Braingle: 'The Club' Brain Teaser

The Club

Trick brain teasers appear difficult at first, but they have a trick that makes them really easy.

Puzzle ID:	#20169
Fun:	(3.19)
Difficulty:	(2.16)
Category:	Trick
Submitted By:	UTforever22
Corrected By:	smarty_blondy

A man wanted to get into a members only club so he hid and watched the guard at the door of the club house. The guard said a number to each member as they approached, and the member would respond with a number of their own. If the member responded with the correct number they were let in. If they responded incorrectly they were thrown out. One member came up to the door, the guard said twelve, and the member responded with six and was let in. Another member came to the door, the guard said six and the member responded with three and was let in. Believing he had heard enough, the reject went up to the guard. The guard said ten, and the reject said five, but was not let in. What should the reject have said?

Answer

He should have said three, the number of letters in the number the guard said.
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

IMCUL4E Jan 01, 2005	This was a good one. I didn't even think of it that way.
JFT1Heaven Jan 01, 2005	I didn't figure it out, but I thought is was awesome
oripoo Jan 02, 2005	he could have also said 4 if it was the absolute value of subtracting six from the number the gaurd said, but nice trick anyway
mnkelvr102 Jan 02, 2005	that was a good one!
punkygrl666 Jan 03, 2005	that was a good one!! and at first i thought it was stupid b/c i thought it was half!! very clever!!!
(user deleted) Jan 04, 2005	Excellent!
MyteriousDiva Jan 05, 2005	Very triky you little trickster you!
nodey2 Jan 06, 2005	Hey, that was cool. The absolute value thing was a neat idea, too.
(user deleted) Jan 13, 2005	it tooooooooo good
southernbby4 Jan 16, 2005	that was a good one . im adding it to my faves
(user deleted) Jan 22, 2005	THIS TEASER SUCKED! IT WAS THE WORST EVER! Just kidding....I loved it..Im adding it to my favorites as well!
nunya Jan 23, 2005	very clever!
Takua_Nui Jan 25, 2005	Good one! I had tried to come up with several long formulas, (not equivilent to halving it). And it turns out it had nothing to do with math
Atropus Feb 01, 2005	Congrats.. I just heard this teaser on the radio in New Zealand You're like famous or something ^_^ Nice concept and well put. Keep it up
mzpuddn Feb 10, 2005	LoL.......This Is A Good Teaser, Its Definitely One Of My Favorites
Tiggr Feb 10, 2005	I'm not sure, but I think that I may I have seen this same teaser on here before
NessMW1 Feb 10, 2005	This was a very good one. I liked it alot and I'm going to fool alot of people with it.
BrenBeadSP Feb 10, 2005	Darn, now why didn't I think of that? I loved it, thanks.
sassysassy Feb 10, 2005	Most of the teasers on this site are so cheesy, this was actually a good one for once!
Fogweather Feb 10, 2005	Very nice! A good twist.
misstaurus21 Feb 10, 2005	I think that this teaser was very funny. At first it seems kind of hard to understand but once you think about it what it means comes to you.
tap_dancer Feb 10, 2005	I sat there for like ever trying to come up with the formula when it had hardly anthing to do with math! Good one you stumped me!
goog Feb 10, 2005	Pretty good. I thought the answer was eight. All the digits adding up to nine.
763ezileb Feb 10, 2005	good one ! i actually got it
94_8 Feb 10, 2005	I didn't figure it out. but it was a great teaser
stormtrooper Feb 10, 2005	pretty good.
melilyn Feb 10, 2005	oh, I had all sorts of math things going... didn't see that one coming, good job!
neofreak29 Feb 10, 2005	that was kinda cool.
xboxman Feb 10, 2005	super riddle. you made the best one i read so far
(user deleted) Feb 10, 2005	that was mad creative. i would have done the same thing that the person that wasn't aloud in did.
cookeechick05 Feb 10, 2005	This was a great teaser. I don't know y I din't think of that.
Bastet Feb 10, 2005	Clever!!!
nicisan Feb 11, 2005	Very nice-got it pretty quickly so am happy with myself. keep um coming..
almondgrief Feb 11, 2005	very nice
fuzzie277 Feb 11, 2005	Tough one for me, but obvious when see the answer. Unfortunately, I often miss the obvious.
sweetpeao4o3 Feb 13, 2005	how rude thumper! very nice teaser ok then rabid...
marigold Feb 22, 2005	I really liked that one. It is kind of obvious, but in a way it's kind of challenging.
emrmpr Feb 27, 2005	I've heard this in another riddle about a pet shop Anyway, this was hard and took me a while to figure out. Its going in my fav's
katiebeth123 Mar 08, 2005	THATS A GOOD ONE! GOOD STUFF
indian_dude Mar 10, 2005	brilliant teaser!!
y4n4 Mar 11, 2005	U got me there if i'm the man, i would say five too! Any a way cool and good one
y4n4 Mar 11, 2005	U got me there if i'm the man, i would say five too! Any a way cool and good one
kittyloverhan Mar 16, 2005	Whoa!That was tight!...How'd you think of that ???!!??! Amazing.
mefreakdancer1 Mar 16, 2005	I missed it never thought of it that way. i tried several math ways and never got it. thanks
iconofsin Mar 18, 2005	Not bad.
freezequeen Mar 24, 2005	That was neat Its definitely on my favorites list!
RTAtlanta Apr 01, 2005	Very good! I would have guessed 2. Double the number, then sum the digits: 122=24; 2+4=6 62=12; 1+2=3 10*2=20; 2+0=2 Nice twist!
RTAtlanta Apr 01, 2005	Very good! I would have guessed 2. Double the number, then sum the digits: 122=24; 2+4=6 62=12; 1+2=3 10*2=20; 2+0=2 Nice twist!
Katelin Apr 02, 2005	I actually got this one right, yay! Please make more like this one, I really liked it.
froggygg Apr 06, 2005	Very cute. It seems familiar in some way...when I read it I knew there was a catch and figured it out.
deadeye823 Apr 10, 2005	That was probably my favorite teaser yet!!!!! I cant beleive i got it either
lilwes2005 Apr 14, 2005	i like this teaser cause unlike a lot of teasers it make u think!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
brain_dead Apr 24, 2005	that was a good one i had to think about it for a moment
kcelf27 Apr 30, 2005	RTAtlanta...VERY SMART of you!!! I got this one right and it wasn't super way way easy. I feel kinda smart! THX
Question_Mark May 07, 2005	RTAtlanta's theory is very clever as well as the actual answer. I enjoyed it.
deadeye823 May 07, 2005	AWESOME!
destroythepeace May 08, 2005	Lol very smart didnt think of it that way! Luv Rachie
xsadclowneyezx May 09, 2005	lovely, i enjoyed this
darthforman May 11, 2005	This is good. BUT, it sounds kinda familiar...
rashad May 30, 2005	That was nice but as previously said there are many of this kind.
jennyheo Jun 02, 2005	lol good one, love it! ♥
babybabe1 Jun 08, 2005	i thought that the man had to say five and because thats what everyone else woz sayin.
trickyleprecaun Jun 19, 2005	i absolutely love this one! i told it to my math teacher and she loved it to! great trick!
zigthepig Jun 27, 2005	me mum or dad didn't geddit. neither did i. good 1.
gottalovetacsc Jul 11, 2005	That was a good one!!!!But I feel sorry for the reject...
MasterofTricks Jul 23, 2005	very tricky, i couldnt guess on this I like it
Kukmiester Jul 25, 2005	great teaser... going to my favs!!!
(user deleted) Sep 06, 2005	that wuz such a gud teaser
AZTTT Sep 14, 2005	keep them coming! Great one. Very clever!
TheEarthling Nov 20, 2005	Yes! I got it! That was really clever!
peppamintp Nov 30, 2005	Loved it.
Poseidon Dec 03, 2005	my favorite teaser here . I am still waiting to get the unreasonable 250 POINTS! YOU GOTTA BE KIDDIN ME! Nice job
Tarynng Dec 05, 2005	Awesome!!!
rkaaland Jan 24, 2006	Fun!!!!! good thinking, I had 2
bobbet Feb 10, 2006	o boy im last to comment Had me goin on that one thanx
churchlady Feb 10, 2006	Thanks - made me use my thinking cap.
OldChinaHand Feb 10, 2006	My brain hurts...good teaser.
Ouchy1 Feb 10, 2006	i gave it as half hard because i couldnt give it 3/4 hard. but it was really fun! good teaser, keep up the good work !
coachpisco Feb 10, 2006	Au contraire RABID, I thought the teaser was cleaver.
ragethe3rd Feb 10, 2006	Hmm I wouldnt have guessed that, very clever.
mimigolfer Feb 10, 2006	Very Good!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Vigo95 Feb 10, 2006	i thought that was great . iguess everybody else did too! i've never seen this many comments this early , it seems . my personal strategy was to stare at the riddle waiting for ESP to magically kick in . yeah , i gave up !
thimblenoggin Feb 10, 2006	I would have waited to hear more examples of right and hopefully wrong answers. The reject was a loser because he was impatient.
emmh Feb 10, 2006	Dastardly! Ten out of ten. Five out of five. Three out of three. Whatever. It was good and one I can remember to try out on my friends - see how bright THEY are. I didn't get it. Well done.
luckybrown Feb 10, 2006	Good one, man! Very cute.
southerngirl13 Feb 10, 2006	that was actually pretty good for once!!! good job
dodgerh8ter Feb 10, 2006	Excellent!!! I liked it a lot. Go Giants!
besamishuevos Feb 10, 2006	yaddah, yaddah, yaddah, blah blah blah
Vigo95 Feb 10, 2006	once again BESAMISHUEVOS has nothing good to say .
xolilangel827ox Feb 10, 2006	haha very good one!! i guess that was too obvious for me to see...i was trying to figure out a math equation for it!! great teaser..one of my favorites!!
stm8r1 Feb 10, 2006	By the way, oripoo, the absolute value of subtracting 6 from 6 does not give you 3 so your solution does not work. Better luck next time.
iminaaa Feb 10, 2006	I heared this riddle somewhere, so I knew what to look for, but it was still fun!
wuzzupp Feb 10, 2006	nice one i actually got it
doghouse270 Feb 10, 2006	THIS WAS AWSOME! I got it pretty qiuck but it was a-w-s-o-m-e-! keep em' coming!
jabdr Feb 10, 2006	Yea! I loved it! Only the 2nd or so to go into my favs!
luckythirteen Feb 10, 2006	you got me there!!!! it was a GREAT teaser! it's going on my favorites.
yesenia8rivera Feb 10, 2006	That was Great!
bisqueet814 Feb 10, 2006	SO TOTALLY AWESOME!
vlerma Feb 10, 2006	I loved it. Made me feel really stupid, but that's ok because the joke was on me. All the math ideas just didn't work. Makes me mad tho because spelling was always my best area. Duh. LOVED IT THO!!!
Trappersson Feb 10, 2006	pretty good, yeah. Puts the "gray matter" into motion, and we can all use that as a daily mental workout. Keep 'em comin'.
doka13 Feb 10, 2006	whoa, that was a head slapper... (You know where you slap yourself in the head when you hear the answer ) I guess sitting here staring at the computer didn't help me cuz i still didn't get the answer right. But it was definitley clever clever...
bluehawk Feb 10, 2006	THE LOGICAL ANSWER IS THREE. GEE..I'M GLAD I GOT IT RIGHT. I WOULDN'T WANT TO BE REJECTED. EXCELLENT UT. KEEP EM COMING.
riddlelover Feb 11, 2006	I was stuck somewhere on 1.5... hehehe...very good! Nice setting
mik512 Feb 20, 2006	nice i had it half-way through the story
Aquagirl182 Mar 18, 2006	tricky
maddiekate Apr 13, 2006	haha. i got it.
Battery Nov 02, 2006	excellent
Blondie116 Jan 24, 2007	LOVE IT
AbsurdHero Feb 10, 2007	Enjoyable, and not hard enough to frustrate. Good one.
coachpisco Feb 10, 2007	Very good. I enjoyed it.
puttumup Feb 10, 2007	bravo...very nice one. something finaly worth my time very clever..
doehead Feb 10, 2007	Very interesting. It took me all of 20 seconds to figure it out.
katjojo Feb 10, 2007	Cute!!
clickiss Feb 10, 2007	You got me good.. Shows I need to think outside the "box"..This is good for my brain but not so good for my pride..hahaha
arabiannights Feb 10, 2007	Geeez, that was coool, i got hang up
rambo67 Feb 10, 2007	Very good teaser. Super! Those characters who are negative or say it was simple need to come up with some that surpass yours.
bradon182001 Feb 10, 2007	Ya got me, too. Great teaser, good and tricky. I really liked this one.
auntiesis Feb 10, 2007	Boo for me! I gave up too soon. Very clever.
breathesunshine Feb 10, 2007	Duh, I didn't go for a lot of math because I knew it was going to be a trick but I just couldn't find it. Of course maybe if I had taken a little more time.....
campfirecutie Feb 10, 2007	Great teaser!! I would have guessed 5 but knew there was a trick to it so I took some time and finally figured it out! Good Job!!
alfred19 Feb 10, 2007	yesssssssssssssssssssssss i got it gd one m8
I_Write_Books Feb 10, 2007	Great Trick! Fooled me!
ViaTunisi Feb 10, 2007	This is a classic puzzle, but is written in a creative way so it's ok.
mmmcla01 Feb 10, 2007	Very clever!!!
rehtaeh Feb 10, 2007	that is very clever! I loved it Well done
Pizzazz2u Feb 10, 2007	Fantastic! I enjoyd it, thoroughly! Keep up the terrific work! I have ehard this before, but it still was a great one to be able to pull on a few friends!
masquerademe235 Feb 10, 2007	I really liked this one... it really makes you look at something simple other than math... nice teaser.
wordmama Feb 10, 2007	I recognized that I had read it before but STILL could not get the answer (sorry my apostrophe key is not working, so my syntax sounds even more stilted than usual!!!)
dachshund2k3 Feb 10, 2007	HAHAHA I GOT IT!!! sorry for caps lock, but great teaser!
phyllisa Feb 10, 2007	Didn't get it! Fun one though
tamjp Feb 10, 2007	Lateral thinking! That is what was needed here! You got me! I got caught up in the math! Good job!
tpkarth Feb 10, 2007	I got to 2, like RT Atlanta.
Shikamaru Feb 10, 2007	nice. seems like people came up with lots of diffent math ways to do it. i figured it must not be math, but didnt think of that. (i always think in #'s, not spelled out)
OldChinaHand Feb 10, 2007	A very good teaser...but you do have to think a bit. Well done.
wandering_goat Feb 10, 2007	Arghh, I didn't even try to think too hard about it since it was a "trick" question. Oh well. Lot's of ways to figure it out though. Wasn't this type of password system used in Monkey Island 2? Ahh, great game.
lmurray Feb 10, 2007	QUITE EASY, HOW DOES THIS TEASER QUAILFY AS A "TRICK," IT IS A LOGICAL ANSWER, NO TRICK OR DECEPTION INVOLVED. OldChinaHand** Feb 10, 2006 My brain hurts...good teaser.
akaAndy Feb 11, 2007	Another solution would be 8. In the first two the sum of the digits equaled 9 (1+2+6 and 6+3). since the guard said 10, responding with 8 would make the sum of the digits 9. It is obvious that our guy was a bit too anxious to get in. He or she should have waited.
Qrystal Feb 12, 2007	I kinda gave up just knowing it was a trick, and knowing the answer wasn't going to be five, but when I saw the actual answer I kicked myself because I kinda thought it would be "something like that" but didn't bother to check if it actually WAS that. Oops. Anyways, this was supposed to be a break from work, and I didn't want to hurt myself thinking more than I had to... instead, I hurt myself whacking my forehead. Ow.
radsjeff Feb 12, 2007	There is also a T-S conection here. Twelve and Six, Six and Three. So, When given the number Ten, Six or Seven could also work. The T-S are also alternating.
cista May 28, 2007	i got it... i was actually tested with a sequence exactly like the pattern of the numbers... so it was kinda easy..
Xpurrt Nov 04, 2007	Cheater this is a duplicate of #495
supergirl14 May 17, 2008	Hey this is a duplicate!!!!!!
annvie9 Jun 07, 2008	This teaser is a duplicate of teaser 495.
Omaha345 Jul 22, 2009	Any editors please report this as a duplicate of #495 . I wonder how it got approved.
Stack1607 Feb 10, 2010	Very good! But I didn't get it though.
emu77alu02 Feb 10, 2010	I even remembered seeing this one before and STILL didn't get it!
doehead Feb 10, 2010	Wow, another new teaser that has never been on here before. Oops I meant another repeat again,again,and a few more times. The good thing is that my brain doesn't get a workout.
bluemage Feb 10, 2010	Didn't get it. I thought the answer might have something do with the face of a clock since they used numbers up to 12.
jaycr Feb 10, 2010	Yeah ! I got into the members only club .
patiencewithaP Feb 10, 2010	Fun! Even though I didn't get it!
auntiesis Feb 10, 2010	Didn't get it again this time.
precious1026 Feb 10, 2010	No, I did not get the correct answer, but I thought this Teasers was great. One of the best Teasers I have encountered, and I have encountered many. Good Work.
woodrock96 Feb 10, 2010	I knew it! Great teaser, one of the best I have ever seen.
Fearless88 Feb 10, 2010	Nicely done.... poor outcast
zuppy Feb 11, 2010	I guessed "with five" as the first two responded "with six" and "with three" and the reject only responded "five". Good teaser nonetheless, it had me thinking
wattsofawesome Mar 07, 2010	This is a duplicate of #495
emlanis Apr 30, 2010	Gr8 trick... It made me going wild but i noe the pattern is contradicted
Candi7 Aug 14, 2012	Lets see, I've seen this teaser 7 times now, with about 4 different versions of the same teaser.
Dave Feb 10, 2013	Yes, I've also played Monkey Island 2.
cutebug Feb 10, 2013	Over used and worn out. How about giving us some new teasers!!!!! Did you get this one GW?
gaylewolf Feb 10, 2013	Actually I didn't get this one. But I liked it. The word for the day is: "friend" - response: "6"!
HABS2933 Feb 10, 2013	Think I heard this one for the first time when I was about five. And given my advanced age, that was not yesterday!
jaycr Feb 10, 2013	I would have gotten into the club.