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 person was killed at a house party. When the police arrive, there are six people present in the house who are the friends of the victim. The name of the friends is Rohit, Aman, Nick, Gagan, and Randy.

Near the dead body, they find a few numbers written with blood by the victim on the floor. The numbers are 8, 5, 4, and 11.

The police arrests one of the friends for the murder. Whom did they arrest and why?

Asked by Neha on 04 May 2023


A woman is sitting in her hotel room and hears a knock at the door. She opens the door to see a man whom she’s never met before. He says, “I’m sorry, I have made a mistake, I thought this was my room.” He then goes down the corridor and into the elevator. The woman goes back into her room and calls security. What made the woman so suspicious of the man?

Asked by Neha on 22 May 2025

If eleven plus two equals one, what does nine plus five equal?

Asked by Neha on 07 Oct 2021


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 ?

Asked by Neha on 06 Nov 2023

On a charity event in Russia, Murray beat Djokovic by winning six games and losing three games.
Note: There is a total of 5 service breaks(one who serve lost the game).
Who served first, Djokovic or Murray?

Asked by Neha on 06 Jun 2023

I have a head like a cat and feet like a cat, but I am not a cat. What am I?

Asked by Neha on 12 Aug 2025


There was an aeroplane crash, every single person died, but two people survived. How is this possible?

Asked by Neha on 28 Dec 2023

In the attached figure, you can see a chessboard and two rooks placed on the chess board. What you have to find is the number of squares that do not contain the rooks. How many are there?

Squares in Chess Board

Asked by Neha on 04 Mar 2024

If a wheel has 54 spokes, how many spaces are there between the spokes?

Asked by Neha on 27 Sep 2021


You want to boil a two-minute egg. If you only have a three-minute timer (hourglass), a four-minute timer and a five-minute timer, how can you boil the egg for only two minutes?

Asked by Neha on 17 May 2021

Hot Articles

Amazing Facts

Challenging

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