Which tank will fill first?

Can you figure out the logic I used to decide the order of the following words:
gun, shoe, spree, door, hive, kicks, heaven, gate, line, den

A journalist was investigating a sacred cult in the jungles of Africa when he was caught by one of the person. He was confined in a cave till the leader arrived. The leader told him that he need to tell him a statement. If he thinks the statement is true, then the journalist head will be chopped off. If he thinks that the statement is false, his head will be smashed with a hammer.

What statement did the journalist make to survive?

Find the next number in the series

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

A boy was at a carnival and went to a booth where a man said to the boy, "If I write your exact weight on this piece of paper then you have to give me $50, but if I cannot, I will pay you $50." The boy looked around and saw no scale so he agrees, thinking no matter what the carny writes he'll just say he weighs more or less. In the end the boy ended up paying the man $50. How did the man win the bet?

If Japan and Panama decided to merge into a single country, probably people will name it Japanama.

Can you think of two more such country's unions that could produce similar names like Japanama by overlapping their three letters?

Can you find out the smallest number that can be conveyed as the sum of three squares in three unique ways?

10+10 and 11+11 can give you the same answer.

Explain how?

What number comes next in the series?

5 15 5 18 5 24 14 20 _

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?