red City Rovers and the Blue City Wanderers. Four of the 22 players on the pitch are called Kevin, one in the red team and three in the blue team. Three of the players are called Dick, two in the blue team and one in the red team, and both goalkeepers are called John. What is the referee's name?
Missing Link: Three brothers called Trevor, Andrew and Robert are sitting in a room. In walks little Oliver, Andrew's nephew. Oliver is neither Trevor's nor Robert's nephew. Explain.
Feeding Frenzy: Is it more correct to say "The herd of sheep is eating hay in the field" or "The herd of sheep are eating hay in the field"?
Adding Up: How many binary numbers make a dozen?
Poor Visibility: On the day that President Nixon took office he held his first meeting in a south-facing room at the White House. It was daylight and it wasn't rainy nor was it foggy, yet when he looked out the window, he couldn't see the top of the Empire State Building. Why not?
Woman in a Restaurant: A woman walked into a restaurant and asked the owner for a glass of water. The owner pulled out a gun and aimed it at the woman. The woman was very pleased. She thanked the owner and walked out. What happened here?
Bob, Carol, Ted and Alice: Bob, Carol, Ted and Alice all lived together in an apartment. One night Bob and Carol went out to a movie. When they got home, they found Alice dead on the floor in a pool of water with broken glass all around her. Ted was asleep on the couch. What happened?
Surgeon's Son: A father and son are in a car accident. The father is unconscious. The son is rushed to the hospital for emergency surgery. The surgeon takes one look at the boy and exclaims: "I can't operate on this child, he's my son!" What's happening here?
East or West: Amy is sitting in her car. She starts it up and drives west in a straight line for 50 metres. When she stops the car she is facing east. How can this be?
Uplifting Tale: I live on the 15th floor of an apartment building. My friend, Emily, comes to visit me every Saturday. Last year she would always ride the elevator to the 7th floor and walk up the rest of the way. This year she rides the elevator to the 9th floor and then walks the rest of the way. Why does she do this? (Additional clue: On rainy days she rides the elevator all the way up to the 15th floor)
