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?

Three men in a cafe order a meal the total cost of which is $15. They each contribute $5. The waiter takes the money to the chef who recognises the three as friends and asks the waiter to return $5 to the men.

The waiter is not only poor at mathematics but dishonest and instead of going to the trouble of splitting the $5 between the three he simply gives them $1 each and pockets the remaining $2 for himself.

Now, each of the men effectively paid $4, the total paid is therefore $12. Add the $2 in the waiters pocket and this comes to $14. Where has the other $1 gone from the original $15?

A man had five children. He had $100 with him to give to his children. He decided to start with the youngest child and then give $2 more than each younger child to his next elder child.

For example, if he gives $x to the youngest child, he will give $(x+2) to the next one, $[(x+2) + 2] to the next one and so on.

Can you find out how much did the youngest one receive?

If there are fifteen crows on a fence and the farmer shoots a third of them, how many crows are left?

The doctor prescribed you to take one pill from the bottle every half an hour. The bottle is now left with only three pills.

How long do you think you have before you run out of pills?

John went to meet his friend Jacob, but when he was about to reach the main gate, John notices that Jacob had a mighty dog who was fastened to the tree. The chain is long enough that it allows the dog to reach the main gate.

How can the John reach the main gate?

What has many keys but can’t open a single lock?

You measure my life in hours
I serve you by expiring
I vanish faster when I am thin
and slower when I am thick
The wind is my energy
What am I?

A man hijacks an aeroplane transporting both passengers(8 of them) and valuable cargo. After taking the cargo, the man demands nine parachutes, puts one of them on, and jumps, leaving the other eight behind. Why did he want eight?

Find the number of squares in the below picture