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

A wife and her husband were driving in their car on the highway. All of a sudden, they ran out of gas. So the husband said to the wife, 'Now, you stay here. I will go down the highway to the nearest gas station, and it will be about 1 hour. Just listen to the radio and read some books, and remember to lock all the windows and doors. I will leave the keys with you.' So, off the husband went, and the wife first locked ALL the windows and doors. Next, she turned on the radio, and this is what she heard on the news report:
'THERE IS A MURDERER ON THE LOOSE. HE WAS LAST SEEN ON THE HIGHWAY, WEARING ALL BLACK, ABOUT 5 FOOT 11 INCHES. PLEASE, BE AWARE AND CONTACT THE POLICE IMMEDIATELY.' The wife got very scared. She turned off the radio and double-checked the locked doors. Then she saw the murderer, only a couple of feet away from the car. An hour later, the husband returned to his car. Inside the car, his wife was DEAD, she had been murdered. All the windows were still locked, and the doors. No windows were broken, and the car was in PERFECT condition. No scratches or anything, it was the same way as when he left it. How did the murderer kill the wife?

Asked by Neha on 13 Jul 2023


What has a ring but no finger?

Asked by Neha on 13 Apr 2024

I welcome the day with a show of light, I stealthily came here in the night. I bathe the earthy stuff at dawn, But by noon, alas! I'm gone.

Asked by Neha on 21 Aug 2025


In the given figure, move three matchsticks so that the resulting figure contains two rectangles.

Matchsticks Rectangles

Asked by Neha on 25 Jul 2024

Seven Robbers robbed a bank and hide the coins in a lonely place.
They decide to divide the money equally the next morning. Two greedy robbers decided to cheat the others and reach the place at night. They equally divided the coins between them, one coin left. So they called another robber and then they decided to divide equally among the three. Sadly again one coin left. The same thing happened to the 4th 5th and the 6th robber.
However, when the 7th robber reached in the morning, they can divide the coins equally.

How many coins were there in total?

Asked by Neha on 29 Dec 2023

I am never scared but became petrified and can’t live in a house but would die to make one. What am I?

Asked by Neha on 08 Sep 2025


I know a ten-letter word in the English language which can be typed using only the top rows of the computer keyboard.

Asked by Neha on 18 May 2024

A boy and a girl are sitting on the porch.
"I'm a boy," says the child with black hair.
"I'm a girl," says the child with red hair.
If at least one of them is lying, who is which?

Asked by Neha on 21 Aug 2024

There are three boxes. One is labeled "APPLES" another is labeled "ORANGES". The last one is labeled "APPLES AND ORANGES". You know that each is labeled incorrectly. You may ask me to pick one fruit from one box which you choose.

How can you label the boxes correctly?

Asked by Neha on 07 Sep 2021


Doctor Alex and a bus driver John are both in love with the same woman named Olivia. The bus driver need to go for a long trip of 10 days, Before he left he gave Olivia 10 apples.

Asked by Neha on 22 Aug 2024

Hot Articles

Amazing Facts

Challenging

There is a cryptic organization called Cicada 3301 that posts challenging puzzles online, possibly to recruit codebreakers and linguists.