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?

I was speeding and ran through a stop sign, yet two traffic officers who were there do nothing about it.

why?

You are given a set of weighing scales and 12 marbles. The scales are of the old balance variety. That is, a small dish hangs from each end of a rod that is balanced in the middle. The device enables you to conclude either that the contents of the dishes weigh the same or that the dish that falls lower has heavier contents than the other. The 12 marbles appear to be identical. 11 of them are identical, and one is of a different weight. Your task is to identify the unusual marble and discard it. You are allowed to use the scales three times if you wish, but no more. Note that the unusual marble may be heavier or lighter than the others. You are asked to both identify it and determine whether it is heavy or light

A maths symbol is hidden in the below Bar Graph. Can you decipher it?

There are five vowels (a, e, i, o, u) in the English language.
Can you tell us a word that contains all these vowels?

A monk has a very specific ritual for climbing up the steps to the temple. First, he climbs up to the middle step and meditates for 1 minute. Then he climbs up 8 steps and faces east until he hears a bird singing. Then he walks down 12 steps and picks up a pebble. He takes one step up and tosses the pebble over his left shoulder. Now, he walks up the remaining steps three at a time which only takes him 9 paces. How many steps are there?

What number comes next in the series?

5 15 5 18 5 24 14 20 _

What kind of band never plays music?

I came first on earth but second on the heaven.
I also came twice in a week but found just once in a year.
I stay away from months but you can find me in February.

What am I?

I have two sand hourglasses:
1. A 7 minute one and
2. An 11-minute one.

Using just these 2 sand hourglasses, how can I measure time as 15 minutes?