I have branches, but no fruit, trunk or leaves. What am I?

You are a thief and you are being punished for your crime. People have tied your head down on a tree with a rope that has been anchored in the ground. A candle is burning below the rope which is slowly burning it away. Just below your head, a Lion has been left loose and is waiting for you to drop down on the ground so he can have you as his lunch.

You have to survive the scenario. How will you do it?

What mathematical symbol can be put between 5 and 9, to get a number bigger than 5 and smaller than 9?

These types of puzzles are known as charades. What you have to do is to find two words that are referred to in the first stanza and the second stanza and put them together to form the third word in the third stanza.

Just for example, if my first refers to 'off' and my second refers to 'ice', then my whole will be the 'office'.

My first is present - future's past -
A time in which your lot is cast.

My second is my first of space
Defining people's present place.

My whole describes a lack of site -
A place without length, breadth, or height.

You enter your friend's room. He is not in his room. Although you see that on the bed there are two dogs, five cats, two giraffes and three pigs. Also, a couple of chickens and ducks are flying in the room.

Calculate the number of legs standing on the floor.

How can you make a TV, a bed, a dog, and a car liquid?

During which month do people sleep the least?

I know a nine-letter word having only one vowel.
Do you ?

What is the largest number you can write with just 3 digits?

In a kingdom, King George did not allow any citizen to visit the world outside. Also, only a person with proper paperwork was allowed to enter or he was sent back. A wooden bridge was what connected the kingdom to the world. The king had appointed a sharpshooter who would check the every five minutes on the bridge to check. After checking, he would go back to his hut and return exactly after five minutes again. The bridge took 9 minutes to cross.

A merchant was able to escape the kingdom without harming the shooter. How?