Each week on this page, you will find a question to get you thinking…

There is not always a right or wrong answer, but it should prompt some interesting discussion!

THIS WEEK’S QUESTION:

Thinking Problems shall return after the summer break!

PAST PROBLEMS:

There are two lengths of rope.
Each one will burn in exactly one hour.
They are not the same length or width as each other.
They also are not of uniform width (which means they may be wider in some parts than others), so burning half of the rope is not necessarily 1/2 hour!

By burning the ropes, how do you measure exactly 45 minutes worth of time?  The answer (highlight with your cursor to see): If you light both ends of one rope, it will burn in exactly a 1/2 hour. Thus, burn one rope from both ends and the other rope from only one end. Once the one rope (which is burning from both ends) finally burns out (and you know a 1/2 hour has elapsed), you also know that the other rope (which is buring from only one end) has exactly 1/2 hour left to burn. Since you only want 45 minutes, light the second end of the rope. This remaining piece will burn in 15 minutes. Thus, totaling 45 minutes.

What would you do if you were Prime Minister for a day?

 What gets wetter the more it dries? The answer (highlight with your cursor to see): A towel!

An Easter theme! Make an A-Z of CHOCOLATE BARS! Aero and Bounty might be a good place to start.  

Molly’s mum has four children. She called the first child April. The second, she named May. The third child is called June. What’s the name of her fourth child?

The answer (highlight with your cursor to see): Molly! (think about it…)

Three switches outside a windowless room are connected to three light bulbs inside the room. How can you determine which switch is connected to which bulb if you may enter the room only once?

The answer (highlight with your cursor to see): Switch on one light for five minutes. Switch it off and turn on another. Go into the room. The light that’s on obviously the one that you just switched on. The warmer of the other two lights is the one that was switched on for five minutes, and the cold light is the one you did not switch on at all!

A woman had two sons who were born in the same hour, on the same day, on the same year – yet they were not twins. How can this be?

The answer (highlight with your cursor to see): They were two of three brothers born at the same time – in other words, they were triplets!

A man rode into town on Friday. He stayed there for three nights, then left on Friday. How can this be? 

The answer (highlight with your cursor to see): His horse was called Friday!

A police officer clearly saw a truck driver going the wrong way down a one-way street, but did not try to stop him. Why?

The answer (highlight with your cursor to see): the truck driver wasn’t in his truck, he was walking on the pavement.

How can I fall out of a 50 storey building and still live to tell the tale?

The answer (highlight with your cursor to see): I fell from the ground floor window – I did not say I was at the top of the building when I fell!

There are six eggs in a basket. Six people each take one of the eggs. How can it be that one egg is left in the basket?

The answer (highlight with your cursor to see): The last person takes the basket with the egg still inside!

Five pieces of coal, a carrot and a scarf are lying on a hill near a remote house. Nobody put them on the lawn but there is a perfectly logical reason why they should be there. What is it?

The answer  (highlight with your cursor to see): a snowman has melted!

Can you make an A-Z list of Christmas words?

Here are a few to get you started:

A is for Angel

B is for Baubel

C is for Carols…