Can you solve this amazing hard number series problem?
7, 8, 10, 12, 16, 18 ?

Detective John was investigating a murder in China.
It was a difficult case, and John was completely stumped until he noticed a message sent to him by the killer cunningly hidden in a newspaper advertisement selling Car Licence Plates.
Detective John thought about it for a while, and when he had solved the puzzle, immediately arrested the guilty man.

Q1) How did John know the advert was a clue for him?

Q2) Solve the code and tell me who John arrested.

This is the newspaper advert (Car licence plates for sale) that Detective John saw.

Plates For Sale;

[W 05 NWO]
[H 13 HSR]
[O 05 EBM]
[D 08 UNE]
[U 10 HTY]
[N 04 BRE]
[N 16 TTE]
[I 26 LHC]
[T 10 AEE]
[I 26 CNA]
[X 22 VDA]

In a contest, four fruits (an apple, a banana, an orange, and a pear) have been placed in four closed boxes (one fruit per box). People may guess which fruit is in which box. 123 people participate in the contest. When the boxes are opened, it turns out that 43 people have guessed none of the fruits correctly, 39 people have guessed one fruit correctly, and 31 people have guessed two fruits correctly.
How many people have guessed three fruits correctly, and how many people have guessed four fruits correctly

There are hundred red gems and hundred blue gems. The blue gems are priceless while the red gems equal wastage. You have two sacks one labeled Heads and the other Tails. You have to distribute the gems as you want in the two sacks. Then a coin will be flipped and you will be asked to pick up a gem randomly from the corresponding sacks.

How will you distribute the gems between the sacks so that the odds of picking a Blue gem are maximum?

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)

You are on your way to visit your Friend, who lives at the end of the hill. It is his birthday, and you want to give him the cakes you have made. Between your house and his house, you have to cross 5 bridges, and as it goes in the land of make believe, there is a troll under every bridge! Each troll, quite rightly, insists that you pay a troll toll. Before you can cross their bridge, you have to give them half of the cakes you are carrying, but as they are kind trolls, they each give you back a single cake. How many cakes do you have to leave home to make sure that you arrive at a friend's house with exactly two

This is a famous paradox which has caused a great deal of argument and disbelief from many who cannot accept the correct answer. Four balls are placed in a hat. One is white, one is blue and the other two are red. The bag is shaken and someone draws two balls from the hat. He looks at the two balls and announces that at least one of them is red. What are the chances that the other ball he has drawn out is also red?

You are an expert on paranormal activity and have been hired to locate a spirit haunting an old resort hotel. Strong signs indicate that the spirit lies behind one of four doors. The inscriptions on each door read as follows:

Door A: It's behind B or C
Door B: Its behind A or D
Door C: It's in here
Door D: It's not in here

Your psychic powers have told you three of the inscriptions are false, and one is true. Behind which door will you find the spirit?

I organized a small get together at my home.
In the party , i have a barrel with some whiskey in it.

Suddenly Guest 1 say 'I bet this barrel of whiskey is more than half full'.
'No, it's less than half full' Guest 2 replied.

I don't have any measuring instrument and without removing whiskey from it , how can i determine which of the guest is right ?

The following four words might seem abrupt to you. But you can make them meaningful by just adding vowels.
RDSH
GGPLNT
TMT
NN

Hint: All of them are vegetables.