Brain Teasers
A Fishy Sailor
Mystery
Mystery teasers are little stories where you need to figure out what happened based on the given clues.Mystery
The first mate of the Jolly Rancher cargo ship announces to the crew that the captain was found murdered in his bunk that morning. The first mate knows that none of the loyal crewmen would do such a thing. He narrows his suspects down to the four newest crew members, each claiming to be an expert and experienced sailor. The first mate questions each of the sailors about the murder.
From the responses, determine which sailor is the most suspicious.
Sailor 1: "Aye, I had jus' finish'd a 12 hour watch astern. Didn't hear a thing."
Sailor 2: "I was busy cleanin' the bathroom 't the front of 'r ship. Don't know nothin'."
Sailor 3: "I was 't the starboard side paintin' the hull, mindin' me own business last night."
Sailor 4: "I 's below the deck las'night securin' some cargo."
From the responses, determine which sailor is the most suspicious.
Sailor 1: "Aye, I had jus' finish'd a 12 hour watch astern. Didn't hear a thing."
Sailor 2: "I was busy cleanin' the bathroom 't the front of 'r ship. Don't know nothin'."
Sailor 3: "I was 't the starboard side paintin' the hull, mindin' me own business last night."
Sailor 4: "I 's below the deck las'night securin' some cargo."
Hint
Arr, can ye fig'r out who's the landlubber?Answer
Sailor 2 is the most suspicious. Experienced sailors, as they all claimed to be, do not address the 'head' as the 'bathroom'. Also, he would have referred to the front of the ship as the 'bow' or 'forward'.Hide Hint Show Hint Hide Answer Show Answer
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Comments
I figured it was #2 - my assumption being the bathroom would be at the back of the ship to get flushed out. Though I guess that's fairly archaic thinking (all my nautical information is from fantasy books, what can I say!).
Erm, make that "I thought the HEAD would be at the back...."
I originally thought it was #1, as watch cycles are 4 hours and not 12, but #2 clearly had more non-nautical terms.
Nice teaser trill! Short and sweet.
That one was too easy. It was obvious that pirates dont say front or bathroom.
It could also be 3 because how does he know it happened last night?
The hint gave it to me. without that, I probably would never have gotten it. Never mind probably, I definitely wouldn't have figured it out. Good teaser. Thanks for posting.
lol i wasnt paying attention. i figured it was 4 cause he didnt say he didnt know anything
I fail to see where a lack of vocabulary would make him the murderer. At most it only proves that he may not be as experienced as he led everone to believe. It doesn't necessarily mean that he wasn't still doing what he said he was.
it was O.K
a bit confusing
5/10
a bit confusing
5/10
i didnt know if they were out at sea so i thought it would be three cause how can you paint the hull when the ship is in the water
Short and sweet) Actually, all four crewmen were suspicious. The Hull, Front of the ship, Painting a night, guarding merchandise. I enjoy the brevity of the Teaser, which included a proper beginning, course ending and simplistic middle. all elements of a plot, a ploy , a story. Good Teaser.
Easy but pretty fun ^_^
Pretty easy, but still funny and interesting.
That teaser was a level three? Wow. It was kind of easy, and I did get it right, but I actually think that number three would have been a better choice......
The "bathroom stuck out to me. That was easy.
well they may be lying about being experienced, but that doesn't necessary make them suspicious right?
Very easy but fun !
i kinda got it without the hint...
Now I feel stupid. Nice teaser!
I thought it was sailor 3 cos who would paint at night?
The reason toilets are called heads is that in the days of sailing ships they were places way up at the bowsprit, the part at extreme front, with a drop into the sea - nothing sophisticated! This was probably the only point where it would be easy to get the clear drop. Also, in a sailing ship the wind is more often from astern and at any rate can't be from straight ahead, making it the best place for anything smelly. Sailing ships could tack upwind though not as well as modern yachts I think, but it was better if you could run downwind, hence the importance of routes which took advantage of prevailing winds.
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