The King of a distant land had heard that Birbal was one of the wisest men in the East and so desired to meet Birbal. He sent Birbal an invitation to visit his country.
In due course, Birbal arrived in the distant kingdom. When he entered the palace he was flabbergasted to find not one but six kings seated there. All looked alike. All were dressed in kingly robes. Who was the real king?
The very next moment he got his answer. Confidently, he approached the king and bowed to him.
For this puzzle, you might have to find logic in something illogical. But hey, it's fun and a healthy little break from your strenuous puzzle-solving sessions.
Can you decipher the meaning in the following cluster of letters?
Eight Chelsea player makes the following statements :
1. Seven of us are lying here.
2. Six of us are lying here.
3. Five of us are lying here.
4. Five of us are lying here.
5. Four of us are lying here.
6. Three of us are lying here.
7. My name is Torres.
8. My name is Lampard.
The last two are Lampard and Torres or maybe Torres and Lampard.
So can you deduce which of the last two is Lampard or Torres?
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?
In 2011, people playing Foldit, an online puzzle game about protein folding, resolved the structure of an enzyme that causes an Aids-like disease in monkeys. Researchers had been working on the problem for 13 years. The gamers solved it in three weeks.
