1) A traveller arrives in a small town and decides to get a haircut. There are only two barbershops in town — one on East Street and one on West Street. The East Street barbershop is a mess, and the barber has the worst haircut the traveller has ever seen. The West Street barbershop is neat and clean, its barber’s hair looks as good as a movie star’s. Which barbershop does the traveller go to for his haircut, and why?
2) Guess the next three letters in the series. GTNTL ...
3) A boy is walking down the road with a doctor. While the boy is the doctor's son, the doctor isn't the boy's father. Then who is the doctor?
4) I am the beginning of sorrow and the end of sickness. You cannot express happiness without me yet I am in the midst of crosses. I am always in risk yet never in danger. You may find me in the sun but I am never out of darkness.
5) What has a mouth but cannot eat, moves but has no legs and has a bank but cannot put money in it?
6) You’re stranded in a deserted place when you discover an old cabin. It’s freezing outside and you only have one match, a candle, a newspaper, and some hay and twigs. What do you light first?
7) The number 8,549,176,320 is a unique number. Can you tell me what is so special about it?
8) A man is headed to a mountain along with a lion, a goat and a basket of vegetables. On the way, he needs to cross a river and the boat can only carry two things at a time. If he takes the vegetables, the lion will eat the goat. If he takes the lion, the goat will eat the vegetables. How does he cross the river?
Solution:
1) The traveller goes to have his hair cut at the barbershop on East Street. He figures that since there are only two barbershops in town the East Street barber must have his hair cut by the West Street barber and vice versa. So if the traveller wants to look as good as the West Street barber (the one with the good haircut), he’d better go to the man who cuts the West Street barber’s hair — the East Street barber. Also, the reason the West Street barbershop is so clean and neat is that it seldom gets customers.
2) I, T, S — the first letter of every word in the sentence.
3) The doctor is the boy’s mother.
4) The letter S
5) River
6) The matchstick of course!
7) This is the only number which includes all the digits arranged in alphabetical order.
8) Trip I: He takes the goat with him, leaving the lion and the vegetables behind. On reaching the other river bank, he drops off the goat.
Trip II: He then comes back for the lion, leaving the vegetables behind. On reaching the bank this time, he drops the lion and again takes the goat along.
Trip III: He drops off the goat again and takes the vegetables with him to the other shore.
Trip IV: Lastly, he comes back alone for the goat.
