# (Logic) Puzzles/Brainteasers/etc.



## SaberSlash49 (Jan 17, 2010)

This is a place to post any interesting logic puzzles, brainteasers, mysteries, or any good puzzles you may have picked up, and share them. *It might be useful to list its difficulty.*

*THIS DOES NOT INCLUDE TWISTING PUZZLES, SUDOKU (or its relatives), CROSSWORDS, OR WORD SEARCHES.*

Include your answer in a


Spoiler



spoiler


 box or put it in WHITE (white), or you can let people guess and post in a later post.

Here's a crime puzzle. Difficulty: Easy-Medium



==================================================================================



The ship's risk manager was nearly drowning in anxiety. When she'd finished playing the small snips of film retrieved from the ship's video surveillance cameras, she whined, "We have no idea what happened to Mr. Larson. His wife is frantic. You need to help me, Captain Bly!"

"Now is not the time to panic, Gloria."

Captain Bly famously kept his cool under pressure. This wasn't the first time a passenger had disappeared from his ship and it wouldn't be the last.
Cruise Ship was a cauldron of drunken revelers every night of the week.
Some of them got left in port.

Gloria wrung her hands and paced the cabin.

"Mr. and Mrs. Larson are with us throughout the Mediterranean on their honeymoon. Last night, they drank two bottles of wine at dinner, and had several cocktails in the Under Sea Lounge. Witnesses say they stumbled back to their cabin with a bottle off vodka at about 3 a.m." 

She took a deep a breath and stated the rest in a rush, as if she wouldn't be able to finish otherwise. "Mrs. Larson passed out. When she woke up this morning, her husband had disappeared."

Gloria showed the captain two photos: One showed a bloody handprint on the four-foot railing outside his fourteenth deck cabin, and another showed a blood spotted awning on the balcony below. Captain Bly studied them carefully.
"It's a long way down and we're ten miles at sea from Kasudashi now," Gloria said. "No one could swim that far, especially if they were injured."

When she'd gone, the captain review her story and the collection of pictures she'd left. Three showed the couple in the Under Sea Lounge emptying their glasses of wine. Unfortunately, the ship did not have surveillance cameras in the cabin's hallways to identify those who entered the state-rooms. In international waters, Captain Bly was responsible for justice. He called on Chief Capote, head of ship security. 

"We cleaned up over four liters of blood in that cabin that matches Mr. Larson's blood type. We're running the DNA now. " Chief Capote said. The captain showed Chief Capote one of the cabin photos Gloria had left: 

"What did they have in this cooler?" he asked.
"Mrs. Larson said it was her insulin---she's diabetic." 
"Did you check inside to verify that?" asked the captain.
"No."

Captain Bly thought for a few moments. "How much life insurance was there and who gets it?"

"Five million dollars, I'm told. The beneficiary is Mrs.Larson."

Captain Bly smiled. "Bring Mrs. Larson to my cabin. And check the cooler for traces of Mr. Larson's blood." 

*Who killed Mr. Larson?*


======================================================================================



I'll let you guys guess a bit on that, but don't forget to put it in white or spoiler tags.
spoiler tags are



Spoiler



[\SPOILER]

but instead of \, use this slash ----> /


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## DavidWoner (Jan 17, 2010)

Not even close to belonging in speedcubing discussion.


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## SaberSlash49 (Jan 17, 2010)

Did I put this in speedcubing discussion? Oh, I thought I put it in off-topic. :fp


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## TemurAmir (Jan 17, 2010)

Mrs. Larson killed Mr. Larson... I thought that was easy, maybe I got it wrong.


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## Cyrus C. (Jan 17, 2010)

TemurAmir said:


> Mrs. Larson killed Mr. Larson... I thought that was easy, maybe I got it wrong.



That's what I thought also.

EDIT: Oh I get it now, I don't know much about diabetics.


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## Cyrus C. (Jan 17, 2010)

Easy (Not sure if this qualifies)
____________________________

What seven letter word becomes longer when a letter is removed?
____________________________

Easy - Medium
____________________________

A sharpshooter hung up his hat and put on a blindfold. He then walked 100 yards, turned around, and shot a bullet through his hat. The blindfold was a perfectly good one, completely blocking the man's vision. How did he manage this?

____________________________


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## yeee707 (Jan 17, 2010)

Cyrus C. said:


> Easy (Not sure if this qualifies)
> ____________________________
> 
> What seven letter word becomes longer when a letter is removed?
> ...





Spoiler



Easy-lounger Medium- He hung his hat up on the barrel of the gun?


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## miniGOINGS (Jan 17, 2010)

Ok, I guess I'll put this one as "Slightly Difficult".



Spoiler



Prove or give a counter-example of the following statement:
In three space dimensions and time, given an initial velocity field, there exists a vector velocity and a scalar pressure field, which are both smooth and globally defined, that solve the Navier–Stokes equations.


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## PEZenfuego (Jan 17, 2010)

Easy-Medium...ish

Over the side of a boat floating in a harbor there hangs a rope ladder containing ten rungs. Each rung is one foot from the next one and the bottom rung is resting on the surface of the water. The tide rises at a rate of one foot an hour. How long will it take the water to reach the top rung?


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## dannyz0r (Jan 17, 2010)

PEZenfuego said:


> Easy-Medium...ish
> 
> Over the side of a boat floating in a harbor there hangs a rope ladder containing ten rungs. Each rung is one foot from the next one and the bottom rung is resting on the surface of the water. The tide rises at a rate of one foot an hour. How long will it take the water to reach the top rung?





Spoiler



Never because the rungs rise with the water


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## Cyrus C. (Jan 17, 2010)

PEZenfuego said:


> Easy-Medium...ish
> 
> Over the side of a boat floating in a harbor there hangs a rope ladder containing ten rungs. Each rung is one foot from the next one and the bottom rung is resting on the surface of the water. The tide rises at a rate of one foot an hour. How long will it take the water to reach the top rung?





Spoiler



The water will never reach the top rung because the ladder rises with the boat, which rises with the water.


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## PEZenfuego (Jan 17, 2010)

Math? Medium

Two cars (A and B) are exactly 50 miles apart and heading straight toward each other. Car A is traveling at a speed of exactly 30 miles per hour. Car B is traveling at a speed of exactly 20 miles per hour. They collide.

There is a super fly that consistently travels at a speed of 100 miles per hour. Prior to collision (and when they are 50 miles apart), the fly darts from car A and when it reaches car B, it immediately stops and changes directions heading back to car A. It continues to dart between the two cars until it eventually gets smashed in their collision. How far did the fly travel before the cars collided? Explain


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## MichaelP. (Jan 17, 2010)

Medium

A man wakes up in bed, because he hears a disaster outside. He looks out the window, runs up the stairs, turns the light on, runs back downstairs and kills himself. What happened?


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## LewisJ (Jan 17, 2010)

PEZenfuego said:


> Math? Medium
> 
> Two cars (A and B) are exactly 50 miles apart and heading straight toward each other. Car A is traveling at a speed of exactly 30 miles per hour. Car B is traveling at a speed of exactly 20 miles per hour. They collide.
> 
> There is a super fly that consistently travels at a speed of 100 miles per hour. Prior to collision (and when they are 50 miles apart), the fly darts from car A and when it reaches car B, it immediately stops and changes directions heading back to car A. It continues to dart between the two cars until it eventually gets smashed in their collision. How far did the fly travel before the cars collided? Explain





Spoiler



It takes the cars one hour to collide. If the fly goes 100mph and turns around instantly then in one hour it flies 100 miles.


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## Zane_C (Jan 17, 2010)

MichaelP. said:


> Medium
> 
> A man wakes up in bed, because he hears a disaster outside. He looks out the window, runs up the stairs, turns the light on, runs back downstairs and kills himself. What happened?





Spoiler



He fell down the stairs?


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## Forte (Jan 17, 2010)

Easy

The man. Where was the cat?


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## Zane_C (Jan 17, 2010)

Easy-Medium:
What's heavy forwards, but not backwards?


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## Provectus (Jan 17, 2010)

Zane_C said:


> Easy-Medium:
> What's heavy forwards, but not backwards?





Spoiler



ton


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## Muesli (Jan 17, 2010)

Easy-ish.

A man walks into a pet shop looking to buy a parrot. The shop owner takes him over to the "Great Peruvian Purple Parrot of Paridise" and explains 'This parrot will repeat every word it hears'.

The man buys the parrot and takes it home. One week later he takes it back and goes. "This parrot hasn't said a damn word! All it does is squawk at me!"

What was wrong?


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## Carrot (Jan 17, 2010)

Musli4brekkies said:


> Easy-ish.
> 
> A man walks into a pet shop looking to buy a parrot. The shop owner takes him over to the "Great Peruvian Purple Parrot of Paridise" and explains 'This parrot will repeat every word it hears'.
> 
> ...





Spoiler



it's deaf xD


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## SaberSlash49 (Jan 17, 2010)

Musli4brekkies said:


> Easy-ish.
> 
> A man walks into a pet shop looking to buy a parrot. The shop owner takes him over to the "Great Peruvian Purple Parrot of Paridise" and explains 'This parrot will repeat every word it hears'.
> 
> ...





Spoiler



The man didn't say anything for a week or he went on a trip without the parrot.




Answer to my crime puzzle.



Spoiler



No one. Mr. Larson and his wife faked his death to collect on his life insurance. They operated on the belief that crimes at sea are rarely reported and even more rarely investigated and solved. Unfortunately for them, the captain realized that Mrs. Larson could not have been diabetic if people had witnessed her drinking that much alcohol. A diabetic would have fallen into a coma and probably died from consuming as much as she had. So what was in the cooler? Since no human can survive a loss of four liters of blood, Mr. arson had drawn his own blood over time, froze it, and brought it in onboard with him in the cooler they claimed contained Mrs. Larson's insulin. Then they used that blood as murder "evidence." Mr. Larson was still alive. He was lying low in disguise, waiting to sneak off the ship at the next port.


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## LNZ (Jan 17, 2010)

By buying a weeend newspaper, I got for free this word play book.

Incremental word puzzles (all ? are to be legal words)

1

ALICE
?
?
?
?
STORK

2

WAGER
?
?
?
?
POLLS

3

LINE
?
?
?
CAST
?
?
?
TUCK

4

VARY
?
?
?
WEFT
?
?
?
FALL

But I have a problem. How do you create a spoiler box?


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## dannyz0r (Jan 17, 2010)

use


Spoiler



[ /spoiler] tags


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## SaberSlash49 (Jan 17, 2010)

Here's some of the doublets (Word Play) solved.



Spoiler



LINE
LIN*T*
LI*S*T
L*A*ST
*C*AST
CASK
*T*ASK
T*U*SK
TU*C*K

Fairly easy.





Spoiler



ALICE
*S*LICE
SLIC*K*
S*T*ICK
ST*O*CK
STO*R*K

After I figured out slice, it was pretty easy.





Spoiler



VARY
*W*ARY
WAR*T*
WA*F*T
W*E*FT
W*A*FT
WA*L*T
WAL*L*
*F*ALL

This one wass kinda hard, but I'm not sure if walt is a word..


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## TheMachanga (Jan 17, 2010)

What's the difference between Tiger Woods and Santa?


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## SaberSlash49 (Jan 17, 2010)

TheMachanga said:


> What's the difference between Tiger Woods and Santa?





Spoiler



I love this one. Santa Claus stops after three "ho"s.


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## Tyrannous (Jan 17, 2010)

heres the word play that saber didnt get/write



Spoiler



WAGER
*P*AGER
PAGE*S*
PA*L*ES
P*O*LES
*POLLS*


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## TheMachanga (Jan 17, 2010)

SaberSlash49 said:


> TheMachanga said:
> 
> 
> > What's the difference between Tiger Woods and Santa?
> ...



I would have also accepted "Santa didn't cheat on his wife" and "Santa's sponsor (Coca cola) didn't drop him."


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## Cyrus C. (Jan 17, 2010)

MichaelP. said:


> Medium
> 
> A man wakes up in bed, because he hears a disaster outside. He looks out the window, runs up the stairs, turns the light on, runs back downstairs and kills himself. What happened?


Does anyone have an answer to this, I'm really curious & can't think of anything, or was Zane C's right?


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## MW1990 (Jan 17, 2010)

miniGOINGS said:


> Ok, I guess I'll put this one as "Slightly Difficult".
> 
> 
> 
> ...




LOL well...



Spoiler



Navier-Stokes equations agh  That was brought up in my classical mechanics class, oddly enough, but alas, it is one of the CMI Millenium problems, and the best "proof" I can offer up is: Consider a function "f(x)" where it is "nested" k times (where k $epsilon Z[sup'+']$))while taking the gradient at each grad(grad(...grad(f(x))...))), there will be a finite amount of integer solutions such that grad(f(x))=0 XD


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## Zubon (Jan 17, 2010)

TheMachanga said:


> What's the difference between Tiger Woods and Santa?





Spoiler



Santa has a big sack and only comes once a year?


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## Zane_C (Jan 19, 2010)

On a lovely Sunday morning, a wife wakes up and realises that her husband has been murdered. 
The wife call the police, later the investigaters come and ask the people for their alibies.
The son said "I was at a friends house"
The butler said "I was doing the washing"
The housemaid said "I was getting the mail"
The wife said "I was alseep"

From that information the police arrested the murderer. 
Who was the murderer?


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## LewisJ (Jan 19, 2010)

for above:


Spoiler






Zane_C said:


> On a lovely *Sunday* morning, a wife wakes up and realises that her husband has been murdered.
> The wife call the police, later the investigaters come and ask the people for their alibies.
> The son said "I was at a friends house"
> The butler said "I was doing the washing"
> ...


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## qqwref (Jan 19, 2010)

Spoiler






Zane_C said:


> On a lovely Sunday morning, a wife wakes up and realises that her husband has been murdered.
> The wife call the police, later the investigaters come and ask the people for their alibies.
> The son said "I was at a friends house"
> *The butler* said "I was doing the washing"
> ...





I thought it was pretty obvious.


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## Dene (Jan 19, 2010)

Ok Dene has a riddle.

Two people walk into a bar. One of them is Dene. Who wins?


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## Forte (Jan 19, 2010)

Dene said:


> Ok Dene has a riddle.
> 
> Two people walk into a bar. One of them is Dene. Who wins?



True


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## Bryan (Jan 19, 2010)

Zane_C said:


> On a lovely Sunday morning, a wife wakes up and realises that her husband has been murdered.
> The wife call the police, later the investigaters come and ask the people for their alibies.
> The son said "I was at a friends house"
> The butler said "I was doing the washing"
> ...





Spoiler



http://www.texnews.com/religion97/sev120697.html
I frequently forget the mail on Saturday and get it on Sunday.


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## maggot (Jan 19, 2010)

miniGOINGS said:


> Ok, I guess I'll put this one as "Slightly Difficult".
> 
> 
> 
> ...




if i give you answer, will you give me 1000000 dollar? 
by definition? given a piece of a nonlinear partial differential equation, give other values which hold true? not understand... i mean, they have to exist by definition to be correct with conservation law? finding the answer maybe not so easy, and being continuous, even harder... maybe why this is question "top 100 math problem" haha i dont think about this.... i cant make sense anyway


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## Dene (Jan 19, 2010)

Just a hint for my riddle: Mr. Hughey is familiar with the answer I'm looking for  .


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## miniGOINGS (Jan 21, 2010)

MW1990 said:


> LOL well...
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Wow, impressive.



maggot said:


> if i give you answer, will you give me 1000000 dollar?
> by definition? given a piece of a nonlinear partial differential equation, give other values which hold true? not understand... i mean, they have to exist by definition to be correct with conservation law? finding the answer maybe not so easy, and being continuous, even harder... maybe why this is question "top 100 math problem" haha i dont think about this.... i cant make sense anyway



Actually, you would get $1,000,000 if you answer it correctly...


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## MichaelP. (Jan 21, 2010)

Cyrus C. said:


> MichaelP. said:
> 
> 
> > Medium
> ...



Oh, sorry, I should have answered sooner.

Answer: 


Spoiler



The man was a lighthouse operator. He didn't turn on the light and as a result a ship crashed. He felt so bad, that after turning on the light, he killed himself.


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## Cyrus C. (Jan 21, 2010)

MichaelP. said:


> Cyrus C. said:
> 
> 
> > MichaelP. said:
> ...



Oh of course, I think I've heard that one before.


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## PEZenfuego (Jan 22, 2010)

I have sort of a long one that requires additional information via question asking. I'm not sure if it's appropriate due to the length but I figure cyber space is pretty big.

Rules: 

You can ask me any question about the riddle as long as it can be answered with "yes" or "no." Now, that doesn't limit my answers to yes and no, I can also answer with "irrelevant" or "rephrase the question." 

A man is lying flat on his face (dead) in the middle of the desert with a straw in his left hand. How did he get there and why did he die? 

You don't have to ask question in spoilers...just put answers in spoilers.


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## Forte (Jan 22, 2010)

PEZenfuego said:


> A man is lying flat on his face (dead) in the middle of the desert with a straw in his left hand. How did he get there and why did he die?



HE DRANK HIS HEART OUT*!!!!!!!*


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## Cyrus C. (Jan 22, 2010)

Forte said:


> PEZenfuego said:
> 
> 
> > A man is lying flat on his face (dead) in the middle of the desert with a straw in his left hand. How did he get there and why did he die?
> ...



Fixed. 

Is he wearing a backpack?


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## MichaelP. (Jan 22, 2010)

SaberSlash49 said:


> Here's some of the doublets (Word Play) solved.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



I think I got it right MORE


Spoiler



VARY
*W*ARY
WAR*T*
WA*F*T
W*E*FT
WE*L*T
WEL*L*
WAL*L*
*F*ALL


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## miniGOINGS (Jan 22, 2010)

You bolded the L of WALL, when it should be the A.


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## Zane_C (Jan 22, 2010)

PEZenfuego said:


> I have sort of a long one that requires additional information via question asking. I'm not sure if it's appropriate due to the length but I figure cyber space is pretty big.
> 
> Rules:
> 
> ...



A man went for a walk in the desert and decided to take a straw with him for no apparent reason, then he died.


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## Cyrus C. (Jan 22, 2010)

Zane_C said:


> PEZenfuego said:
> 
> 
> > I have sort of a long one that requires additional information via question asking. I'm not sure if it's appropriate due to the length but I figure cyber space is pretty big.
> ...



Fixed.


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## PEZenfuego (Jan 22, 2010)

Forte said:


> PEZenfuego said:
> 
> 
> > A man is lying flat on his face (dead) in the middle of the desert with a straw in his left hand. How did he get there and why did he die?
> ...



No.



Cyrus C. said:


> Forte said:
> 
> 
> > PEZenfuego said:
> ...



No



Zane_C said:


> PEZenfuego said:
> 
> 
> > I have sort of a long one that requires additional information via question asking. I'm not sure if it's appropriate due to the length but I figure cyber space is pretty big.
> ...



No.


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## Forte (Jan 22, 2010)

Cyrus C. said:


> Forte said:
> 
> 
> > PEZenfuego said:
> ...



Fixed.  He had to draw straws because the hot air balloon was too heavy. He lost and they threw him off. AND THEN HE DRANK HIS HEART OUT!!!!!!!


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## Lux Aeterna (Jan 22, 2010)

PEZenfuego said:


> I have sort of a long one that requires additional information via question asking. I'm not sure if it's appropriate due to the length but I figure cyber space is pretty big.
> 
> Rules:
> 
> ...



Were there other, longer straws involved as well? Heh. Nice one.


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## Forte (Jan 22, 2010)

Lux Aeterna said:


> PEZenfuego said:
> 
> 
> > I have sort of a long one that requires additional information via question asking. I'm not sure if it's appropriate due to the length but I figure cyber space is pretty big.
> ...



Wouldn't they be shorter >_>


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## PEZenfuego (Jan 22, 2010)

Lux Aeterna said:


> PEZenfuego said:
> 
> 
> > I have sort of a long one that requires additional information via question asking. I'm not sure if it's appropriate due to the length but I figure cyber space is pretty big.
> ...



Why yes there were


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## SkateboardingCuber (Jan 22, 2010)

Would a Lion cheat on his wife?


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## Owen (Jan 22, 2010)

Guy walked up to another guy and said something. What did he say?

Hint: The second guy is wearing a hat.


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## Zane_C (Jan 22, 2010)

SkateboardingCuber said:


> Would a Lion cheat on his wife?



Lions don't have wifes.


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## Forte (Jan 22, 2010)

o wat

bugs bunny lied to me 



Spoiler



they were drawing straws and some guy drew a really big one and it was funny, but it was ALL LIES


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## PEZenfuego (Jan 22, 2010)

Forte said:


> o wat
> 
> bugs bunny lied to me
> 
> ...



Um...no.


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## Cyrus C. (Jan 22, 2010)

There was a group of people stranded in the desert & they didn't have enough supplies for everyone so they drew straws for who would stay behind without supplies?


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## Forte (Jan 22, 2010)

PEZenfuego said:


> Forte said:
> 
> 
> > o wat
> ...



my explanation was for the bugs bunny episode


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## Sa967St (Jan 22, 2010)

SkateboardingCuber said:


> Would a Lion cheat on his wife?





Spoiler



No, but a Tiger Wood.


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## Cyrus C. (Jan 22, 2010)

Sa967St said:


> SkateboardingCuber said:
> 
> 
> > Would a Lion cheat on his wife?
> ...



HAHAHAHAH!


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## (R) (Jan 22, 2010)

THIS
IS
+VERY
EASY
Find the values of all the numbers, (there are multiple solutions and each number must be a positive number between 0 and 9. No decimals!


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## Sa967St (Jan 22, 2010)

PEZenfuego said:


> A man is lying flat on his face (dead) in the middle of the desert with a straw in his left hand. How did he get there and why did he die?





Spoiler



He was with a group of people in a small hot air balloon but it became too heavy so they drew straws to see which one of them had to jump off to save the others. (the man drew the shortest straw)


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## Zane_C (Jan 22, 2010)

Sa967St said:


> PEZenfuego said:
> 
> 
> > A man is lying flat on his face (dead) in the middle of the desert with a straw in his left hand. How did he get there and why did he die?
> ...



This answer sounds right.


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## PEZenfuego (Jan 22, 2010)

Zane_C said:


> Sa967St said:
> 
> 
> > PEZenfuego said:
> ...





Spoiler



That's probably because it is.


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