A nice easy one this week….
A bottle and a cork together cost $1.10. The bottle costs $1.00 more than the cork. How much does the cork cost?
As ever, please do NOT post your answers, but do say if you think you have solved the puzzle and how long it took. Solution on Monday.
I have produced an ebook containing 101 of the previous Friday Puzzles! It is called PUZZLED and is available for the Kindle (UK here and USA here) and on the iBookstore (UK here in the USA here). You can try 101 of the puzzles for free here.
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January 27, 2012 at 8:35 am |
Easy one
January 27, 2012 at 8:35 am |
From [wrong answer] to “oh, wait, [right answer] took a second or two.
January 27, 2012 at 8:36 am |
The puzzle is why is the answer not 10c!
January 29, 2012 at 5:30 am
that would be 1.20
January 27, 2012 at 8:36 am |
Yes, easy
January 27, 2012 at 8:37 am |
2seconds, the easiest puzzle here.
January 27, 2012 at 8:37 am |
At last, one I get straight away!!!
January 27, 2012 at 8:38 am |
I think I got it, but my answer would be too easy… if it is the right answer, though, it took me barely a second. But I fear there’s a trap somewhere…
January 27, 2012 at 8:38 am |
Simple mathematics. Done in 15 secs.
January 27, 2012 at 8:38 am |
Got it in a minute or so, unless I’m missing some twist.
January 27, 2012 at 9:34 am
There’s definitely no twist (unless you count the corkscrew) because it’s a cork, not a screw-top!
That joke was lame, I know, but I couldn’t resist.
January 27, 2012 at 8:39 am |
Easy indeed.
January 27, 2012 at 8:39 am |
Classic… Takes 5 seconds
January 27, 2012 at 8:48 am
Indeed it does
January 27, 2012 at 8:40 am |
Way too quick. I must be wrong
January 27, 2012 at 8:41 am |
Why in the psychology [a sub. for an explitive] would one’s initial reaction be the obviously wrong answer?!!
January 27, 2012 at 1:57 pm
Because of the set up. With any other beginning amounts other than $1.00 and $1.10, your brain would not have gone where it did. If the initial numbers were 60 cents and 90 cents, you would have had to figure it out rather than try to answer intuitively.
January 27, 2012 at 8:43 am |
‘Ten… ohwait, no… [answer]‘ I normally don’t get them this fast, I love easy puzzles!
January 27, 2012 at 8:44 am |
What a cheap bottle! I wouldn’t waste 10 seconds on it…
January 27, 2012 at 1:13 pm
He didn’t say there was anything in the bottle…
January 27, 2012 at 8:45 am |
Easy but good one.
January 27, 2012 at 8:55 am |
Seconds, maybe 5 seconds?
January 27, 2012 at 10:21 am
aha. I see what you did there..
January 27, 2012 at 9:00 am |
Cool, simultaneous equations. That’s for 7 year olds.
And you thought you’d never use algebra again.
January 27, 2012 at 9:57 am
I would consider that an insult to 7-year-olds. They would rather solve it using common (maths) sense rather than tiresome SEs.
January 27, 2012 at 9:09 am |
Easy one, in 5 seconds.
I had already solved a similar problem
January 27, 2012 at 9:11 am |
Took me a minute, but then if I was a bit more wide awake this morning my schoolboy algebra would have have been twice as fast.
January 27, 2012 at 9:18 am |
A couple of weeks ago there was no answer.
This week there is no puzzle!!
January 27, 2012 at 9:20 am |
Way too easy, I got it in a few seconds then spent ages looking for a twist.
January 27, 2012 at 9:22 am |
This is one of those questions which is only of interest in the situation that you have only a second or two to answer it. As psychologist and Economics Nobel Laureate Daniel Kahneman points out in his superb new book, Thinking, Fast and Slow, it is astonishing how many apparently highly intelligent people – 50% of students at MIT, Harvard and Princeton apparently – get this one wrong if they have to give an instant answer.
January 27, 2012 at 9:24 am |
Few seconds. Had to write it out (taking longer) as my mental arithmetic’s rusty but yeah, purty simples
January 27, 2012 at 9:25 am |
Ask somebody to give an instant answer and you’ll probably get something different to what they get with a few more seconds to ponder it. That’s probably the point of the question.
January 27, 2012 at 9:31 am |
Even I could get that one! I think. Did I forget about tax or something? Or is it that since it’s a bottle of wine the cork comes with it?
My mind is about to explode from such a pedestrian question …
Damn you again, Richard Wiseacre!
January 27, 2012 at 9:38 am |
The solution is too easy. It took longer to un-cork the bottle!
January 27, 2012 at 9:48 am |
easy and tricky
January 27, 2012 at 10:01 am |
Nice and easy. 5 seconds total with mental calculations. I liked it
January 27, 2012 at 10:07 am |
Easy – this was on the BBC a few weeks ago.
January 27, 2012 at 10:09 am |
I like it – just tempts you nicely into wanting to give the wrong answer.
January 27, 2012 at 10:21 am |
Where’s the puzzle? I knew the answer straight away, because it’s obvious. Now that I have read the comments, I’m trying to work out why some people might have thought one answer and then changed to another.
January 27, 2012 at 10:24 am
I think people initially forget the “more than the cork” bit and assume the value quoted is that of the bottle.
January 27, 2012 at 10:22 am |
Initially jumped to the wrong answer, thought “that’s too easy!”, re-read the question, and came up with an alternative solution.
January 27, 2012 at 10:27 am |
Thought it was a trick question, but no, it really was that easy.
January 27, 2012 at 10:34 am |
easy one this week.
got the fast answer, and then the correct one
January 27, 2012 at 10:51 am |
Me too, first the obvious answer (obviously wrong) – well, 10 seconds for the right…
January 27, 2012 at 11:10 am |
Satisfying lurch from wrong answer to right in a few seconds.
January 27, 2012 at 11:28 am |
A quint-essentially good solution.
January 27, 2012 at 11:40 am |
The puzzle is how to get it wrong.
January 27, 2012 at 11:49 am |
Because the dollar was falling dramatically at the time of the puzzle, the answer is £2.53
Seriously, this one was really easy (and really really old)
January 27, 2012 at 12:07 pm |
For $1.05 a bottle, it must be really awful wine
January 27, 2012 at 12:13 pm
I think he bought the bottle and the cork on a budget airline. You’d have to pay more if you want the wine to fill it!
January 27, 2012 at 2:30 pm
Actually, it’s a fairly normal price for an empty bottle, if you order them in bulk. He didn’t mention wine, did he?
January 27, 2012 at 12:07 pm |
Very easy, seen it before as well. I actually have a friend who simply doesn’t get it, and insists that the answer is wrong. I’ve tried to explain it to him, but there’s something fundamental wrong somewhere in his epistemology or perhaps the semantics of his parsing… who knows?
January 27, 2012 at 12:07 pm |
That’s a very old one. First read this around 20 years ago.
January 27, 2012 at 2:31 pm
That explains the price!
January 27, 2012 at 12:12 pm |
It’s very easy but a bit tricky as the first impulse is probably wrong. Nice one!
January 27, 2012 at 12:59 pm |
3 seconds
January 27, 2012 at 1:08 pm |
Next on our 6th grade algebra test, two trains leave Chicago and New York at 3 PM, heading towards each other…
January 27, 2012 at 1:58 pm
NOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooo!!!!
January 27, 2012 at 1:27 pm |
a man on the westbound train is flicking pistachio shells out of the window every 23 seconds, whilst a girl on the eastbound train…..
January 27, 2012 at 1:28 pm |
easy one ! except if I didn’t see the trap
jcb
January 27, 2012 at 2:14 pm |
Finally! One I can do without any cheating!
Have to admit that even on this one, the first thing that popped into my head was wrong, but it only took a few seconds to realize it.
January 27, 2012 at 2:21 pm |
Yep, so easy I’m wondering what I did wrong.
January 27, 2012 at 2:24 pm |
I saw the obvious trap so pretty sure I’ve got it.
January 27, 2012 at 2:40 pm |
Took as long as it took to read the question.
But now I’m worried about references to the “trap” and suchlike.
January 27, 2012 at 2:44 pm |
LOL. Got it. A little sixth grade math.
January 27, 2012 at 3:39 pm |
2 seconds…if I’m right.
January 27, 2012 at 4:24 pm |
Seconds. But it sounds familiar and I guess I’ve seen it before in some form.
January 27, 2012 at 5:10 pm |
Seconds, and I’m right.
January 27, 2012 at 5:52 pm |
Feel a bit of a bottled up guinea pig on this one? Took a few seconds…
January 27, 2012 at 5:54 pm |
Less than half a minute, including a pen and paper check. Too easy, I really hope there’s a catch!
January 27, 2012 at 5:58 pm |
had the answer at the end of reading the question.
January 27, 2012 at 6:10 pm |
Assuming there’s not some special deal for buying bottle and cork together, I’ll admit, I’m struggling (as usual). If it wasn’t for people getting it so easily, I’d be inclined to think this was a trick question – damn my tiny brain!?
January 27, 2012 at 6:12 pm
Yeah, posted to quickly, another few seconds and all became clear!?
January 27, 2012 at 6:12 pm |
Easy Peasy; fastest solution time without already seeing the question before (about 2 seconds).
January 27, 2012 at 6:21 pm |
Solved it in 5 seconds
January 27, 2012 at 11:39 pm |
about a minute. but I’m at work, dammit, and I have a lot of things to do.
January 28, 2012 at 12:42 am |
This one has been around awhile. Nevertheless, I like this kind of puzzle, tricky but not terribly difficult.
January 28, 2012 at 2:16 am |
It took about three times as long to convince myself that the obvious answer was wrong as it did to come up with the right answer.
January 28, 2012 at 3:08 am |
20 seconds.
January 28, 2012 at 5:52 am |
Seen it before, but did the algebra just to make sure.
-Matt
January 28, 2012 at 5:54 am |
Seen it before, but did the algebra just to make sure. About a minute to verify.
-Matt
January 28, 2012 at 6:11 am |
Still busy promoting Paranormality, Richard? The old bat and ball question from psychology tests, really?
January 28, 2012 at 7:46 am |
If only my kids enjoyed algebra this much
January 28, 2012 at 8:55 am |
The hints gave it away. How many seconds?
January 28, 2012 at 8:56 am |
I was in a restaurant once and two people at the next table were having a big argument about this because they couldn’t work it out. They got so loud and annoying that I went and told them the answer.
January 29, 2012 at 1:06 am |
I wouldn’t give this test a nickle… hey wait!!
January 29, 2012 at 1:30 am |
It’s amusing how many people would automatically assume from the question, when the answer is no where in the question.
Also, I noticed something with how, at least in my case, the brain works: How many people, in answering to themselves, said the price of the cork AND the bottle? You only need one but it’s an automatic reaction.
January 29, 2012 at 3:30 am |
Got this one immediately or rather I remembered it immediately. I must have heard it about 60 years ago.
January 29, 2012 at 3:52 am |
3/8000th of a second.
January 29, 2012 at 7:08 am |
I’ll give you a nickel if you can come up with a better one next week. Really, this was like a 3rd grade “Word Problem” for math homework.
–Dave
January 29, 2012 at 2:47 pm |
1 m and 45 seconds