Zookeeper's Lounge

I have loved puzzles throughout my life and have collected many puzzles and puzzle books. I will share a number of them in this section. Others may share puzzles here as well.

Many of the puzzles I post will come from a book called "Mensa Mighty Brain Teasers", published and sold by Barnes & Noble. I highly recommend this book to those that love puzzles. Although it has a number of puzzles where I don't agree with their answers, it has hundreds of puzzles that are interesting and logical.

Here is the first puzzle.

A group of children visited a farm and saw:
a] One animal with half as many letters as its plural.
b] One animal with half as many letters as its young.
c] One animal with the same number of letters as its plural.

What were the animals?

There is more than one answer to each, but I think one answer is more common than others.

That is the expected answer. So, to recap, the expected answers are: cow/cattle, pig/piglet, sheep/sheep. And, for those that are curious, the second most common answers are: ox/oxen, cat/kitten, swine/swine.

In a run-down saloon in a small town west of the Pecos, One-Eyed Pete and his gang sat playing poker. There were five men round the table... a rougher, tougher looking bunch you ever saw in your life. Just to be allowed to join the gang you had to wrestle a bull to the ground while your feet were tied together. After several games, one of the men eyed the dealer narrowly and drawled, "I says you're cheatin'!" It was an unwise comment. The dealer whipped out a gun and shot the offender dead. Naturally, someone sent for the sheriff. He was a giant of a man who never went anywhere without his Colt .45s hanging from his belt. He was so mean and tough that he had simultaneously wrestled two bulls to the ground while his feet were tied together. However, even though he was a stranger to fear, and the incident had been witnessed by everyone in the bar, he was unable to arrest any of the men who had taken part in the game. Why?

That is correct. There were five men plus one woman dealer. The woman was indeed arrested for having done the shooting. None of the men were arrested because there was no evidence that they did anything illegal.

This puzzle has two characteristics of a number of other puzzles. First has to do with assumptions. It said there were five men, but it did not say anything about women or even animals, for that matter. But people have a tendency to jump to conclusions on simple statements. "They mention five men so there must only be five men and noone else around the table." It is important to read these types of puzzles carefully while avoiding assumptions.

Second has to do with stereotypes. Many people think of "men" when they hear westerns and gangs and cards. There are many puzzles that involve false sterotypes, especially involving women. You will find that as you see more of these stereotype puzzles, you will immediately avoid the stereotype. (That's actually a very good reason for doing these types of puzzles.)

Andy's aunt had lived all her adult life in Los Angeles having moved there when she married an American. She had lost touch with Andy's mother, her sister, for over 25 years. Then she suddenly wrote to say she was coming back for a holiday. Andy's mother gave him the flight number and asked him to pick his aunt up from Heathrow Airport. "But how will I recognize her. I've never even seen a photograph!", he objected. "And she's never seen a photograph of you," added his mother cheerfully. "But don't worry. You won't miss her." And he didn't. But how?

Yes, Capt.Rutlinger, Andy's aunt and mother were identical twins.

A man was exploring a mountain when he slipped and fell. He was 150 feet from the summit when he slipped, but he was at the top after the slip. He did not climb the rest of the way and he was not lifted to the top by colleagues. How did he slip to the top? He was on the same mountain and the top was above him. He was not supported by a balloon filled with hydrogen or helium. No ropes or pulleys were involved. No thermals were involved.

There was a glitch in the computer game-- (Just Kidding)

the mountain had two tops

No, the mountain had only one top, the highest point on the mountain. This puzzle is not based on tricky wording. It accurately describes real situations that have occurred in the past.

The man slipped twice, once at 150 ft below the summit and then again on the summit so he slipped and fell down on the summit. 6_9

No, he did not slip twice. He slipped only once.

maybe be the snow pressure

No, there was no pressure from snow, because there was no snow. But pressure is involved.