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 are three boxes of different sizes with three cupcakes inside each of the boxes in Christina's kitchen. At night her daughter wakes up and goes to the kitchen. She opens a box and eats all three cakes.

But in the morning Christina finds out that each box still had three cupcakes. How?

Asked by Neha on 06 Dec 2024


Find The Next Number In The Sequence

30 10 15 13 0 16 -15 ?

Asked by Neha on 20 Aug 2024

You find yourself in a strange place guarded by two guards.One of the guard always say truth while other always lies.You don't know the identity of the two.You can ask only one question to go out from there. What should you ask?

Two Door Two Guard

Asked by Neha on 06 Mar 2021


Two fathers and two sons went fishing one day. They were there the whole day and only caught 3 fish. One father said, that is enough for all of us, we will have one each. How can this be possible?

Asked by Neha on 17 May 2021

Here is a conversation between a couple who both are software professionals.

Husband: Hey! What is your date of birth?
Wife Replied Angrily: It is 591062400
Husband after doing some calculations replied, "Got It".

What is the DOB of the wife?

Asked by Neha on 20 Feb 2025

A father told his three sons he would die soon and he needed to decide which one of them to give his property to. He said, “Go to the market and buy something large enough to fill my bedroom, but small enough to fit in your pocket. From this, I will decide which of you is the wisest and worthy enough to inherit my land.” They all went to the market, and each came back with a different item. The father told his sons to come into his bedroom one at a time and try to fill up his bedroom with their items. The first son came in and put some pieces of cloth he bought and laid them across the room, but it barely covered the floor. The second son came in and laid some hay on the floor, but there was only enough to cover half the floor. The third son came in and showed his father what he bought. He wound up getting the property. What did the third son show his father?

Asked by Neha on 29 May 2025


Out of three Friends John, Jacob and Jonny one of them is a king, one is a bureaucrat, and one is a Spy.

The king always tells the truth, the bureaucrat always lies, and the Spy can either lie or tell the truth.

John says: Jonny is a bureaucrat
Jacob says: John is a king
Jonny says: I am a Spy

Tell me, Who is the king, who is the bureaucrat, and who is the Spy?

Asked by Neha on 03 Feb 2024

Can you arrange four 9's and use at most 2 math symbols, to make the total 100?

Asked by Neha on 21 Nov 2023

What is the four-digit number in which the first digit is one-third the second, the third is the sum of the first two, and the last is three times the second?

Asked by Neha on 15 Sep 2025


If I put in one canary per cage, I have one bird too many. If I put in two canaries per cage, I have one cage too many. How many cages and canaries do I have?

Asked by Neha on 05 Oct 2023

Hot Articles

Amazing Facts

Out of the Box

The phrase “thinking outside the box” was popularised from the solution to a topographical puzzle involving 9 dots in a box shape.