Brain Teasers
Death's Demise
Mystery
Mystery teasers are little stories where you need to figure out what happened based on the given clues.Mystery
Once upon a time there was a dad and 3 kids. When the kids were adults, the dad was old and Death came to take the dad. The first son, who became a lawyer, begged Death to let the dad live a few more years. Death agreed. When Death came back, the second son, who became a doctor begged Death to let his father live a few more days. Death agreed. When Death came back the third son, who became a priest, begged Death to let the dad live till that candle wick burned out and he pointed to a candle. Death agreed. The third son knew Death wouldn't come back, and he didn't. Why not?
Answer
The third son went over and blew out the candle after Death left because the son said "till the candle wick burns out", not "till the candle burns out".Hide Answer Show Answer
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Comments
very clever
easy but smart
Yeah, very easy. But why would the dad want to live that long? And whoever lit the candle again and let the wick burn out would be responsible for the murder...O_o
i thought the candle was never lit in the first place the riddle never said it was
Oooh. That was a cheap trick.
nice work skull. i new u had it in u!
Simple, but if you did not aproach it logically you might not see it. At first I thought that the candle was not lit to begin with, but realized that Death would have never agreed to the deal if that were true.
it was hard but fun and it was cool
well when u said preist and candle i thought of the candle that burns next to the tabernacle. it is always lit. they replace the candle before it burns out and so death would not come back... but that may be against the rules to have a referance to religion in a teaser
That was really cool! I liked it
this was clever. a good twist for the answer.
I totally figured it out after I read the answer. Your riddles are cool.
comfusin but fun
comfusin but fun
Death must be gulliable, then. i should have three sons!!
no offense, but that was cheap of a Priest, no less, to do something like that. hes spending time in pergitory. i didnt like the answer. i would have guessed that the candle wasnt lit, or his father died before death left so something
that was a creative one...i liked it
smart...
that was an easy one. i think i heard it before, but whatever.
this should be a joke
tooo easy
i was close! i thought the candle was never lit, even at the time of the "deal"...oh well, great teaser!
it was pretty easy but good job trying.practice makes perfect.
May have been easy, but I still enjoyed it!
VERY CLEVER!!
Clever!!!
that was very interesting and witty, thanks!!
clever
I agree with aPlatinum and Mamimi - if the candle was never lit, then the riddle would also work But good teaser notheless!
quite evident
does that mean he lives forever?
Welllll.... but, what does "candle burn out." mean then, if "the wick burns out." doesn't mean the candle, what else could it mean, that's the only thing that burns on a candle, but... oh well, Im glad the guy cheated death, although like the person above said, now the Dad has to live forever!
CUTE!
(THE CANDLE HAD TO HAVE BEEN LIT IN ORDER FOR DEATH TO HAVE MADE THE DEAL.)
(THE CANDLE HAD TO HAVE BEEN LIT IN ORDER FOR DEATH TO HAVE MADE THE DEAL.)
Tricky.
nice one. Cever twist at the end!!! I have to go . Bye
An ingenius little twist to this teaser! Thoroughly enjoyable! Keep them coming!
I guess when you WAX eloquent when bargaining with Death, you can be as WICK-ed as you want to cheat him/her. Meanwhile the poor father has to suffer an extended old age, poor guy. Hope my sons have more sense.
Sorry, but relying on a mild technicality in phrasing isn't that clever.
Okay I guess thats right, never gave any thought to candles ididn't get it..
I'm not good at teasers.
Like locutus I've never given any thought to candles! But I can accept the answer given. I agree with those who say the deal could not have been made if the candle was not lit at the time of the deal. For those who like teasers, it was good; for me, hard.
But I'll be back!!
Like locutus I've never given any thought to candles! But I can accept the answer given. I agree with those who say the deal could not have been made if the candle was not lit at the time of the deal. For those who like teasers, it was good; for me, hard.
But I'll be back!!
Awwww that was cute,but everyone lives forever untill they die.Forever is different time for everyone.THANKS FOR THE FUN.MAMEL
I'm not good at teasers.
Like locutus I've never given any thought to candles! But I can accept the answer given. I agree with those who say the deal could not have been made if the candle was not lit at the time of the deal. For those who like teasers, it was good; for me, hard. But I'll be back!! btw, I thought synlapse's comment was most clever!
Like locutus I've never given any thought to candles! But I can accept the answer given. I agree with those who say the deal could not have been made if the candle was not lit at the time of the deal. For those who like teasers, it was good; for me, hard. But I'll be back!! btw, I thought synlapse's comment was most clever!
Very Clever, I Liked it
Loved it! Great teaser!
Probably should have been in the TRICK category rather than Mystery.
Probably should have been in the TRICK category rather than Mystery.
I think this is cute, too. But it was way too easy. I guess I have a logical mind because I had the answer before I finished the last sentence. But it was still cute. Keep them coming.
I had an inkling it was something like that
Had to be....... Good one
Surely 'burn out' means to cease burning? So wouldnt the dad die the instant the wick stopped smouldering, i.e. shortly after the priest blew it out.
Oh Please! There's no logic, not trickery, no mystery, no tease. Just chicanery! Candles only burn if the wick burns, so ... old man should be dead instantly. Can't cheat death.
Your description didn't say the sons were HIS sons...so it was a confusing Brain Teaser.
I like this one it was probably the best i saw so far. But it was well did.
De
De
WITTY TRICKY and very clever Enjoyed it thanks.
clever and really interesting and a little easy but very good.
i thought that it wasnot lit in my appenion that would be a better answer
I also thought the candle was never lit.
That was lame and wasn't really an answer. There is no difference between "candle burns out" and "candle wick burns out"...not very clever.
Oct 26, 2006
Actually kerridy, there is a difference. I had to think about it a minute myself. The wick in this candle did not "burn out".It was extinguished meaning that it is still there and can be relit at any time. When a candle "burns out" on its own it cannot be relit because it has consumed itself and there is no wick left.
hahaha....nice one
I thought it was an electric candle with a lightbulb. That way the "wick" never burns out.
Okay! You slipped that one by me. Since I wear O2 most of the time I don't mess with candles - akes too pretty a glow with the O2. Nice teaser tho.
nice!
symantics!!!! didn't care for that one
Hrm. I got it... but.... the best part was reading the comments, really. Always a gas, here at Braingle. Good job all oh but especially Synlapse.
If this was in Trick, it would've been even more easy, wouldn't it?
Or maybe it's just because I have candles going almost every day. Two are beside me right now. What can I say, I like fire?
If this was in Trick, it would've been even more easy, wouldn't it?
Or maybe it's just because I have candles going almost every day. Two are beside me right now. What can I say, I like fire?
I think it should've been phrased diferently. Rather than saying "burns out," say "burns down." To burn out means to stop burning, which would mean that the father would've died when his son blew out the candle. But to burn down means to burn until it's all gone, which would then mean that when he blew out the flame, and never lit it again, the wick could never "burn down."
Just a thought.
Just a thought.
Good Golly! SourDough liked this one! Very nicely done, indeed!
Death is an idiot, and was outsmarted! Hallejuah and Amen!
$D
Death is an idiot, and was outsmarted! Hallejuah and Amen!
$D
This one is funny nice one
Assuming the Priest would want his father to live forever, that is the the gists of this Teaser. Death would Never return, so the father will live on and on, never dying. This Teaser is good, but the story is sad, dis hearting and morbid.
This was easy, fun and very simple. It was cool
I didn't think he ever lit it.
Ah, clever.
Rather lame answer.
If I were death, I'd come back and snuff out the priest!
If I were death, I'd come back and snuff out the priest!
If I were death, I would have just stolen the candle, lit it, let it burn out, and then taken the father.
I agree with everyone here, the semantics kinda ruined it for me.
I agree with everyone here, the semantics kinda ruined it for me.
Still cute, and these never get old.
haha I thought the candle was in a picture
NICE!!!
I kinda got it...and when I saw the answer, I knew I had been on the right track. But, no, I didn't get it. But, thanks for posting.
the answer i got was "it was an electric candle"
WAY too easy, but fun! It reminds me of the Deathly Hallows, lol.
That was very clever!
I fail to see why some think it was clever. I thought it was rather boring. The whole story was nonsense. Sorry! Just my opinion.
I agree with babe. But as long as I keep my wick hot and burning I'll be around.
Don't know that I would risk Death's wrath over semantic tricks like that.
The answer really doesn't make sense to me on this one. Would it not be exactly the same if the priest had begged Death to let the dad live till that candle burned out instead of saying till the candle wick burned out? What is really meant by burned out? Burned until nothing is left or until it stops burning? In either case, I don't see any distinction between the candle and the candle wick.
I thought the answer was "the candle wasn't lit" but I suppose with hindsight Death would have cottoned onto that one straight away!
I agree with mgatkin
Nice..
Another alternative is to move and not leave a forwarding address. That way when Death come he won't know where you are.
I learned a lot from this teaser. 1) A good lawyer can get you a lot. 2) A good doctor doesn't do much good when Death is knocking. 3) Never trust a priest.
It really doesn't make much sense to me. But it has the right atmosphere for Halloween!
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