Answer to Q200:

I have 5 apples today and ate 3 apples last week. How many apples do I have today?

The answer is 5 as the question says "I have 5 apples today... How many apples do I have today?"

Answer to Q201:

All roses are flowers. Some flowers fade quickly. That means all roses fades quickly! True or False

The answer is False

All roses are flowers. ✅
(Roses belong to the group “flowers.”)

Some flowers fade quickly. ✅
(Only some, not all.)

The key word is “some.”
“Some flowers fade quickly” does not mean all flowers fade quickly.

Answer to Q202:

Guess the name:

🚖 + 🧻 + _______

Hint: it is the name of a female human

The answer is Caroline

🚖 = Car
🧻 = Roll (toilet paper roll)
_______ = Line

So:

Car + roll + line

Answer to Q203:

You have three switches, but they are not labelled. Each switch corresponds to one of three light bulbs in a room. Each bulb is either on or off. You can turn the switches on and off as many times as you want, but you can only enter the room once to observe the bulbs. How can you figure out which switch controls which light bulb?

Answer:

Turn on Switch 1 and leave it on for about 5–10 minutes.
Then turn Switch 1 off.
Turn on Switch 2.
Leave Switch 3 off the whole time.

Now enter the room once.

What you’ll observe:

The bulb that is on → controlled by Switch 2.
The bulb that is off but warm → controlled by Switch 1 (it was on long enough to heat up).
The bulb that is off and cold → controlled by Switch 3.

Answer to Q204:

A robbery occurred on a snowy day, and four suspects were interviewed. Each suspect claimed they had not left their house that day. However, one of them is lying, and that individual is the thief. Based on the picture of their houses that day, can you identify the thief?

Answer: Rick is the thief because his car is parked on freshly fallen snow, proving it was moved after the snow began. That means he left the house, so he must be lying.

Answer to Q205:

A number is greater than another number by 5. If the smaller number is added to twice the larger number, the result is 28. What are the numbers?

Answer:

Let the smaller number be x.

The larger number is x + 5 (since it is greater by 5).

According to the question:

The smaller number + twice the larger number = 28

So we form the equation:

x + 2(x + 5) = 28

Now solve it:

x + 2x + 10 = 28
3x + 10 = 28
3x = 18
x = 6

So the smaller number is 6.

The larger number is: 6 + 5 = 11

The numbers are 6 and 11.

Answer to Q206:

A man needs to cross a river with a wolf, a goat, and a cabbage. The boat can only carry the man and one other item at a time. If left alone together, the wolf will eat the goat, and the goat will eat the cabbage. How can the man safely transport all three across the river?

Answer:

Step 1: Take the goat across first.

(If you take the wolf, the goat eats the cabbage. If you take the cabbage, the wolf eats the goat.)

Step 2: Go back alone.
Step 3: Take the wolf across.

Now you can’t leave wolf + goat together, so…

Step 4: Bring the goat back with you.
Step 5: Take the cabbage across.
Step 6: Go back alone.
Step 7: Finally, take the goat across.

Everyone arrives safely

Answer to Q207:

A farmer has 17 sheep, and all but 9 run away. How many sheep ran away?

Answer:

“A farmer has 17 sheep, and all but 9 run away.”

“All but 9” means everyone except 9 ran away.

So:
17 − 9 = 8

8 sheep ran away.

Answer to Q208:

I am a three-digit number. My tens digit is five more than my ones digit, and my hundreds digit is eight less than my tens digit. What number am I?

Answer:
Let the digits be:
Ones digit = x
Tens digit = x + 5
Hundreds digit = (tens − 8)

Since tens = x + 5,
Hundreds = (x + 5) − 8 = x − 3

So the number is:

(x − 3)(x + 5)(x)

Now remember: digits must be between 0 and 9.

Let’s find a value of x that keeps all digits valid:

if x = 0:

... (won't show x = 0 to x = 3 to keep the answer short)

If x = 4:

Ones = 4
Tens = 4 + 5 = 9
Hundreds = 4 − 3 = 1

That gives us:

194

So the number is 194.

Answer to Q209:

I speak without a mouth and hear without ears. I have no body, but I come alive with wind. What am I?

Answer:
Answer is echo

Explanation:
“I speak without a mouth” → An echo repeats sounds, but it doesn’t have a mouth.
“Hear without ears” → It responds to sounds, even though it has no ears.
“I have no body, but I come alive with wind” → Sound travels through air (wind), giving the echo life.

Answer to Q210:

There is a woman on a boat in a lake wearing a coat. In this riddle, I've told you her name. What is it?

Answer:

The riddle is all about wordplay:
“boat in a lake” → the letters t‑in‑a → Tina

The rest of the sentence is just fluff to distract you.

Answer: Tina

Answer to Q211:

In a room of 100 people, 99% are left-handed.

How many people must leave the room to reduce the percentage of left-handed people to 98%?

Answer:

Step 1: Current numbers
Total people = 100
Left-handed = 99% of 100 = 99
Right-handed = 1

Step 2:
We cannot remove the only right handed people because that will get the left handed people to 100%, so we have to remove from left handed people instead.

Let y = number of left-handed people to remove.
Left-handed left = 99 − y
Total people left = 100 − y

We want:

(99−y) ÷ (100−y) = 0.98
99−y = 0.98(100−y)
99−y = 98−0.98y
99−98 = −0.98y+y
1 = 0.02y

y = 1 ÷ 0.02
y = 50

So, 50 people must leave the room (all left-handed) to reduce the left-handed percentage from 99% to 98%.

Answer to Q212:

An item is discounted by 50%, then discounted again by 50% of the new price.

What percentage of the original price do you end up paying?

Answer:

Let’s assume the original price is £100 (just to make it easy).

First 50% discount:
50% of £100 = £50
New price = £50

Second 50% discount:
50% of £50 = £25
New price = £25

So, you end up paying £25 out of £100, which is:

25 ÷ 100 = 0.25 = 25%

So, you pay 25% of the original price.

Answer to Q213:

A number is increased by 20%, then decreased by 20%.

What is the final result compared to the original number?

Answer:
Let’s assume the original number is 100 (for simplicity).

Step 1: Increase by 20%
20% of 100 = 20
New number = 120

Step 2: Decrease by 20%
20% of 120 = 24
120 − 24 = 96

You end up with 96, compared to the original 100.

That means the final result is:

96 ÷ 100 = 0.96 = 96%

The number ends up 4% less than the original.

Answer to Q214:

A clock strikes once at 1 o’clock, twice at 2 o’clock, three times at 3 o’clock, and so on, striking twelve times at 12 o’clock.

How many times does the clock strike in one full day?

Answer:
First, count how many strikes happen in 12 hours:

1 + 2 + 3 + ... + 12

The sum of the first 12 numbers is:

(12×13) ÷ 2 = 78

So in 12 hours, the clock strikes 78 times.

Since a full day has two 12-hour cycles (AM and PM):

78 × 2 = 156

The clock strikes 156 times in one full day.

Answer to Q215:

You flip 2 fair coins once.

What’s the probability of getting at least one head?

Answer:
When you flip 2 fair coins, the possible outcomes are:

HH
HT
TH
TT

We want the probability of at least one head.

The only outcome with no heads is: TT

All the other 3 outcomes (of 4 total) has at least one head = 3/4

Answer to Q216:

Three friends check into a hotel room costing £30. They each pay £10.

Later, the hotel realises there was a discount. The room should have cost £25, so the clerk gives £5 to the bellboy to return.

The bellboy, being sneaky, keeps £2 and gives each friend £1 back.

So now:

Each friend paid £9 (since they got £1 back)
£9 × 3 = £27
Bellboy kept £2
£27 + £2 = £29

Where did the missing £1 go since we had £30 to start with?

Answer:

There is no missing £1, the trick in the question is in the way the numbers are added, so let’s track the money properly.

Step 1: Original payment
3 friends pay £10 each → £30

Step 2: Correct room cost
Actual cost = £25
Bellboy keeps £2
Friends get £3 back (£1 each)

25 + 2 + 3 = 30

Step 3: What did the friends actually pay?
Each paid £10 but got £1 back →
Each paid £9

Total paid:

9 × 3 = 27 (that £27 already includes the £2 the bellboy kept, that's where the question tries to confuse you)

Because: £25 (hotel) + £2 (bellboy) = £27 (paid by the three friends)

So the 27 + 2 = 29 in the question is adding the £2 twice because the £2 is already part of the £27!

The correct calculation is 25 + 2 + 3 = 30 so there is no missing £1.

Answer to Q217:

A father says to his son:

“I am twice as old as you were when I was as old as you are now.”

If the father is 40 years old, how old is the son?

Answer:
This question is deliberately tricky. The option 20 is placed as bait. Many people see “40 years old” and “twice as old” and immediately think:

40 ÷ 2 = 20

But that ignores the tense in the statement. The words “is” and “were” are very important. The father is referring to a time in the past.

Let’s break it down properly.

Step 1: Let's define our variables
Let:
Father’s current age = F(now)
Son’s current age = S(now)

The father refers to a past time:
Father’s age in the past = F(past)
Son’s age in the past = S(past)

One key fact:
The age difference between father and son is constant so you will agree with me that F(now) − S(now) will always be equal to F(past) − S(past)

So, F(now) − S(now) = F(past) − S(past) ∴ call this Equation (1).


Step 2: Translate the statement carefully
The father says: “I am twice as old as you were when I was as old as you are now.”

Let's break this into parts:

“When I was as old as you are now”
This means: F(past) = S(now) ∴ call this Equation (2).

“I am twice as old as you were”
F(now) = 2 × S(past)

We are told: If the father is 40 years old
F(now) = 40

So:
40 = 2 × S(past)
S(past) = 20

So we now know
F(now) = 40
S(past) = 20

But we were told to find S(now) not S(past) "how old is the son?"


Step 3: Use the constant age difference
Now return to Equation (1):
F(now) − S(now) = F(past) − S(past)

Substitute what we know:
40 − S(now) = F(past) − 20

From Equation (2), we know:
F(past) = S(now)

So:
40 − S(now) = S(now) − 20

Now solve:
40 + 20 = S(now) + S(now)
60 = 2S(now)
S(now) = 30

The son is 30 years old.

Answer to Q218:

Five people need to cross a river at night:

Each person takes the following minutes to cross
Person A: 1 min
Person B: 2 min
Person C: 5 min
Person D: 10 min
Person E: 15 min

Rules:
1. The boat can carry at most 2 people.
2. They must carry a torch to cross. There’s only 1 torch, and someone must bring it back each time.
3. When two people cross, they move at the slower person’s speed.

Question:
What is the minimum total time for all five to cross?


Answer:
Many people fall for the “35 minutes” trap. They assume the fastest person can just ferry everyone one by one, calculating something like:

15 + 1 + 10 + 1 + 5 + 1 + 2 = 35

It seems logical at first, make the fastest person do all the work. But the problem is when two people cross together, they move at the slower person’s speed, which that method doesn’t fully account for.

Step 1: Optimising strategy
Instead of sending the slowest people individually, we can pair the two slowest people together and have a faster person bring the boat back. This reduces wasted time.

Step 2: Step-by-step plan
A + B cross first → 2 minutes
A returns with the boat → 1 minute
D + E cross together → 15 minutes (that's massively reduce time)
B returns with the boat → 2 minutes
A + C cross → 5 minutes
A returns → 1 minute
A + B cross again → 2 minutes

Step 3: Total time

2 + 1 + 15 + 2 + 5 + 1 + 2 = 28 minutes

The minimum total time for all five to cross is 28 minutes.

Answer to Q219:

Three painters, A, B, and C, are painting a house.

Painter A can finish the house in 6 hours
Painter B can finish it in 8 hours
Painter C can finish it in 12 hours

If:
A and B start working together, but after 2 hours, A leaves.
Then B and C continue working together until the house is finished.

Question:
How long in total does it take to finish the house?


Answer:

Step 1: Work rates (per hour)

Painter A finishes in 6 hours → rate = 1/6 of the house per hour
Painter B finishes in 8 hours → rate = 1/8 per hour
Painter C finishes in 12 hours → rate = 1/12 per hour

Step 2: First 2 hours (A and B together)

Combined rate of A and B:

1/6 + 1/8
Common denominator = 24

4/24 + 3/24 = 7/24
So together they complete 7/24 of the house per hour.

In 2 hours:

2 × (7/24) = 14/24 = 7/12

After 2 hours, 7/12 of the house is finished.

Step 3: Work remaining

1 − (7/12) = 5/12
So 5/12 of the house is left.

Step 4: B and C work together

Combined rate of B and C:

1/8 + 1/12
Common denominator = 24

3/24 + 2/24 = 5/24
So B and C complete 5/24 of the house per hour.


Step 5: Time to finish remaining 5/12

We divide remaining work by that rate:

5/12 ÷ 5/24
Flip and multiply:

5/12 × 24/5
5 cancels out:

24/12 = 2
So it takes 2 more hours.

So, total time = 2+2 = 4 hours

Answer to Q200:

What is 8÷2(2+2)

Answer:

Many people get this question wrong because they misunderstand BODMAS.

What is BODMAS?

BODMAS stands for:

B – Brackets
O – Orders (powers/roots)
D – Division
M – Multiplication
A – Addition
S – Subtraction

But here’s the part people forget: Division and multiplication are equal in priority. Addition and subtraction are also equal in priority so when operations have equal priority, you must work from left to right. This simple rule is what many always forget to apply.

Applying BODMAS correctly to the question:

8 ÷ 2(2 + 2)

Step 1: Brackets first
2 + 2 = 4

Now it becomes:
8 ÷ 2(4)
Which is same thing as 8 ÷ 2 × 4

Step 2: Division and multiplication (left to right, very important)

8 ÷ 2 = 4
4 × 4 = 16

Answer: 16