The Waiter

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?




Similar Riddles

A rubber ball keeps on bouncing back to 2/3 of the height from which it is dropped. Can you calculate the fraction of its original height that the ball will bounce after it is dropped and it has bounced four times without any hindrance ?

Asked by Neha on 16 Sep 2024


How can you tell a raw egg from a hard-boiled egg?

Asked by Neha on 09 Jan 2025

If all the below statements are true

1. Gianni was either in Italy or France in 1997.
2. If Gianni did not kill Versace, Hilton must have killed him.
3. If Versace died of suffocation, then either Gianni killed him or Versace committed suicide.
4. If Gianni was in Italy in 1997, then Gianni did not kill Versace.
5. Versace died of suffocation, but he did not kill himself.

Who killed Versace and where was Gianni in 1997?

Asked by Neha on 11 Jan 2024


I can write cow in 13 letters.

Can You?

Asked by Neha on 03 Oct 2024

Below, you can see three complete equations and one incomplete. Based on the three complete ones, can you complete the incomplete one?

5 $ 4 $ 3 $ 9 = 4215
6 $ 9 $ 2 $ 6 = 3816
4 $ 7 $ 3 $ 3 = 1122
7 $ 2 $ 7 $ 4 = ____

Asked by Neha on 10 Dec 2025

You are a cab driver who pools passengers. You pick 3 people from a destination and drop 1 after an hour. 2 people climb aboard at the same time and you drop 3 at the next destination. After some time, you pick 2 passengers only to drop 1 after a short distance where 3 more passengers climb up the cab. You leave the rest of the passengers one by one to their destination and then come back home.

Can you tell the eye color of the cab driver?

Asked by Neha on 06 Apr 2023


John is the son of Jacob.
So,
Jacob is the_____of John's father?

Asked by Neha on 17 Dec 2024

A man was going to bleach his socks because they had gotten muddy the day before. As he was pouring the bleach into the washing machine, he spilt some on the floor. He got some cleaning fluid and mopped it up with a rag. Minutes later he was dead. What killed him?

Asked by Neha on 09 Feb 2024

When 99 is considered higher than 100?

Asked by Neha on 26 Feb 2021


Can you think of any three-dimensional shape that comprises of exactly two surfaces?

Asked by Neha on 27 Mar 2025

Hot Articles

Amazing Facts

Crossword

The day before the 1996 U.S. presidential election, the NYT Crossword contained the clue “Lead story in tomorrow’s newspaper,” the puzzle was built so that both electoral outcomes were correct answers, requiring 7 other clues to have dual responses.