Conundrums

[Frogman]

So you know those questions like...
Well okay heres and example:
I got to go through a tour of googles offices in Australia and i was asking our tour guide person how he got a job and about his qualifications and stuff and he said that in the interview they asked him like obscure sort of questions...I cant remember the puzzle he told me but they like make you think laterally

(< thats how you say it isnt it?>

anyway post the question then put the answer (if you know it) In a spoiler

EDIT- Found what I mean

http://www.mytechinterviews.com/10-google-...rview-questions

 

[Shinigami357]

You mean something like a logic question?

 

[Frogman]

I dont really know.
Im like blurghh.
His question was something along the lines of something is on the table and he had to get it off somehow with some sort of restriction of something?

EDIT- See edit in first post

 

[Veho]

You have two wicks/fuses of different lengths, and the only thing you know about them is that they both take one hour to burn their entire length, but at an uneven speed (different segments burn at different speeds; half a wick won't burn half as long). Using those two wicks and a lighter, how can you time 45 minutes?

Spoiler

Light one wick on one end, and the other wick at both ends. When the wick lit at both ends burns out entirely, light the second end of the first wick. When the second one burns all the way through, you'll have your 45 minutes.

A wick burning at both ends will burn twice as fast, so it will take half the time to burn. The one lit at both ends will burn out in half an hour, meaning the other wick will have half an hour left to go. If you light the other end of the second wick at that time, it will burn out in 15 minutes. 30 + 15 = 45 minutes.

 

[Frogman]

You have two wicks/fuses of different lengths, and the only thing you know about them is that they both take one hour to burn their entire length, but at an uneven speed (different segments burn at different speeds; half a wick won't burn half as long). Using those two wicks and a lighter, how can you time 45 minutes?

Spoiler

Light one wick on one end, and the other wick at both ends. When the wick lit at both ends burns out entirely, light the second end of the first wick. When the second one burns all the way through, you'll have your 45 minutes.

A wick burning at both ends will burn twice as fast, so it will take half the time to burn. The one lit at both ends will burn out in half an hour, meaning the other wick will have half an hour left to go. If you light the other end of the second wick at that time, it will burn out in 15 minutes. 30 + 15 = 45 minutes.

Took me 15 minutes but I finally got it ahahah

 

[CannonFoddr]

Ohh - I think I know the type. I remember something like this a few years back doing the rounds in work.

Are these what you mean ??

Q1: There is a pipe - only big enough for a single man to crawl through - two men enter the pipe from different ends & come out the other side - How come ?

Spoiler: Answer

Although the two men entered from the pipe at different ends - it doesn't state they went into the pipe at the same time

Q2: There is a house with 4 North facing walls & a bear is running towards it.
What colour is the bear ?

Spoiler: Answer

Where on earth would you find a house with 4 North facing walls ?
The south pole - so the only type of bear that you would see is a polar bear

Q3: A avid coin collector friend of mine showed me a very rare coin dated 1563 BC, said it cost a fortune to get it. I told him it was a fake but he wouldn't believe me.
Why did I know the coin was a fake ??

Spoiler: Answer

The coin was dated 1563 BC. meaning 'before Christ'.
How the hell could a coin maker know when Christ was going to be born ??

 

[Fat D]

Good luck finding polar bears at the south pole.

 

[Frogman]

Ohh - I think I know the type. I remember something like this a few years back doing the rounds in work.

Are these what you mean ??

-snip-
Q3: A avid coin collector friend of mine showed me a very rare coin dated 1563 BC, said it cost a fortune to get it. I told him it was a fake but he wouldn't believe me.
Why did I know the coin was a fake ??

Spoiler: Answer

The coin was dated 1563 BC. meaning 'before Christ'.
How the hell could a coin maker know when Christ was going to be born ??

Yep thats what I ment

I got number 3 instantly

 

[Veho]

Q3: A avid coin collector friend of mine showed me a very rare coin dated 1563 BC, said it cost a fortune to get it. I told him it was a fake but he wouldn't believe me.
Why did I know the coin was a fake ??

Spoiler: Answer

The coin was dated 1563 BC. meaning 'before Christ'.
How the hell could a coin maker know when Christ was going to be born ??

Spoiler

But what if the coin had been made by someone precognitive?

 

[KingdomBlade]

A boy got past the semi-finals of a contest by defeating his father. During the finals, his opponent dropped out of the contest, saying "I can't fight him! He's my son!" How?

Spoiler

The finalist is his mother (OR, his father's life-partner/husband)

A man loaned 3 dollars from his friend to take a taxi ride home, even though yesterday, he had 2 million dollars in his hands. What is the man's job?

Spoiler

Something in a bank.

 

[CannonFoddr]

Good luck finding polar bears at the south pole.

OK - so I got that one wrong... I WAS working from memory... & I'm getting on in my years, so it's not in the best tip top condition

 

[ProtoKun7]

Good luck finding polar bears at the south pole.

OK - so I got that one wrong... I WAS working from memory... & I'm getting on in my years, so it's not in the best tip top condition

I'm already familiar with that one, so I recognised that the walls should face south before I finished reading it.

Spoiler: A man is walking down a flight of stairs alone when he instantly realises his wife has died. Why is this?

He's walking down the stairs of a hospital. His wife is on life support and there is a power cut, and backups fail, which causes the lights to go out. The life support also cuts out and she dies.

Spoiler: A man is pushing his car until he arrives at a hotel and knows he's bankrupt. Why?

He's playing Monopoly.

Spoiler

[title:There are two twins whose birthdays are two days apart. The younger twin's birthday is the first of the two. Why is this?
(They are each other's twins, otherwise you could just say they're two different sets.)]It's a leap year. During labour the mother was travelling. The older twin was born on March 1st, and then they cross a date line, where the younger twin was born on February 28th.

Spoiler: A man comes into town on Wednesday, stays for three days and then leaves on Wednesday. How?

His transport (horse, donkey, hovercraft, whatever) was called Wednesday.

I love conundra.
(Especially the morbid)