I can't figure out this riddle

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z105

Guest
3 Men Go Into A Hotel. The Man Behind The Desk Said The Room Is £30.00 So

Each Man Paid £10.00 And Went To The Room.

A While Later The Man Behind The Desk Realized The Room Was Only £25.00

So He Sent The Bellboy To The 3 Guys' Room With £5.00

On The Way The Bellboy Couldn't Figure Out How To Split £5.00 Evenly

Between 3 Men, So He Gave Each Man A £1.00 And Kept The Other £2.00 For

Himself.

This Meant That The 3 Men Each Paid £9.00 For The Room, Which Is A Total

Of £27.00, Add The £2.00 That The Bellboy Kept = £29.00

Where Is The Other Pound?
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Havealaugh said:

This Meant That The 3 Men Each Paid £9.00 For The Room, Which Is A Total

Of £27.00, Add The £2.00 That The Bellboy Kept = £29.00

Where Is The Other Pound?
Click to expand...
In the beginning:

Man behind desk has £0
Bellboy has £0
Guest 1 has £10
Guest 2 has £10
Guest 3 has £10
Total £30

At the end

Man behind desk has £25
Bellboy has £2
Guest 1 has £1
Guest 2 has £1
Guest 3 has £1
Total £30

In the end each guest paid £9 for the room = £27 and they each have £1 in their pockets. Total €30.

Of the £27 paid for accommodation the man behind the desk has £25 and the bellboy has stolen £2.

The £27 paid includes the £2 stolen by the bellboy and ignores the £3 that the three guests still have.
 
Yes, this is an old chestnut ........ like switching the suitcase. When you get to totting up you use mental sleigh of hand ........ substituting a plus for a minus ....... a minus for a plus. 3 x 9 = 27 ....... here you should subtract the 2 that the bellhop swiped and add that (plus the 1 x 3) = 30.
 
ClubMan said:
In the beginning:

Man behind desk has £0
Bellboy has £0
Guest 1 has £10
Guest 2 has £10
Guest 3 has £10
Total £30

At the end

Man behind desk has £25
Bellboy has £2
Guest 1 has £1
Guest 2 has £1
Guest 3 has £1
Total £30

In the end each guest paid £9 for the room = £27 and they each have £1 in their pockets. Total €30.

Of the £27 paid for accommodation the man behind the desk has £25 and the bellboy has stolen £2.

The £27 paid includes the £2 stolen by the bellboy and ignores the £3 that the three guests still have.
Click to expand...

That is only partially correct in my book.
i.e. your accounts of how the 30 is totalled both before and after the transaction is correct

However your line below is incorrect:
"In the end each guest paid £9 for the room = £27 and they each have £1 in their pockets. Total €30."

THE 9 they have paid out takes into account the 1 they have in their pocket
i.e. the 9 is net (i..e 10 paid out - 1 received back)

Also - your line above doesnt take into account the 2 the bellboy has.
If you included that you would have had 32.

Therefore these should not be added.

The thing with this riddle is the phrasing suggests you should be trying to get a total of 30 - it attempts this by adding the 27 and the 2 - but this gets 29 - which obviously is not 30.

However - what you should be doing is trying to reach 25 - not 30.
This is done by subtracting teh 2 from teh 27 to get 25.

i.e. The net outgoings should be 25.

Therefore
Net Outgoings = Gross outgoing - gross incomings
Or 25 = Gross outgoing - gross incomings
=> 25 = 30 - 5
However - the 5 is made up of the 3 they got back and the 2 the bellboy took
i.e. the 2 shoudl also have been theirs but teh bellboy took it instead.
Otherwise it too would have been included as an incoming.

To sum up - the riddle adds 27 and 2 trying to get 30.
It should in fact be looking to reach 25.
This is done by subtracting 2 from the 27.
 
qwertyuiop said:
However your line below is incorrect:
"In the end each guest paid £9 for the room = £27 and they each have £1 in their pockets. Total €30."

THE 9 they have paid out takes into account the 1 they have in their pocket
i.e. the 9 is net (i..e 10 paid out - 1 received back)

Also - your line above doesnt take into account the 2 the bellboy has.
If you included that you would have had 32.
Click to expand...
You are correct and I am wrong in this instance.
 
While were at it i have a good one.

A statistician is doing a survey in an area.

He knocks on a door and asks the man who answers how many kids he has and what ages they are.
The man says he has 3 kids and the product of their ages is 36 and that the sum of their ages is equal to the number of his house (At this points he points to teh number on teh door for the statistician to see)

Teh statistician goes away and thinks about it and comes back to say he has not been given enough information.
Throughout all this both men can hear someone playing the piano.

At this point the man poiints upstairs and says "That is my eldest playing the piano" upon which the statistician then knows the ages of teh children.

WHat age are the kids?
 
I know what teh answer is.

3, 3, 4

We know one child is older than teh other two. The product must equal 36, so by brute force; 3x3x4 = 36
 
How is my answer incorrect?
Three ages, with product of 36, one number greater than teh others. Where does it fall over?
 
leghorn said:
How is my answer incorrect?
Three ages, with product of 36, one number greater than teh others. Where does it fall over?
Click to expand...

Trying to answer that may give it away.

But anyway - Your answer would mean the number of teh house was 10.

In that scenario, why woud the statistician have to come back saying he didnt have enough info?
He would have had enough info in teh first visit.

The question you have to ask yourself is under what circumstances would the statistician have to come back looking for more info?
 
leghorn said:
I know what teh answer is.

3, 3, 4

We know one child is older than teh other two. The product must equal 36, so by brute force; 3x3x4 = 36
Click to expand...
Based on your logic 2 x 3 x 6 would work equally well. Or any other three factors of 36!
 
In that scenario, why woud the statistician have to come back saying he didnt have enough info?
Click to expand...
Ah, so we need an answer where the house number can only be added up multiple ways.

2, 2, 9 is the answer.
The sum is 13.

He had to get more info because 1, 6, 6 also works, but there has to be one eldest.
 
I've seen this problem stated differently and mentioning the house opposite. Are you sure that you have it right above?
 
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