What word is pronounced the same if you take away four of its five letters?

John and his wife were living in a rural place. On a particular day, John's wife fell ill and he called the local doctor. When the doctor picked up, he said, "Doctor, my wife is ill. She might have appendicitis."

"This can't be possible! I took out her appendix two years ago myself," the doctor explained.

When diagnosed, John's wife was found to have appendicitis. How can this be possible?

I know a number which is spelt in alphabetical order.
Do you?

I have a big mouth and I am also quite loud! I am NOT a gossip but I do get involved with everyone's dirty business.

This is a game of Tic-Tac-Toe which you all might have played innumerable times. Here, we are playing with the black and white markers instead. Also, there is a bit change to the rules. The changed rules allow you to play just three times. After the three markers are put by each of the players, you can only slide your marker into an empty square that shares a common wall with the square that the marker is leaving. You can refer to the figure given. If this is the position of the game, the white's next move would be from 6 to 3. Now, whatever the black one does, the white one will move his marker from 5 to 2 and he will have a three in a row. What you have to decide is if both of the players are using a perfect strategy, will the white player (who plays first) always win? Or it will be the black one who will win always? Or every game will be a draw?

Twenty frogs are sitting on a log floating on the surface of a river. Two of them decide to jump off into the water.

How many frogs are there on the log at this moment?

Can you decipher the two rows to find the hidden word?

Can you find the dog hidden in a group of pandas?

Below toothpicks/matchsticks indicate the group of fishes moving from west to east direction. Can you make them move from east to west by just moving three toothpicks/matchsticks?

The warden meets with 23 new prisoners when they arrive. He tells them, "You may meet today and plan a strategy. But after today, you will be in isolated cells and will have no communication with one another.

"In the prison is a switch room, which contains two light switches labeled 1 and 2, each of which can be in either up or the down position. I am not telling you their present positions. The switches are not connected to anything.

"After today, from time to time whenever I feel so inclined, I will select one prisoner at random and escort him to the switch room. This prisoner will select one of the two switches and reverse its position. He must flip one switch when he visits the switch room, and may only flip one of the switches. Then he'll be led back to his cell.

"No one else will be allowed to alter the switches until I lead the next prisoner into the switch room. I'm going to choose prisoners at random. I may choose the same guy three times in a row, or I may jump around and come back. I will not touch the switches, if I wanted you dead you would already be dead.

"Given enough time, everyone will eventually visit the switch room the same number of times as everyone else. At any time, anyone may declare to me, 'We have all visited the switch room.'

"If it is true, then you will all be set free. If it is false, and somebody has not yet visited the switch room, you will all die horribly. You will be carefully monitored, and any attempt to break any of these rules will result in instant death to all of you"

What is the strategy they come up with so that they can be free?