The following puzzlers have been collected over the years from various sources.  If you, as a reader, discover that one of these is your original creation or is copy writed please email me and I will be happy to give credit where credit is due.

  Four Women on a Bridge:

Four women must cross a bridge over a deep ravine in enemy territory in the middle of the night.  The treacherous bridge will hold only two women at once and it is necessary to carry a lantern while crossing.  Persons must stay together while crossing.  One of the women requires 5 minutes for the crossing, one takes 10 minutes, a third requires 20 minutes, and the last takes 25 minutes.  Each of them can walk slower if necessary but no faster.  Unfortunately they have only one lantern among them.  How can they make the crossing if they have only 60 minutes before the bridge is destroyed?

(NO!  You cannot carry anyone, nor can you toss the lantern, nor can you only go half way.)

   Chip and Dale

Chip and Dale collected 32 acorns on Monday and stored them with their acorn supply.  after Chip fell asleep, Dale ate half the acorns.  This pattern continued through Friday night, with 32 acorns being added and half the supply being eaten.  On Saturday morning, Chip counted the acorns and found that they had only 35.  With how many acorns had they started on Monday?

    Lily Pad

A lily pad doubles in size each day.  On the 36th day the entire lake becomes covered.  How many days did it take to cover half the lake?

   Apples and Oranges

Three boxes are labeled APPLES, ORANGES, and APPLES AND ORANGES.  All three boxes are labeled incorrectly, although the contents truly are apples, oranges, and apples and oranges.  You pick a box and pull out one fruit and look at it.  How can you pick a box and determine the proper contents of all three boxes?

   Party

Five couples (traditional husband and wife) gather at a party.  One of the individuals is a mathematician (not critical to the solution) and notices people shaking hands.  It is apparent that no one shakes hands with their spouse or themselves.  The mathematician asks everyone at the party how many hands they shook, and everyone gives the mathematician a different answer.  How many hands did the mathematician's spouse shake?

   Bolts

A manufacturer packages bolts in 10 identical boxes.  Nine of the boxes contain bolts that weigh 15 grams each and one of the boxes contains bolts that weigh 16 grams each.  All of the bolts look alike, and many bolts are in each box--although not necessarily the same number in each box.  Identify a method for determining the box containing the 16 gram bolts in exactly one weighing.