A thief is convicted in Mexico. He gets the death penalty. The judge allows him to say the last sentence to determine how the penalty will be carried out. If the thief lies, he will be hanged, if he speaks the truth he will be beheaded. The thief tells the last sentence and to everybody's surprise some minutes later he is set free because the judge cannot determine his penalty. What did the thief say?

A swan sits at the center of a perfectly circular lake. At an edge of the lake stands a ravenous monster waiting to devour the swan. The monster can not enter the water, but it will run around the circumference of the lake to try to catch the swan as soon as it reaches the shore. The monster moves at 4 times the speed of the swan, and it will always move in the direction along the shore that brings it closer to the swan the quickest. Both the swan and the the monster can change directions in an instant.
The swan knows that if it can reach the lake's shore without the monster right on top of it, it can instantly escape into the surrounding forest.

How can the swan successfully escape?

I have branches, but no fruit, trunk or leaves. What am I?

One of the leprechaun is missing if you see the two pictures attached to this question. Where did he go? When he comes back, do you know where has he been?

There are 2 people near the river and both of them want to get on the other side. The boat can only take one of them. But they got across.
How?

What you cannot hold but it is yours?

Find the number of squares in the below picture

500 women soldiers are arranged in an array of ten rows and fifty columns in accordance with their respective heights. Now, the tallest woman from each row is asked to move out in the front. From them, the shortest one is labelled as Alpha. They are then asked to resume their original position.

Now, the shortest woman in each column is asked to come out in front. The tallest among them is labelled as Beta.

Can you find out if Alpha will be taller or Beta?

One absent-minded ancient philosopher forgot to wind up his only clock in the house. He had no radio, TV, telephone, internet, or any other means for telling time. So he travelled on foot to his friend's place a few miles down the straight desert road. He stayed at his friend's house for the night and when he came back home, he knew how to set his clock. How did he know?

It's a 7-letter word.
If we remove 1 letter from it, it remains the same.
If we remove 2 letters from it, it remains the same.
If we remove 3 letters from it, it remains the same.
If we remove all the letters from it, still it remains the same.
What is it?