Jim and Sarah are in a long-distance relationship. Jim buys an engagement ring for Sarah and wants to mail it to her. Unfortunately, the only way to ensure the ring will be received is to place a lock on the package. Jim has locks and Sarah has locks, but neither has keys for each other’s locks. How can they make sure the ring isn’t stolen?
You have three orange, two pink and five purple balls in the drawer beside your bed. There is no electricity and the room is entirely dark. How many balls must you take out to ensure at least one ball of each colour at least?
A king sentenced a man to the death sentence for some crime he had committed. Known for his kindness, the king told the culprit that he had a choice to die in a way he decides.
The culprit was clever and said something that saved him from death. What method do you think he must have chosen for his death?
Suppose you are sitting in an interview and the interviewee asks you an aptitude question.
You have three buckets with a capacity of 4 litres, 8 litres and 10 litres and you have a large tank of water. Now you have to measure 3 litres of water precisely using those buckets. How will you do it?
The owner of a popular clothing store comes up with his own method of pricing items. A vest costs $8, socks cost $10, a tie costs $6, and a blouse costs $12. Using the owner’s method, how much would a pair of underwear cost?
13 decks of cards have been mixed. What is the minimum number of cards that must be taken out from the above-mixed cards to guarantee at least one 'four of a kind?
James Bond is caught up in a mysterious scenario where the evil villain has him blindfolded. He somehow breaks through the handcuffs but is unable to get the blindfold off. Upon searching, he comes across a bow and 3 arrows. He can hear the villain speak, and thus tries to take a shot at him. He launches the first arrow, it misses the villain. He then launches the second arrow and it misses by a greater margin.
What is the probability that this third shot our James bond takes will be worse than the second shot?
The day before the 1996 U.S. presidential election, the NYT Crossword contained the clue “Lead story in tomorrow’s newspaper,” the puzzle was built so that both electoral outcomes were correct answers, requiring 7 other clues to have dual responses.