2, 3, 5, 9, 17, _ What is the next number in the sequence?

There is a barrel with no lid and some wine in it. 'This barrel of wine is more than half full,' said Curly. 'No it's not,' says Mo. 'It's less than half full.' Without any measuring implements and without removing any wine from the barrel, how can they easily determine who is correct?

In a guessing game, five friends had to guess the exact numbers of apples in a covered basket.
Friends guessed 22, 24, 29, 33, and 38, but none of the guesses was correct. The guesses were off by 1, 8, 6, 3, and 8 (in random order).

Can you determine the number of apples in a basket from this information?

Which is heavier: a ton of bricks or a ton of feathers?

One is to three as three is to five and five is to four and four is the magic number.
What is the pattern?

In a boat, the father of a sailor's son is sitting with the son of the sailor. However, the sailor is not present on the boat.

Can this even be possible?

A woman lives in a Tall building thirty-six floors high and served by several elevators which stop at each floor going up and down. Each morning she leaves her apartment and goes to one of the elevators. Whichever one she takes is three times more likely to be going up than down. Why?

Mother's Name is Mrs. SIXTY TWO
Son's Name is FIFTY TWO
Daughter's Name is FORTY TWO
What is Name of Father?

John went to a parrot shop in Mexico, and the parrot owner told him that his parrot is so unique that he repeats everything he hears. John got excited and immediately bought the parrot. John went home and spoke many words, but the parrot does not repeat anything.
He went again to the parrot shop and complaint to the shopkeeper, but the shopkeeper never lied. Explain?

You are a prisoner sentenced to death. The Emperor offers you a chance to live by playing a simple game. He gives you 50 black marbles, 50 white marbles, and 2 empty bowls. He then says, 'Divide these 100 marbles into these 2 bowls. You can divide them any way you like as long as you use all the marbles. Then I will blindfold you and mix the bowls around. You then can choose one bowl and remove ONE marble. If the marble is WHITE you will live, but if the marble is BLACK... you will die.'

How do you divide the marbles up so that you have the greatest probability of choosing a WHITE marble?