Magic with Cards

I ask Joseph to pick any 5 cards out of a deck with no Jokers.

He can inspect then shuffle the deck before picking any five cards. He picks out 5 cards then hands them to me (Jack can't see any of this). I look at the cards and I pick 1 card out and give it back to Joseph. I then arrange the other four cards in a special way, and give those 4 cards all face down, and in a neat pile, to Jack.

Jack looks at the 4 cards i gave him, and says out loud which card Joseph is holding (suit and number). How?

The solution uses pure logic, not sleight of hand. All Jack needs to know is the order of the cards and what is on their face, nothing more.




Similar Riddles

You have two strings whose only known property is that when you light one end of either string it takes exactly one hour to burn. The rate at which the strings will burn is completely random and each string is different. How do you measure 45 minutes?

Asked by Neha on 17 Feb 2026


Which is the smallest number that you can write using all the vowels exactly once?

Asked by Neha on 11 May 2024

I have a big mouth and I am also quite loud! I am NOT a gossip but I do get involved with everyone's dirty business.

Asked by Neha on 24 Apr 2026


When Jack was six years old he hammered a nail into his favourite tree to mark his height. Ten years later at age sixteen, Jack returned to see how much higher the nail was. If the tree grew by five centimetres each year, how much higher would the nail be?

Asked by Neha on 17 May 2021

What Adam and Eve do not have but the rest of the people have?

Asked by Neha on 15 Mar 2023

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


John Went to the nearby store in a Mall to buy something for her home. Below is the conversation between the two:

John: How much for the one?
Shopkeeper: It is $2
John: How much for the Eleven?
Shopkeeper: It is $4
John: How much for the Hundred?
Shopkeeper: It is $6.

What is John buying?

Asked by Neha on 01 Dec 2025

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

A red house is made out of red bricks. A yellow house is made out of yellow bricks. And, a blue house is made out of blue bricks. So, what is a greenhouse made of?

Asked by Neha on 30 Jun 2025


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

Hot Articles

Amazing Facts

Crossword

The day before the 1996 U.S. presidential election, the NYT Crossword contained the clue “Lead story in tomorrow’s newspaper,” the puzzle was built so that both electoral outcomes were correct answers, requiring 7 other clues to have dual responses.