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

If nine thousand, nine hundred nine dollars is written as $9,909,
how should twelve thousand, twelve hundred twelve dollars be written?

Asked by Neha on 13 Sep 2024


Wednesday, Steve and Pam go to a restaurant to eat lunch. After eating lunch, they pay the bill. But Steve and Pam do not pay the bill. So…who does?

Asked by Neha on 26 Jun 2025

In the Thar desert, 3 men found a big 24L Jar is full of water. Since there is a shortage of water so they decided to distribute the water among themselves such that they all have equal amounts of it. But they only have a 13L, a 5L and an 11-litre Jar.

How do they do it?

Asked by Neha on 11 Jun 2024


In the Mexico City area, there are two Houses H1 and H2. Both H1 and H2 have two children each.
In House H1, The boy plays for Mexico Youth academy and the other child plays baseball.
In House H2, The boy Plays soccer for his school in Mexico and they recently have a newborn.

Can you prove that the probability of House-H1 having a girl child is more than that of House-H2?

Asked by Neha on 06 Jun 2024

I can sizzle like bacon,
I am made with an egg,
I have plenty of backbone, but lack a good leg,
I peel layers like onions, but still remain whole,
I can be long, like a flagpole, yet fit in a hole.

Asked by Neha on 07 Dec 2023

how come the second man dies?

How come the second man dies Riddle

Asked by Neha on 28 Feb 2026


A cat had three kittens: Snophy, Topsy and Jorden. What was the mother's name?

Asked by Neha on 27 Jun 2024

Your last good ping-pong ball fell into a narrow metal pipe embedded one foot deep in concrete.
How can you get it out undamaged, if all the tools you have are your tennis paddle, shoe laces, and plastic water bottle, which does not fit into the pipe?

Asked by Neha on 10 Nov 2024

Forwards I am heavy, backward I am not. What am I?

Asked by Neha on 01 Aug 2025


You have a basket containing ten apples. You have ten friends, who each desire an apple. You give each of your friends one apple.
Now all your friends have one apple each, yet there is an apple remaining in the basket.
How?

Asked by Neha on 18 Sep 2021

Hot Articles

Amazing Facts

Challenging

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