Brain Teasers
Go Ahead, Shoot
Pirate Pete had been captured by a Spanish general and sentenced to death by his 50-man firing squad.
Pete cringed, as he knew their reputation for being the worst firing squad in the Spanish military. They were such bad shots that they would often all miss their targets and simply maim their victims, leaving them to bleed to death, as the general's tradition was to only allow one shot per man to save on ammunition. The thought of a slow painful death made Pete beg for mercy.
"Very well, I have some compassion. You may choose where the men stand when they shoot you and I will add 50 extra men to the squad to ensure someone will at least hit you. Perhaps if they stand closer they will kill you quicker, if you're lucky," snickered the general. "Oh, and just so you don't get any funny ideas, they can't stand more than 20 ft away, they must be facing you, and you must remain tied to the post in the middle of the yard. And to show I'm not totally heartless, if you aren't dead by sundown I'll release you so you can die peacefully outside the compound. I must go now but will return tomorrow and see to it that you are buried in a nice spot, though with 100 men, I doubt there will be much left of you to bury."
After giving his instructions the general left. Upon his return the next day, he found that Pete had been set free alive and well. "How could this be?" demanded the general. "It was where Pete had us stand," explained the captain of the squad.
Where did Pete tell them to stand?
Pete cringed, as he knew their reputation for being the worst firing squad in the Spanish military. They were such bad shots that they would often all miss their targets and simply maim their victims, leaving them to bleed to death, as the general's tradition was to only allow one shot per man to save on ammunition. The thought of a slow painful death made Pete beg for mercy.
"Very well, I have some compassion. You may choose where the men stand when they shoot you and I will add 50 extra men to the squad to ensure someone will at least hit you. Perhaps if they stand closer they will kill you quicker, if you're lucky," snickered the general. "Oh, and just so you don't get any funny ideas, they can't stand more than 20 ft away, they must be facing you, and you must remain tied to the post in the middle of the yard. And to show I'm not totally heartless, if you aren't dead by sundown I'll release you so you can die peacefully outside the compound. I must go now but will return tomorrow and see to it that you are buried in a nice spot, though with 100 men, I doubt there will be much left of you to bury."
After giving his instructions the general left. Upon his return the next day, he found that Pete had been set free alive and well. "How could this be?" demanded the general. "It was where Pete had us stand," explained the captain of the squad.
Where did Pete tell them to stand?
Answer
Pete told them to form a circle around him. All the squad was facing in at Pete, ready to shoot, when they realized that everyone who missed would likely end up shooting another squad member. So no one dared to fire, knowing the risk. Thus at sundown he was released.Hide Answer Show Answer
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Comments
Great, but easy.
this one was very different, but i luv it alot!!! Keep up the good work!!!!
Hahaha! I didn't even think of that one!
very good, my idea was that Pete just stood behind the post and that the men firing would just hit the post or something else but not Pete. Really never thoguht of that answer, well it is past midnight. Anyway, great answer. Can't wait to read more of your teasers.
Great teaser! I love it. It's definitely on my favorite list.
Great teaser! it made me think, but the answer was so obviously simple
Wow, for some reason I couldn't figure out the answer. But then when I read it, it was so simple.
very nice one, a bit long i must say
i thought that there was a big pile of rocks infront so they would shoot them, or something like it was next to a beach so the fireing squad were in the water and their guns wouldnt work
i thought that there was a big pile of rocks infront so they would shoot them, or something like it was next to a beach so the fireing squad were in the water and their guns wouldnt work
This was a great one. I thought he had them stand behind each other so only the first one would dare shoot him
...Umm, if they formed a circle, they wouldn't all be facing him, some of them would be unable to hit him because of the post :-\
Oh my gosh, Omega. I liked this one. It's going on to my favorites. I also thought as many others did that he would have them in a line behind his post so they'd shoot the post, not him. I really liked this one. OD-1 KEEP UP YOUR MYSTERY RIDDLES!!!!!!!!!!
clever!!!
Jan 06, 2005
....pete in the center, others in concentric circles around him therefor insuring his being sheilded by the morons being shot at a 20 ft distance....or is it a differnent shape in your universe?
Who exactly are you talking to...
I love that it's so cool!!
good one
Hehe. I loved it a lot. It was easy but a lot of fun. Thanx and keep em coming. Lataz!
WOW That was a good one!
awe man. I had em lined up like bowling pins so that they would all shoot each other and maybe the front guy would miss.. but the circle is better of of course. when I think of a firing squad I always imagine a guy against a wall though.
wonderful, i'm adding this to my favs
wonderful, i'm adding this to my favs
wonderful, i'm adding this to my favs
wonderful, i'm adding this to my favs
wonderful, i'm adding this to my favs
wonderful, i'm adding this to my favs
wonderful, i'm adding this to my favorites
wonderful, i'm adding this to my favorites
wonderful, i'm adding this to my favorites
I liked this one. I figured that they had formed the circle around Pete, but I thought that they'd just end up missing Pete and shooting each other dead before realizing what had happened.
Good one!
Good one!
This was a good one...why?! because it was easy
I think it was absolutely great!!!
Very clever.
Very clever.
have i mentioned that this is in my faves?
not the most creative thing i've ever seen, but probably better than i could do. Pretty cool.
Good one
ooo, this one made me think a bit. Easy one but fun to solve!
That was really cute...made me LOL!
i liked it a lot but i was thinking TO hard about the answer... it was really simple
i liked it!!! - good job!!!
Great job! This was very entertaining
Good one. Very clever, that Pirate Pete. I thought maybe he would have them all stand on top of each other or in front of each other
Excellent teaser. By far one of my favorites....
kehe, I thought he would stand behind the post! Good one!! I like your plan better!
sweet, baby!
I thought he'd have them stand the other side of a wall; they'd still be within the General's specified distance!
im with boodler on this...
suppose... but what if there wasnt a wall nearby?
Very entertaining!! Going on my favs list!!
Thanks Boodler, the wall was my only thought too
I thought like drunky and said they were all standing in a line. It was an even better idea though. Great mystery OD.
Another solution: Every soldier stands in a circle and points his gun at the person on his right (or left) but turns his
face toward the man tied to the post. All fire at once and all die.
face toward the man tied to the post. All fire at once and all die.
HAH! That's great! I like! Very good! I was stumped!
How about Pete telling them to stand on their head and shoot? This may have been said already, but I am not going to read all the above.
Yep, I had it as standing on their heads too.
Wasn't this an old 'Warsaw Pact Country starting with a "P" ' joke from the '70s?
Very clever. Too much for me. Couldn't get it
Easy, but creative and fun. Hope to see more from you.
Great teaser. Rated it tops.
This was really fun. I loved the story, and I was too curious about the answer to think about it for too long. Maybe I should be in another category... nah.
smart Pete
vey easy
Woohoo!!!! I got it.
I thought of the circle, but wouldn't one person have a clear shot at him? The person right in front of him, that is. Really funny, though .
He should have stood behind the poll, and have the men stand in a line, one after another. Then, only one man would shoot, and the others wouldn't want to hit the person before him, so the one person who would shoot would hit the poll. But nice job anyway!
Very clever- I liked this one a lot.
i thought about having the men form a line within 20 feet of pete behind him, with their heads turned around facing him as they shot forward.
Standing in a circle around Pete is my solution, but I believe they would go ahead and shoot since they were ordered to by their General. The answer is that because they recognize they are poor shots, they agree to fire in the air over the heads of their comrades, thereby missing Pete as well. They would not risk shooting one of their comrades by shooting toward Pete.
Excellent teaser!
Excellent teaser!
i though they were told to stand behind something,great teaser!
I thought they'd all be in a circle, like dominos, so that they'd shoot each other.
Nov 27, 2007
I thought he would have all of them stand on the exact same spot. They could never do it. In a circle, you are not "facing" each of them.
if I was Pete I would never think of that. clever. i obviously didn't get... but well done. i loved it!
WOW!! ok now that's a riddle!1 Jeesh keep them comin. It wa sa bit long but awesome!! Now MAKE SOME MORE!! LOL!!!
It made me think so much and i still got it wrong. Good teaser though
Jun 13, 2008
Pretty good teaser, I did feel though that the answer is a little bit presumptive in that not one man felt he could hit the pirate in one shot. Though Pete knew their reputation, did every single shooter feel the same way? If we state that all felt uneasy in the situation, we could also make the above argument.
or they line up behind him
Jan 22, 2009
This solution leave Petes life to chance that someone will actually shoot, and the firing squad disobeyed an order by the general. The real solution to absolutely guarantee Pete not getting shot is to eliminate the chance of anyone actually shooting. So the answer to the question "where did Pete tell them to stand? is "On their heads"!
I would definitey use this trick if i were caught and sentenced to death
nice , but too hard to guess !!!
i got few answers incl. this ...this is the best one
I think without looking at the answer the guards stand on the other side of the pole.
This is a good one. My favorite so far, and I've been reading on this site nonstop.
The answer is not the good. At least one of the guy could shoot Pete in the foot and lay him down until everyone can shoot him with out hitting another guy.. This was one of my answer but my best one if I'm on his throne would be dig a hole in ground where every one can't see me..
The answer is not the good. At least one of the guy could shoot Pete in the foot and lay him down until everyone can shoot him with out hitting another guy.. This was one of my answer but my best one if I'm on his throne would be dig a hole in ground where every one can't see me..
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