Brain Teasers
The Magnificent Manus
Situation
Situation puzzles (sometimes called lateral thinking puzzles) are ones where you need to ask lots of yes or no questions to figure out what happened in the situation. These are good puzzles for groups where one person knows the puzzle and answers the questions.Situation
Manus the Magnificent has an extraordinary skill. Armed with his 1000 year old sword, he can cut in half anything brought to him. And I do mean ANYTHING. People have brought him things you would never think could be cut in half. Manus always finds a way to do it though. Of course, Manus has a few rules. You can't bring him anything dead, nor anything breathing. Also, it must be able to fit inside his Special Box, which is a 4'x2' box, constructed from transparent fiberglass, which Manus amazingly has every time he does this trick. It's been said that someone almost stumped Manus by bringing him a hair from their head. But, Manus put the single hair in the box, raised his sword, brought it down on the box, and gave it back to the individual; 2 hairs, cut in half. He really did earn the title 'Manus the MAGNIFICENT.' Lastly, Manus insists that you allow him up to 2 minutes to pull it off. Once, Manus allowed a person to hold what they brought in their hands instead of the box, and cut it in half while they held it. Although successful he said to the roaring crowd who were utterly amazed: "Thank you, thank you. However, I'll never do that again. I realize that this might be too dangerous. I never had anyone's blood on my hands in the 50 or so years doing this trick, and I never will. I'll stick to the box from now on ladies and gentlemen."
So, at his appearance at Saturday's Carnival he made the same invitation. This time though, he added: "If you can bring me something that I can't cut in half, that isn't dead, and isn't breathing, I'll give you half of all my earnings over the 50 years I've been doing this. (Manus has made himself rich with this one amazing gig and was about to retire). A man approaches Manus and says to him:
"Sir, Manus. I think I've got your number! I can bring you something to put in your little box that cannot be cut in half, isn't dead, nor will it be breathing. It might even change its hue for you good sir!" Manus, very much intrigued, replied: "There isn't a thing I haven't been successful with in over 50 years. But, challenge accepted. Turn colors too you say? Ok. Put it in the Box."
When everything was said and done, Manus asked the man: "Do you want your half in cash or do you take checks?"
What did the man put in Manus' Box that, according to Manus' words and conditions, could not be cut in half?
So, at his appearance at Saturday's Carnival he made the same invitation. This time though, he added: "If you can bring me something that I can't cut in half, that isn't dead, and isn't breathing, I'll give you half of all my earnings over the 50 years I've been doing this. (Manus has made himself rich with this one amazing gig and was about to retire). A man approaches Manus and says to him:
"Sir, Manus. I think I've got your number! I can bring you something to put in your little box that cannot be cut in half, isn't dead, nor will it be breathing. It might even change its hue for you good sir!" Manus, very much intrigued, replied: "There isn't a thing I haven't been successful with in over 50 years. But, challenge accepted. Turn colors too you say? Ok. Put it in the Box."
When everything was said and done, Manus asked the man: "Do you want your half in cash or do you take checks?"
What did the man put in Manus' Box that, according to Manus' words and conditions, could not be cut in half?
Answer
The man accepting Manus' challenge is what you might call a 'little person.' (He stands at 4' 11" tall). Like Manus, he has an extraordinary skill: He can hold his breath for up to three minutes! He therefore put himself in the 4'x2' fiberglass box. He held his breath while in the box to meet Manus' requirement of 'not breathing.' (Note that Manus said "not breathing" but he didn't say it couldn't be alive). Of course, he wasn't dead either, so he met that requirement. The man happened to be there on the occasion he heard Manus say that he never had anyone's blood on his hands as a result of this act. Thus, he knew Manus wouldn't even attempt the trick this time. He put himself on the line, and won. Oh, and as for changing color: The last time the man held his breath 2 minutes, he turned BLUE. Fortunately, it didn't go that far this time.Hide Answer Show Answer
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Comments
I love this one! Awesome job!
Unfortunately, with the ? symbol overwriting so much, it was not possible to determine the size of the box. It could have been 4 inches by 2 inches for all I could tell.
Water would have also done the trick. The blade would simply move through the water, which would instantly reshape. You COULD also say that something in the blade changed the color of the water, too.
couldnt you just put the SWORD in the box? then he couldnt cut it in half
I like that Drunky. In fact, all of these are interesting. Anyone else?
Although, how would you get the sword to change colors?
My answer would have been Liquid Oxygen (because from plae blue it becomes colorless) but that would not satify the central concept Isn't Dead, Isn't Breathing. Very tricky Cod.
Wait, He puts in his Opctopus filled water tank! I am pretty sure they don't breathe through lungs, which is considered "not breathing."
he could put his shadow??? its colour depends on the lighting
I really liked this one!
Simply "Magnificant"!
Great job, very clever indeed. It was great overall but it was hard to interpret because of all the question marks. I thought maybe it coudlve been something along the lines of thought words such as "love" and "hate", but I honestly thought the answer was "pain" he put pain into the box. Oh well, if you can proove me wrong, I guess I'm mistaken. Sorry then! I gave you a 3 fun rating
Very interesting, but there are lots of people who can hold their breath for 3 minutes. Not necessary a 'little person'.
i thought that the person put a rainbow inside the box (held a prism outside it so that the light refracted inside. couldn't really be cut in half (since the prism is outside) but the sword passing through might change the way the light is refracted...
just a thought
just a thought
I thought it was a fish or something. Since it was not dead yet, but was not breathing, it can't breathe air. But it can't change colors. So nevermind. I like the answer water the best.
I thought it was glass and he couldn't break in half because then it would shatter.
I thought it was something like a hole, but I missed the "changing color" part.
I thought it was a liquid, but then I saw the color thing. Well, I guess I could get the other half of the winnings.
I actually got it!!
Looking at your ideas I like shadow the best, I think you could cut an octopus in half lol
And you can't really put pain in a box I'm sorry if I seem to be spamming... O-o
i have another answer his wealth in bank notes one above another
I'm amazed no one's mentioned this, normally the commenters immediately pounce on things like these:
*Hair is dead*!
*Hair is dead*!
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