Brain Teaser

Teaser (1): A 30 year old man married a 25 year old woman. She died at age 50 and her husband was so devastated that he cried for years. Ten years after he stopped crying, he died. If he had lived to be 80, how many years was he a widower?

Teaser (2): A boat is at anchor. Over the side hangs a rope ladder  with rungs a foot apart. The tide rises at a rate of 10 inches per hour.  At the end of six hours, how much of the rope ladder will remain  above water, assuming that 10 feet were above the water when the tide  began to rise?

Teaser (3): There is a man that lives on the top floor of a very tall  building.  Everyday he gets the elevator down to the ground floor  to leave the building to go to work.  Upon returning from work though, he  can only travel half way up in the lift and has to  walk the rest of the way, unless it's raining!  WHY?

Teaser (4): There was a guy who had a Fox, a Chicken, and a bag of Grain. He   had to cross a river to get back home, but he could only take one item with him at a time. He could only take the fox, or the grain, or the chicken. Well, if you leave a chicken and a fox on one side  of the river while taking the bag of grain across, the fox will eat the chicken, same thing with the chicken and the grain. Can't leave those two alone or the chicken will eat the grain. How do you get them all across the river safely?

 

Answers

(1) He was a widower for 25 years.

(2) Since the boat is afloat, the water level in  relation to the ship stays the same. Therefore, 10 feet are above water,  just as the beginning!

(3) The man was a dwarf and couldn't reach top lift buttons except with an umbrella.

(4) Take the chicken first and come back. Get the grain, take it across and take the chicken back with you. Leave the chicken and take the fox and come back. Get the chicken.