Tax Collection Custom

A research team went to a village somewhere between the jungles of Africa. Luckily for them, they reached the day when quite an interesting custom was to be performed. The custom was performed once a year as they confirmed and was performed in order to collect the taxes from every male of the region.

The taxes were to be paid in the form of grains. Everyone must pay pounds of grain equaling his respective age. This means a 20-year-old will have to pay 20 pounds of grain and a 30-year-old will pay 30 pounds of grain and so on.

The chief who collects the tax has 7 weights and a large 2-pan scale to weigh. But there is another custom that the chief can weigh only three of the seven weights.

Can you find out the weights of the seven weights? Also, what is the maximum age of the man that can be weighed for the payment of taxes?




Similar Riddles

Can you figure out the logic I used to decide the order of the following words:
gun, shoe, spree, door, hive, kicks, heaven, gate, line, den

Asked by Neha on 11 Oct 2024


There are three light switches outside a room. One of the switches is connected to a light bulb inside the room.
Each of the three switches can be either 'ON' or 'OFF'.

You are allowed to set each switch the way you want it and then enter the room(note: you can enter the room only once)

Your task is to then determine which switch controls the bulb?

Asked by Neha on 07 Mar 2023

Four men were in a boat on the lake. The boat turns over, and all four men sink to the bottom of the lake, yet not a single man got wet! Why?

Asked by Neha on 22 Oct 2024


Take one out and scratch my head, I am now black but once was red. What am I?

Asked by Neha on 29 Jul 2025

An exterior architect is asked by a builder to plant seven trees in a manner that there are exactly six rows of trees in a straight line and each row has three trees in particular.

How will he do it?

Math Figure Puzzle

Asked by Neha on 03 Apr 2023

Which is heavier: a ton of bricks or a ton of feathers?

Asked by Neha on 28 Feb 2022


You have a roll of cloth 1km long. You have a machine which cuts this roll into pieces of 10-meter-long cloth.

How long would it take for the machine to cut the roll if each cut took 4 secs?

Asked by Neha on 15 Aug 2024

He loves to dance, twist and prance, he shakes his tail, and as a way he sails, wingless he flies into the sky. What is he?

Asked by Neha on 19 Aug 2025

What number divided by 4 is the same as that number minus 4?

Asked by Neha on 09 Oct 2025


Three people check into a hotel. They pay $60 for the rent of the room. After they check-in, the manager realize that the rent for the room is $55. So, he gives $5 to the bellboy and asks him to give it to them. The bellboy thinks that it will be difficult for the three people to share $5 among them and seeking the personal benefit, he pockets $2 and gives the remaining $3 to them.

Now, each person paid $20 and got back $1. In this manner, each of them paid just $19 which totals to the amount of $57. The bellboy has $2 with him and adding them, we get $59. So where is the remaining $1?

Asked by Neha on 02 Aug 2023

Hot Articles

Amazing Facts

Challenging

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