20 Sep 07
Originally posted by c00ushionI vote that Wolfgang is right.
Wolfgang your answer for riddle no.1 is Wrong the answer was once
Now your answer to riddle number 2 is correct, just look at the question and it says you have 2 oranges and then asks the questions how many oranges DO you have. Its always fun to see bright chess players stumble at such simple riddles sometimes but your 3rd answer was wrong both of these 2 ...[text shortened]... been solved in Riddle no.3, Which i Highly doubt you will get, stumped me for the longest time.
20 Sep 07
Originally posted by c00ushionInterpunction?
Riddles are not ment to be Real if this was a real question we would be doing basic math, this is a riddle dont get to serious or defensive about the actual answer, all riddles have different possible answers that are actually correct, think of it as a 4 part answer one of them are completely wrong and the other three make sense both answers make sense but when it comes to the riddle the answer is once but either way is correct in a sense.
I agree that you can substract 5 from 25 as much as you want.
25 - 5 = 20
That was once.
25 - 5 = 20
That was twice.
25 - 5 = 20
That was thrice.
25 -5 = ...
Get my point? I believe others were trying to get you to understand.
If you come with a riddle, at least make the answer you want the obvious answer.
20 Sep 07
Profound! I like that ... not sure its deserved though!
With reference to 3. I was correct also. They have 80 dollars. The trick is NOT doing the math!!
And finally ... riddles are fun but incredibly difficult to devise such that there is ONLY 1 answer, and these are the best. Ones that give you that EUREKA feeling when you find it or that 'How did I miss that' feeling when you have to be told answer.
Profound ....... thanks! 😀
20 Sep 07
I think we all agree that the problem was the ambiguous way the riddles were worded to begin with. The first one could have gone this way:
You have $25 in your wallet with no prospects of adding any cash for the rest of the week. You need $5 a day to pay for lunch. How many times can you subtract $5 from $25? The answer is once, and not the "five times" that the tricky riddler is expecting.
As for the third riddle, the question should be how much did each of the subjects have before the first exchange. Obviously they had $80 when the amounts were added together since they wound up with $80 together at the end.
23 Sep 07
Originally posted by HandyAndy"How many times can you subtract $5 from $25?"
You have $25 in your wallet with no prospects of adding any cash for the rest of the week. You need $5 a day to pay for lunch. How many times can you subtract $5 from $25? The answer is [b]once, and not the "five times" that the tricky riddler is expecting.
[/b]
... and the answer is the same: "How many times you want".
But if you reformulated the sentence above with the following: "How many $5-dollar lunches can you buy with $25?" the answer will be 5 lunches.
The apropriate formulation so you can get the wanted answer "once, and once only" would be: "How many lunches can you buy with one $25-bill, one after another?" Because when you payed one lunch with the $25-bill then you get two $10-bills back and the $25-bill is gone and you cannot use it again. (Is there any $25-bills in any country? Is there $25-bills in Australia or any other country using dollar for their currency?)
But as the original problem was formulated, the answer is (of course) "How many times you want".
(Yes, I know the riddle is kind of a joke, and there is no absolute right answer.)
24 Sep 07
Originally posted by FabianFnasWow, this was a very simple riddle with a simple answer, the man who wrote it say's "one" therefore I say "ONE" if you want to agrue the answer go to the man who made it, plus its just a riddle its suppose to be fun dont take it personal if you were wrong, plain and simple.
[b]"How many times can you subtract $5 from $25?"
... and the answer is the same: "How many times you want".
But if you reformulated the sentence above with the following: "How many $5-dollar lunches can you buy with $25?" the answer will be 5 lunches.
The apropriate formulation so you can get the wanted answer "once, and once only" would be: " ...[text shortened]...
(Yes, I know the riddle is kind of a joke, and there is no absolute right answer.)[/b]
24 Sep 07
Originally posted by c00ushionI don't want to argue or quarrel, no way. I think it is fun to penetrate the question and say that there is another answer than just 'once'. Like a bi-solution.
Wow, this was a very simple riddle with a simple answer, the man who wrote it say's "one" therefore I say "ONE" if you want to agrue the answer go to the man who made it, plus its just a riddle its suppose to be fun dont take it personal if you were wrong, plain and simple.
In chess problems, sometimes one find another solution that the composer hadn't thought of. Same thing here. Nothing more than that.
How many letter are there in the alphabeth? The obvious answer is 26 letters. But the riddler's answer is 12. Why? "T-H-E A-L-H-P-A-B-E-T-H". If the riddler says that the answer is 12 letters and this is the only answer, and every other answer is wrong (there is more answers than 12 and 26, can you came up with more answers?), he is wrong himself. There is more than one answer. And now it's time to have laugh, because it is quite funny after all.
Even in the $25-$5 riddle there is obvious that there is more than one answer, depending of how you interprete the question. My point is, and has always been - there are alternate solutions, and I show the analyze to back this point.
24 Sep 07
Originally posted by FabianFnasI still think the best answer is "once".. but I admire your powers of obfuscation and verbal legerdemain. 😉
I don't want to argue or quarrel, no way. I think it is fun to penetrate the question and say that there is another answer than just 'once'. Like a bi-solution.
In chess problems, sometimes one find another solution that the composer hadn't thought of. Same thing here. Nothing more than that.
How many letter are there in the alphabeth? The obvious a ...[text shortened]... always been - there are alternate solutions, and I show the analyze to back this point.
24 Sep 07
Originally posted by HandyAndyThank you! (I think?)
I still think the best answer is "once".. but I admire your powers of obfuscation and verbal legerdemain. 😉
And with the wisdom of Salomo you write 'the best answer', indicating that there are more than one answer, perhaps one better than the other - and on that I totally agree, that's also my point. When some one says that the only answer is '***', then, and only then, I disagree.
24 Sep 07
1 edit
Originally posted by c00ushionWow, this was a very simple riddle with a simple answer
Wow, this was a very simple riddle with a simple answer, the man who wrote it say's "one" therefore I say "ONE" if you want to agrue the answer go to the man who made it, plus its just a riddle its suppose to be fun dont take it personal if you were wrong, plain and simple.
Agreed - except that the simple answer isn't what OP intended.
the man who wrote it say's "one" therefore I say "ONE"
How do you know that? Maybe OP cribbed it from some website, and applied his own solution.
The point of a riddle is not to agree with its creator, no matter how illogical the solution may be. The point is that there should be one solution that is obviously better than the rest [or at least as good as the rest, or have a measure of wit to it, etc. etc.]. Even those who miss the answer should be able to comprehend why it works after it is given.
plus its just a riddle its suppose to be fun dont take it personal if you were wrong, plain and simple.
Nobody is taking it personally. We just don't agree with OP's proffered solution. People are so socially fragile these days - if you disagree with them on any point, no matter how small [or trivial, like this one], it is taken as a personal affront. Sorry, but the rest of the world was not put here to be your 'yes-men'.
24 Sep 07
80-Originally posted by c00ushion1. 5
Riddle number 1: How many times can you subtract the number 5 from 25?
Riddle number 2: If there are three oranges and you take away two, how many will you have?
Riddle number 3: Sabrina gave Samantha as many dollars as Samantha started out with.
Samantha then gave Sabrina back as much as Sabrina had left.
Sabrina then gave Samantha as ba ...[text shortened]... 0.00.
How much did Sabrina and Samantha have at the beginning of their exchange?
Goodluck
2. 2
3. 80