BRAIN TEASERS

12 years ago

The answer seems fairly easy...you take chicken over 1st - then go back, get the grain and take it over, and take the chicken back with you. Take the fox over, then go back and get the chicken...

But my question is...what is the guy doing carrying around a fox and a chicken in the 1st place? That could get dicey...:rolleyes:

Put em' in cages for cryin' out loud!
I mean, if they are loose...what prevents them from running away in the first place?

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highhopes

12 years ago

Originally Posted by MoneyMagnetMagnate

The answer seems fairly easy...you take chicken over 1st - then go back, get the grain and take it over, and take the chicken back with you. Take the fox over, then go back and get the chicken...

But my question is...what is the guy doing carrying around a fox and a chicken in the 1st place? That could get dicey...:rolleyes:

Put em' in cages for cryin' out loud!
I mean, if they are loose...what prevents them from running away in the first place?

It would be a far simplar answer LOL cages! if only I thought of that...well done.

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highhopes

12 years ago

another teaser;

You have 12 black socks and 12 white socks mixed up in a drawer. You're up very early and it's too dark to tell them apart. What's the smallest number of socks you need to take out (blindly) to be sure of having a matching pair?

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Snake Oil

11 years ago

Three socks

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Alexa Smith Banned 11 years ago

Originally Posted by Snake Oil

Three socks

Seems like a pretty good answer, to me.

To try to encourage Arabella's possible professional career in tennis, her older brother offers her a special prize if she can win two consecutive sets out of a three-set series played alternately against himself and her coach. She can play either c/b/c (coach, then brother, then coach again) or b/c/b (brother, then coach, then brother again), whichever she prefers. The coach is definitely a much better player than Arabella's brother. To give herself the best chance, which series ("c/b/c" or "b/c/b") should she choose, and why?
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Brian John

11 years ago

Originally Posted by highhopes

You have 12 black socks and 12 white socks mixed up in a drawer. You're up very early and it's too dark to tell them apart. What's the smallest number of socks you need to take out (blindly) to be sure of having a matching pair?

Originally Posted by Snake Oil

Three socks

taking out 3 socks certainly puts the odds in your favor that 2 will match, but to be sure of having a matching pair you would need to take out 13, because conceivably (albeit very unlikely) the first 12 could all be of the same color.

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HeySal

11 years ago

Originally Posted by Brian John

taking out 3 socks certainly puts the odds in your favor that 2 will match, but to be sure of having a matching pair you would need to take out 13, because conceivably (albeit very unlikely) the first 12 could all be of the same color.

Um...did you really just say that? 12 of the same color socks = 6 pairs. Get off the computer...go outside and get some fresh air. LMAO.

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Sal
When the Roads and Paths end, learn to guide yourself through the wilderness
Beyond the Path

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Alexa Smith Banned 11 years ago

Originally Posted by Brian John

conceivably (albeit very unlikely) the first 12 could all be of the same color.

Matching pairs are the same color, Brian.

The first two you take out are either a matching pair (both black or both white), or they're not (one of each): if it's the latter, the third one must match one of them, giving you your matching pair.

Your answer of 13, I think, is for a "non-matching pair"?

Oops, sorry, posted at the same time as Sal, above.
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- Brian John 11 years ago
  
  Originally Posted by HeySal
  
  Um...did you really just say that? 12 of the same color socks = 6 pairs. Get off the computer...go outside and get some fresh air. LMAO.
  
  had just reread it and was about to delete before seeing your post, can't believe i wrote that lol
  
  from now on i'm only gonna do 4 things at once, not 5. that was awful
  
  Originally Posted by Alexa Smith
  
  Your answer of 13, I think, is for a "non-matching pair"?
  
  that's exactly what i was thinking, but it did clearly state "matching pair" so i have no excuse lol
  
  Thanks
  
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HeySal

11 years ago

Originally Posted by MoneyMagnetMagnate

The answer seems fairly easy...you take chicken over 1st - then go back, get the grain and take it over, and take the chicken back with you. Take the fox over, then go back and get the chicken...

But my question is...what is the guy doing carrying around a fox and a chicken in the 1st place? That could get dicey...:rolleyes:

Put em' in cages for cryin' out loud!
I mean, if they are loose...what prevents them from running away in the first place?

I was wondering why the guy doesn't just doesn't drive to a bridge. I'm sure he's not just dragging a boat behind him on foot. That would be silly.

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Sal
When the Roads and Paths end, learn to guide yourself through the wilderness
Beyond the Path

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MoneyMagnetMagnate

12 years ago

Doesn't matter if you wear boots...:rolleyes:

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highhopes 12 years ago

Originally Posted by MoneyMagnetMagnate

Doesn't matter if you wear boots...:rolleyes:

Oh it does not matter boots, shoes or slippers LOL
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travlinguy

11 years ago

Logistical stuff make my head swim but I'll give it a try anyway.

"b/c/b"

But I don't know why.

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Alexa Smith Banned 11 years ago

Originally Posted by travlinguy

"b/c/b"

Ah.

Funny you should say that: it's a little bit of a "trick question" (or at least a tricky question) because contrary to appearances, that's actually the second-best answer. "c/b/c" is better.

This is why: she can't win two consecutive sets without winning the middle set. So it's really about whether the importance of winning the middle set outweighs the disadvantage of (possibly) having to play the coach twice rather than the brother twice.

If you look at an "extreme example" (which is equally valid in all situations in which - as specified - the coach is a better player than the brother, regardless of "by how much") and say that she actually beats the brother 99.9% of the time because he can't really play the game too well at all and he can win only if she wears my shoes, but she has only a 50/50 chance (let's say) against the teacher, then it's clear that her overall chances in the sequence b/c/b are going to be about 50%, because they're hardly any different from her "chances against the coach in one set" (which happens to be the middle set). But if instead she plays the sequence c/b/c, then assuming only that she wins the middle set with her 99.9% chance of doing so, then all she has to do is beat the teacher on either of two sets against him. And her chances of beating him on either of two sets are clearly better than her chances against him in just one set.

So it's right for her to play the brother in the middle set. And it's always right for her to do that, as long as the coach is the better player - and c/b/c is therefore her better choice.
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Snake Oil

11 years ago

Neither do I..

Speaking of Tennis

The US Open Tennis Championships in Flushing Meadows is one of the premier sporting events in the world.
Four couples play a "mixed double" tennis tournament.
A man and a woman always plays against a man and a woman.
No person ever plays with or against any other person more than once.
The participants are :
Roger Federer, Andy Murray, Rafael Nadal, Fernando Verdasco
Venus Williams, Kim Clijsters, Caroline Wozniacki, Jelena Jankovic
Question :
Can you show how they all can play together in the two courts on three successive days?

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HeySal

11 years ago

LOL - Alexa's awake today but hits the post button about 5 seconds late.

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Sal
When the Roads and Paths end, learn to guide yourself through the wilderness
Beyond the Path

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HeySal

11 years ago

Welcome to the OT, Brian. In the words of one of my favorite bosses of all times:

"Sometimes thangs jest be's like dat."

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Sal
When the Roads and Paths end, learn to guide yourself through the wilderness
Beyond the Path

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art72

11 years ago

Originally Posted by highhopes

You have a fox, a chicken and a sack of grain. You must cross a river with only one of them at a time. If you leave the fox with the chicken he will eat it; if you leave the chicken with the grain he will eat it. How can you get all three across safely?

how is it done?

Simple... feed the grain to the chicken, the chicken to the fox, and then carry the fox across the river.

Nobody said they had to be ALIVE right?
(Ah, I guess safely would indicate ALIVE, doh!)

Art