You want to boil a two-minute egg. If you only have a three-minute timer (hourglass), a four-minute timer and a five-minute timer, how can you boil the egg for only two minutes?
I want to fill my bucket using both cold and hot water.
I have two taps for both cold and hot water. The hot water tap fills the bucket in exact 6 hours and the cold water tap fills the bucket in exact 4 hours.
I turn both of them simultaneously but I forgot to turn off another tap which removes the water out of the bucket. This tap can empty the bucket in 12 hours.
You have four chains. Each chain has three links in it. Although it is difficult to cut the links, you wish to make a single loop with all 12 links. What is the fewest number of cuts you must make to accomplish this task?