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 are offered an opportunity to win a fortune. There are 100 precious black stones and 100 unworthy white stones. There are two different sacks labelled as "Heads" and "Tails". You can distribute the stones as you wish. Then a coin will be flipped. Then you will have to choose a stone from the corresponding sack. If you pick up a black stone, all the fortune of black stones is yours but if you pick up white, you get nothing.

How will you distribute the stones so that you can maximize your chances of winning?

Asked by Neha on 07 Aug 2026


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

On a bus, there is a 26-year-old pregnant lady.
A 30-year-old policeman.
A 52-year-old random woman.
And the 65-year-old driver.

Who is the youngest?

Asked by Neha on 12 Feb 2023


Why is the Hole below a Lock?

The Hole below a Lock

Asked by Neha on 22 Jul 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

What has no start, end, or centre?

Asked by Neha on 02 Sep 2023


Which city is three-fifths chick two third cat and 50% goat?

Asked by Neha on 25 Jan 2024

Katrina wants to go on a date and prefers her date to be tall, dark and handsome.

Of the preferred traits - tall, dark and handsome - no two of Shahrukh, Ajay, Salman and Akshay have the same number.
Only Shahrukh or Akshay is tall and fair.
Only Ajay or Salman is short and handsome.
Shahrukh and Salman are either both tall or short.
Ajay and Akshay are either both dark or both fair.
Who is Katrina's date?

Asked by Neha on 12 May 2026

No matter how little or how much you use me, you change me every month. What am I?

Asked by Neha on 27 Jul 2025


A Detective reviewed the information they had on the case so far.

A lady named 'Caterina' was found shot and they already had a list of suspects - Ankit, Tarun, Harish, Manoj and Manish.
The killer is a fan of challenges him by leaving notes ad various places.
* The first was found in a toilet room.
* The second was found in an art room.
* The third was in a restroom.
* the fourth in an underwater room.
* The fifth at the no-smoking room.

All of the notes read the same thing, 'The clues are where you find the notes.' Yet, nothing was found at any place the notes were.
Detective the genius, immediately solved the case.
Who was the killer?

Asked by Neha on 11 Sep 2023

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Challenging

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