Mental Exercise

Color Rhyme

Think of a letter for each clue in the following rhyme. The five letters will spell the answer to this riddle.

   My first is in grass but not in space.
   My second in race but not in place.
   My third in ever and also in here.
   My fourth in see and also in hear.
   My last in no is always found.
   My whole a color all around.

Whose Tie

Mr. Brown, Mr. White, and Mr. Red all work in the same office. The three men are wearing ties that are the colors of their last names, but no one’s tie matches his name. Mr. Brown asks the man with the white tie if he likes red, but cannot hear the answer. What color tie is each man wearing?

Tricky Grammar

It is basic grammar, ‘I’ is singular and ‘us’ plural. But there is another situation in grammar where the former is associated with plural and the latter associated with the singular. Where?

Three Squares

Move exactly three matchsticks to produce an arrangement that contains exactly three squares.

Two Coins
Player A has one more coin than player B.  Both players throw all of their coins simultaneously and observe the number that come up heads.  Assuming all the coins are fair, what is the probability that A obtains more heads than B?

Hair Dryer?

We know what gets wetter the more it dries. It’s a towel. Now figure this out. A person walks for more than an hour in heavy raid heavy rain on an open road, without an umbrella or anything to cover their head. Yet, the person’s hair did not get wet. How is this possible?

What Am I?

This mystery item costs more to manufacture than what you would have to pay to get one. In fact, in many places, you can get them for free. Millions of people use them every day.

State of Mystery

What U.S. State has a city named for a European city, one for an Asian City, one after a U.S President?

Answers

Color Rhyme

The answer is green.

Whose Tie

Mr. Brown does not wear a brown or white tie – his tie must be red. Mr. White’s tie can’t be white, so it must be brown. That leaves Mr. Red with the white tie.

Tricky Grammar

Words ending in ‘us.’ For example: Cactus, singular, Cacti, plural.

Three Squares

Two Coins
Either A throws more heads than B, or A throws more tails than B, but (since A has only one extra coin) not both. By symmetry, these two mutually exclusive possibilities occur with equal probability. Therefore the probability that A obtains more heads than B is ½.  It’s may come as a surprise that this probability does not depend on the number of coins held by the players.

Hair Dryer?

The person is bald.

What Am I?

The answer is a penny.

State of Mystery

Toledo: Spain; Canton: China; Cleveland: Grover Cleveland.