SOLUTIONS ARE AT THE BOTTOM.

  Idiot, n
    A member of a large and powerful tribe whose influence in human
  affairs has always been dominant and controlling.
                  -- Ambrose Bierce, "The Devil's Dictionary"

   1) The Elder Twin
   One day Kerry celebrated her birthday.  Two days later her older twin
   brother, Terry, celebrated his birthday.  How come?
   **********************

   2) Manhole Covers
   Why is it better to have round manhole covers than square ones?

   **********************

   3) The Deadly Party
   A man went to a party and drank some of the punch.  He then left early.
   Everyone else at the party who drank the punch subsequently died of
   poisoning.  Why did the man not die?
   **********************

   4) Heaven
   A man died and went to Heaven.  There were thousands of other people
   there.
   They were all naked and all looked as they did at the age of 21.  He
   looked around to see if there was anyone he recognised.  He saw a couple,
   and he knew immediately that they were Adam and Eve.  How did he know?
   **********************

   5) Sons
   A woman had two sons who were born on the same hour of the same day of the
   same year.  But they were not twins.  How could this be so?
   **********************

   6) The man in the Elevator
   A man lives on the tenth floor of a building.  Every day he takes the
   elevator to go down to the ground floor to go to work or to go shopping.
   When he returns, he takes the elevator to the seventh floor and walks
   up the stairs to reach his apartment on the tenth floor.  He hates
   walking, so why does he do it?

   **********************

   7) The Man in the Bar
   A man walks into a bar and asks the barman for a glass of water.  The
   barman pulls out a gun and points it at the man.  The man says 'Thank you'
   and walks out.  Why?

   This puzzle has claims to be the best of the genre.  It is simple in its
   statement, absolutely baffling, and yet with a completely satisfying
   solution.  Most people struggle very hard to solve this one, yet they
   like the answer when they hear it or have the satisfaction of figuring
   it out.
   ******************************************************************































   ******************************************************************
   SOLUTIONS:
   1) At the time she went into labor, the mother of the twins was
   traveling east by ship in the Pacific Ocean.  The older twin, Terry, was
   born first, early on March 1st.  The ship then crossed the International
   Date line and Kerry, the younger twin, was born on February the 28th.
   In a leap year, the younger twin celebrates her birthday two days before
   her older brother.

   2) A square manhole cover can be turned and dropped down the diagonal of the
   manhole.  A round manhole cannot be dropped down the manhole.  So for safety
   and practicality, all manhole covers should be round.

   3) The poison in the punch came from the ice cubes.  When the man drank the
   punch, the ice was fully frozen.  Gradually it melted, poisoning the punch.

   4) He recognized Adam and Eve as the only people without navels.  Because
   they were not born of women, they had never had umbilical cords and
   therefore they never had navels.

   This one seems perfectly logical, but it can sometimes spark fierce
   theological arguments!

   5) They were two of a set of triplets (or quadruplets etc.)

   This simple little puzzle stumps many people.  They try outlandish
   solutions involving test-tube babies or surrogate mothers.  Why does the
   brain search for complex solutions when there is a much simpler one available?

 
   6) The man is (of course) a dwarf.  On rainy days, he uses his umbrella!

   Oh, wait a minute!  I just got it!  The buttons in the elevator, rather
   than being in two columns, are arranged in one long column.  The man
   can't reach past #7, without his umbrella, that is.

   7) The man had hiccups.  The barman recognized this from his speech and
   drew the gun in order to give him a shock.  It worked and cured the
   hiccups - so the man no longer needed the water.

   The is a simple puzzle to state but a difficult one to solve.  It is a
   perfect example of a seemingly irrational and incongruous situation
   having a simple and complete explanation.  Amazingly, this classic
   puzzle seems to work in different cultures and languages.




  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  You can be on the right track and still get hit by a train!