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

There is a place where if I stand up straight, I will still be considered sideways.

Asked by Neha on 05 May 2025


Four children having five rocks each were playing a game in which they had to throw the rock at a particular solid area in the water. Child 1- Succeeded in throwing three rocks at a solid area but one of the rocks sunk. Child 3 - His aim was so bad that all rocks got sunk. Child 4- He was awesome and none of the rocks got sunk. Child 2 - Was the winner but was struck by a rock in the head and died. Who killed Child 2?

Asked by Neha on 21 Oct 2024

Two in a corner, one in a room, zero in a house, but one in a shelter. What am I?

Asked by Neha on 23 Jul 2025


John is found dead in a bare field. Nobody killed John,
John did not commit suicide.

Inspector Jacob found a bag just a few meters away from John which could save his life. What was in the bag?

Asked by Neha on 04 Dec 2025

Detective Rockford was jogging near the beach at 4:30 am.
He hears a sound near the shack "No Michael, Please Do not shoot me".
Next instance he heard the sound of gunfire. Rockford rushes to the shack where he finds women lying dead and a gun in close proximity of three "Doctore Lawyer and a Teacher".

Rockford immediately knew that the Lawyer has committed the crime. How?

Asked by Neha on 05 Apr 2023

John was visiting his friend Jacob. He found out that his friend's wife had just killed a burglar in self-defense.
John asks Jacob about what happened and he told that "His wife was watching television when suddenly the bell rang. She thought that it is her husband Jacob but she found the burglar who attacked her instantly and she got so frightened that she killed the burglar immediately with the knife.
John asked the police to arrest his friend's wife. Why?

Asked by Neha on 10 Mar 2023


A Shopkeeper collects 71 rupees in the form of 20 paisa and 25 paisa.
He collects a total of 324 coins.

Can you tell me how many number of 20-paisa and 25-paisa he got?

Asked by Neha on 31 Jan 2026

There was once a college that offered a class on probability applied to the real world. The class was relatively easy, but there was a catch. There were no homework assignments or tests, but there was a final exam that would have only one question on it. When everyone received the test paper it was a blank sheet of paper with a solitary question on it: 'What is the risk?'.Most students were able to pass, but only one student received 100% for the class! Even stranger was that he only wrote down one word!
What did he write?

Asked by Neha on 03 Sep 2023

How many Watermelons are there in the below picture?

How many Watermelons?

Asked by Neha on 13 Apr 2025


Find the missing number in the image below.

Find the missing

Asked by Neha on 11 May 2025

Hot Articles

Amazing Facts

Jigsaw puzzles

Jigsaw puzzles soared in popularity during the great depression, as they provided a cheap, long-lasting, recyclable form of entertainment.