Brain Teasers
Twin Trouble
Ryan and Craig were identical twins born in Seattle in 1961. Ryan was born before Craig, but according to their birth certificates, Craig was older than Ryan. How come?
Answer
Ryan and Craig were born in the fall on the day that the clocks are set back one hour. Ryan was born at 1:45am. Craig was born 30 minutes later. Since the clocks were set back at 2am, Craig's official time of birth was 1:15am.Hide Answer Show Answer
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Comments
nice one
nice one
I think you mean fall. Clocks move forward in spring, so he would be born at 3:15, not 1:15.
OH NO! Is it fall? Has anyone seen my brain??? I always get it confused (FALL/SPRING - FOWARD/BACK). Let's just pretend the phrase "in the Spring" isn't there so that my confusion doesn't ruin any enjoyment you might have gotten from the teaser otherwise. Thanks for pointing it out!
Fall back. Spring ahead.
And I think the clocks get set back\forward at midnight. Still a good teaser.
And I think the clocks get set back\forward at midnight. Still a good teaser.
Since they are twins, they were born one just before the other. So, the "older" is the one who comes out of the womb first. but in the registry time, they can easily be confused, so this is kinda obvious, and has many answers
why does everyone have babies on leap day or daylight savings of while on a boat going over the international date line!?!?
Despite the errors, I still think this is a nice puzzle.
Other than the "Spring-foreward" thing, this was a very clever teaser, I'll have to remember that one
cool
good job!!
i thought that they were born on a time border and the mom had 2 move 2 a new room! good 1 though
very good teaser. i never noticed the mistakes until i read about them. easy but very good.
pretty good, but a little confusing
even though it went a little wrong superb idea!!
=¬)
=¬)
I thought that Ryan died right after he was born, there4 Craig would b older.
Aw man! That would have been really good if you had your daylight saving times correct......... Oh well.. Very Good idea nonetheless
How about this answer: The mother was in an ambulance when the first child was born, and they crossed over a time zone, going East, so the second child was born an hour later.
Or since you said, "Ryan was born before Craig... Craig is older than Ryan", you could pull a "I was born before my father" and say that Ryan was born "in front of" Craig, as before also means in front of.
May 22, 2003
great ! took me a min but i got it love when that happens lol keep the teasers coming!
i liked it. i think i was the only one who found it hard....
May 22, 2003
no u weren't jucy-lu, i too was a lil slow for this teaser, i guess i didn't read it right, but i guess all y'alls did. I like all of the comments though.
Spring forward. Fall back. That's how I remember it! Well, the first answer I thought about was since they were twins, they could have gotten mixed up right???
Can't they be two different sets of twins?
The problem is not that the two are twins, rather:
1. Ryan was born first.
2. Craig is still older.
Logically, this is a contradiction, and despite the spring/fall mix-up, the solution remains insightful.
1. Ryan was born first.
2. Craig is still older.
Logically, this is a contradiction, and despite the spring/fall mix-up, the solution remains insightful.
Very good....YAY! I ACTUALLY FIGURED IT OUT!!!
Ummmmmm.....how come everyone's comments are "inappropriate"???
Well thought !
I couldn't figure it out at first!! That was a good one.. Very hard!
They aren't inappropriate.. If you see one that is inappropriate then you click on that thing that says that and it will send it...lol!!
I think this one was kinda boring!! It was hard, and a little confusing. good idea, though.
Nice teaser. It makes sence.
That is so cool. How can u figure that out?
That was priceless. I thought there might be two Seattle's in the world in different time zones, and Craig and ryan were identical twins, but not siblings. I like your answer better!
that is confusing.
OK, am I the only one NOT on CRACK??? WHERE in the teaser or the ANSWER does it say ANYTHING about SPRING?
The teaser was done just fine and the times ARE set back/forward at 2am, NOT midnight.
My PROBLEM is that in TWIN childbirth if it is NOT a C-section, the labor would NOT (typically) last half hour inbetween babies. You COULD have just as easily made it 1:58am and the next one born 4 minutes later at "12"
OVER ALL, GOOD JOB
The teaser was done just fine and the times ARE set back/forward at 2am, NOT midnight.
My PROBLEM is that in TWIN childbirth if it is NOT a C-section, the labor would NOT (typically) last half hour inbetween babies. You COULD have just as easily made it 1:58am and the next one born 4 minutes later at "12"
OVER ALL, GOOD JOB
I got this quickly only because it was much like an arguement used against adoption of Daylight Savings Time in England in the 1800's. It was worried that a first born twin would loose his land rights due to the time change .. It pays to read! Good job getting into a teaser format! We don't have this worry in Arizona!
Neat, although unlikely for the midwife to alter twins birth times in real life, I hope.
I agree with Kcelf27. It doesn't say nothing about Spring or about the time moving backwards. Maybe if you gave a hint it would have been easier.
fantastic i never would have thought of that.
Great one, but yeah, it should be fall! ;-)
But still fun!
But still fun!
I have only one word: HUH????? I guess this teaser offers more thinking then I usually do. This is too much for my poor brain.
Nice one,
I didn't think of that.
I didn't think of that.
Of course it didn't say anything about it being spring. It also didn't say, "Ryan and Craig were born 30 minutes apart just before and after daylight savings time." The fact that it was spring (ok, really fall) was part of the answer. Perhaps the question should have been rephrased to "How can this be?" to make it more clear.
May 22, 2005
I THOUGHT IT WAS GOOD, CUTE TOO, BUT I LIKE LEAP DAY FOR THE FIRST ONE AND MARCH 1 FOR THE 2ND. THAT WAY 1/4 YEARS ATA TIME..............
so simple yet so hard!!!
"Posted by Curtis*
May 22, 2005
...I assumed that they were twins alright, but from different families, and, hence different sets of twins."
I thought the same exact thing.
May 22, 2005
...I assumed that they were twins alright, but from different families, and, hence different sets of twins."
I thought the same exact thing.
That's a very smart teaser! Too smart for me! I prefer fun, riddle-y type teasers.
just more support for the stupidity of daylight savings time.
I was thinking that it they where born on December 31st and the other was born a few minutes later on January 1st. That was a good one!
brilliant. loved it.
May 22, 2005
NICE!!!
I got the teaser when I read it. Then, all the weird comments made my brain want to explode. Um, teacher, can I be excused? My brain is full.
kclef and babebabe,
You didn't see spring in the teaser because it was 'corrected" before you read it.
Good teaser. But wouldn't the one born first always be older regardless of what the time on the certificate said? Age is a reference to how long someone has been alive.
You didn't see spring in the teaser because it was 'corrected" before you read it.
Good teaser. But wouldn't the one born first always be older regardless of what the time on the certificate said? Age is a reference to how long someone has been alive.
OHHH, I didn't realize a Teaser could be changed once posted. I thought the 'correcting' thing was BEFORE they got posted. I was thinking there was some serious issues there.
And YES, age is NOT what it says on a piece of paper, but didn't the teaser say.....ACCORDING TO THE BIRTH CERTIFICATE.
And YES, age is NOT what it says on a piece of paper, but didn't the teaser say.....ACCORDING TO THE BIRTH CERTIFICATE.
Maybe instead of saying one was OLDER than the other, you should have said one was BORN before the other (according to the certificates). Just a thought.
The whole which one is older thing is very confusing to me. But then again, I have never been known for my great mental abilities But I still think it made a great teaser. Even if it made my brain want to explode.
I thought it was pretty cool. I don't really know alot about daylight savings or anything I just change my clocks every year, so I didn't notice any of the mistakes!!
Once I changed my clocks back in the Spring when I was supposed to change them forward. I went around for three days wondering why I was late for everything. Shows how much of a clue I've got.
May 25, 2005
November 01, 2003, Massachusettes, a situation ssimilar to this teaser's premise, actualy occured.
Cool!! That would be a weird thing to have to explain when you went to school, though.
Cool teaser despite the mix-up.
I thought that it had to do with leap years though!
I thought that it had to do with leap years though!
I missed this. Where I live, if you're born anywhere near a possibly confusing boundary (such as a time change), the attendant puts the time zone (such as CST) on the certificate.
Great teaser!
Good Job.
great teaser
i thought it was the "before meaning in front of" thing too - craig was older, therefore the other twin could be born in front of him...
i thought it was the "before meaning in front of" thing too - craig was older, therefore the other twin could be born in front of him...
How cool would it be if that actually happened... Those babies would have a cute icebreaker for the rest of their lives... anyways I enjoyed this one.
I've got identical twins, but girls. "Twin Trouble" is an appropriate title! Enjoyed this fun teaser! Easy, but fun!
We twins in our family. One is older than the other by about five minutes. No twins can come out of a mother's womb at the same moment, so obviously always one is older than the other. So where is the riddle?
Despite a flaw or two, this was fun to try to solve since only a few conditions can effect time. This was one of those conditions. Good material for a teaser. Keep up the good work.
Oh boy! That is one that I'll keep for a while. That was a good one.
This was has been around quite a while.Goood teaser, tho.
FUN AND VERY EASY.
wha?
i dont get it.
i dont get it.
A bit challenging, a bit fun, VERY unique.
I didn't read the question right--I thought it said that they had different birth dates. One of my best friends had twin brother-sister and one was born at 11:58 and the other at 124 so they had two different birthdays. Too bad they died But I'm rambling--great teaser
OH MY GOODNESS! A Teaser i actually understood in a while! NICE ONE!
good one...i thought it had something to do with the names being in alphabetical order...duhhh.. of course there wouldn't be two names on one birth certificate i feel dumb
kukuzyavochka, I would go further, and say that it is VERY, VERY, VERY unique.
Very good, although I didn't get it.
Good thing they weren't born in Arizona, we don't have daylight savings time!
I also thought of leap year solution.
Here I thought I had it and said they were not each others twins!
for the most part it was good but hard and easy at the same time nice job with this one.
wow, that was cute. kind of easy but cute.
I got this one right away...very cute though! I like it.
Hah, cool.
I dont care what the clock indicated,The first one out of has to be the oldest even if its within minutes BUT I guess your right when it comes to official documents such as birth certificates,Oh well
like many agree, it was a little confusing withthe whole time mix-up, but whatever! It was still a great thought and teaser!
Am I number 90!?
Am I number 90!?
nice one good job
i thought the seattle or the 1961 was going to have something to do with it! Good teaser
Fun. This was my 1st and I got it right. Spring up\Fall back
I was stumped again!!! Good Job!
nys...
i thot they wer born in different c-@-l places, lyk on different tym zones, but th@ ddn't rili make much sense... haha...
good job!
i thot they wer born in different c-@-l places, lyk on different tym zones, but th@ ddn't rili make much sense... haha...
good job!
very clever!
I don't see anything in the clue that makes the "they weren't each other's twins" solution wrong. Seems perfectly logical to me . . .
personally, i think that this belongs in the situation category and will try to correct it asap
it was a GREAT teaser!
it was a GREAT teaser!
haha... i thought they were mixed up at birth or something... wow i feel stupid.
this was really good!!!
this was really good!!!
oh yeah! did everybody see that? imurray said it was fun! making some improvements here....
Great teaser. Nice job, spring forward, fall back, most of us have to do it, does anyone remember why? And Imurray, I am so proud of you tonight. Welcome to the Braingle Crowd. Along with the teaser and the comments, you helped put a smile on my face tonight.
extremely obvious.
These can be confusing. Nice job!
cool!
Don't the clocks get set back at midnight?? Im not positive but I'm pretty sure they do...I could be wrong, though
COOL!!!!!
Clocks are turned back at 2 am.
A- on the teaser (only because of the mix up) D+ on the negative comments. Get a life. This was a good one.
CHANGE THE YEAR TO 2000 AND SEE THE ANSWERS YOU GET (??????)
Fun!!! And the comments are fun too!
Awesome!!! I didn't get it but I loved it when I saw the answer.
That one was great!
That one was great!
loved it!
Daylight savings time didn't go into effect in the US until 1967 or 1968.
I kinda went along the "leap year" line. I thought maybe Ryan was born at 2359 on 29th Feb and Craig was born on 0020 on 1st March therefore Craig would have had more Birthdays and been 'older' in a sense, but that theory was blown to bits when I learnt that 1961 was not a leap year
Quite easy,Quite old, and Quite hilarious.
Good one, spring ahead, fall back!
I also though that Ryan had died, but that wouldn't show up on the birth certificate.
cool
Certainly easy, but still entertaining...regardless what those who are being too technical and picky have to say.
Good job.
Good job.
Being a Canadian I always remember it by SPRING FORWARD
FALL BEHIND.
They couldn't come from separate families because they are "identical" twins.
GOOD ONE Missed the answer this time.
Your facts on time appear correct to me but what do I Know?
FUN
FALL BEHIND.
They couldn't come from separate families because they are "identical" twins.
GOOD ONE Missed the answer this time.
Your facts on time appear correct to me but what do I Know?
FUN
Thanks for a good laugh
HUNGRY GIT
HUNGRY GIT
i didn't care for this one
Hmm...I just thought that Ryan died.
Not bad but seems a little too obscure to me..
May 30, 2007
I thought it was too obvious. The only adjustment for an age difference in identical twins from the same mother is either leep year or daylight savings.
Interesting
i never thought oabout that.
i never thought oabout that.
Wow ! What a lot of stuff has been written about this teaser. Verrrrrry clever !
i loved it! how did you come upwith that?
Or someone could have messed up the birth certificates...
Maybe written something wrong.
Maybe written something wrong.
Good teaser..
and for everyone after the 15th comment or so, saying stuff like u dont see where she wrte spring, the teaser was edited
and for everyone after the 15th comment or so, saying stuff like u dont see where she wrte spring, the teaser was edited
I liked that one
GOOD TEASER. SOME PEOPLE ARE TOOOOO CRITICAL !
i actually know a pair of twins like that!! the real older one hates it!!
no, i thought this one to be confusing and quite lame. So insult intended, but it was a waste of my time...
not bad at all. that would take some massive thinking to get to.
Sometimes the comments wear me out...I liked the teaser and it made me think (not that the thinking got me the answer )
They could also be from different sets of identical twins or one could even be born in 1961 BC and the other in 1961 AD.
2 things:
mmcla, they get set back at 20AM
hoyty, i don't see any negative comments. Plus, there's nothing wrong with negative comments. Think of them as "constructive criticism". Like this: STOP SAYING THAT ANYTHING THAT IS NOT A "OMG THIS IS AMAZING!!!" IS NEGATIVE AND IS THEREFORE EVIL!!!
mmcla, they get set back at 20AM
hoyty, i don't see any negative comments. Plus, there's nothing wrong with negative comments. Think of them as "constructive criticism". Like this: STOP SAYING THAT ANYTHING THAT IS NOT A "OMG THIS IS AMAZING!!!" IS NEGATIVE AND IS THEREFORE EVIL!!!
I have an alternative answer:
Craig was born first. Ryan took a while longer to be born. By that time, Craig was cleaned up, and was being held by the mother's partner.
Therefore, Ryan was born 'before', or in front of, Craig.
Craig was born first. Ryan took a while longer to be born. By that time, Craig was cleaned up, and was being held by the mother's partner.
Therefore, Ryan was born 'before', or in front of, Craig.
I also thought it was a leap year and one was born on feb. 29 and the other was born, a matter of seconds later, on march 1.
still, a good teaser.
still, a good teaser.
hey!! real nice...i got it wrong but still fun...
i still dont understand immuray's comment...hey at least its not a bad comment
i still dont understand immuray's comment...hey at least its not a bad comment
That was a good one. I knew the answer but I didnt
Easy, got it right away, probably because I hate the time change so much. Wish they'd just leave the clock alone!
i was goin to say they were two different set of identical twins
cam
cam
couple of mistakes, but still a tricky teaser.
good one
good one
confusing but good!
loony300 said:
"i thought the seattle or the 1961 was going to have something to do with it!"
But those facts did have something to do with the puzzle! Daylight savings time doesn't happen everywhere, but it does in Seattle. DST also didn't always happen, but in 1961, it did! (To correct something that was said earlier, the U.S. started using DST in 1918.)
"i thought the seattle or the 1961 was going to have something to do with it!"
But those facts did have something to do with the puzzle! Daylight savings time doesn't happen everywhere, but it does in Seattle. DST also didn't always happen, but in 1961, it did! (To correct something that was said earlier, the U.S. started using DST in 1918.)
wow i was just stumped, but after the answer it made perfect sense! good teaser, one of my favorites so far
Clever Teaser
Thanks
And, as usual, the comments are half the fun!
Thanks
And, as usual, the comments are half the fun!
Why? The questions was why, not when...
Its a simple matter of who came first. The time can be argued all day. And, thats Kool...
Its a simple matter of who came first. The time can be argued all day. And, thats Kool...
Great teaser. Thanks. Makes sense ... And a little unusual.
Nice teaser!
Or maybe the person who wrote the birth certificates screwed up
Fun even though I didn't get it
hehe.. i was thinking that it was alphabetically recorded.. lol.. but your answer is much trickier
Two points: 1) There is no error in this puzzle; in the fall the clocks are set back 1 hour, as the puzzle states; in the spring, they are set forward 1 hour; the mnemonic is "fall back, spring forward; 2) The time change, for reasons unclear, traditionally occurs at 2 AM.
Why all the controversy? The idea and intent were there and that was the object of the teaser. Quit knit picking. I enjoyed it and knew what was meant.
May 30, 2013
nice yar ...
A cute and imaginative puzzle but I'm pretty sure major hospitals would have a pretty straightforward policy to deal with this kind of thing by recording events as DST on that particular day.
It could actually have serious consequences down the road for legal reasons to the individuals involved so it couldn't just be left to a twist of fate. It's perhaps even more important for time of death recording on death certificates in case of insurance claims at times.
In any case the older child is the one born first and the documents would actually say so in the real world. It's a fun situation for a made up puzzle though.
It could actually have serious consequences down the road for legal reasons to the individuals involved so it couldn't just be left to a twist of fate. It's perhaps even more important for time of death recording on death certificates in case of insurance claims at times.
In any case the older child is the one born first and the documents would actually say so in the real world. It's a fun situation for a made up puzzle though.
Interesting puzzle. Lots of possible complications making it fun to solve. Thanks for posting.
To BABE:
This is nit picking, but it is nit picking, not knit picking!
This is nit picking, but it is nit picking, not knit picking!
Daylight Savings Time is obsolete anyway. It was enacted to save money on candles, and we obviously don't use candles as our primary light source anymore.
Fun, easy and entertaining teaser; I got it very quickly.
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