Braingle: 'Mrs. Braun' Brain Teaser

Mrs. Braun

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

Puzzle ID:	#25139
Fun:	(2.91)
Difficulty:	(1.77)
Category:	Mystery
Submitted By:	_fire_fly
Corrected By:	MarcM1098

There once was a man named Mr. Braun. Not much was known about him, except for these things: he was married to a piano teacher, he was born and lived and married in Germany, and he had died a week earlier. Now, since he was dead and had no other living relatives, his estate would go to his wife (he left no will). The problem is, two women came forward, claiming to be the real Mrs. Braun.

Now, you're a detective, trying to figure out who is the real Mrs. Braun by having a piano competition. Mrs. Braun was an exceptional pianist, who could play many complex pieces. When you met them, they were sitting in a room with a couch and a piano. You extended your hand to greet them. One of them, a blonde, wore one ring (her wedding ring), which dug painfully into your hand when she shook it. The other (brunette) had one wedding ring also, but since it was on the other hand, you figured it was safe to shake.

Anyway, you put on the show with a lawyer as your witness. The blonde sat down and played Beethoven's Fifth with no trouble whatsoever, as did the brunette. They were both equal, but you managed to tell who the REAL Mrs. Braun was.

Who was it and how did you know?

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Answer

The blonde, since her wedding ring was on her right hand. In other countries including Germany, wedding rings are worn on the right hand, not the left.
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Comments

thecowancannons Aug 08, 2005	good job got the teaser pretty easy. good job though
craziigurl1105 Aug 08, 2005	i knew it had something to do with rings, but got confused on which hand! great teaser tho!
Nytwynd Aug 08, 2005	Nice one Learned something new
(user deleted) Aug 10, 2005	Great teaser! I got it pretty easy but I liked it. My only suggestion for making it better would be that you said which hand you reached out to shake with. Although, that may have been a bit of a giveaway that it had something to do with the rings and hands. O well, nice teaser!
GarnetLover Aug 10, 2005	i didnt know which hand he shook. i was thinking brunette because since the ring dug into the detectives hand, it muct have been big, and usually ppl who play the piano dont wear jewlry on their hands.
gumdrop480 Aug 11, 2005	I knew it had to do with the rings...
dddlite Aug 11, 2005	Well done!! I didn't know that about rings & fingers and other countries. I thought it was the brunette because of the ring. Good teaser!
froggygg Aug 11, 2005	Good teaser. I also knew it had something to do with the ring, but thought that made the ring wearer the guilty party as most piano players do not wear large jewelry on their hands. Fooled me.
puppygirl1213 Aug 17, 2005	Cool, i did not know that, but the hint pretty much made it obvious though.
hit_the_sand Aug 17, 2005	I didn't know that in other countries they wear their wedding rings on different fingers, but after I read the clue, I figured it was possible! Great teaser!
phantomgal Aug 20, 2005	that was a good one. i didnt know they wear thier rings in other countries, but i figured it had something to do with the rings.
babygrl329 Aug 22, 2005	i got it!!!!!
soccercow10 Sep 05, 2005	cool teaser!!!except i got it all mixed up.i wasnt really thinkin and i said it was the brunette because she had it on the left!!!! dont laugh at me!
sweetime Sep 08, 2005	well done, took me ages to find somewhere that said that rings were worn on the right hand, not the left. had me completely stumped since i was aware that the tradition of wearing wedding and engagement rings on the left ring finger came out of europe. good job
FerretGirl Sep 11, 2005	Too hard! How did you know about the Germany thing?
chickybaby3 Sep 20, 2005	HMMMMMMMMM hard to decide when you don't know which hand he extends, learned something though, COOL
teaser55 Sep 22, 2005	Easy when you know the ring thing.I didn't know,good job,I learned something new.
turtlesrock44 Oct 10, 2005	i cheated but i also learned something new
Maggirl23 Oct 28, 2005	i thought it was the opposite. i completely forgot about the ring thing. got me.
hidentreasure Nov 06, 2005	fun teaser contextclues helped me. sorry about the spelling
wizkid Nov 06, 2005	I understood it. YAY ME!
y4n4 Nov 28, 2005	Fun n easy...
swithie Dec 07, 2005	I decided that it was the brunette because when you play the piano your right hand generally moves faster and a ring can hurt when it rubs against your fingers. Didn't evne consider the fact that it was on the wrong hand in the first okace. Great teaser.
pinay Dec 29, 2005	it would have been good IF the mystery indicated which hand "i" extended to shake with the women, that way there would be an actual possibility of the readers knowing who was the real wife was without giving out the answer right away.
choptlivva Jan 18, 2006	COOL Fireflyl!!! I didn't know that wedding rings are worn on the right hand in other countries!! Which leads me to ponder......Is it JUST in the US that wedding rings are worn on the left??? If so, I wonder why? ALSO... I automatically assumed that the RIGHT hand was extended for the handshake.... because its the standard way here in the US. Does that ALSO differ from country to country (when a handshake is the greeting)? Anybody know?
OldChinaHand Jan 30, 2006	Cleaver.
choptlivva Jan 30, 2006	I HOPE you meant "CLEVER" OldChinaHand!!! Otherwise, I think I'd better start running fast!!!
didida Jul 07, 2006	Got it! Woohoo! Ya!
auntiesis Oct 26, 2006	Didn't get it.... I figured it had something to do with the ring, but I still couldn't figure it out.
LeafFan4life Mar 05, 2007	yes i got it
scallio May 08, 2007	As a teen traveling in Germany, I was teased by some local boys for wearing a ring on my right hand. I won't soon forget that bit of humor! Thanks for a fun walk down memory lane to my wilder days!
Kamazar Jun 13, 2007	The only thing that was explained was the ring, so that had to be the problem. Good teaser.
cowman12 Jul 05, 2007	Great teaser!
meg19_83 Jul 29, 2007	I guessed the answer correctly without ever having heard this tradition.
luckypuppy Aug 15, 2007	I knew it was something about the ring, but you don't say which hand was extended... I shake with my right but someone else might use her left.
adrianlvr1123 Jan 30, 2008	WOW!!! SO EASY!!!! GREAT TEASER THOUGH!!!!
King_of_Smart Mar 12, 2008	Fun! I got it right!
Starriddler Jun 07, 2008	That was a good one.I didn't get it.
Subtox Feb 12, 2010	In the US, many people will move their wedding ring to their right hand if their spouse dies. Because of this I guessed the blond correctly, but for the wrong reason. I figured she was genuinely grieving and thought to move her ring, while the brunette didn't take the time to make sure her devious plan was watertight! Anyway, good teaser!
bigbanggoo Jun 28, 2011	Why didn't they just ask for a marriage certificate, pictures or from the friends of Mr Braun?