Did you get them right?
1. You have 12 black socks and 12 white socks mixed up in a drawer. You’re up very early and it’s too dark to tell them apart. What’s the smallest number of socks you need to take out (blindly) to be sure of having a matching pair?
Answer: 3 socks. If the first sock is black, the second one could be black, in which case you have a matching pair. If the second sock is white, the third sock will be either black and match the first sock, or white and match the second sock.
2. By moving one of the following digits, make the equation correct. 62 – 63 = 1
Answer: 26 – 63 = 1 (In other words, 2×2x2×2x2×2, which equals 64)
3. A rooster lays an egg at the very top of a slanted roof. Which side is the egg going to roll off on?
Answer: Neither, roosters don’t lay eggs.
4. I am the owner of a pet store. If I put in one canary per cage, I have one bird too many. If I put in two canaries per cage, I have one cage too many. How many cages and canaries do I have?
Answer: Four canaries and three cages. If you put one canary in each cage, you have an extra bird without a cage. However, if you put two canaries in each cage then you have two canaries in the first cage, two canaries in the second cage and an extra cage.
5. I’ve got teeth, but I can’t bite. I am the guardian of your house. You won’t leave home, or come home, without me. I’m not loyal: leave me behind, and I’ll let the next man enter. What am I?
Answer: The key to your house.