A chess tournament is taking place on knock-out terms (the one who loses the match is out of the game).
(a) If 10 matches are played in total, how many players participated?
(b) If 20 players took part in the tournament, how many matches were played?

A tourist visits a small town for his research. While in the town, he decides to get a haircut. Since the town is quite small, there are only two barbers in the town � one on the North Street and one on the South Street. The barbershop on the North Street is a mess and the barber has a weird and pathetic haircut. While the barbershop at the South Street is pretty tidy and the barber as well has an impressive haircut.

Which barbershop will the tourist visit for his haircut and why?

Find the next number in the sequence

5 12 24 36 ?

You have two buckets - one holds exactly 5 gallons and the other 3 gallons. How can you measure 4 gallons of water into the 5 gallon bucket?

(Assume you have an unlimited supply of water and that there are no measurement markings of any kind on the buckets.)

What number comes next in this sequence:
7 8 5 5 3 4 4 _

What are the next two letters in the following series and why?
W A T N T L I T F S _ _

*Hint: Check Puzzle Title

John and his team plan to rob a safe. They got just one chance to break the code else the local police will be informed. Below are clues:
A) Exactly one number is perfectly placed: 9 8 1
B) Everything is incorrect: 9 2 4
C) Two numbers are part of the code of the safe but are wrongly placed: 0 9 3
D) One number is part of the code of the safe but is wrongly placed: 1 4 7
E) One number is part of the code of the safe but is wrongly placed: 7 8 3

Your job is to measure 45 minutes if you have only two cords and matches to light the cords.

1. The two cords are twisted from various materials, so their different segments can burn at different rates.
2. Each cord burns from end to end in exactly one hour.

Describe your way of measuring the 45 minutes.

Can you find a pattern and the missing number in the series given below?

100, 155, 258,? , 584, 819.

A worker is to perform work for you for seven straight days. In return for his work, you will pay him 1/7th of a bar of gold per day. The worker requires a daily payment of 1/7th of the bar of gold. What and where are the fewest number of cuts to the bar of gold that will allow you to pay him 1/7th each day?