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

John is pretty weird. He likes toffees but hates chocolates. He loves books but never reads. He likes to build his troops in an online game but does not proceed with the war. He likes to go swimming but is afraid of water.

Seeking this behaviour, can you tell whether he likes balloons and parties?

You are driving down the road in your car on a wild, stormy night, when you pass by a bus stop and you see three people waiting for the bus

An old lady looks as if she is about to die.
An old friend who once saved your life.
The perfect partner you have been dreaming about.
Knowing that there can only be one passenger in your car, whom would you choose?

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

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

I have a sore throat and a severe headache. I have four tablets with me that are identical to each other and they do not have any cover on them. There is no way I can identify which tablet serves what purpose. The only thing that I know is that two of these four tablets are for the throat and the remaining two are for the headache. To treat my condition, I must take 1 of each. What will I do now?

Alex is stranded on an island covered in forest.
One day, when the wind is blowing from the west, lightning strikes the west end of the island and sets fire to the forest. The fire is very violent, burning everything in its path, and without intervention the fire will burn the whole island, killing the man in the process.

There are cliffs around the island, so he cannot jump off.

How can the Alex survive the fire? (There are no buckets or any other means to put out the fire)

A landlord calls both of his sons and tells them that their horses will now decide who will transfer the inheritance. He tells them to race along the land till the end and the one whose horse will be slower will win and be the heir to all the property.

Both of them keep wandering for days but to no result. Then they ask a wise man regarding it. The man advises them on the matter after which they jump on the horses and race as fast as they can till the end. Why did they do it?

What did the wise man say?

There is a circular car race track of 10km. There are two cars, Car A and Car B. And they are at the exact opposite end to each other. At Time T(0), Both cars move toward each other at a constant speed of 100 m/seconds. As we know both cars are at the same speed they will always be the exact opposite to each other.
Note, at the center, there is a bug which starts flying towards Car A at time T(0). When the bug reaches car B, it turns back and starts moving towards the car A. The speed of bug is 1m/second. After 5 hours all three stop moving.
What is the total distance covered by the bug?

A research team went to a village somewhere between the jungles of Africa. Luckily for them, they reached the day when quite an interesting custom was to be performed. The custom was performed once a year as they confirmed and was performed in order to collect the taxes from every male of the region.

The taxes were to be paid in the form of grains. Everyone must pay pounds of grain equaling his respective age. This means a 20-year-old will have to pay 20 pounds of grain and a 30-year-old will pay 30 pounds of grain and so on.

The chief who collects the tax has 7 weights and a large 2-pan scale to weigh. But there is another custom that the chief can weigh only three of the seven weights.

Can you find out the weights of the seven weights? Also, what is the maximum age of the man that can be weighed for the payment of taxes?

Two boys wish to cross a river. The only way to get to the other side is by boat, but that boat can only take one boy at a time. The boat cannot return on its own, there are no ropes or similar tricks, yet both boys manage to cross using the boat.

How?