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

What has no start, end, or centre?

Asked by Neha on 02 Sep 2023


Vin Diesel is pulling a theft and has planned to run away with all the cash kept in the safe. But the only way to open the safe is the 13 character password. He has a set of five clues given to him by a trustworthy source.

Exactly two of the below statements are false.
The password is contained within this sentence.
The password is not in this hint.
The password is within only one of these statements.
At least one of the above statements is a lie.

Asked by Neha on 01 Jun 2023

Astrology starts with the alphabet A, Biology starts with B, Psychology with P and Limnology with L.

Can you find an "ology" that begins with a P?

Asked by Neha on 12 Nov 2024


Jim and Sarah are in a long-distance relationship. Jim buys an engagement ring for Sarah and wants to mail it to her. Unfortunately, the only way to ensure the ring will be received is to place a lock on the package. Jim has locks and Sarah has locks, but neither has keys for each other’s locks. How can they make sure the ring isn’t stolen?

Asked by Neha on 17 Jun 2025

Sweet & very intelligent katty has 8 puppets(Jane Bird Barbie Angel Colleen Nora Lass Missy).
All puppets are of different size. She arrange all puppets to face towards the guest and tell the guess the following clues :

* Jane has three puppets bigger on its left side
* Bird has two puppets smaller on its left side
* Barbie has one puppet bigger on its right side
* Angel has two puppets smaller on its right side
* Colleen has one puppet bigger on its left side
* Nora has one puppet smaller on its left side
* Lass has four puppets bigger on its right side
* Missy has three puppets smaller on its right side

Also some puppets are inside the bigger puppets.

Assuming you are the guest , can you tell the katty how the puppets are arranged ?

Asked by Neha on 25 Apr 2023

Who always enjoys poor health?

Who enjoys poor health?

Asked by Neha on 22 Sep 2021


These types of puzzles are known as charades. What you have to do is find two words that are referred to in the first stanza and the second stanza and put them together to form the third word in the third stanza.

Just for example, if my first refers to 'off' and my second refers to 'ice', then my whole will be office.

My first is present - future's past -
A time in which your lot is cast.

My second is my first of space
Defining people's present place.

My whole describes a lack of site -
A place without length, breadth, or height.

Asked by Neha on 08 Feb 2026

Why 1729 is a magic number? Answer Logically.

Asked by Neha on 08 Dec 2023

Once while in his court, King Akbar asked Birbal to write something on a wall that makes one sad when read in good times and makes one happy when read in sad times.

He took only a few moment and wrote something that fit the requirements. What did he write?

Asked by Neha on 10 May 2021


A boy was at a carnival and went to a booth where a man said to the boy, "If I write your exact weight on this piece of paper then you have to give me $50, but if I cannot, I will pay you $50." The boy looked around and saw no scale so he agrees, thinking no matter what the carny writes he'll just say he weighs more or less. In the end the boy ended up paying the man $50. How did the man win the bet?

Asked by Neha on 25 Mar 2022

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.