See if you can solve this riddle. Damnit -- I need a bigger brain!

[Fluidic]

3 business men walk into a hotel, and they ask for a room. The boy at the till says ok that comes to $30. So each of the men pay $10 and then they go to their room.

Shortly after they leave, the hotel manager comes downstairs and asks the boy at the desk "did you charge those men $30?"

The boy answers "yes, why?"

"Because we have a special this week and the room is only $25"

Then he goes to the till and takes out 5 loonies and gives it to the boy and says: "go to their room and give them the money back."

The boy goes upstairs and knocks on their door, when they answer the door he gives each of the 3 men a dollar, happy that they paid less for the room they let the boy keep the last 2 dollars as a tip.

Now is the tricky part.......if each of the 3 men paid only $9 for the room and the boy kept $2, then where did the other dollar go?

9 x 3 = 27
plus the $2 tip

[Fluidic]

hahahahahahaha, so it's not just me, you're stumped too eh! lol

Peter

[speedracer]

That's an old riddle...

[RGAGT]

Ah Crap I've heard this one before and I can't remember the answer

[Hakkola]

they paid 30, he gave back 3, 1 to each, it's 27, keeps 2, it's 25. disregard the 9 X 3

[ScCab]

You're not trying to find the thirty dollars - you're trying to find twenty five dollars - the 3 guys paid thirty, minus the 3 they got back, minus the 2 in the bellboy's pocket - you're not supposed to add them when he gives it back because it's still part of the same thirty.
OR to put it another way: The room only cost 25 bucks so they paid 25/3= $8.33, not $10. They got $1 back each so all together they paid $9.33 times 3= $28. The worker guy gets $2 so it becomes $30.

The trick is the math problem is worded so it mixes outlay (what they paid) and income (what they got back) in such a way as to make the problem unsolvable without stating it in a different way. Con men have used this trick for over a hundred years to get store owners and cashiers to give them the wrong (too much) change.

[Fluidic]

Wow. We have some smart cookies on this site -- lol -- I really do need a bigger brain, I wouldn't have thought of it like that. :shocked:

Peter

[Ben]

havent you seen this riddle before? I remember learning riddle deduction on this exact riddle in Ms Rebeccos Grade 3 class.

[4G63Power]

Originally posted by Ben
havent you seen this riddle before? I remember learning riddle deduction on this exact riddle in Ms Rebeccos Grade 3 class.

This is quite the oldie...if i'm not mistaken it was actually in one of my elementary text books.

[Ben]

Originally posted by 4G63Power


This is quite the oldie...if i'm not mistaken it was actually in one of my elementary text books.

FD must have been on an extended Recess or somethin and missed this one.

[Hakkola]

haha, i don't ever remember having this question, might of been just in one version of the textbook.