If 1+9+8=1, what is 2+8+9?

There are three Athletes (John, Tarun and Harish) and their individual Coaches (Jacob, Meenaxi and Priyanka) standing on the shore.
No Coach trusts their Athlete to be near any other Coach unless they are also with them.
There is a boat that can hold a maximum of two persons.
How can the six people get across the river?

Find the next number in the series

12, 20, 40, 72, 116, 172 ?

Place a mathematical symbol between the numerals 5 and 9 in such a way that the resulting number is greater than 5 but smaller than 9.

Andrew’s doctor gives him three pills and tells him to take one every half hour. How much time will have passed by the time Andrew’s taken all three pills?

There are two guys standing face to face in a room. On a wall, there is a clock. One of those is a prophet. He tells the other guy that he will be stabbed in the back in five minutes.

Shocked to hear that, the other guy stares at the clock. Just after the five minutes, he is stabbed on the back. Can you tell what happened?

Next Number in the Series,

5, 16, 49, 104, ?

Outside a tattoo artist's shop, there was a signboard which read 'I make tattoos on only them who do not tattoo themselves'.

Reading it what do you think, does the tattoo artist tattoo himself?

Here is what you have to do. You have to throw a ball as hard as you can but it must return back to you even if it does not bounce at anything. Also, you have nothing attached to the ball. There is no one on the other end to catch that ball and throw it back at you.

How will you do it?

What do you think with the below Picture ?