Brain teaser thread

[Urban Ranger]

Okay, the rules are simple. I'll post a brain teaser. You're all welcome to post your attempts. The first one who gets it right gets to post a new one.

All right, here's mine:

A lawyer friend of yours called you up with a problem. One of his clients had died and he was appointed to be the executor of his will. The will stipulated that seven gold mines are to be distributed to the three sons so that the eldest son gets 1/2, the second one gets 1/2 of the rest, and the third gets 1/2 of the rest. The mines cannot be sold and each mine can be only given to one of the sons.

So how would you help your friend with distributing the mines?

[loinburger]

Buy an 8th gold mine, give 4 mines to the first son, 2 mines to the second son, and 1 mine to the third son, then sell back (or keep, or dispose of, whatever) the 8th and final gold mine.

[walruskkkch]

THe lawyer screws them all and takes the mines for himself.

[Urban Ranger]

Splendid, loin. Your turn.

[loinburger]

I got it? Hot damn.

Okay, I don't know many brain teasers (at least not ones that have a solution: "A father has five sons (or maybe it's four?), he wants to divide up his land evenly between the five sons, the property of each son must touch the property of all four of his brothers (corners don't count), how do you divide up the land"), but I know a coupla riddles:

Two bodies have I, though both joined in one
The more still I stand, the quicker I run.

What am I?

Fair warning, I'll be AFK for a bit, gotta go shovel some dirt. Wutang.

[Stefu]

Two bodies have I, though both joined in one
The more still I stand, the quicker I run.

Conjoined twins in a world where 'quicker' means 'slower'!

[loinburger]

Nope, redefining words ain't allowed.

[DaShi]

A walking clock!

[November Adam]

Is it a body of water?

edit

rather 2 bodies of water joined by a canal, when tipped up it forms a waterfall.

[loinburger]

No to both.

[November Adam]

its an hourglass!

[November Adam]

If I got it someone else post cause baby is fussing.

[loinburger]

Yup.

[loinburger]

Originally posted by November Adam
If I got it someone else post cause baby is fussing.

I nominate Stefu, who gave the first wrong answer. I've gotta go pick up my car and move dirt in a minute here.

[Stefu]

Who, me? Awe-inspiring! Hmm... I'll go with one (I think) I first heard from here.

There's this evil magician, see, and he abducts a bunch of gnomes. 12 gnomes, to be precise. He then gives each one a hat. Either a red hat or a blue hat. 6 red hats and 6 blue hats, all in all. He ties the gnomes' hands behind their backs and instucts them to form a line. Like this:



...with meaning gnome with a blue hat and meaning a gnome with a red hat, obviously.

If the gnomes can't manage to form a line like that he'll KILL THEM ALL! BWAHAHAHA! To make things worse, the gnomes can't speak to each other (Or they'll all get killed), communicate with each other in any other way (or they'll all get killed) or in any way try to figure out what color hat they're wearing (they don't know it themselves, and cunning plans like tipping the head so the hat falls result to mass gnome death.) They know what kind of hats the other gnomes wear, though.

How do the gnomes manage to avoid certain death? No, they can't kill the magician or anything like that, you smartaleck. Only way they can get out of the certain death is to form a line like that.