MetaChat - So how clever are you? (clearly I'm bored...)

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24 January 2007

So how clever are you? (clearly I'm bored...) Below are four ( 4) questions and a bonus question. You have to answer them instantly. You can't take your time, answer all of them immediately . OK? →[More:]

Let's find out just how clever you really are....

Ready? GO!!! (scroll down)

First Question:

You are participating in a race. You overtake the second person. What position are you in?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Answer: If you answered that you are first, then you are absolutely wrong! If you overtake the second person and you take his place, you are second!

Try not to screw up next time.
Now answer the second question,
but don't take as much time as you took for the first question, OK?

Second Question:
If you overtake the last person, then you are...?
(scroll down)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Answer: If you answered that you are second to last, then you are wrong again. Tell me, how can you overtake the LAST Person?

You're not very good at this, are you?

Third Question:
Very tricky arithmetic! Note: This must be done in your head only .
Do NOT use paper and pencil or a calculator. Try it.

Take 1000 and add 40 to it. Now ! add another 1000 . Now add 30 .
Add another 1000 . Now add 20 . Now add another 1000
Now add 10 . What is the total?

Scroll down for answer.....

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Did you get 5000?

The correct answer is actually 4100.

If you don't believe it, check it with a calculator!
Today is definitely not your day, is it?
Maybe you'll get the last question right....
.....Maybe.

Fourth Question:

Mary's father has five daughters:
1. Nana, 2. Nene, 3. Nini, 4. Nono.
What is the name of the fifth daughter?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Did you Answer Nunu?
NO! Of course it isn't.
Her name is Mary. Read the question again!

Okay, now the bonus round:

A mute person goes into a shop and wants to buy a toothbrush. By
imitating the action of brushing his teeth he successfully
expresses himself to the shopkeeper and! the purchase is
done.
Next, a blind man comes into the shop who wants to buy a pair of
sunglasses; how does HE indicate what he wants?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

He just has to open his mouth and ask...
It's really very simple.... Like you!

post by: Wilder at: 07:42 | 26 comments

Thanks, just the confidence boost I needed this morning. </SARCAZMO>

posted by chrismear 24 January | 07:48

Damnit, I was hoping for a challenge. If I didn't stumble on any of the questions, does that make me a super genius? No?

Also, questions like the "Mary's Father's Daughters" one are deprecated - they assume too much cultural relevancy. Granted, it's supposed to be a "trick" question. A hamfisted one. But the given answer isn't an answer from logic, it's a mere tautology. "Mary" could be male, etc.

posted by loquacious 24 January | 07:52

First Question: First (Wrong)
Second Question: Second to last. (Wrong)
Third Question: 4100 (I'm on to you)
Fourth Question: Mary (Ha!)

posted by seanyboy 24 January | 07:52

If you overtake the last person, then you are...?

But the last person I overtook was in first place, so now I'm in first.

posted by mullacc 24 January | 07:59

Number 4: wrong! I am usually good at that sort of question. I blame going to bed at one in the morning. :)

posted by LoriFLA 24 January | 08:07

Heh. You can overtake the last person and be second to last if everyone else has also overtaken the last person by lapping him/her and you are behind all of them.

I win, test loses. HAH!

posted by taz 24 January | 08:38

0 for 5! :) On preview, damn, loq, wetblanket much?

posted by chewatadistance 24 January | 09:05

Damn you Wilder! (2 out of 5)

posted by tr33hggr 24 January | 09:11

But he was the last person _except_ for me!

posted by hadjiboy 24 January | 09:13

And, yeah--loquacious is a genius:)

posted by hadjiboy 24 January | 09:14

I admit to taking way too much time on the math question, so I will mark myself wrong for that one. :)

posted by LoriFLA 24 January | 09:19

2 of 5. In my defense, my brain hasn't woken up yet.

As for loquacious: Shouldn't you be shopping for underwear at K-Mart or watching Wapner or something? /dated reference

posted by Atom Eyes 24 January | 11:04

Well, I got 1, 3, 4 and 5 right. And it seems there is debate on #2, so I will continue to consider myself a genius. Whew!

posted by richat 24 January | 11:25

Yep, I'm calling myself a genius as well. Got them all right.

posted by gaspode 24 January | 11:31

I'm not only a genius, I'm also a prodigy. The second question got me confused, though: for a second before scrolling down, I thought there was supposed to be an answer to it.

posted by Daniel Charms 24 January | 11:46

The answer is 5000, and I have the timecube to prove it.

posted by cortex 24 January | 11:49

I'm calling myself a genius as well, because I still say they were wrong on #2. Depending on what kind of race it is, it can certainly be possible to overtake the last person, and doing so could mean you are second to last, or first, or third, blah blah... Depending on how many other people have overtaken him/her.

Plus, I just usually make a habit of calling myself a genius even though I know I'm really not.

posted by taz 24 January | 11:58

I got them all, but in fairness, I had read #5 before. Years ago I started collecting questions like this to use when working with kids, and I have a ton of 'em, along with lateral thinking puzzles and trick stories.

Here's some from my list:

Take two apples from five apples. How many do you have?

Do they have the 4th of July in England?

A farmer had 17 sheep. All but 9 died. How many were left?

How many animals of each species did Moses take on the Ark?

A red house is made of red wood. A white house is made of white wood. What is a green house made of?

What do you sit on, sleep on, and bruch your teeth with?

How many times can you take 3 from 25?

Is it legal for a man to marry his widow's sister?

If folk is spelled f-o-l-k, and joke is spelled j-o-k-e, how do you spell the word for the white of an egg?

You have two bills in your pocket that total $51. One of them is not a $1 bill. What are they?

Farmer John has 3 black pigs, 2 brown pigs, and 1 white pig. How many of the pigs can say that they are the same color as another pig?

In what month do people eat the least, on average?

How many marbles can you put into an empty bag?

**
Heh. In general, these seem to work better when spoken in person, rapid-fire style.

posted by Miko 24 January | 12:03

Oh good fun for me and my nephew. Thanks!

posted by scarabic 24 January | 12:09

I don't get some of these.
Farmer John has 3 black pigs, 2 brown pigs, and 1 white pig. How many of the pigs can say that they are the same color as another pig?
That's either 5, or Pigs can't speak, or another answer.

posted by seanyboy 24 January | 12:12

They're meant to be a somewhat literal, so the aimed-for answer is "Pigs can't say anything like 'I am the same color as another pig'."

posted by Miko 24 January | 12:23

Wilder,

The question isn't how clever I am, but your cheek./
:)

posted by alicesshoe 24 January | 13:35

I like mullac's answer to the race question, but I was thinking autoracing in which leaders often overtake the last position (and then some).

posted by mischief 24 January | 13:54

Mary is the only one I got right, but that's because she lives down the street from me and I was all like, "WTF -- Mary is the 5th daughter. I just saw her yesterday."

The one with the math freaks me out, because I swear I added it right in my head (and got 5000). What freaks me out is that the wrong answer was so predictable. I'll have to do it on paper now.

posted by mudpuppie 24 January | 14:59

Sorry guys, it was that kind of day. Yes Aliceshoes I have some cheek but somehow people put up with it!

posted by Wilder 24 January | 16:14

Wilder, I thought it was funny and laughed.
That's why the smiey.

posted by alicesshoe 24 January | 16:31

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