Riddle ;-)

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noelte
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Riddle ;-)

#1 Post by noelte »

In a house at the loft are three lamps. Downstairs at the cellar are three switches. Each switch turns one of the lamps on/off. All lamps are off at start. You are at the cellar and are allowed to go to the loft one time.

Which switch turns which lamp on/off?


- you can't see the lamps from the cellar.
- you have no tools
- there is noone else around


Have fun! ;-)

Odi
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#2 Post by Odi »

uh, that one is easy :P Just switch one switch on for... say, 5 minutes, then switch it off, switch another one on and get the hell up. Now we've one lamp shining, correct? Now touch the 2 lamps that are off - the one that is hot was can be switched one by the first switch we used. The shining one can be switched with the second one and the third one by the switch that is left..., am i right? :roll:
zaba zaba zud zud

noelte
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#3 Post by noelte »

That was clearly to easy :P

OK, try another one (i hope i remember correcly)

there's a lake. A virgin sits in a boot at the middle of the lake. a man is on the shore and wants the virgin badly ;-). The man runs twice (maybe that was three times) as quick as the virgin can run the boat. If the virgin reaches the shore she's quicker than the man. How can the virgin save herself?

Aquitaine
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#4 Post by Aquitaine »

Stay in the middle of the lake.

assuming you meant boat though:
A virgin sits in a boot
otherwise the virgin's in pretty bad shape. :)
Surprise and Terror! I am greeted by the smooth and hostile face of our old enemy, the Hootmans! No... the Huge-glands, no, I remember, the Hunams!

Sandlapper
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#5 Post by Sandlapper »

Not sure about riddle yet, but want to point out that boot is german for boat, as I recall. One very good, classic german film I recall is "Das Boot", a WWII german sub film, from about 25 years ago.

Don't have a riddle, but heard a joke today.

A pirate walks into a bar with a steering wheel stuffed in his pants. Bartender can't resist asking him "You know you have a steering wheel in your pants?" "Aaaarrgghh!" replies the pirate " it's drivin' me nuts!"

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Krikkitone
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#6 Post by Krikkitone »

As for the virgin in the lake... it depends on the shape of the lake... If the lake is a very long rectangle (10 mile long, 10 feet wide) then she just sails to the opposite shore as the man.

If it is a circular lake, she is OK as long as
1. she sails to the opposite side as the man
2. the man can't run pi times as fast as she rows.

If the lake is some bizarre shape (like all real lakes are) then it depends

noelte
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#7 Post by noelte »

Krikkitone wrote:If it is a circular lake, she is OK as long as
1. she sails to the opposite side as the man
2. the man can't run pi times as fast as she rows.
The lake is circular.

If she goes straight to the shore, he get's her! Or did you mean something else? :roll:

Satyagraha
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#8 Post by Satyagraha »

she moves to the shore in a spiral? the man would have to run around the whole lake to compensate.

Tyreth
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#9 Post by Tyreth »

She just needs to sail to the opposite side of the lake from the man. She has to travel r(adius) in distance, whereas the man needs to travel half the circumferance - pi*r. In other words, even if he runs three times as fast as she rows, she can still make it out.

Which is pretty much what krikkitone said :wink:

noelte
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#10 Post by noelte »

I think i remembered it wrong. Indeed, if he runs 3 times as fast as she rows, she only needs to go for the opposit shore. But it's not as easy as it seems. He runs four time as fast.

I try to find the source for this riddle.

noelte
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#11 Post by noelte »

OK, four times is correct. even if the man is a little bit faster, she can make it. I try to explain the solution, but in case you want to find it for yourself i have hidden the explaination;-)

she has to keep the middle of the lake between her and the man as long as she reaches the point where she has gone 1/4 of the distance to the shore. After that, she head directly to the shore. she has to go 3/4*r and the man pi*r, which leads to 3/4*r < pi/4*r

.

Yoghurt
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#12 Post by Yoghurt »

noelte wrote:How can the virgin save herself?
She picks up the bazooka from the storage of the boat and fires it at the man. ;)


Another classic: You stand in front of two doors, one leading to certain death, the other to freedom. In front of each door stands a guard. You know that one guard always lies, the other always tells the truth. You have one question. What do you ask to save yourself?

The guards of course know which door is deadly.

noelte
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#13 Post by noelte »

Well known ;-)

Aquitaine
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#14 Post by Aquitaine »

Ask either of the guards 'which door is safe, according to the other guard?'

Whichever door is the answer is the death door.

If you ask the truthful guard, he will (rightly) tell you that the other guard will point to the unsafe door.

If you ask the lying guard, he will (wrongfully) tell you that the other guard will point to the unsafe door, so both guards will point to the same door.
Surprise and Terror! I am greeted by the smooth and hostile face of our old enemy, the Hootmans! No... the Huge-glands, no, I remember, the Hunams!

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#15 Post by Moriarty »

You calll those riddles? Hmmm.
I think i'll make my re-appearance with one of my fave brainteasers:

Darker than the darkest night, if you eat me, you die, if you drink me, you die.
What am I?

:)

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