1. A woman recently widowed, following the death of her husband, was explaining to a police officer that her husband was watching a programme on the evening of his death about the Beast of Bodmin Moor. Afterwards, she explained, he had a nightmare in which he was being chased down a hill by a black panther-like creature. The husband was tossing and turning so violently through his nightmare, she said, that he rolled off the edge of the bed and died instantly from concussion. The police officer saw evidence that the husband had taken a knock to the head, but why was he still not convinced by the widow’s account of the story?
2. Two men were drinking in a pub when two women walked in. One man looked around and said, “I have to go, my wife and daughter are here”. The second man also looks around and says, “I have to go, my wife and daughter are here”. How is this possible?
3. In a cage of parrots, each of the female parrots can see an equal number of female and male parrots, but each male parrot sees twice as many females as male parrots. How many parrots are there in total?
4. Sitting in a café one day, Dan complains to the waiter that there’s a fly in his tea. The waiter takes the cup of tea away, promising to replace it with a fresh one, and returns a few moments later. Dan tastes the tea and complains that this was his original cup of tea with the fly removed. He was right, but how could he have known?
5. Bill and Bob attempt to swim back to shore after their boat capsizes whilst out on a fishing trip. Bill is nearly saved, but Bob is nearly drowned. Who is the more grateful?
Answers:
1. The woman would not have known what her husband was dreaming about since he would not have been able to tell her before he died.
2. The two men had married each other’s daughter, so when both daughters turned up to meet the men together, they were both daughter to one and wife to the other.
3. Seven – Four female and three male.
4. Dan had sweetened the original cup of tea with sugar. When he tasted the replacement and found it to be sweet also, he knew the waiter had tried to pull a fast one.
5. Bob is since he’s the one who survived. Bill, who was nearly saved, didn’t quite make it however.
