Linear Thinking Riddle

There are four people in a house. A fireman, an athlete, an old woman, and a drunk guy. The house catches fire and before the fact is known, it is too late. All they know is that the entire house is in flames and it will collapse exactly after twelve minutes. Now they can move out of the house but for that, they will have to pass the hallway which is entirely blazing with flames. Thus to move, one must carry a fire extinguisher to keep the flames away. Seeking the burnt wooden floor, only two people can run through that hallway at one time. But for others to go, one must return back with the fire extinguisher. The fireman is trained for such tasks and can run through the hallway in a minute. The athlete can make it in a couple of minutes. The old woman can run slowly and will cover the hallway in four minutes. The drunk guy will take five minutes to run through it. If all of them can make it through the hallway in twelve minutes, all of them will be saved. When two move together, they will run at the speed of the slower ones.

How will all four of them manage to run to safety?




Similar Riddles

There were two grandmothers and their two granddaughters.
There were two husbands and their two wives.
There were two fathers and their two daughters.
There were two mothers and their two sons.
There were two maidens and their two mothers.
There were two sisters and their two brothers.
Yet there are only six, who are buried here,
All are born legitimate and relationships clear.
How can this happen?

Asked by Neha on 15 Jun 2024


I am the largest in my family of fifty.
The youngest of our family lives separately from the rest of the family and so do I.
I am regarded as harsh and tough.
I am so large, you cut me in two equal halves,
each half would still be larger than the second largest member of the family.
Who am I?

Asked by Neha on 14 May 2021

There are two arch enemies Messi and Ronaldo who hate each other to an extreme. One day both were going together and a Jeanie appeared in front of them. Jeanie grants 3 wishes to Ronaldo and one to Messi.

Messi replied smartly 'Give me twice whatever Ronaldo demands'.

Ronaldo asked his 1st wish 'Give me 10000 billion dollars. Soon Messi gets 2000 billion dollars.
Ronaldo asked for his 2nd wish 'Give me one mansion in every country in the world. Soon Messi gets two mansions in every country of the world?

What should be Ronaldo's third wish?

Asked by Neha on 02 Mar 2024


Can you arrange four 9's and use at most 2 math symbols, to make the total 100?

Asked by Neha on 21 Nov 2023

You’ll find me on Mercury, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, and Uranus. But never Neptune, or Venus. What am I?

Asked by Neha on 15 Aug 2025

What animal walks on four legs in the morning, two legs during the day, and three legs in the evening?

Oedipus, the king of Thebes, figured out the answer to the riddle:

Asked by Neha on 13 Sep 2025


Why did the Girl throw the butter out of the window?

Asked by Neha on 19 Aug 2024

You have two bottles of pills marked with labels A and B. The pills are identical. The doctor has asked you to take one A pill and one B pill daily. You cant take more or less than that.

While taking out the pills one day, you took out one pill from A and by mistake took out two from B. You have no idea which pill is which now.

You cant throw away the expensive pills. What will you do now?

Asked by Neha on 02 Jul 2023

In a jungle where there are no street lights or any other artificial source of lights, I notice a black snake crossing the road.
How did I get sight of the snake?

Asked by Neha on 15 Oct 2023


The following alphametic has only one solution. Can you find it?
ENLIST + SILENT + LISTEN = ANAGRAM

PS: You may start the number from 0.

Asked by Neha on 12 Jun 2023

Hot Articles

Amazing Facts

Gambling

In Canada, a mathematical puzzle must be solved in order to win the lottery to classify it as a “game of skill” not gambling.