A swan sits at the center of a perfectly circular lake. At an edge of the lake stands a ravenous monster waiting to devour the swan. The monster can not enter the water, but it will run around the circumference of the lake to try to catch the swan as soon as it reaches the shore. The monster moves at 4 times the speed of the swan, and it will always move in the direction along the shore that brings it closer to the swan the quickest. Both the swan and the the monster can change directions in an instant.
The swan knows that if it can reach the lake's shore without the monster right on top of it, it can instantly escape into the surrounding forest.

How can the swan successfully escape?

There is an English word that can be used up to four times in a row without modifying the spelling and form a valid grammatical sentence.

Do you know what word is that?

I am five letter word that is under you.
If you remove my 1st letter, then I am over you.
If you remove my 1st and 2nd letters then I am all around you.

Who am I?

A deaf and mute man goes to the train station. Tickets for the train are 50 cents each. The man goes to the ticket booth and hands the man inside just a dollar. The man in the booth hands him two tickets.

How did the man in the booth know to give him two tickets without even looking at him?

John can fit six large chocolate boxes or nine small chocolate boxes into a carton. How many cartons will he require to put sixty-six chocolate boxes into?

I am soft and cuddly that soothe your heart. But, If you pick my last name I am going to tear you all apart. Who am I?

A farmer went to a market and bought a wolf, a goat, and a cabbage. On his way home, the farmer came to the bank of a river and rented a boat. But crossing the river by boat, the farmer could carry only himself and a single one of his purchases: the wolf, the goat, or the cabbage. If left unattended together, the wolf would eat the goat, or the goat would eat the cabbage. The farmer’s challenge was to carry himself and his purchases to the far bank of the river, leaving each purchase intact. How did he do it?

A man and his wife were doing missionary work near the city of Nairobi in the country of Kenya in eastern Africa. Their housing had not yet been completed, so the man, the woman, and their six year old daughter were spending a few nights in the jungle in three small pup tents. During their third night there, the woman was awakened by the call of a hyena passing by, so she got out of her tent to see if her young daughter had been frightened by the noise. As she peered into her daughter's tent she was surprised to see the dark figures of lion, a panther, and a cheetah which were curled up next to her daughter. Seeing her daughter was asleep and unharmed, the woman slowly and quietly withdrew from the tent, and simply returned to her own tent and went back to bed. How could this child's mother leave her daughter in such a dangerous situation, and simply ignore what she had just witnessed without intervening in some way? How can such emotional coldness ever be explained; or is there something here we are missing?

Two in a corner, one in a room, zero in a house, but one in a shelter. What am I?

Some friends went on a vacation to a resort. It was raining heavily and it kept raining for thirteen days.

When it rained in the morning, the afternoon was beautiful and when it rained in the afternoon, the day was blessed with a clear morning.

Overall, the friends experienced eleven nice mornings and twelve nice afternoons. Can you find out the number of days they spent on vacation?