Brain Teasers
Lines
Birbal was jester, counselor, and fool to the great Moghul emperor, Akbar. The villagers loved to talk of Birbal's wisdom and cleverness, and the emperor loved to try to outsmart him. One day Akbar (emperor) drew a line across the floor. "Birbal," he ordered, "you must make this line shorter, but you cannot erase any bit of it."
Everyone present thought the emperor had finally outsmarted Birbal. It was clearly an impossible task. Yet within moments the emperor and everyone else present had to agree that Birbal had made the line shorter without erasing any of it. How could this be?
Everyone present thought the emperor had finally outsmarted Birbal. It was clearly an impossible task. Yet within moments the emperor and everyone else present had to agree that Birbal had made the line shorter without erasing any of it. How could this be?
Answer
Birbal simply drew a line longer than the first, which made the first line shorter than the second.Hide Answer Show Answer
What Next?
View a Similar 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.
Solve a Puzzle
Comments
if you think in geometric terms, a line is never ending, so by adding a dot at either end he could make it a line segment. the only problem is that there would have to be an arrow at each end to symbolize a line, and he couldn't erase those. very good! i liked it ;)
I am banging my head against the monitor as I write!! Doh!
wow...didnt know it was possible to type and bang your head against the monitor at the same time
I remember this question from karate class when I was in first grade.
why karate?
Speedy, you are right. But this isn't a math teaser, now is it ;-)
I can't belive it was that simple! I thought he did something really hard to figure out! Maybe this should be a trick question.
Maybe. I couldn't think of just the right category, so I am sorry if you feel that it is in the wrong one.
The other "Birbal" teasers are much better. They at least start the same! And he didn't do what the Emperor asked. He said to make the line shorter. True, it was shorter than the other line, but it itself did not change length. The answer is wrong.
No! That is not true kistin14! Anyway I thought that this was EZ.
I personaly think this is a DISCRACE to the Birbal series i dont like this one
What? Just because there is a line longer than the first doesn't make the first line any shorter?
Actually teasermaster (and others who commented similarly), it does...
You see the word adjective 'shorter' is a relative term and the emperor never specified what the line should be shorter than. We assumed (myself included) he meant shorter than its original self - which is impossible without erasing some of it...
But it could just as well have meant shorter than something else -like the 2nd line Birbal drew!!
You see the word adjective 'shorter' is a relative term and the emperor never specified what the line should be shorter than. We assumed (myself included) he meant shorter than its original self - which is impossible without erasing some of it...
But it could just as well have meant shorter than something else -like the 2nd line Birbal drew!!
Peanut, Thanks for telleing me what teh answer was. I thoguht something else. (advanced wordplay) but i still hate this teaser netherless... (talk about mixed messages)
As already said, the answer is not really true. The original line is not in fact any shorter. Birbal simply made it LOOK shorter by drawing a longer line. However, that does not actually change the length of the first line.
I prefer the other Birbal teasers better but this was still ok.
there is another answer. you cross the line with another one to make it a T, then you write the letters SHOR on the left side, and ER on the right side. it is now SHORTER!!!
Yes, and I can jump higher then a house. (the house can't jump)
I didn't realize the line was being drawn--I thought the line was an actual thing, and he could've just bent it to make it shorter if you measure it.
I will admit I didn't get this one, never would have gotten it. Glad now I didn't really try. Good job, thanks for posting.
technically, the line was the same length, and it didn't get any shorter, so the emporer's task was impossible.
Why not just reflect it with a concave mirror?
Cute!
If we're just going by making the line *appear* shorter, why couldn't he just have everyone walk away from it? The line would look shorter from a distance.
I thought he would just stand on one end of it to make it appear shorter . . .
I'm glad I didn't waste my time on this one -- I figured that the given answer would be something inane like that.
how about looking at it from closer to the ground. it would appear shorter
Fun teaser....nice
I agree with those who maintain that, technically, the line is not really shorter. Also using the logic of the author, one could say he covered up part of the line, thus making it shorter without erasing any of it.
I liked it. I got it. It was good. I don't understand all the fuss. I didn't know we had strict rules on this site...
I actually had to register to explain this to some people (even though it was explained at least once before).
Shorter is a relative term. He simply made it shorter relative to anything else. Everyone assumes that he had to make then line shorter than it's original self (i.e. shortened).
Shorter is a relative term. He simply made it shorter relative to anything else. Everyone assumes that he had to make then line shorter than it's original self (i.e. shortened).
Cold he not simply make the existing line longer and thereby making the emperors orginal lie shorter.
I agree with Roumani... shorter, not shortened! Well said
This teaser sucked The answer is wrong, and some of it makes no sense (why would you say "the emperor had FINALLY outsmarted Birbal" when Birbal is a jester/fool and therefore should always be outsmarted). Who edits these things?
My solution was to move furniture over it and hide it (or move the walls closer) to make it shorter.
I agree with those that do not like the answer....
the emperor clearly said "you must make this line shorter" he did not say "you must make this line appear shorter"
So, by adding a longer line, he did not make the first line shorter. The length of the line is not relative to the length of any surrounding lines.
I'm 5'10", putting me next to a 6'5" guy does not make me shorter, as my height is not determined due to the height of whomever is next to me
the emperor clearly said "you must make this line shorter" he did not say "you must make this line appear shorter"
So, by adding a longer line, he did not make the first line shorter. The length of the line is not relative to the length of any surrounding lines.
I'm 5'10", putting me next to a 6'5" guy does not make me shorter, as my height is not determined due to the height of whomever is next to me
I think this teaser has more to do with language than math. Inother words "Make the line shorter" is sort of a play on words. We would usually think of it as litterally shortining the line itself. But with the other slant on the meaning, suing the word "shorter" as a comparative adjective, the answer in quite logical. I liked this teaser.
Many riddles are based on different meanings of words, and creative thinking is to look at seemingly obvious things in a different way.
Many riddles are based on different meanings of words, and creative thinking is to look at seemingly obvious things in a different way.
Sorry about all the typo's. I am watching American Idol at the same time and clicked on the "Add" button without proofreading!
Jayjay: putting you next to a taller guy would not change your hight, but you would be shorter than the other person...and in that sense you are shorter.(also: the shorter of the two). It's that difference between shorter and shortened that several people mentioned before.
Nice teaser! I really liked it...even if I couldn't get it.
Nice teaser! I really liked it...even if I couldn't get it.
*height*
I actually got this one pretty quickly, as putting a longer line next to the first line would make the first line shorter by comparison. Therefore he made the line shorter.
Very good teaser.
Very good teaser.
I agree with Avanma and Icann. I liked it! I got it!! It was gooood!!!
I'm sorry for the typos too. Watching "Jeopardy."
A predecessor of the "Birbal The Wise" teasers?
Birbal the wise?? love it
Son of a gun--I got it! Didn't believe I had but I had!
I GOT IT! Great puzzle.
I agree with all the others who say this is wrong no matter how you try to explain it away. The Emperor does not say make it shorter than something else, he just says make it shorter and making another line longer along side it only makes that line longer, but the original is still the same length. It may look shorter, but shorter it ain't.
Great teaser and GREAT comments.
I liked it - even the use of the "abstraction" variant of "shorter" (which got some HILARIOUS responses [mostly wrong]) - so I gave it MAX for fun.
Oh ... Babe, catmom, bestgirl, cutebug ... do not DARE to go read the last three comments on teaser #50305.
(you have been warned)
BB02
I liked it - even the use of the "abstraction" variant of "shorter" (which got some HILARIOUS responses [mostly wrong]) - so I gave it MAX for fun.
Oh ... Babe, catmom, bestgirl, cutebug ... do not DARE to go read the last three comments on teaser #50305.
(you have been warned)
BB02
@Babe There are now two lines of different lengths on the floor. Of the two lines, which is shorter? Forget the original length, it's irrelevant and never changes. You can ask any person which line is 'shorter' and they will pick the original line. Therefore the line is shorter.
@Jayjay Actually you are shorter. Your actual height doesn't change. But if someone was told to look at you guys and 'point at the shorter person', they would point at you. You are shorter.
Simple one. Move on.
I agree, jaycr ............
EXCEPT ..... !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
don't ANYBODY leave this thread without taking this "lesson" with them.
Go back up to Jcann for May 14, 2008:
"Many riddles are based on different meanings of words, and creative thinking is to look at seemingly obvious things in a different way."
I learned that as:
"See what you don't see and don't see what you see".
Lesson given. Lesson learned.
Hopefully, for everybody here.
AND THAT, girls & boys, is one reason I "harp" so much on comment, dialogue, more comment, challenge, comment, dialogue, etc., etc.
It's dynamic. It's changing. And it's education.
Later.
BB02
EXCEPT ..... !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
don't ANYBODY leave this thread without taking this "lesson" with them.
Go back up to Jcann for May 14, 2008:
"Many riddles are based on different meanings of words, and creative thinking is to look at seemingly obvious things in a different way."
I learned that as:
"See what you don't see and don't see what you see".
Lesson given. Lesson learned.
Hopefully, for everybody here.
AND THAT, girls & boys, is one reason I "harp" so much on comment, dialogue, more comment, challenge, comment, dialogue, etc., etc.
It's dynamic. It's changing. And it's education.
Later.
BB02
very good one; of course it is correct!
Had he stepped on an end it would have been shorter by the width of his foot.
Lovely, ZZ ... absolutely lovely !!!
BB02
BB02
Doesn't really work for me - under the logic of the puzzle, one could argue that the line was already "shorter" than any other straight edge / line (they were actually segments not lines but..) line around adding another line doesn't change anything.
If you draw a 12 inch line and then a 16 inch line along side of it, the 12 inch line is still 12 inches. It may be shorter than the 16 inch, but it is not shorter than it's original 12 inches.
OK, folksies ....
How "short" is "short"?
Go to my #50210 (it's a rebus) and read. I mentioned to the Eds (when it was being considered) that, if approved, it would be among the few "shortest" rebuses EVER EVER EVER !!!!
Now ... you folks tell me ....
Does that "shortest" mean:
length ?
height ?
or
brevity ?
We await your studied and incisive decisions.
BB02
How "short" is "short"?
Go to my #50210 (it's a rebus) and read. I mentioned to the Eds (when it was being considered) that, if approved, it would be among the few "shortest" rebuses EVER EVER EVER !!!!
Now ... you folks tell me ....
Does that "shortest" mean:
length ?
height ?
or
brevity ?
We await your studied and incisive decisions.
BB02
@Babe: And if it had explicitly said 'shorter than its original length,' you would have a point. But it didn't, so you don't.
I love all the comments from 2014. As I look at it now, nobody wins, but I sure got a big laugh reading them all including my own. Funny, funny!
@Babe Not sure what you're talking about. I clearly won.
Very easy to solve. Kipah-you only won in your theory. Babe is the biggest winner on this site. Don't argue or pick on her!!!!!
::shrug:: I liked it!
Oh my gosh! What a day brightener. Thank you cutebug!!
This teaser is amazing! Look at the debate it has caused! Well done!
Fun, easy and entertaining teaser; I got it very quickly.
I got it quickly, but I still loved it! Very clever.
To post a comment, please create an account and sign in.
Follow Braingle!