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

In The 1st month of this year(the year 2013), I noticed that the date 13-1-13 (13 January 2013) is special.

This date is special as:

Date * Month = Year.

Can you figure out which year of this century has a maximum number of such dates?

Asked by Neha on 14 Aug 2024


You have two buckets of 11 liters and 6 litres.
How can you measure exactly 8 litres?

Asked by Neha on 17 Jan 2025

Find the hidden panda in the image below.

Find The Panda

Asked by Neha on 13 Jun 2024


Jessica is telling her friends this story and asks them to guess if it’s the truth or a lie: “There was a man sitting in a house at night that had no lights on at all. There was no lamp, no candle, and no other source of light. Yet, he sat in the house and read his book happily.” Her friends say she’s lying, but Jessica corrects them and says she’s telling the truth. Jessica’s story is true—but how?

Asked by Neha on 25 Jun 2025

I want to fill my bucket using both cold and hot water.
I have two taps for both cold and hot water. The hot water tap fills the bucket in exact 6 hours and the cold water tap fills the bucket in exact 4 hours.
I turn both of them simultaneously but I forgot to turn off another tap which removes the water out of the bucket. This tap can empty the bucket in 12 hours.

How Long will it take to fill the bucket?

Asked by Neha on 30 Sep 2023

By moving exactly three matchsticks can you make the below equation true.It can be solved by 3 ways.

Matchsticks Equation

Asked by Neha on 19 Feb 2021


I am the first thing you need while camping.
I am always with the person named Marcos Valencia and Carrick.
But Pogba Zlatan and Rooney think I am wasteful and do not need me.
I am the second to the last thing to add when you are making a patch.

What am I?

Asked by Neha on 16 Dec 2024

There are 2 people near the river and both of them want to get on the other side. The boat can only take one of them. But they got across.
How?

Asked by Neha on 03 May 2021

Can you place three balls such that the equation shown in the picture holds true?

Place the Balls

Asked by Neha on 07 Mar 2024


One day, I thought of ways that can be used for creating a palindrome. So I decided that I will turn into a larger number by adding the reversed digits to the original number and keep doing it till I finally obtained a palindrome.

I am not sure if this process will always result in a palindrome eventually but I was able to produce a four-digit palindrome. Can you guess my starting number?

Asked by Neha on 17 Apr 2024

Hot Articles

Amazing Facts

Jigsaw puzzles

Jigsaw puzzles soared in popularity during the great depression, as they provided a cheap, long-lasting, recyclable form of entertainment.