20/20

By Cornelia

Here are twenty questions to get your day started right. My mom learned these while working as a summer camp counselor on Squam Lake in the late Fifties:

1. You have two coins (U.S. currency), the total value of which is fifty-five cents. One of them is not a nickel. What are the two coins?

2. In South Dakota, is it legal for a man to marry his widow's sister?



3. A doctor gives you three pills and tells you to take one every half hour how many minutes will the pills last?



4. Do they have a Fourth of July in England?



5. Some months have thirty one days. How many have twenty eight?

6. You are inside a rectangular house, and all sides have a southern exposure. You look out the window and see a bear walking by. What color is the bear?

7. There are three apples and you take away two. How many apples do you have?



8. How many two-cent stamps are in a dozen?



9. How many birthdays does the average person have?



10. If you had only one match, and entered a dark room containing an oil lamp, some newspaper, and some kindling wood, which would you light first?

11. Imagine you are driving a bus. When you start your trip there are an old lady named Johnson and a long-haired kid on the bus. At the first stop the lady leaves and a businessman enters. At the next stop Frankie, a young boy, enters with his little sister. Then three old ladies who have been shopping in the mall get on. After a short trip the long-haired kid leaves the bus and a man and lady enter. Paul with his dog Blue gets on, while Frankie and his sister get off, and, finally, the bus arrives at the bus station. What is the name of the bus driver?



12. If Mr Smith's peacock lays an egg in Mr Jones' yard, who owns the egg?



13. What was the (American) President's name in 1960?

14. An electric train is moving north at 100kph and a wind is blowing to the west at 10kph. Which way does the smoke blow?

15. How many animals of each sex did Moses take with him on the ark?



16. How much dirt is there in a hole 3 ft deep, 6 ft long and 4 ft wide?

17. In a large western city, 80% of the phone numbers are listed, 20% of the phone numbers are businesses, and 20% of the phone numbers start with the numeral "2". If you were to take a random sample of 1000 phone numbers from the city's phone book, how many numbers would you expect to be unlisted, non-business phone numbers that start with a numeral other than "2"?


18. How far can a dog run into the woods?



19. A woman gives a beggar 50 cents; the woman is the beggar's sister, but the beggar is not the woman's brother, how come?



20. There is a horse tied to a rope. The rope is 10 feet long. There is a bale of hay 23 feet in front of the horse. The horse is able to eat the hay, yet does not break the rope. How is that possible?

Here's a bonus question:

21. A man walks into a train station in London. A cat sits on the ledge just outside the ticket window.



The man looks askes the ticket seller, "Manx cat?"

The ticket seller shakes his head and says, "No. 9:42 express."

Explain his answer.