Well, we made it through another (dramatic) year - and Christmas is very much upon us!
I hope you're having a wonderful time getting into the festive spirit and that you're looking forward to spending time with friends and family.
In my house, Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without cheesy games and silly brainteasers, so I've pulled together 18 of my favourites for you this week!
Enjoy and Merry Christmas.
1. Apples and pears.
This little corker was actually used by Epic Systems as an interview question…
“An apple costs 40 cents, a banana costs 60 cents and a grapefruit costs 80 cents. How much does a pear cost?”
Click here to read the answer!
2. The fox, the hen and the farmer.
You may recognise this one! (It’s a favourite amongst interviewers and teachers).
“A farmer needs to cross the river with his chicken, a sack of corn and a fox. His boat unfortunately can only fit himself and one other thing. The fox and chicken are hungry, so if he leaves the fox with the chicken, the chicken will get eaten, whilst if he leaves the chicken with the corn, the corn will get eaten. How will the man get safely across with all 3?”
Reckon you know it? Click here to check out the answer.
3. Tracy’s mom.
Reckon you've got good common sense?
“Tracy’s mother had 4 children. The first child was named April, the second was named May, the third June. What was the 4th child called?”
Did you notice the little trick? Click here if not.
4. A Christmas gift.
This one’s a little bit more mathematical!
“As a Christmas gift, parents buy 16 computer games for their 3 children (that’s just asking for trouble)! The youngest gets 1/8 of the games, the middle child gets 1/4 of the games and the oldest gets 1/2 of the games (seems fair…)” How many games does each child receive and how many do the parents keep?”
Courtesy of Julie Turnbull.
Click here to find out the answer!
5. Christmas dinner.
This one’s easy peasy (once you know the answer)!
“Two mums and 2 daughters went out for Christmas dinner each ate one portion, yet only three portions were eaten in total. How is this possible?”
Click here to reveal the answer!
6. The alphabet puzzle.
I pinched this one from Mensa!
Which of these letters is the odd one out? “A F H K L N Y Z”
Are you a clever clogs? Click here to find out.
7. Word games.
(Apart from the fact that it’s pretty much nonsense…)
What is interesting about this phrase..? “A Santa spit taboo bat tips at NASA.”
Cracked it? Click here to check your answer.
8. The elves.
Another mathematical one…
If it takes 5 elves 5 minutes to make 5 dolls, how long would it take 100 elves to make 100 dolls?
Hint: they’re pretty quick workers! Click here to find out.
9. Mulled wine.
You may just recognise this one… (I’ve added a slightly Christmassy touch).
“You have a 3-Litre jug a 5-Litre jug, and an unlimited supply of mulled wine. How do you get exactly 4 Litres of mulled wine without estimating?”
Worked it out? Click here to make sure.
10. The petri dish puzzle.
Imagine actually getting asked this in an interview..?
“A scientist puts bacteria in a petri dish at exactly noon. Every minute the bacteria divides into two and doubles in size. At exactly 1 PM the petri dish is full. At what time was the dish half full?” T3 Trading
Could you work it out under all that pressure? Click here to check your answer.
11. The windowless room.
You may need a piece of paper to work this one out.
“A windowless room has 3 light bulbs. You’re outside the room with 3 switches, each controlling one of the light bulbs. If you can only enter the room one time, how can you determine which switch controls which light bulb?” IBankingFAQ
Click here to reveal the answer!
12. What a yolk!
You’re going to have to think outside the box for this one…
“There are three boxes of eggs. In each box there is either a set of big eggs, small eggs or big and small eggs mixed. The boxes are labelled (shock) LARGE, SMALL and MIXED but each box is labelled incorrectly. What is the least number of boxes you can open to know which eggs are in which box and why?”
Eggcellent. (I’ll stop now). Click here to reveal the answer.
13. Seeing things.
Easy peasy, lemon squeezey… (honestly).
“You walk across a bridge and you see a boat full of people, yet there isn’t a single person on board. How is that possible?” Management Consulting Prep
Click here to find out.
14. A tick question.
This one’s a bit ticky… (OK I’ll stop…)
“If you look at a clock and the time is 3:15, what is the angle between the hour and the minute hands?”
Click here to reveal the answer.
15. Cabin fever.
Ok, this one’s (really) not very Christmassy…
“There’s a cabin in the woods and within it, two men lay dead. The cabin did not burn, but the wood around the cabin did. How did the men die?” Street of Walls
If you actually want to know the answer (it’s a bit morbid)… click here.
16. Word-Play.
As a bit of a word-geek, I love this one…
“What is unusual about the following words: revive, banana, grammar, voodoo, assess, potato, dresser, uneven?”
Check it out – HERE.
17. Alive without breath…
You may just recognise this one…
“Alive without breath, As cold as death; Never thirsty, ever drinking, All in mail never clinking.”
OK – so I nicked this one from the Hobbit! But it’s good isn’t it?
Not a Tolkien fan? Click here to find out the answer!
18. Liar, liar.
“During lunch, 5 of Mr. Bryant’s students visit the supermarket.
One of the five stole an apple.
When questioned…
- Jim said: it was Hank or Tom.
- Hank said: neither Eddie or I did it.
- Tom Said: you’re both lying
- Don said: no one of them is lying, the other is speaking the truth.
- Eddie said: no Don, that’s not true.
When the shop owner asked Mr. Bryant, he said that three of the boys are always truthful, but two lie all the time.
So – who stole the apple?” Management Consulting Prep.
Reckon you’ve sussed out the thief? Find out for sure – here.
Merry Christmas!
And as this is our last blog post before January – Happy New Year too!
I hope you have a wonderful time celebrating with your family and friends and of course, that you get everything you asked for from Father Christmas.
(Have you been nice this year).
See you in the New Year!
