Brain Teasers
The Brother-in-Law
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
A detective was talking with Sam. He said, "I'm sorry to tell you this, but your brother-in-law is dead."
"I'm not surprised. Harry had more than one enemy. He had Dick, whom he owes gambling debts, and then there's Jack, whom he cheated out of a will," Sam said. As Sam continued to list the enemies of Harry, the detective made a call and arrested Sam on suspicion of murder. What was the call about? Why was the detective suspicious?
"I'm not surprised. Harry had more than one enemy. He had Dick, whom he owes gambling debts, and then there's Jack, whom he cheated out of a will," Sam said. As Sam continued to list the enemies of Harry, the detective made a call and arrested Sam on suspicion of murder. What was the call about? Why was the detective suspicious?
Answer
The detective called to find out how many brothers-in-law Sam had. When he found out that he had three, he realized that Sam had immediately known that it was Harry who had died.Hide Answer Show Answer
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Comments
Good, but fairly easy.
Fun!
Good one!
how do ya know he has 3 brothers-in-law? he couldve only had the one...
I thought because the detective didnt tell the man he woz murdered, but the man automatically assumed murder which isnt quite normal.
good point magisastar!
God Sam's dumb!
Nice one. If there's a bad brother-in-law teaser, I haven't heard it!
Don't you have to use only the info given in the teaser? How are we suppose to figure out that sam has 3 brother-in-laws?
Great teaser, I liked this one even if it was fairly easy it could be solved without too many questions. Megan, read the info at the top of Situation Teasers as per: Many 'Situation Puzzles' are not designed to be answered by themselves. The idea is for one person to know the answer and other people in a group to try and guess it using yes or no questions. The first person to get the answer is the winner.
it's funny how everyone repeats the thing on the top of the page, then says something that defies it in another comment...lol
Situation Puzzles are not designed to be answered by themselves. The idea is for one person to know the answer and other people in a group to try and guess it using yes or no questions. The first person to get the answer is the winner.
I saw this one on Mindtrap, with different names and slightly more obvious clues. People are so unimaginative nowadays...
Here is my answer:
"He had Dick, whom he owes gambling debts." HARRY (the victim) owes DICK gambling debts. You would not kill the person who owes you money. You might kill a person TO WHOM you owe a massive amount of money, but not vice versa. Sam's story doesn't make sense, and thus brings suspicion to himself.
"He had Dick, whom he owes gambling debts." HARRY (the victim) owes DICK gambling debts. You would not kill the person who owes you money. You might kill a person TO WHOM you owe a massive amount of money, but not vice versa. Sam's story doesn't make sense, and thus brings suspicion to himself.
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