Braingle: 'Go Ahead, Shoot' Brain Teaser

Go Ahead, Shoot

Mystery teasers are little stories where you need to figure out what happened based on the given clues.

Puzzle ID:	#17735
Fun:	(3.19)
Difficulty:	(1.77)
Category:	Mystery
Submitted By:	od-1
Corrected By:	MarcM1098

Pirate Pete had been captured by a Spanish general and sentenced to death by his 50-man firing squad.

Pete cringed, as he knew their reputation for being the worst firing squad in the Spanish military. They were such bad shots that they would often all miss their targets and simply maim their victims, leaving them to bleed to death, as the general's tradition was to only allow one shot per man to save on ammunition. The thought of a slow painful death made Pete beg for mercy.

"Very well, I have some compassion. You may choose where the men stand when they shoot you and I will add 50 extra men to the squad to ensure someone will at least hit you. Perhaps if they stand closer they will kill you quicker, if you're lucky," snickered the general. "Oh, and just so you don't get any funny ideas, they can't stand more than 20 ft away, they must be facing you, and you must remain tied to the post in the middle of the yard. And to show I'm not totally heartless, if you aren't dead by sundown I'll release you so you can die peacefully outside the compound. I must go now but will return tomorrow and see to it that you are buried in a nice spot, though with 100 men, I doubt there will be much left of you to bury."

After giving his instructions the general left. Upon his return the next day, he found that Pete had been set free alive and well. "How could this be?" demanded the general. "It was where Pete had us stand," explained the captain of the squad.

Where did Pete tell them to stand?

Answer

Pete told them to form a circle around him. All the squad was facing in at Pete, ready to shoot, when they realized that everyone who missed would likely end up shooting another squad member. So no one dared to fire, knowing the risk. Thus at sundown he was released.
Hide

What Next?

See another brain teaser just like this one...

Or, just get a random brain teaser

If you become a registered user you can vote on this brain teaser, keep track of
which ones you have seen, and even make your own.

Comments

Drakar Jun 01, 2004	Great, but easy.
unmellowyellow Jun 01, 2004	this one was very different, but i luv it alot!!! Keep up the good work!!!!
shortstopsmile Jun 02, 2004	Hahaha! I didn't even think of that one!
omahagirl Jun 04, 2004	very good, my idea was that Pete just stood behind the post and that the men firing would just hit the post or something else but not Pete. Really never thoguht of that answer, well it is past midnight. Anyway, great answer. Can't wait to read more of your teasers.
pianofox Jun 09, 2004	Great teaser! I love it. It's definitely on my favorite list.
aPlatinum Jun 23, 2004	Great teaser! it made me think, but the answer was so obviously simple
username Jul 29, 2004	Wow, for some reason I couldn't figure out the answer. But then when I read it, it was so simple.
Taya Aug 27, 2004	very nice one, a bit long i must say i thought that there was a big pile of rocks infront so they would shoot them, or something like it was next to a beach so the fireing squad were in the water and their guns wouldnt work
Drunky Oct 11, 2004	This was a great one. I thought he had them stand behind each other so only the first one would dare shoot him
I_am_the_Omega Oct 18, 2004	...Umm, if they formed a circle, they wouldn't all be facing him, some of them would be unable to hit him because of the post :-\
Tongue-Twister Oct 31, 2004	Oh my gosh, Omega. I liked this one. It's going on to my favorites. I also thought as many others did that he would have them in a line behind his post so they'd shoot the post, not him. I really liked this one. OD-1 KEEP UP YOUR MYSTERY RIDDLES!!!!!!!!!!
alicewashere13 Jan 03, 2005	clever!!!
(user deleted) Jan 06, 2005	....pete in the center, others in concentric circles around him therefor insuring his being sheilded by the morons being shot at a 20 ft distance....or is it a differnent shape in your universe?
I_am_the_Omega Jan 08, 2005	Who exactly are you talking to...
God-sGrace2005 Jan 13, 2005	I love that it's so cool!!
Kollonel_Rabbit Jan 16, 2005	good one
i_am_sam007 Jan 23, 2005	Hehe. I loved it a lot. It was easy but a lot of fun. Thanx and keep em coming. Lataz!
hallabackbia76h Jan 28, 2005	WOW That was a good one!
Tree Feb 17, 2005	awe man. I had em lined up like bowling pins so that they would all shoot each other and maybe the front guy would miss.. but the circle is better of of course. when I think of a firing squad I always imagine a guy against a wall though.
freakydoughnut1 Mar 02, 2005	wonderful, i'm adding this to my favs
freakydoughnut1 Mar 02, 2005	wonderful, i'm adding this to my favs
freakydoughnut1 Mar 02, 2005	wonderful, i'm adding this to my favs
freakydoughnut1 Mar 02, 2005	wonderful, i'm adding this to my favs
freakydoughnut1 Mar 02, 2005	wonderful, i'm adding this to my favs
freakydoughnut1 Mar 02, 2005	wonderful, i'm adding this to my favs
freakydoughnut1 Mar 02, 2005	wonderful, i'm adding this to my favorites
freakydoughnut1 Mar 02, 2005	wonderful, i'm adding this to my favorites
freakydoughnut1 Mar 02, 2005	wonderful, i'm adding this to my favorites
BabyM Mar 03, 2005	I liked this one. I figured that they had formed the circle around Pete, but I thought that they'd just end up missing Pete and shooting each other dead before realizing what had happened. Good one!
rogue Mar 15, 2005	This was a good one...why?! because it was easy
freezequeen Mar 19, 2005	I think it was absolutely great!!! Very clever.
Braingirl Apr 25, 2005	have i mentioned that this is in my faves?
swarsbuff May 17, 2005	not the most creative thing i've ever seen, but probably better than i could do. Pretty cool.
darthforman May 19, 2005	Good one
Cat4romMars Jun 06, 2005	ooo, this one made me think a bit. Easy one but fun to solve!
cjenks Jun 22, 2005	That was really cute...made me LOL!
eslyconfused09 Aug 02, 2005	i liked it a lot but i was thinking TO hard about the answer... it was really simple
iblondhaha Aug 04, 2005	i liked it!!! - good job!!!
Royaltrecords Sep 10, 2005	Great job! This was very entertaining
AZTTT Sep 15, 2005	Good one. Very clever, that Pirate Pete. I thought maybe he would have them all stand on top of each other or in front of each other
kayleeskitties Sep 20, 2005	Excellent teaser. By far one of my favorites....
rkaaland Nov 14, 2005	kehe, I thought he would stand behind the post! Good one!! I like your plan better!
sunwalker Nov 21, 2005	sweet, baby!
boodler Nov 27, 2005	I thought he'd have them stand the other side of a wall; they'd still be within the General's specified distance!
mario128 Dec 03, 2005	im with boodler on this...
npf2005 Dec 17, 2005	suppose... but what if there wasnt a wall nearby?
choptlivva Dec 22, 2005	Very entertaining!! Going on my favs list!!
Tryer Jan 02, 2006	Thanks Boodler, the wall was my only thought too
metallicman Jan 16, 2006	I thought like drunky and said they were all standing in a line. It was an even better idea though. Great mystery OD.
brentrjones Jan 18, 2006	Another solution: Every soldier stands in a circle and points his gun at the person on his right (or left) but turns his face toward the man tied to the post. All fire at once and all die.
riddlelover Jan 30, 2006	HAH! That's great! I like! Very good! I was stumped!
Herman Feb 20, 2006	How about Pete telling them to stand on their head and shoot? This may have been said already, but I am not going to read all the above.
wizofaus Apr 24, 2006	Yep, I had it as standing on their heads too.
OldChinaHand Apr 28, 2006	Wasn't this an old 'Warsaw Pact Country starting with a "P" ' joke from the '70s?
kcheer2493 May 31, 2006	Very clever. Too much for me. Couldn't get it
PunnettSwears Jun 10, 2006	Easy, but creative and fun. Hope to see more from you.
BadBunnee02 Jul 19, 2006	Great teaser. Rated it tops.
cate88 Aug 01, 2006	This was really fun. I loved the story, and I was too curious about the answer to think about it for too long. Maybe I should be in another category... nah.
jsdodgers Jan 17, 2007	smart Pete
LeafFan4life Mar 06, 2007	vey easy
lukeschett Mar 15, 2007	Woohoo!!!! I got it.
Nicky101 Mar 31, 2007	I thought of the circle, but wouldn't one person have a clear shot at him? The person right in front of him, that is. Really funny, though .
celtic_knot Apr 22, 2007	He should have stood behind the poll, and have the men stand in a line, one after another. Then, only one man would shoot, and the others wouldn't want to hit the person before him, so the one person who would shoot would hit the poll. But nice job anyway!
FutureMD Jul 02, 2007	Very clever- I liked this one a lot.
wordlover Aug 28, 2007	i thought about having the men form a line within 20 feet of pete behind him, with their heads turned around facing him as they shot forward.
scallio Sep 12, 2007	Standing in a circle around Pete is my solution, but I believe they would go ahead and shoot since they were ordered to by their General. The answer is that because they recognize they are poor shots, they agree to fire in the air over the heads of their comrades, thereby missing Pete as well. They would not risk shooting one of their comrades by shooting toward Pete. Excellent teaser!
dudebomb93 Oct 11, 2007	i though they were told to stand behind something,great teaser!
aurorasg Oct 27, 2007	I thought they'd all be in a circle, like dominos, so that they'd shoot each other.
(user deleted) Nov 27, 2007	I thought he would have all of them stand on the exact same spot. They could never do it. In a circle, you are not "facing" each of them.
Icecream-Queen Nov 29, 2007	if I was Pete I would never think of that. clever. i obviously didn't get... but well done. i loved it!
adrianlvr1123 Jan 30, 2008	WOW!! ok now that's a riddle!1 Jeesh keep them comin. It wa sa bit long but awesome!! Now MAKE SOME MORE!! LOL!!!
newbie885 Feb 12, 2008	It made me think so much and i still got it wrong. Good teaser though
(user deleted) Jun 13, 2008	Pretty good teaser, I did feel though that the answer is a little bit presumptive in that not one man felt he could hit the pirate in one shot. Though Pete knew their reputation, did every single shooter feel the same way? If we state that all felt uneasy in the situation, we could also make the above argument.
AndrewWalker Jun 28, 2008	or they line up behind him
(user deleted) Jan 22, 2009	This solution leave Petes life to chance that someone will actually shoot, and the firing squad disobeyed an order by the general. The real solution to absolutely guarantee Pete not getting shot is to eliminate the chance of anyone actually shooting. So the answer to the question "where did Pete tell them to stand? is "On their heads"!
demylimbo Jun 05, 2009	I would definitey use this trick if i were caught and sentenced to death
nima_m Sep 14, 2009	nice , but too hard to guess !!!
royale-ninja Jul 23, 2012	i got few answers incl. this ...this is the best one
Benjiboo Nov 23, 2012	I think without looking at the answer the guards stand on the other side of the pole.