One absent-minded ancient philosopher forgot to wind up his only clock in the house. He had no radio, TV, telephone, internet, or any other means for telling time. So he travelled on foot to his friend's place a few miles down the straight desert road. He stayed at his friend's house for the night and when he came back home, he knew how to set his clock. How did he know?

I am taken from a mine and shut up in a wooden case, from which I am never released, and yet I am used by almost every person. What am I?

Below, you can see some coding:
January = 1017
February = 628
March = 1335
April = 145
May = 1353
June = 1064
July = 1074
August = 186

Now deciphering the way it has been coded, can you find out how September will be coded?

If it took eight men ten hours to build a wall, how long would it take four men to build it?

In the following series, a set of numbers is progressing with a particular pattern. Can you deduce that pattern and find the missing set?

(2 + 6), (21 + 6), (58 + 6), (119 + 6), ___

I was born in a small house and I live in it all alone. No windows and no doors have been assigned to my house. The only way I can go out is by breaking through the walls of my house.

Who am I?

John drives to his office at 20km/hr. After reaching the office, he realizes that today is a holiday. He went back at an average speed of 30km/hr. Discounting the time spent in the stoppage what was the average speed of his journey?

There are hundred red gems and hundred blue gems. The blue gems are priceless while the red gems equal wastage. You have two sacks one labeled Heads and the other Tails. You have to distribute the gems as you want in the two sacks. Then a coin will be flipped and you will be asked to pick up a gem randomly from the corresponding sacks.

How will you distribute the gems between the sacks so that the odds of picking a Blue gem are maximum?

What does this mean?

CCCCCCC

When I asked a girl's name she told me her name is the date '07/09/2001'.

I thought for a few seconds and then I got her name. Do you?